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Re: Car Thread II

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 9:53 am
by rinks
Lagamorph wrote:
rinks wrote:
Lagamorph wrote:How long before car tax expiry do reminders normally go out? My tax is up the end of this month but I've had nothing through yet from the DVLA. I was sure they normally come more than a month in advance.

Two or three weeks, I think. Sure it’s less than a month. But you can tax it without the reminder anyway.

Ha, it ended up coming last thing yesterday after all.

Annoyingly I've only got the car for 6 more months but I only have the option of 12 months tax since it's in the lowest bracket and 12 months is only £30.


Haha, yeah annoying, but could be worse. Crazy that some people pay that per month.

Re: Car Thread II

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 10:00 am
by Victor Mildew
My wife got a new nissan qashqai on lease a few days ago. It was delivered with nothing but fumes in the tank, so we've not actually driven it off the drive yet, but it seems really nice inside.

Re: Car Thread II

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 10:07 am
by Red
We've just been offered my gran's Honda Jazz, automatic. Probably the uncoolest car in the world but free and although it's 15 years old, it only has 16,000 miles on the clock because she drove it to the village shop and back and barely anywhere else in all that time. Be good to get it, been missing having a car in lockdown. Feeling quite trapped.

Re: Car Thread II

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 10:15 am
by Dual
I was due to pick a new company car before the lockdown and being furloughed. Now I'm back at work I'm thinking I might take the allowance instead and just get something cheap to run instead.

If I'm working from home for the forseeable future why do I need a flash car that's just going to sit on the drive?

Re: Car Thread II

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 10:16 am
by Robbo-92
Jenuall wrote:I switched my car tax to direct debit to remove the hassle of worrying about renewal dates etc.

Speaking of car tax - the number of cars you still see with an old tax disc from 2014 in the window is ridiculous. It's been 6 strawberry floating years, take the damn thing down! :lol:


I am one of these people, it’ll be considered retro soon :lol:

Re: Car Thread II

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 10:44 am
by Jenuall
Red wrote:We've just been offered my gran's Honda Jazz, automatic. Probably the uncoolest car in the world but free and although it's 15 years old, it only has 16,000 miles on the clock because she drove it to the village shop and back and barely anywhere else in all that time. Be good to get it, been missing having a car in lockdown. Feeling quite trapped.

It may have some uncool vibes to it but I legitimately loved our Honda Jazz when we had one, a brilliant little car! :wub:

We had an '08 plate "sport" CVT automatic model and it was surprisingly nippy and fun to drive. The storage space is impressive as well for something so small, especially with the clever way the middle seats can fold up to give a large central storage area.

Re: Car Thread II

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 10:50 am
by Red
Aye, my boyfriend had one when we first met, it was great, lots of happy memories in that car :shifty:

Re: Car Thread II

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 11:53 am
by Lagamorph
Red wrote:We've just been offered my gran's Honda Jazz, automatic. Probably the uncoolest car in the world but free and although it's 15 years old, it only has 16,000 miles on the clock because she drove it to the village shop and back and barely anywhere else in all that time. Be good to get it, been missing having a car in lockdown. Feeling quite trapped.

You've probably found the one and only real instance of "The only owner was a little old lady who only ever used it to go to the shops on Sundays" in car purchase history :lol:

Re: Car Thread II

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 11:56 am
by Red
Lagamorph wrote:
Red wrote:We've just been offered my gran's Honda Jazz, automatic. Probably the uncoolest car in the world but free and although it's 15 years old, it only has 16,000 miles on the clock because she drove it to the village shop and back and barely anywhere else in all that time. Be good to get it, been missing having a car in lockdown. Feeling quite trapped.

You've probably found the one and only real instance of "The only owner was a little old lady who only ever used it to go to the shops on Sundays" in car purchase history :lol:


We borrowed it at Christmas to see friends and realised it was probably one of the only times the car had been driven after dark in its 15 year history.

Re: Car Thread II

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 11:56 am
by SEP
Lagamorph wrote:
Red wrote:We've just been offered my gran's Honda Jazz, automatic. Probably the uncoolest car in the world but free and although it's 15 years old, it only has 16,000 miles on the clock because she drove it to the village shop and back and barely anywhere else in all that time. Be good to get it, been missing having a car in lockdown. Feeling quite trapped.

You've probably found the one and only real instance of "The only owner was a little old lady who only ever used it to go to the shops on Sundays" in car purchase history :lol:


No, that's basically the case with every single Honda Jazz in history. You should go to Hampshire, the place is swarming with them.

Re: Car Thread II

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 12:01 pm
by Jenuall
Red wrote:
Lagamorph wrote:
Red wrote:We've just been offered my gran's Honda Jazz, automatic. Probably the uncoolest car in the world but free and although it's 15 years old, it only has 16,000 miles on the clock because she drove it to the village shop and back and barely anywhere else in all that time. Be good to get it, been missing having a car in lockdown. Feeling quite trapped.

You've probably found the one and only real instance of "The only owner was a little old lady who only ever used it to go to the shops on Sundays" in car purchase history :lol:


We borrowed it at Christmas to drive to see friends and realised it was probably one of the only times the car had been driven after dark in its 15 year history.

:lol:

My current car is a very similar situation.

