Car D.I.Y.

[Profpointy]

A bit like the Volvos. The 2.4T LPT of about 200BHP was a lot smoother and easier to get the power down than the true T5's of 240-300+ BHP. Indeed, the last T5s were based on a warmed over 2.4T unit, and it is these thet Ford stolemfor the Fucus.

It's the difference between being fairly quick all the time, or being brutally quick but only when road, weather and traffic all align.

Now I think about it a pal was praising his own small t 2.3, and I'm sure he could have afforded either if he'd wanted to, and quite possibly test drove both. Mrs pp does quite rightly point out it's too big, particularly parking it in our street.

Also capital T models and aeros are rarer and dearer if I do get another

 

[Tom B]

Actually "owning" a car is fast becoming a minority passtime, and that's striking the death knell for the scrappie.

How so? I know few people are buying new cars and are just paying £12k to use one for 4 years (in the case of my colleague). I also know there are people who will pay £9k to borrow a second hand car for 3 years. But then there are people like me who will come along and buy the 6/7 year-old car and run it till it dies an economic death.

Where are all these ex PCP ex 2nd hand PCP. cars going if not to the ownership market? or are we expecting people to keep acquiring the use of cars on pcps until they're (the cars) are 12-15yrs old?

 

[CXRAndy]

Lightly modded Saab makes 259Whp, 302 crank hp, 400nm torque


View: https://youtu.be/WTiynEnWTcE?t=876

 

[Drago]

How so? I know few people are buying new cars and are just paying £12k to use one for 4 years (in the case of my colleague). I also know there are people who will pay £9k to borrow a second hand car for 3 years. But then there are people like me who will come along and buy the 6/7 year-old car and run it till it dies an economic death.

Where are all these ex PCP ex 2nd hand PCP. cars going if not to the ownership market? or are we expecting people to keep acquiring the use of cars on pcps until they're (the cars) are 12-15yrs old?

The majority of cars are bought on finance. The majority of finance sold is PCP. That's the bottom line right there.

People do take PCP on used cars at a fair age, 7, 8, 9 years, and sometimes even older if the cost is still substantial.

The lifespan of the average ICE car is a little over 10.5 years (look about and you'll see few older than 63 plate as you go on your travels) so the number of people acquiring cars by any means at 12-15 years old is negligible.

The bottom line is people tend not to "own" cars these days, cars aren't falling apart in 4 or 5 years like they used to, and this has conspired to largely kill off the scrappie.

There are people like you, but you are very much in the minority in 2024.

 

[dicko]

Solved, the mystery of the yellow warning ! triangle.
Every time we go shopping at Aldi on Monday mornings on the trip home this yellow ! warning triangle appears, only on the way home.
Today it happened again. Last week I bought an OBD meter which told me ‘no faults detected’.
I arrive home today and remove the heavy freezer bag from the rear seat, turn on the ignition, start up and NO WARNING TRIANGLE!.
It was the heavy bag on the rear seat warning me passengers had no seat belt on.
(I hope so anyway).

 

[Jody]

There are people like you, but you are very much in the minority in 2024.

As I found out in the last couple of months

The private used car market has been decimated

 

[dicko]

The majority of cars are bought on finance. The majority of finance sold is PCP. That's the bottom line right there.

People do take PCP on used cars at a fair age, 7, 8, 9 years, and sometimes even older if the cost is still substantial.

The lifespan of the average ICE car is a little over 10.5 years (look about and you'll see few older than 63 plate as you go on your travels) so the number of people acquiring cars by any means at 12-15 years old is negligible.

The bottom line is people tend not to "own" cars these days, cars aren't falling apart in 4 or 5 years like they used to, and this has conspired to largely kill off the scrappie.

There are people like you, but you are very much in the minority in 2024.

Our 2012 Ford Ka is 13 yo next April and it’s very low mileage in fact it has the original battery. I have had plenty of offers but we won’t sell it’s such a good car to own.

 

[Jameshow]

A bit like the Volvos. The 2.4T LPT of about 200BHP was a lot smoother and easier to get the power down than the true T5's of 240-300+ BHP. Indeed, the last T5s were based on a warmed over 2.4T unit, and it is these thet Ford stolemfor the Fucus.

It's the difference between being fairly quick all the time, or being brutally quick but only when road, weather and traffic all align.

I had a T5 and a d5 the d5 was a much more relaxed drive tbh.

The torque was lower down and didn't have large turbo lag!!

 

[Drago]

Aye, the LPT is a lovely unit. Not as outright gutsy as the T5 but much easier to exploit what is there.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

SWMBO had the AA back to the Yaris yesterday late afternoon
The lad who came stated that the batteries on them (& Micra hybrids) are a known problem to them, due to the small size & relatively little 'capacity'
(wife later told me this was its 3rd battery!)

I'll admit, I didn't even know where the battery was on it, till he showed me that it was under the rear seat, on the off-side, it's not much bigger than a motorbike battery!
It was reading 9.7v for him

He used his usual links/contacts, & it was listed at over £350!!, for one of those 'never heard of it' brands, & was surprised to find they had one in stock (Dewsbury?), as last time he needed one, the nearest was south side of Sheffield
Mrs T rang Toyota - Wakefield (not far from jct 40/M1) & circa £190, plus in stock!!

So, it was a dash over there, with me following, along the M62/M1 to the showroom, leaving it with them overnight

She got a call about 11:30, it was ready to pick up
After doing what we had to do, I took her over, dropped her off, then came back home[

 

[CXRAndy]

With some discussion re wet cambelts causing early issues, some catastrophic with Ford's

I thought I would look up some service intervals for our little petrol learner Citroen C3. Yes it too has wet belt, in fact many Citroens have wet belts. And they look to suffer the same fraying issues, clogging the oil pickup and starving oil lubrication.

I've decided to have this done early in mileage, our car has 34k miles recommended at 65k. But it also caveats the replacement with every 6 years. Our car is now 7 years old.

Best quote so far £950 Belt, gaskets, tensioner, sealants, new oil and filter

 

[Profpointy]

Well not DIY, but my veteran Saab is going in for its MOT and 230,000 mile service next week.

However it's just started pissing out a load of oil, so I think I'll need to get it towed back to the menders in Bristol as the drive back might be a bit of a stretch. Last time this happened I was going on holiday and persevered the last few miles kyboshong the engine in the process. Let's try and avoid a repeat performance. I have a psychological target of get to the quarter million miles mark, which is about another year

 

[CXRAndy]

I haven't got the time to do this job currently

 

[Adam4868]

Convince me of any positives of a wet belt on a vehicle....
Take your time,no rush.

 

[Profpointy]

Convince me of any positives of a wet belt on a vehicle....
Take your time,no rush.

It saves about 50pence for the manufacturer