GF Car Buying Advice Required

[rb14]

12 hours ago, Karl_b said:

What are the thoughts on second hand petrol hybrids? There are a lot of 3/4 year old Toyota peteol-hybrid estate cars around in our price range but are they a potential money pit when the battery goes?

I don't have a strong position on secondhand hybrids, but if I were in your shoes, I'd definitely be considering middle-of-the-road (see what I did there?) cars that are easy to repair, with parts that are easy and cheap to source. That'd largely rule out hybrids which will by definition introduce a further level of complexity, potential reliability issues, and therefore expense.

 

You'd be well advised steering (see what I did there? Yawn.) clear of main agents for servicing. There are lots of independent garages and workshops that are operated by good people that used to work in the main dealerships but saw - and filled - the gap in the market for people who don't want to pay exorbitant dealer prices for cars that really don't need a fully-stamped Service Book for their eight-year-old out-of-warranty car. 

[Davelfc]

Well after having SUVs for the last 12 or so years I've gone completely mad and I now own a 5 year old mini. 

 

It was the perfect storm I guess, family member now lives across the road from work, their partner also has a car and they use that while the mini sits there doing nothing. They needed to save money and I was looking to down size as my car then was not getting used much, about 3500 miles a year if that. The mini has got 26k on the clock, has been serviced properly and I know its history from new. I'm quite tall but have plenty of leg and head room, the grandkids fit well in the back too. 

 

I miss my toys (adaptive cruise etc) but I did feel I was relying on them too much and already I feel more connected to my driving and it's actually a fun car to drive. £20 a year tax, £250 a year insurance and almost double the MPG. Add to that nobody will ask me for an airport run or to move things for them, win win.

 

I now just need an old mans cap and the transformation to old fart is complete. 

 

 

[Rico1304]

I had a test drive in an electric car today.  It was fucking awesome, way out of my price range as the one I want was having a software update (bad sign?). But the acceleration was like being on a roller coaster. I put my foot down and was thrown back into my seat and the glasses on my head went flying. The idea of paying a tenner or so for a years fuel is very attractive.  

[dockers_strike]

2 minutes ago, Rico1304 said:

I had a test drive in an electric car today.  It was fucking awesome, way out of my price range as the one I want was having a software update (bad sign?). But the acceleration was like being on a roller coaster. I put my foot down and was thrown back into my seat and the glasses on my head went flying. The idea of paying a tenner or so for a years fuel is very attractive.  

What was it, the VW ID3? If I was still earning, Id deffo get a leccie car but they're just too expensive for me now.

 

The range on these is improving all the time. 300 or so miles in summer and probably 250 in winter is ample. The max I used to drive in a day was just over 160 so yeah, you'd be recharging overnight but I was refilling my car every 3rd day.

 

The Ioniq 5 looks a tad futuristic but not much more so than an ID3.

 

 

[Rico1304]

It was a Taycan, but some proper pimped out one that was no where near what I’d get. Range is fine for me now as the only long journey we do is the mother in laws and having a 20 mins piss and drink break is normal anyway.  
 

The thought of just plugging it in at home and not paying for petrol is very tempting.  That and low road tax and the BiK means I would be paying what I’m paying now for a much better car. 

[tokyojoe]

Be careful with a Lamborghini. Doors open funny.

[Rico1304]

5 minutes ago, tokyojoe said:

Be careful with a Lamborghini. Doors open funny.

Ha I wish.  

[Davelfc]

2 hours ago, Rico1304 said:

I had a test drive in an electric car today.  It was fucking awesome, way out of my price range as the one I want was having a software update (bad sign?). But the acceleration was like being on a roller coaster. I put my foot down and was thrown back into my seat and the glasses on my head went flying. The idea of paying a tenner or so for a years fuel is very attractive.  

They're planning to charge a tax for electric cars, to make up for the shortfall from fuel duty. It was never about being green.  

 

https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/1463168/Car-tax-how-much-replace-fuel-duty-transport-emissions-evg

[A Red]

I've got a VW T5 with all the bits fitted for sale. Bought it 4 years ago and hoping its gone up in value.

[Rico1304]

6 minutes ago, Poster said:

They're planning to charge a tax for electric cars, to make up for the shortfall from fuel duty. It was never about being green.  

 

https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/1463168/Car-tax-how-much-replace-fuel-duty-transport-emissions-evg

I won’t be driving by 2050.  

[johnsusername]

On 10/06/2021 at 08:10, Poster said:

Well after having SUVs for the last 12 or so years I've gone completely mad and I now own a 5 year old mini. 

 

It was the perfect storm I guess, family member now lives across the road from work, their partner also has a car and they use that while the mini sits there doing nothing. They needed to save money and I was looking to down size as my car then was not getting used much, about 3500 miles a year if that. The mini has got 26k on the clock, has been serviced properly and I know its history from new. I'm quite tall but have plenty of leg and head room, the grandkids fit well in the back too. 

