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

That was great, just needed a few more inches.

What a guy! I expect at an event like that you're not encouraged to bump into the other cars but all that over & undertaking still looked very gentle and smooth as.

That guy was literally driving with fingertips at times, looks like a beautiful car to hustle along at speed.

So, you decide to celebrate the end of chemo by buying a modern, usable classic that won’t break the bank - an everyday driver, understated but classy.

You then learn that your cancer is back with a vengeance; all available funding will have to go towards the ‘£3000 every three weeks’ chemo, and that you’ll have to undertake radiotherapy at the same time. Because the fucking NHS.....David Cameron....abolition of rare cancer fund.....blah blah blah....

What do you do, eh?

You buy a Seicento Sporting for £500, that’s what you do. Pick up in two weeks. It’s no TT, but I’ve experience with the breed and other little screamy Fiats, so if I am leaving this mortal coil, I’m doing it in something that weighs 700kg on 13” alloys at 8000rpm.

Ah mate, donated again there, it's not a lot but hopefully it'll at least put a tank of petrol in the little beasty and a few smiles on faces!

I have always fancied a Seicento Sporting, look like such a laugh!

Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Drove a Seicento Sport once, it was as much fun as you could possibly have in a cheap car. Go for it!

I’m doing it in something that weighs 700kg on 13” alloys at 8000rpm.

Got me thinking of this

Enjoy the car, punch that cancer in the nose and please report back here afterwards

What vehicle should I hire in December in Australia to drive from Sydney to Brisbane and tourist about in?
Holden SV6 (‘or similar’) appears to be quite widely available but considering a campervan/ute/4x4.

Depending on your plans it's unlikely you'll need a 4x4 unless you're planning on going bush or doing some beach driving.

The big Holden will be more than adequate for that drive.

Well, it's not cost as much as the Porsche has, in glass half full news:

What's the hives thoughts on leasing?

A guy at work has partially swayed me and I'm thinking of looking into it.

His argument (based on my bugdet of £3-5k)

• little cost difference over a 5yr period
  
• high chance of a dud which could be costly.
  
• no mot costs
  
• no servicing
  
• my bought 2nd hand car will be of negligible value in the same time period
  

No I didn't see dammit 's post before I posted mine!

Depends on your definition of 'little' but cheapest lease deal I could find with a quick google works out around £7400 over 5 years (Fiat 500). £5k will get you a 4-yr old, very low mileage, FSH model. That gives you £2400 in service/mot costs before you're worse off and you still have a useable car at the end of it, which will be worth more than not having any car at all.

I worked it out with a similar budget (wanting an estate/larger car) and even over 3 years I'm saving enough to pay for the quite expensive first service bill and still be miles away from lease costs.
As an aside, my 2007 reg car appears to be worth approximately what I paid for it (possibly more!) 18 months ago. Clearly not sustainable in the long run but shows that depreciation isn't linear.

Cheers.

I'm not convinced. But he found something for £120pm and argued that doing a couple of 2yrs would be less hassle and risk.

I've seen a couple of sub £4k Honda Jazz which look decent, so I'm also not sure a modern car with a FSH is going to be as bad as he claims.

Right now tho my biggest concern is Mr H. She has suddenly started saying Civics, Leons, etc. are too big, suggesting things like Corsas. Arguing that we don't need something that big for the rare occasions when we do long term drives.

Tbh I'm a bit annoyed as I can't help but feel I'm giving up a car I really like and not even trading up.

I also think fitting baby shit in a small hatch is obviously possible, but undesirable and unnecessary.

Why does she think those mid-size cars are too large, parking in the available space around your home or a desire to be thrifty, or something else?

To be honest I think the fact that you're only going to use this vehicle on the rare occasions when you do long term drives is all the more reason to buy something that's actually useful in size and comfortable.

If you buy a tin can you're going to hate driving it on long haul spins and end up taking the train instead and similarly I'd say long haul suggests trips away for weekends and the like when you will actually want to be able to load up some kit?

Doesn't make a lot of sense to me at all, if anything it's just an excuse to not be concerned about economy or "too concerned" about reliability as you're only going to use it odd times and not put a terrible amount of mileage on it...

One of the (four) screws that hold my rear number plate on is in a hole that is partially threaded - if you pull on the plate the screw jumps out one thread and can then be wound out by hand.

The hole into which the screw screws is plastic - best to just use threadlocker to hold it in place?

Let this be a little learning journey for you.

Just leave it.
Don't fix it.
Ignore it.
Make peace with it in its slightly imperfect state.
I dare you.

In other news I'm about 99% decided on getting a W212 E350 Cdi Wagon unless anyone has a really good reason not to or an excellent suggestion for something else?

I wish I was buying an E63 though :(

Just need to get my Discovery back from (another) engine rebuild and sell it first.

Look at this, isn't it horrifying?

Lets fix it:

PTFE tape might do the trick or else thread lock I suppose? Even a dab of superglue would do the trick as long as the screwhead isn't made of cheese and likely to strip if it's ever needing to be removed again?

Let this be a little learning journey for you.

Just leave it.
Don't fix it.
Ignore it.
Make peace with it in its slightly imperfect state.
I dare you.

Look at this, isn't it horrifying?

Lets fix it:

Is this some kind of obsessive's spot the difference competition?

Yes

New, shinier plastic?