Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Love me a fast Volvo. Such sleepers and great load carriers!

nobody expects the Volvo

bit like the spanish inquisition then..

..fetch the comfy chair!

They are like heated armchairs that can move. Yeah many cars are faster, comfier, better, but they are great for doing long distance on shit roads at speed and not need filling up every two hours.

There's a v10 engined rs6 avant that lives a few streets down, weapon of a wagon, but severely hard ride, and struggles to do the sleeping part as it's pretty noisey even just idling it around. Defo fastest way to make the dog redecorate the alancantara with chunder though.

I'd been wondering about the fuel consumption- my 850 can do 400 miles on a tank if driven by a C of E Vicar on a motorway, or 250 miles on the same tank if driven with, shall we say, verve.

I used a whole tank of fuel less driving back from Italy than I had used driving down there as I came back on the Autoroute at a steady 85. I'd gone down on the Autobahn.

I'm wanting to replace my S3 with a fast wagon, but it needs to be around £5K and interesting. Suggestions?

Legacy ;)

Yeah I guess that I have always fancied a GTB Legacy. Family car is a 2006 outback which, on winter tyres, is hilariously able in the snow. Quote from my wife driving it in the snow for the first time was: "it actually feels better in the snow than on tarmac!"

Here she is on Tiree in the rain while the sun shone and the wind blew. Typical Tiree conditions.

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Thats actually borderline horrific! 70l tank?

My diesel storms well enough, not like an R, but once over 2500 rpm in 5th it responds and drives very similar to a stock T5/220bhp.

But on fuel I've only 2 or 3 times had less than 700miles out of a tank, usually in the 800's, once got 960 or 980 and when I filled it up only took 67l so there would have been a thousand miler in it if I just went a bit further before wussing out.

Legacy's are ace, trying to get a family member to get a recent ish one (2005>?), really wanted to get them a flat 6 diesel but internet reckons they all explode?

Anyone driven a active 3 suspensioned citroen?

Have had a few day in Frogland and got to play with a new friends cars. He has a 911 (whale tail) that is being slowly going through a rolling restoration. Helped him order some braided brake lines, from think automotive and some brake pads. Also amazed that parts are alot cheaper than france. Got to play with his cars, the most fun was the xantia. V6 and quite a revvy one and corners flat, does not pitch at all. Means you can do roundabouts and sharp bends at speed and have traction.

Yep, 70 litre tank.

I think my 190E's tank is smaller than that. But fuel consumption is definitely not its strong point. I think I got 400 miles of motorway/A40 out of the last tank which is about the best I've done.

I do like the car, but the VW Transporter Zipvans are definitely nippier and more fuel efficient.

I find the driving position in those to be far from comfortable, and the brakes are hugely over-servo'd.

So I'm thinking about finally learning to drive and potentially buying a car. I'm 25, never had a single lesson before. I'm looking at insurance and it seems crazy expensive, £3.7k minimum for 2015 ford fiesta. What kind of price should I realistically be expected to pay in the first few years after getting my license?

I've been getting about 370 miles to a tank over the holiday. Which works out to about 25mpg. Quite a bit less than I expected but then I've been enjoying the car rather than driving like miss Daisy. It's hard to maximise economy while on single carriageway roads too.

As you'll be 26 by the time you get your licsene, the insurance will be cheaper (in theory) but this will depend on what car you'll own and where ultimately where you live and park you car.

Afraid thats it, its proper sky high if you have no NCB's. Although...

My mate, helped him get another car a few months back, he had NCB's but then left the country for a few years, had cars insured where he was, but in the UK they won't recognise. So basically he's 26/7, living in a built up area, with no NCB to prove and managed to get insured on a vectra sri diesel for <£450 per annum, but thats because he's been driving for ages maybe?

So it can be done. The other thing is if you are going to be buying a new car, lots of the cheaper city cars get offered with free insurance for a year or two, these, so long as the NCB is transferable out the backside of them can be handy. But be prepared to be forced to sell the car the third year, Citroen used to sell Saxo VTR by the boat load this way, but then at 1-2years old they were all put up for sale.

Also remember a fiesta is now a medium sized car,think about getting a tiny engined Fiat 500 (twin air 0.9l) or something like that, for city use they are more fun, cheaper to run and make a great noise.

Unless you live in some bad postcode, you SHOULD be able to insure SOMETHING for around the £1k mark for your first year, but think the smallest petrol engine in the range, or the smallest diesel engine (skoda citi diesel etc), the fact your 25 helps, the second year will be much cheaper.

Cheers for that. I'll have a play with quoting thing and see if I make it work.

You could also try adding an older driver to the policy to see if that brings the premium down.

And/or get a car which is 20+ years old and get it on classic insurance which is pennies compared to the cost for real cars that work properly.

Whenever I have tried that the classic has to be a second vehicle, which given that it is my only vehicle is annoying.

Aye second vehicle, but then is super cheap. Just got renewal for Volvo, £250 for next year! Operation second vehicle as a classic is now go....

Saab 900 T16 is high on the agenda

I think it depends who you go with. Footman James were ok with it being a primary car as long as the mileage was low, I set mine at 6,000 which is realistic and they gave me a really good price.

what's your postcode? Try doing some quotes as though you've been driving for years and have NCD for a few years. It might be that your postcode is pretty uninsurable, which unfortunately is one of those impossible scenarios.

Hmm good point, I think that may definitely be a factor.

Hmm, tried different post codes, different cars, different license holding times, the only thing that seems to make a difference is the no claims bonus.

Get a new VW polo on a lease deal. With a £1k or so initial payment, your monthly payment will prolly be less than monthly insurance costs on a second hand car owned outright. You should be able to get two years insurance included in the deal.