 

I miss my toys (adaptive cruise etc) but I did feel I was relying on them too much and already I feel more connected to my driving and it's actually a fun car to drive. £20 a year tax, £250 a year insurance and almost double the MPG. Add to that nobody will ask me for an airport run or to move things for them, win win.

 

I now just need an old mans cap and the transformation to old fart is complete. 

 

 

We had a Mini Cooper a couple of years ago and I loved it. What a great car to drive. 

[Davelfc]

13 minutes ago, Rico1304 said:

I won’t be driving by 2050.  

They won't wait that long, several states in the USA are already charging a fuel duty tax on electric cars. 

[Rico1304]

4 minutes ago, Poster said:

They won't wait that long, several states in the USA are already charging a fuel duty tax on electric cars. 

Fair point, but it’ll take a while to get to what I pay now.  And just taking away fuel and servicing costs it’s still worth it.  

[Davelfc]

7 minutes ago, Rico1304 said:

Fair point, but it’ll take a while to get to what I pay now.  And just taking away fuel and servicing costs it’s still worth it.  

If you can do it now, have a place to charge it (there's a £350 grant towards getting a charger installed) and as a bonus have solar panels then it's a great time. If I could I'd have all that and a Tesla battery to store some of that power to then put back in the car and house at night. 

 

But the fun won't last, by the time a lot of us are there it will be as expensive as fuel. I actually believe that unless some other form of energy takes over, garages will store charged batteries and you'll drive in and they'll slide your flat one out and a fresh one in. It's the only logical way as we just haven't the space to put all of the cars on chargers. 

 

 

[Rico1304]

12 minutes ago, Poster said:

If you can do it now, have a place to charge it (there's a £350 grant towards getting a charger installed) and as a bonus have solar panels then it's a great time. If I could I'd have all that and a Tesla battery to store some of that power to then put back in the car and house at night. 

 

But the fun won't last, by the time a lot of us are there it will be as expensive as fuel. I actually believe that unless some other form of energy takes over, garages will store charged batteries and you'll drive in and they'll slide your flat one out and a fresh one in. It's the only logical way as we just haven't the space to put all of the cars on chargers. 

 

 

It won’t be easy but there are solutions for those that can’t charge at home.  Street lights for example along with car parks, supermarkets etc. 
 

Edit: and it can’t be as expensive as petrol.  Not when you think about the energy required to extract, refine, transport etc. 

[Red74]

3 hours ago, Rico1304 said:

It was a Taycan, but some proper pimped out one that was no where near what I’d get. Range is fine for me now as the only long journey we do is the mother in laws and having a 20 mins piss and drink break is normal anyway.  
 

The thought of just plugging it in at home and not paying for petrol is very tempting.  That and low road tax and the BiK means I would be paying what I’m paying now for a much better car. 

Get one if it’s similar to what you’re paying out now. 
 

One of my neighbours has got one in this weird grey colour and it’s gorgeous. 
 

Audi were trying to get me into the new electric GT when my PCP was coming up the other week. They had a demo on the showroom for a few days but I hate sitting low down now the older I get. Not out till later this summer but it’s one good looking car. 
 

My kids were fuming with me. The one time in their lives they could say their dad was cool and I blew it. 
 

If I was you mate I’d go and sign up for that Taycan. You never know what’s round the corner so make sure you enjoy it while you can. 
 

The extras are mind blowingly expensive tho

[Rico1304]

1 minute ago, Red74 said:

Get one if it’s similar to what you’re paying out now. 
 

One of my neighbours has got one in this weird grey colour and it’s gorgeous. 
 

Audi were trying to get me into the new electric GT when my PCP was coming up the other week. They had a demo on the showroom for a few days but I hate sitting low down now the older I get. Not out till later this summer but it’s one good looking car. 
 

My kids were fuming with me. The one time in their lives they could say their dad was cool and I blew it. 
 

If I was you mate I’d go and sign up for that Taycan. You never know what’s round the corner so make sure you enjoy it while you can. 
 

The extras are mind blowingly expensive tho

I’m sorely tempted. Spot on about the extras.  I was surprised the steering wheel was thrown in.  

[Red74]

1 minute ago, Rico1304 said:

I’m sorely tempted. Spot on about the extras.  I was surprised the steering wheel was thrown in.  

Remember back in the day they’d say BM and Merc would charge for the glass in your window.

 

Go and treat yourself mate and get one. 

[Davelfc]

22 minutes ago, Rico1304 said:

It won’t be easy but there are solutions for those that can’t charge at home.  Street lights for example along with car parks, supermarkets etc. 
 

Edit: and it can’t be as expensive as petrol.  Not when you think about the energy required to extract, refine, transport etc. 

I don't know, a replacement battery is pretty expensive. I don't believe that governments would allow us to motor around any cheaper than we currently do, if the plebs are paying this many hundreds a year, they'll still pay it. 

 

I've seen some figures that show that for many right now there's not a lot in it. Of course there are many variables to be taken into consideration. 

