New car

Still lovvin my late Dad's Volvo 850 wagon
170bhp

And added to my classic fleet policy for £25 admin fee

For myself and other half
Agreed value
Unlimited mileage
Etc etc

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Drover said:
Though the bulbs are an optional extra.
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I can't remember why, but I was once talking to a BMW salesman and saying "Actually that's not bad, a xyz model whateveritwas at £abcdef, but I don't see one in your showroom". He said "The advertised price is pretty much a myth. In theory it is, but you would have to order one and it would take three months to deliver. The advertised price is for one with steel wheels and they don't make them with steel wheels. All the cars are built with alloys, which are optional extras" . . . . . .think about that for a minute :)
 
Years ago in the days of Volvo 740's (I think. When they were winning rallies) I co-designed a reversing sensor, long before they became normal. I got it as far as being an approved accessory for Rover cars and made a nice pile of money thankyou. Volvo wanted them as well so I fitted one to a 740. I was talking to the development guys in Gothenburg and said how impressed I was with the bumpers on their cars. They were like big aluminium railway lines, bent to shape of course and hidden behind the plastic outer. In turn these aluminium railway lines were fixed to the chassis via big rubber buffers. Mr Volvo said yes, they are tough. If you drive into a brick wall at 30mph, the air bag will go off, the plastic bumper will break, you will have scratches on the bonnet and maybe a brick will crack the windscreen. But the chassis will not be damaged, you could repair it with a set of spanners and new body parts. Similarly at MIRA near Hinckley they said one of their staff went over a cliff in a 740. Part way down the car was stopped by hitting a tree dead centre. The driver was rescued injured but OK. The Police and ambulance said if it had been any other car the driver would be wiped all over the steering wheel and they would need a hose.
 
Fisherman said:
For the past 23 years all I have driven are c class Mercedes estates.
My current car is now over 7 years old I bought it pre registered in January 2018.
Recently I have been thinking, I want to try something completely different.
So I am considering Subaru Forrester pre registered December 2024.
The dealers are selling it £7,000 below the new model just out this month.
They are also throwing in 3 years free servicing.
I have checked auto trader and their deals are the best in the U.K.
Any opinions on Subaru cars would be welcome.
I know they are quirky, but that’s what I want, something different.
Mercedes have proven extremely reliable, and there is no logic behind what I am considering. Be honest.
Cheers.

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I had a Subaru XV (crossover SUV) and absolutely loved it, only sold it when I retired as didnt need 2 cars anymore.All subs are 4 wheel drive, great to drive and super reliable, last forever
 
mark61 said:
Same here, although I guess I could live with a new G Wagen.
Fancy a little DKW though, or a Fridolin. They look like fun. :LOL:

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Oh ye I remember these wonderful cars from yonder year, and so did the many garages I had to have them repaired in. I had a VW golf that did more rounds in the local garage than my golfer mate had on his local golf course. Then there was the Vauxhall Astra estate that ate batteries for lunch, needed new brake pads and disks every year ( fitted them myself). When I bought my first Merc I thought to myself I won’t have any problems here, then I found out they never galvanised them until 2003, and it went through three tailgates in five years (under warranty). When I sold that car every door was rusted at the bottom. But after that I had more or less 18 years trouble free driving with several Merc estates.
Sorry Mark, but modern cars hardly if ever rust, they are safer, more reliable, far more fuel efficient, and comfortable. What has changed is us, we are a lot older and look back at these old cars with fond memories of better days, when where younger, fitter, and did not even know where the doctors surgery was, never mind the name of our doctor. Sorry Mark. :)
 
Fisherman said:
Oh ye I remember these wonderful cars from yonder year, and so did the many garages I had to have them repaired in. I had a VW golf that did more rounds in the local garage than my golfer mate had on his local golf course. Then there was the Vauxhall Astra estate that ate batteries for lunch, needed new brake pads and disks every year ( fitted them myself). When I bought my first Merc I thought to myself I won’t have any problems here, then I found out they never galvanised them until 2003, and it went through three tailgates in five years (under warranty). When I sold that car every door was rusted at the bottom. But after that I had more or less 18 years trouble free driving with several Merc estates.
Sorry Mark, but modern cars hardly if ever rust, they are safer, more reliable, far more fuel efficient, and comfortable. What has changed is us, we are a lot older and look back at these old cars with fond memories of better days, when where younger, fitter, and did not even know where the doctors surgery was, never mind the name of our doctor. Sorry Mark. :)
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I'm not suggesting old cars were better, (although some were) I'm just saying I find most new ones completely uninteresting.
I had a lift in a mates new Audi A5 Quattro this weekend, boring to say the least, but lets say I had to be in Ingolstadt for breakfast tomorrow morning, I would certainly take the A5 over the cute little DKW above, I then would amuse myself pondering how the sweet little DKW evolved into such a boring barge. :LOL:
 
