Colin_P
Guru
I thought farmers were supposed to be poor?
I've never met a poor farmer but plenty that moan like f*** all the time. No idea why.
I remember when motor cars were simple to fix.
- Thread starter Dave7
- Start date
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I've never met a poor farmer but plenty that moan like f*** all the time. No idea why.
I have met a few whose lifestyle would not suit me, mainly smaller one's though. Bit off topic but they have a very high suicide rate, so maybe they are not a happy bunch.
skudupnorth
Cycling Skoda lover
- Location
- Astley,Manchester
So true, this is my latest Skoda which like you say, cost the same as one monthly payment for a new car. Covered 5k in it since I bought it earlier this year and it has not missed a beat. This on the whole sums up my 27 years of old Skoda ownership, reliability, low costs and fun !Old cars are good if you're a fettler and look after them. Minimum expense, no stupid monthly repayments, cheap to insure, and you're minimising environmental impact by not having a new car built every 2nd years etc. My old Fusion has been supreme - no rust, dents, low mileage, FSH, utterly reliable, all for £700, or one or two payments on a new Audi which the buyer won't own at the end of it.
It's very satisfying keeping an older car going. There ought to be a forum for older cars - not classics, but practical older car motoring. Could be a job for @Shaun
keithmac
Guru
I do all my own work on the drive, this was a fair few years back after I blew the GTO-TT up experimenting with nitrous.
Me on the left, my lad in the middle and Shaun who's an old school friend and gets roped into heavy lifting now and again!.
I was the day after a heavy Saturday night drink and sun belting down on us so not the best!.
Me on the left, my lad in the middle and Shaun who's an old school friend and gets roped into heavy lifting now and again!.
I was the day after a heavy Saturday night drink and sun belting down on us so not the best!.
Piemaster
Guru
- Location
- UK City of Culture
There doesn't seem to be that much difference in the way modern petrols and diesels drive under normal circumstances now, which unfortunately includes stalling them. I'm not convinced they would be as popular if they drove the same as diesels of yore.
I did my lessons and test in a MkII diesel Golf, which was brilliant for not stalling. Instructor told me to give it a bit of throttle when setting off 'for appearances, when being tested. It doesn't actually need it'
biggs682
Itching to get back on my bike's
- Location
- Northamptonshire
Very true , but the amount of times it felt like i was in the wrong gear amazed me and then just as i got it moving i had the gear indicator telling me to shift up into the next flat spot
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Modern diesels aren't much better. Nothing, everything at once, nothing, nothing, nothing...
I'd have got a different instructor......one who actually understood what was required on the test.
Piemaster
Guru
- Location
- UK City of Culture
I passed with him. Good enough for me, and the Government.
Every dog has its' day.
swee'pea99
Squire
That's what I call a quote.
Colin_P
Guru
The sweet spot for diesels was between the very late 90's and mid 00's
In the late 90's they shrugged off being slow but remained fairly simple to look after. During this period some makers got very good at rust prevention.
In the mid 00's they had loads of emission control systems bolted to them which made them a fragile liability. On some cars the spectre of rust is once again an issue.
As for being able to and having to tinker with modern cars they are generally very reliable and an essential tool these days is some OBDII (on board diagnostics) software for your laptop or a dedicated scanner. Other than suspension components that seem to wear just like they always did, when a car breaks down it is usually something simple but without being able to read the OBD codes it can be expensive guesswork.
Saying that even with an OBD scanner a lot of components are eye wateringly expensive on newer cars and need to be 'coded' to the car which by and large can only be done at a main dealer or well equiped specialist.
In our house we have resisted and continue to resist replacing our early 00's (2001 and 2003) VW diesels because they just keep going and on the rare ocassion they go wrong they are a doddle to fix. As others have said above they can be run for a whole year for less than the price of a month or two's lease or loan payments on a new car.
When they do eventually need replacing, I wouldn't touch a modern diesel with a barge pole, not because of emissions but because they are so fragile and are likely to present big bills.
In the late 90's they shrugged off being slow but remained fairly simple to look after. During this period some makers got very good at rust prevention.
In the mid 00's they had loads of emission control systems bolted to them which made them a fragile liability. On some cars the spectre of rust is once again an issue.
As for being able to and having to tinker with modern cars they are generally very reliable and an essential tool these days is some OBDII (on board diagnostics) software for your laptop or a dedicated scanner. Other than suspension components that seem to wear just like they always did, when a car breaks down it is usually something simple but without being able to read the OBD codes it can be expensive guesswork.
Saying that even with an OBD scanner a lot of components are eye wateringly expensive on newer cars and need to be 'coded' to the car which by and large can only be done at a main dealer or well equiped specialist.
In our house we have resisted and continue to resist replacing our early 00's (2001 and 2003) VW diesels because they just keep going and on the rare ocassion they go wrong they are a doddle to fix. As others have said above they can be run for a whole year for less than the price of a month or two's lease or loan payments on a new car.
When they do eventually need replacing, I wouldn't touch a modern diesel with a barge pole, not because of emissions but because they are so fragile and are likely to present big bills.
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
If the Pious is anything to go by the battery remains effective far longer than the lifetime of the average car. Original Gen I Piouseses from the Nineties are still faring well.
gbb
Squire
- Location
- Peterborough
Guy I worked with a couple years ago had one of the early ones, early to mid 2000s I guess, I asked about how expensive they are if they go wrong...he said nowt much has ever gone wrong with it so i dont know
still working very well apparently.