 

On the charging point, it's a twat to park now imagine living in a tower block and having to find a place to charge. Not everybody has a drive and a lot of people I know have car wars over parking now. Plus of course all of that electricity isn't just going magically appear. There are 32 million cars registered in the UK, if only a third of them plugged in to charge that's a massive drain. 

 

It's not impossible, just not really practical. Hence I think at some point it will be easier to drive to a garage and have a battery swap. Government gets it's tax on that and they're happy. There's even some talk of hydrogen powered charging points (garages) so that might help with the power demand. That was something on the fully charged YouTube channel with Robert Llwellyn (Krten) and that's a good place to start if you're considering an EV.

[Rico1304]

2 minutes ago, Poster said:

I don't know, a replacement battery is pretty expensive. I don't believe that governments would allow us to motor around any cheaper than we currently do, if the plebs are paying this many hundreds a year, they'll still pay it. 

 

I've seen some figures that show that for many right now there's not a lot in it. Of course there are many variables to be taken into consideration. 

 

On the charging point, it's a twat to park now imagine living in a tower block and having to finds a place to charge. Plus of course all of that electricity is just going magically appear. It's not impossible, just not really practical. Hence I think at some point it will be easier to drive to a garage and have a battery swap. Government gets it's tax on that and they're happy. 

There’s loads of projects in the offing, lots government sponsored, to do what I’ve described. The company I work for are funding some of them.  Getting all car manufacturers to agree on a spec for a battery that fits every vehicle will be a hell of a job. 

[dockers_strike]

Lots of people are concerned about EV car batteries but, they dont need replacing like a mobile phone though. Some early 1st gen Nissan Leafs which only had a range of about 80 to 90 miles when new have decreased to 50 or so. That's because the cars had no real battery management system and the battery was just cooled by air passing under it.

 

To be honest, I havent heard of any other make EVs needing their batteries to be replaced. There's a company in the UK that will do a swap out and increased battery pack on Nissan Leafs for about 6 grand.

 

EVs since Teslas have in the main been good and not lost much if any range. People go well yeah if you do need new batteries, it'll cost 5 to 8 grand or more. But that's confusing the 'battery' as the fuel tank equivalent on an ICE rather than an engine.

 

If the cam belt lets go on your ICE, you're looking at a new engine. One guy put Ad Blue in his diesel tank by mistake and Audi said that's 15 grand to replace the engine with a new one thank you very much.

 

Obviously I cant say no one will not have a problem with an EVs batteries but the way I see it, if you did, it has the same cost of needing a new engine for your ICE car. Chances of misfueling a diesel with petrol are quite high according to AA figures. And if you start it on petrol, you're fucked and looking at a minimu 2 grand to fix and that's if you switch off straight away. You cant really misfuel an EV.

 

I think as EVs become more mainstream, people will get more confident about the batteries and that they dont need replacing that often if at all.

 

 

[YorkshireRed]

I’ve moved from thinking I might buy an electric car to actively looking at a few. This means I’m probably about twelve months from making a final decision. 
 

There’s some attractive looking models out there but I’m trying to be sensible. Followed a Tesla for a bit the other day, looked nice. I’ve also looked at the Jaguar and Audi versions. All seem very good but I know I don’t really need them. 

[TheHowieLama]

I've just done the opposite - gone with an Audi gasser. The rates they had for it were really low and for me right now it is a more comfortable/equipped car than the Tesla or the E-tron. Both of those seem in short supply atm - not alot of options/colors etc.

Our gas prices are pretty reasonable and if anything may see some downward pressure as EV's become more popular.

 

I did just do the solar panel thing so my next one will be an EV.

 

Would imagine I will have one of each for at least the next 5 years tbh - I do agree with @Poster - there is no way substantial savings will end up in the consumers pocket in the long run.

[dockers_strike]

14 minutes ago, YorkshireRed said:

I’ve moved from thinking I might buy an electric car to actively looking at a few. This means I’m probably about twelve months from making a final decision. 
 

There’s some attractive looking models out there but I’m trying to be sensible. Followed a Tesla for a bit the other day, looked nice. I’ve also looked at the Jaguar and Audi versions. All seem very good but I know I don’t really need them. 

Yeah there's more EVs coming out almost by the month. Personally I wouldnt buy a Tesla. Musk's a cunt and to be honest, apart from the battery tech, which other manufacturers are catching up, I just think there's loads of hype with Tesla's but that just my opinion, the 'cyber truck' being the latest example.

 

The way the UK is going, if you live in the extended London emissions zone, people are either going to pay through the nose to use their ICE cars, go EV or go without.

[YorkshireRed]

2 minutes ago, TheHowieLama said:

Both of those seem in short supply atm - not alot of options/colors etc.

Not the same gas price advantages over here. Currently at an eight year high according to the news today.

 

I’ve read about current supplies, options etc. One reason why it might be worth leaving it a bit, although the risk might be that the current attractive offers might decrease.

 

For me, it’ll be an electric car or just sticking with what I’ve got. Any purchase is more of a nice to have than a need to have. 
 

I am 50 next year though, so I might end up buying a speedboat instead.