mark61 said:
I'm not suggesting old cars were better, (although some were) I'm just saying I find most new ones completely uninteresting.
I had a lift in a mates new Audi A5 Quattro this weekend, boring to say the least, but lets say I had to be in Ingolstadt for breakfast tomorrow morning, I would certainly take the A5 over the cute little DKW above, I then would amuse myself pondering how the sweet little DKW evolved into such a boring barge. :LOL:
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Totally agree Mark, but then I remember how boring some of the cars were from years gone bye. I had the misfortune of having to drive a Ford Escort for a month, apparently Britains most popular car, the worse heap of junk I ever drove. My mate bought a Montego, he contemplated suicide months later. And these cars were so badly put together they only came with a one year warranty. They put them out without rear head rests, leading to hundreds maybe thousands being killed in RTAs. I cringe when I see old cars with no headrests at the front, and massive steel steering wheels.
 
We've got a 06 Peugeot partner diesel van with windows an seats which I fully intended to be our last , however having had the vivaro camper for nearly a year we've pretty much decided the pug may as well go. We've had a berllingo or partner for about 15 years and still not seen a car I'd rather have as family transport.
 
Ah but then there is the Peugeot 205, what a fantastic car. I had one when I worked in Edinburgh, drove from Edinburgh to Leicester where I lived, without stopping and felt right as rain when I got home.
. . . . .but then I got a MB W124 estate and a 17ft twin wheel caravan which I lived in in Edinburgh - those were the days when you could afford to stay at a camp site. Towing it back south to Leicester in the outside lane I happened to glance in the rear view mirror and noticed that I had a caravan on the back. then I looked at the speedo which said 80, and it suddenly dawned on me that a) I shouldn't be in the outside lane, b) the speed limit for towing is 60 and c) I had better get back to 60 in lane 2 before the Rozzers spot me. I've had Mercedes ever since, but I wouldn't have one newer than 1993 when they started making money instead of properly built cars.
 
Fisherman said:
Sorry Mark, but modern cars hardly if ever rust, they are safer, more reliable, far more fuel efficient, and comfortable. What has changed is us, we are a lot older and look back at these old cars with fond memories of better days, when where younger, fitter, and did not even know where the doctors surgery was, never mind the name of our doctor. Sorry Mark. :)
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Ah, but as Trev would say you could do all the jobs on them yourself, good job too as would be under the bonnet every week.
 
gasgas said:
Ah but then there is the Peugeot 205, what a fantastic car. I had one when I worked in Edinburgh, drove from Edinburgh to Leicester where I lived, without stopping and felt right as rain when I got home.
. . . . .but then I got a MB W124 estate and a 17ft twin wheel caravan which I lived in in Edinburgh - those were the days when you could afford to stay at a camp site. Towing it back south to Leicester in the outside lane I happened to glance in the rear view mirror and noticed that I had a caravan on the back. then I looked at the speedo which said 80, and it suddenly dawned on me that a) I shouldn't be in the outside lane, b) the speed limit for towing is 60 and c) I had better get back to 60 in lane 2 before the Rozzers spot me. I've had Mercedes ever since, but I wouldn't have one newer than 1993 when they started making money instead of properly built cars.
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Very true. The 90's onwards weren't good times for Mercs new models.
The W201, W124 and W126 are legendary and represent pretty much the end of old school Mercedes quality.
Their replacements, W202, W210, and the W140 were a proper step down. Took them years to recover and they still ain't the same.

Of course, it goes without saying, the W460, W461, W463 and W463 2nd generation are all proper class. :) But the Austrians build those.

That's it, forget the DKW, I want a W114.115 or a W123 :LOL:
 
colinm said:
Ah, but as Trev would say you could do all the jobs on them yourself, good job too as would be under the bonnet every week.
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Never with my sodas, some went round the clock 3 times, i did work on fords and had a kit car which i still have with mk 2 running gear, ford engines and g box plus diff were sh one t
 
I used to love the old Cortinas (mk1, 11 and 111), my Dad swore by them and he never had a problem with them and I thought the gearboxes where like silk back then when I learned to drive in the Mk 11 and borrowed that and the MK111 regularly.

In fact after those he had a Mk 1V, a Granada or 2, a Sierra and his last couple of cars were Focus's so I don't see why so many people have a problem with Fords?
 
Plant guy I knew summed it up when he said he'd got a couple of drivers who could use old machines all week with no probs and others that could break a new machine in hours.

Lot of it is down to the driver.
 
ricc said:
Plant guy I knew summed it up when he said he'd got a couple of drivers who could use old machines all week with no probs and others that could break a new machine in hours.

Lot of it is down to the driver.
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I looked after this like a baby, still died many times, only when i went to work for toyota did i find cars that never failed.
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