cerealuk Posted August 18, 2010 Share Posted August 18, 2010 Just got the good news that i have been accepted as a trainee Air Traffic Controller The bad news is it will involve a 84mile/day round trip and for the first 3 years I will be taking an uber paycut so don't think I will be able to afford to use the zed and may have to sell it and get a diesel *shudder* The next intake isn't until October 2011 so I have a year of zedding yet Just trying to work out whether to try and save enough to run the zed through the first 3 years of training (after which point running costs become irrelevant and I buy a 370z).. or whether to be sensible and get a tractor.. decisions... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted August 18, 2010 Share Posted August 18, 2010 I say get a shed and then the training will feel like a real purgatory and then when you have the cash for the 370 it will be all the more rewarding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinmac Posted August 18, 2010 Share Posted August 18, 2010 Just get a little runaround and use ot for work. I did the same thing and am saving £100 per month in petrol, I keep the zed for fun at weekends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pimm Posted August 18, 2010 Share Posted August 18, 2010 Just get a little runaround and use ot for work. I did the same thing and am saving £100 per month in petrol, I keep the zed for fun at weekends. +1 My runner has paid for itself, best thing I ever done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pptom Posted August 18, 2010 Share Posted August 18, 2010 Another second car vote from me. Did something similar a while ago. Only snag is insuring two cars, most companies won't entertain it, but as I recall direct line have a policy which applies your NCB to both cars. I brought a saxo diesel for £500, gave it a solid service ran it for 12 months, when I was in a fuel saving mood I could hit an average of 75MPG over a week, when driving 'normally' I averaged 65 MPG. Had no problems whatsoever. Tarted it up and sold it 1 year later for £700! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinmac Posted August 18, 2010 Share Posted August 18, 2010 Some of the better companies will mirror a ncb for the third car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husky Posted August 18, 2010 Share Posted August 18, 2010 Shed ftw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rog518 Posted August 18, 2010 Share Posted August 18, 2010 congrats on the job mate Admiral insurance do a multi car policy and they a pretty cheap too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerealuk Posted August 18, 2010 Author Share Posted August 18, 2010 Aye shed is sounding like an option, however i can see a problem.. Get up to go to work... walk outside.. see a shed and a zed... I'm just gonna end up saying "ok ill just drive the zed once this week" then "hmm maybe twice"... Will have to look at the various multicar options (thanks for the info thus far). it may be that actually buying/maintaining a shed is the same cost as just shelling out on the extra petrol/tyres/servicing on the zed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarnie Posted August 18, 2010 Share Posted August 18, 2010 Aye shed is sounding like an option, however i can see a problem.. Get up to go to work... walk outside.. see a shed and a zed... I'm just gonna end up saying "ok ill just drive the zed once this week" then "hmm maybe twice"... Will have to look at the various multicar options (thanks for the info thus far). it may be that actually buying/maintaining a shed is the same cost as just shelling out on the extra petrol/tyres/servicing on the zed Exactly! I looked at diesel motors when I had the Lambo, but I knew in my heart of hearts that I would never ever get in the sootchucker ahead of the G!! The saving is negligible, if at all in my opinion...............especially at only 84 miles a day, thats not that bad really..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATTAK Z Posted August 18, 2010 Share Posted August 18, 2010 Aye shed is sounding like an option, however I can see a problem.. Get up to go to work... walk outside.. see a shed and a zed... I'm just gonna end up saying "ok ill just drive the zed once this week" then "hmm maybe twice"... Shed or Zed ? Exactly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbramble Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 Congrats! My mother works with the bosses of NATS frequently. Personally I think the Z is pretty good on the motorway, I always get over 30mpg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 Have to agree there, once you get to motorway speeds you can sit on barely tick over and cruise along economical(ish) and Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husky Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 theres one thing to realise though. after driving your shed the zed is AMAZING, like the first day you drove it all over again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren-B Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 I bought a shed for the winter months, but choose wisely, I failed to & now its seen me for £8k & is a track toy that I use everday & costs just as much to run as the