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

Pedals in BMWs are offset slightly. Are you looking at a manual? It's really not an issue on the auto's.

Maybe look an an A4 avant?

By the second journey you're used to offset pedals.

Bump, asked this last week;

My dad want to carry ski on his car roof, i narrow down the choice to the Thule Touring Sport 600, which is just about long enough to accommodate his longest ski (175cm, ski is 170cm).

Do anyone else have an alternative box option or suggestion before he go ahead with the Thule?

You're right. I'm on my 3rd BMW and never felt it was an issue.

The last two have been auto's though.

Avoid the 2.0 diesels, timing chains have a tendency to pop over 100,000 miles :(

Very short journey to Sainsbury to buy dessert for a dinner we were attending- car fired fine, down the hill, parked, bought dessert. Back in car- cranking but not firing. Stop, wait five seconds, turn key and cranks and eventually comes to life- but like a carbed engine rather than injected. Then ran fine.

Fuel pump?

That'll be why then, thanks for clarifying, thought I was just being a bit pedantic! Iv only driven manual, but im not bothered whether what I end up buying is automatic or manual really, automatic might be a nice change actually... Seem to get a lot less bang for my buck with A4 avants, though I really do like them... One thing that scares me off about them is the sheer amount of electrics in them :/

@diable Iv actually had a little look at subarus, older foresters and newer legacy, people seem to rate them highly! Boxer engine on them worried me a bit in terms of working on it, lack of space etc but its a solid contender for sure. Any experience with them?

@Fixedwheelnut cheers for the heads up! Heard things about turbos going on them as well at 45/50k but dont know if thats just porkie, any truth to it?

Also, where do you guys stand on this whole diesel situation at the minute? Im not so bothered, but theres a niggling bit at the back of my brain saying that if I buy diesel now ill probably get shafted for it later on, even if it is an older car.

Diesel never makes sense unless you do huge miles, plus now it's likely to attract a punitive tax rise at some point soon.

I thought that. But then the common diesel is holding up the trades who just got an NI hit.

London will do it first I guess.

I think May will U turn on the NI thing.

Ed, I have had two cheap roof boxes from this place http://www.roofbox.co.uk/roof-boxes/
the first one got nicked. In my opinion there is no point in paying through the nose for a Thule, when other decent ones cost half as much sometimes. I have a Kamei at the moment...what can i say...it's a roof box. Just get the right size.

Makes me sad.

I wouldn't says sad, there a lots of stuff that can be removed to fit on an existing Land Rover, like the front windows which look to be in good condition!

Now, I need more space than a corsa and id like to go for an estate, preferably a smaller sized estate and this is where I'm need your opinions.

That's quite a big jump. What do you need all the extra space for?

I like the idea of an estate, just because I always loved the old Audi 80 estates. In reality though most don't seem worth it. Passats have a serious amount of space, but imo most others don't seem to have much more extra usable space than a Golf.

Why not a Golf GTI?

If you live/will drive in London I wouldn't buy anything older than 2010-ish or diesel. Unless it was a fun car - like a sports car or lifted pickup.

I had a legacy spec b for a few years. Awesome car but thirsty. Very reliable so long as you keep on top of oil changes and levels.

Have a boring 520d f11 now. Which is very competent and efficient, but it ain't a 3l flat 6 on billsteins...

Diesel never makes sense unless you do huge miles

Not wanting to sound all green and lefty in a car thread but I don't understand how we still allow diesels for anything other than a few specific trade vehicles. Especially in cities.

Idle control valve thing? Had something very similar, hills and all, in my Volvo last month. Sorting that resolved the issue.

Do want

Maybe the hipsters choice at FOS but the Gobstopper rinsed it.

Not so much a big jump, I used to drive an avensis estate as a company car before switching jobs some months back, so had to pick something cheap up which lead me to the getting the corsa. Im used to having an estate, albeit a larger one then im currently looking for.

Id argue that though the space gain from golf to small estate is marginal, it is more than noticeable and handy. I wack my bikes in the car, canoe on top (no a fan of overhang, personal thing I guess) bits and bobs such as tillers, rotavators and mowers to climbing gear, bouldering crash mats and people. The luxury for me of having an estate being able to fit larger amounts of gear in the boot without having to collapse the rear seats or spill out onto them, which plays in turn when you want to carry stuff and also have people in the car.

Golf GTI is sadly out of my sub 11k, 45k milage frame, at least for a newer car. Not to mention sky high insurance, and luckily, Im far far away from the big smoke. The best part of the UK, the North ;)

Maybe. It fired first spin on the way home.

I ended up buying a Fabia Estate to satisfy the similar need to carry bikes / climbing gear etc. I also bought a 1.6 TDI which has been great, 20 quid to tax and between 60 and 75mpg on a run.

My Dad worked for Skoda for over 10 years, i used to like borrowing his Octavia Estate and later his Yeti was really good too.

I'd not buy another diesel in hindsight, i don't do anywhere near enough mileage to justify it really, we only do about 8000 miles a year in that car and a petrol would be better.

Do anyone else have an alternative box option or suggestion before he go ahead with the Thule?

Just buy the Thule, they are the best. Did a southern France trip with one last year, did not affect mpg. No noise. Wouldn't know it is there.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Autos/comments/5z95ta/growing_up_my_parents_always_complained_about_my/

I saw that this morning. Incredible if true...