A 1999 VW Polo that I picked up in about October 2018 with only a fraction over 20,000 miles on the clock as the previous owner was a little old man who barely touched it. The last couple of MOTs showed barely a few hundred miles being done in the year!

In the 18 months I've had it I've more than doubled the mileage, think it's on about 45,000 now. After 19 years of pootling around the poor car probably doesn't know what's hit it! :lol:

Re: Car Thread II

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 12:40 pm
by LewisD
I won't hear a bad word about the Veteran Honda Jazz.

They are seriously uncool, and not very fast (lol @ the "Sport Mode" on the auto box - but it's much better than normal mode).
BUT:

  • + Cheap to fuel - mine is a '55 reg and still does 47-52MPG
  • + Cheap to insure - ain't nobody nicking one
  • + Cheap to tax (For an old car)
  • + You can fit strawberry float LOADS inside it - I've had all sorts of stuff inside it when it's in "Van mode" (Or surfboard mode as per Honda)
  • + Easy to fix - Mine has had a few problems, but I've sorted (most of) them all myself without garage help. I've had the starter motor out, replaced the EGR Valve and replaced the exhaust system and lambda sensors with only a set of ramps. The front 4 spark plugs are easy to get to. The rear 4 spark plugs are a bit of a gooseberry fool.
    Transmission fluid change is easy. Access to the batteries is easy.
  • + Chain driven engine so no worries about snapping a cambelt.
  • - Changing the headlight bulbs is a gooseberry fool. Unless you've got tiny skinny hands - Or you've got a hydraulic lift to get the car 5ft in the air - the front wheel has to come off.
  • - It's boring to drive and embarrassing to be seen in under the age of 60.

I'd totally buy another one when it dies*, but it's showing no sign of wanting to yet.



*Unless I get out of debt or come into some money. In which case I'm getting an A45S

Re: Car Thread II

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 2:17 pm
by False
rinks wrote:
Lagamorph wrote:
rinks wrote:
Lagamorph wrote:How long before car tax expiry do reminders normally go out? My tax is up the end of this month but I've had nothing through yet from the DVLA. I was sure they normally come more than a month in advance.

Two or three weeks, I think. Sure it’s less than a month. But you can tax it without the reminder anyway.

Ha, it ended up coming last thing yesterday after all.

Annoyingly I've only got the car for 6 more months but I only have the option of 12 months tax since it's in the lowest bracket and 12 months is only £30.


Haha, yeah annoying, but could be worse. Crazy that some people pay that per month.


I pay £49 p/m

Re: Car Thread II

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 2:25 pm
by False
aaaand the battery is dead, its a brand new one I put in at the start of last month

Re: Car Thread II

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 2:32 pm
by Victor Mildew
False wrote:aaaand the battery is dead, its a brand new one I put in at the start of last month


I went through 3 batteries in one year with the toyota once, as i barely used it while I lived on my own. You can't disconnect either as you need the alarm and immobilizer running for insurance.

This place is where I ordered the new van one a few weeks back. They were really prompt:

https://www.batterycharged.co.uk/

Re: Car Thread II

Posted: Tue Jun 09, 2020 2:43 pm
by False
this is literally a brand new bosch battery

im gonna have to get green flag out (bank account perk) and then get to halfords and get a booster

the hope is that i can get away with a booster and not a full charger so i can just give it a kick when i need it

its supposed to be going over the next couple of weeks or so and im not gonna buy another strawberry floating battery

Re: Car Thread II

Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2020 12:39 am
by Lagamorph
Hm, just went to do my Car Tax and it had a message to check if your MOT had been extended as it needed to be extended before you can tax. Using the linked MOT checker though it's still only valid until 29th June.

Re: Car Thread II

Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2020 1:05 am
by Alvin Flummux
Just got my first actual newer car, a 2018 Toyota Yaris iA - under 50k miles, no accidents, 1 prior lease. Only negative is the tires and probably brake pads/rotors are going to need replaced in about 9 months.

Monthly payments of $234 for 72 months and a doubling of my insurance rates from $200 to $400, but strawberry float, it's so much better than my '02 Oldsmobile Alero.

Goodbye, disposable income, hello strict budgeting.

Re: Car Thread II

Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2020 3:14 pm
by rinks
Lagamorph wrote:Hm, just went to do my Car Tax and it had a message to check if your MOT had been extended as it needed to be extended before you can tax. Using the linked MOT checker though it's still only valid until 29th June.


It’s ok.
Your vehicle’s MOT expiry date will be automatically extended by 6 months if it’s eligible. This will be done about 7 days before it’s due to expire.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus ... march-2020

Re: Car Thread II

Posted: Sat Jun 13, 2020 3:16 pm
by rinks
False wrote:
rinks wrote:
Lagamorph wrote:
rinks wrote:
Lagamorph wrote:How long before car tax expiry do reminders normally go out? My tax is up the end of this month but I've had nothing through yet from the DVLA. I was sure they normally come more than a month in advance.

Two or three weeks, I think. Sure it’s less than a month. But you can tax it without the reminder anyway.

Ha, it ended up coming last thing yesterday after all.

Annoyingly I've only got the car for 6 more months but I only have the option of 12 months tax since it's in the lowest bracket and 12 months is only £30.


Haha, yeah annoying, but could be worse. Crazy that some people pay that per month.


I pay £49 p/m


strawberry floating mental.