coldel

Flex also says he cant justify keeping 4 cars because of this, hence the desire to get something that is worth a 4th car. So not a requirement at all, just that the car makes money or at least breaks even to make it worth while. Personally I would be surprised if the 33s do climb in value as the 32s are becoming more desirable so I think its a fair shout by him to question whether its worth holding onto it and just sticking with the 3 cars. Although he does owe me a spin in it before he does sell!

Stated objective was to not lose money, not minimise loss (ref post number 25). Which is why I mentioned up top that you have to take any ownership costs into account, especially as other cars are owned and could be used in its place.

At 80mph faster than you are going it will be over the horizon within a couple of lamp-posts

If its sat on the drive it has to be insured at a minimum. If you want it to be worth something you have to maintain it (battery charging, suspension will seize if left idle, on older Jap cars the various internals will fail such as seals drying out if not used etc.) So you are paying out a minimum £500 a year if SORN'd. If you are looking at a £10k car then you have to hope that the car appreciates at least 5% per year to cover the cost. Plus the 2-3% average inflation rate the appreciation needs to cover. I think Flex is driving the car though even if sporadically (doesn't strike me as the kind of guy to stick it in a glass case) so it will need taxing, fuel, servicing plus adding miles will depreciate the value of the car - this will count against what you 'make' on the car.

I think best bet if on a motorway is that the speed they pass at you have to estimate what it looks like imagining you are stationary. Not sure on a motorway when someone passes you possibly 80mph faster than you are traveling you would be able to do the point to point distance calculation!

You trying to say someone set up an account, then went in and bid on the car, then outbid themselves by just over three grand to make sure... Surely not!

But if you have 4 cars and you are not doing much mileage in it, it will certainly be a consideration surely?

Or put straight back up for sale by a dealer for £12k and sits there for the next 6 months!

I think if past prices were a guide to future rises then we would all be millionaires pretty soon Ultimately it will cost you £xxxx to insure, tax, fuel, maintain and run each year so its so hard to make money unless it appreciates at that same cost + inflation each year. I sold my 350z, VX220, Skyline for more than I paid for them, but paid out more than the appreciation in insurance/tax/servicing.

Doesn't protect you if they go into the back of you, and if you go into the back of someone else you were either too close or not paying attention. Accepted there are instances where its neither, but a lot of accidents are because of lack of concentration. But as I posted above, happy to have safety devices, but it shouldnt mean people then think they can be more lax in their attention to the road or how they drive.

I watched Star Wars Force Awakens in 3d, it really didnt add much to it, the odd scene where it was like WOW but otherwise wasn't worth having some lumps of card balanced on my face for 100 mins or so!

There is a brace under the car called the W brace (it looks like one!) which is very prone to rusting, make sure you are not put off by that rusting as they are easily replaced (and can be driven without one if you just unbolt it).

At least it prevents straight line crashes, probably. Clearly driver error will cause t-boning and the like when pulling out of junctions etc. If drivers become lazy and think they are safer, then these sort of accidents are more likely to occur.

Interestingly if you bought the Escort and owned it from new you would be making almost nothing. A historical reverse calculation of inflation shows the £25k paid in 1992 would be the equivalent of spending around £49k now.

To be quite honest with the car taking so much control I do not understand why people want to spend £70k+ on a car? Just stick the money in an account and use the interest you earn to Uber yourself a taxi. You don't have to drive (as clearly some of these cars with dozens of assists barely let you do anything so its not really about enjoying getting behind the wheel anymore) and you can have a glass of sherry, have a nap, read your phone etc. and no problem. It would be cheaper to taxi everywhere than the cost of a new car, the insurance, running/servicing costs, depreciation etc.

How many false positives does it report? Handy device if it isnt putting brakes on when an accident doesn't occur. Do fear that there is too much 'assist' to drivers nowadays, that driving as a skill is being lost and accidents will happen because drivers become lazy and think they do not have to concentrate.

I think its almost impossible to find anything that tracks cars values over time especially for older Jap cars as price varies on condition/modifications massively - anything more modern you need Parkers or something similar to have stored their Bad/Average/Excellent prices per car over the years (maybe email them) even then you will see huge variations. Also tracking over much longer periods of time is a false reading unless the prices are backwards adjusted for inflation (the £30k for a Celica GT4 new would be the equivalent of £55k now). R34 GTRs were the ones to buy, 3 years ago they were £30k now they are up at £50k. The VX220 I sold for £7.5k a couple of years ago I could have sold for closer to £9.5k now.

Performance is much of a muchness between them all, the only difference is longevity. I generally use Copper as I service my cars on average every 6 months and happily put in 45 mins to change the plugs. Iridiums will not give any performance difference on the road to copper, however as Alex says you want to stick a set in and forget about it for a few years then thats what to go for.

I remember the Promethius trailer looking fantastic, then the film wholly underwhelming (yes get that it told a story but I don't think it told it in an exciting/absorbing way). Lets hope this film delivers on the trailer...

Appreciate its not aimed at us, but its got the famous three Brits presenting it, when it got some good reviews in EP1 plenty of British media covered it and took the time to aim at CE and new TG, even though its not UK based so I think thats largely irrelevant if its a US show - its still watchable here. So why have they not reported anything since, because there is no story to be had.

Looks fantastic, nice work!

Yes saw that, a very reserved bit of journalism, no one asking for them to get the chop, no one really shouting 'disgust' just stating some facts. Never going to make front page news, not like the press when they desperately wanted new TG to fail so they could rip into CE and make a full story out of it. Given that those three have slated various nationalities, racism and all sorts in the past can't see anything coming of this? Can you?

Its funny (in a sort of way and not meant to be offensive) that I really wasn't that concerned when Parfitt passed on, I never really was into Status Quo and it was slightly before my time so couldnt feel what many seemed to but but this is a real kick in the stomach. I grew up with Star Wars and could recite every word from all three movies when I was a young nipper, even the beeps the droids made. Gutted about this but feared it in a way, anyone that doesn't breathe for 10 minutes is always going to be in trouble, gutted.

I got Prime on a free trial as I ordered some crimbo presents, have to say this really is utter crap, how un-engaging can it be. Although again, I don't see national press coverage slagging it off asking for the presenter to be sacked despite how they have created a very poor programme using a ridiculous amount of money.

You were parked by the church near the centre this morning - the wife commented what a damn fine looking car it was too!