Zed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husky Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 I bought a shed for the winter months, but choose wisely, I failed to & now its seen me for £8k & is a track toy that I use everday & costs just as much to run as the Zed what was it dare i ask the level of fail in choice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren-B Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 A stock 98 MK2 MX-5, good fun little car I could park anywhere and not worry about it, now its track ready, on its ass, cut slicks, roll bar, supercharged, weighing in @ 995kg, running 204bhp with 192 torques I will be doing a build thread when I`m finished but still lots of work to be done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Husky Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 thats hilarious Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren-B Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 You should see it go, quicker than the zed to 100mph and when you get to a corner it literally rips your face off with the shear amount of physical grip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbramble Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 A stock 98 MK2 MX-5, good fun little car I could park anywhere and not worry about it, now its track ready, on its ass, cut slicks, roll bar, supercharged, weighing in @ 995kg, running 204bhp with 192 torques I will be doing a build thread when I`m finished but still lots of work to be done Awesome. People discount them as 'hairdressers cars' but they are total weapons. No other car will teach you about oversteer in such a friendly safe manner while still being able to achieve 40mpg I drove a supercharged mk2 on track a few years ago, loved it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanski Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 Congrats on the job - I am doing that sort of commute 120 miles per day round trip - in the Zed it almost bankrupted me - buy a cheapo car to take the strain - infact buy a high miler FSH ex company car of some sort and use that instead. (Or buy a 1973 camper! ahem ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 ATC are only part timers anyway! My cousin (much older than me!) has been an ATC for all my life! He works at this place (stolen from wiki as I wasn't sure the exact naming) - The Prestwick Centre, Ayrshire, is home to the Scottish Area Control Centre (including, since January 2010, the former Manchester Area Control Centre), which controls traffic over Scotland, Northern Ireland, and up to FL285 over the northern half of England, and the Prestwick Oceanic Area Control Centre which provides a procedural control service for traffic crossing the North Atlantic via the Shanwick Oceanic Control Area. From what I can remember they control the air traffic over a large area before passing off to local ATC. Stressful job and the hours they are allowed to work reflect that. Best of luck. The Zed is just a car, another can easily be bought later if you struggle to keep it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerealuk Posted August 19, 2010 Author Share Posted August 19, 2010 ATC are only part timers anyway! My cousin (much older than me!) has been an ATC for all my life! He works at this place (stolen from wiki as I wasn't sure the exact naming) - The Prestwick Centre, Ayrshire, is home to the Scottish Area Control Centre (including, since January 2010, the former Manchester Area Control Centre), which controls traffic over Scotland, Northern Ireland, and up to FL285 over the northern half of England, and the Prestwick Oceanic Area Control Centre which provides a procedural control service for traffic crossing the North Atlantic via the Shanwick Oceanic Control Area. From what I can remember they control the air traffic over a large area before passing off to local ATC. Stressful job and the hours they are allowed to work reflect that. Best of luck. The Zed is just a car, another can easily be bought later if you struggle to keep it. Ah righty, I will be at Swanwick near Southampton (The centre which handles everything south of the Prestwick handover boundary) Aye no matter how I do the math, I'm going to have to sell the zed and spend <£5k on a comfortable diesel as I need something cheap to run but at the same time it's got to be reliable. To give you an idea of how tight it will be, the first year only pays £13k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Posted August 20, 2010 Share Posted August 20, 2010 You'll be golden after that though! It makes sense to me to get rid and buy something cheap just now. A career is WAY more important than a car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cerealuk Posted October 5, 2010 Author Share Posted October 5, 2010 Got some good news today.. I've been skipped ahead in the course due to a drop out and will be starting in 3 weeks... The even better news is as Im starting early and the college hasn't yet moved, I will for the first year be based only 7 miles away from home so wont have to sell the Zed Year 2 there will be no avoiding the journey as ill be at Swanwick but the wages get a little bit more sensible then so may be able to keep it long term aswell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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