New car suggestions
#136
Re: New car suggestions
Wow- from the ridiculous to the sublime!
Unless they've really upped their QA Minis have been rooted to the bottom of the north american reliability charts like forever.
Why has nobody (I'm looking an me, PW) raised this yet???
Why has nobody (I'm looking an me, PW) raised this yet???
#137
Re: New car suggestions
Because, if you're going to spend a couple of hours a day in the car, you want it to be as much fun as possible. I don't see the merit in having a really fun car (or bike) in the garage while driving an appliance. I hope, of course, to move back to having a mildly fun car to commute and a really fun one in the garage. That depends on the mildly fun car still running whenever the tractor's paid for.
#138
I still dont believe it..
Joined: Oct 2013
Location: 12 degrees north
Posts: 2,775
Re: New car suggestions
You should know - minis are made in the old austin morris plant in oxford, whilst bmw own them now, the workers were notoriously bad. Bmw and mini themselves arent regarded as a reliable option by jd power and i personally wouldnt trust them toscrew a car together, ive seen maxi's and marinas made there, proper abortions.
#139
Re: New car suggestions
You should know - minis are made in the old austin morris plant in oxford, whilst bmw own them now, the workers were notoriously bad. Bmw and mini themselves arent regarded as a reliable option by jd power and i personally wouldnt trust them toscrew a car together, ive seen maxi's and marinas made there, proper abortions.
Mini's may not be the last word in reliability, but that's a result of poor engineering decisions/tolerances/materials, not necessarily production line workers being at fault. BMW have committed £1bn in the UK since 2000, and an additional £250m since 2012. You'd hope that was enough to produce a decent product.
#140
Re: New car suggestions
It's 36 years since Marinas were produced. The workers may have been 'notoriously bad' almost 2 generations ago, but how does that have relevance to modern production processes that minimise workers physically screwing anything together?
Mini's may not be the last word in reliability, but that's a result of poor engineering decisions/tolerances/materials, not necessarily production line workers being at fault. BMW have committed £1bn in the UK since 2000, and an additional £250m since 2012. You'd hope that was enough to produce a decent product.
Mini's may not be the last word in reliability, but that's a result of poor engineering decisions/tolerances/materials, not necessarily production line workers being at fault. BMW have committed £1bn in the UK since 2000, and an additional £250m since 2012. You'd hope that was enough to produce a decent product.
#141
I still dont believe it..
Joined: Oct 2013
Location: 12 degrees north
Posts: 2,775
Re: New car suggestions
Thats a nope on the factory front, i have relatives in oxford who tell me they still sleep on the job, the staff turnover is very high, anyone can get a job, that parts quality is highly suspect as they regularly make hundreds of cars missing some part that failed, and have to leave them in a field for a few weeks then screw on a replacement fixed part, and more importantly they regularly see lines of dead minis on the oxford bypass. They take 1 in x for a roadtest and they die at the roadside... Given the reproducability of part failure usually at the same place :-]. Jd power dont lie, statistically bmw and mini are not a reliable bet. Compare it with nissan in sunderland where nissan say their quality record is the best in their entire company.
#142
Just Joined
Joined: Feb 2016
Location: Norrtalje
Posts: 7
Re: New car suggestions
Because, if you're going to spend a couple of hours a day in the car, you want it to be as much fun as possible. I don't see the merit in having a really fun car (or bike) in the garage while driving an appliance. I hope, of course, to move back to having a mildly fun car to commute and a really fun one in the garage. That depends on the mildly fun car still running whenever the tractor's paid for.
Also you could use the bike to commute weather permitting ! :-)
Hey Pootle, have you decided what the third mystery car will be yet?
#143
I still dont believe it..
Joined: Oct 2013
Location: 12 degrees north
Posts: 2,775
Re: New car suggestions
The m3 used to be very civilised, years ago, i used to drive london to bristol for work 3 times a week, at 6-7am very civilised out in the countryside, everyone giving way, doing a steady 80 in the slow lane and 90 in the fast. The fuzz kept themselves invisible, they knew not to slow it down, as there were never accidents. If the weather got bad or it was dark, sure, they became visible, but there really did seem to be an attitude of keep it moving.
There was the wiltshire stretch where they had static cameras for a while till the dot told them to remove them, the head of police there was apparently always keen to collect cash and punish wrongdoers [thats anyone with a car.]
Now they are introducing distance travelled speed cameras its probably all broken i suspect.
Here, drink driving isnt illegal, and the police have no speed measuring equipment, except possibly a tape measure, but then people who speed excessively die on these roads.
There was the wiltshire stretch where they had static cameras for a while till the dot told them to remove them, the head of police there was apparently always keen to collect cash and punish wrongdoers [thats anyone with a car.]
Now they are introducing distance travelled speed cameras its probably all broken i suspect.
Here, drink driving isnt illegal, and the police have no speed measuring equipment, except possibly a tape measure, but then people who speed excessively die on these roads.
#144
Re: New car suggestions
It's 30 miles and takes 30 minutes on country roads (except for the last two miles, they're urban and slow) and, yes, I do see bikes, they've suddenly reappeared this week. I'm pretty sure that one biker uses an early eighties Dodge Rampage in the winter. An admirably eccentric choice.
#145
Just Joined
Joined: Feb 2016
Location: Norrtalje
Posts: 7
Re: New car suggestions
The m3 used to be very civilised, years ago, i used to drive london to bristol for work 3 times a week, at 6-7am very civilised out in the countryside, everyone giving way, doing a steady 80 in the slow lane and 90 in the fast. The fuzz kept themselves invisible, they knew not to slow it down, as there were never accidents. If the weather got bad or it was dark, sure, they became visible, but there really did seem to be an attitude of keep it moving.
There was the wiltshire stretch where they had static cameras for a while till the dot told them to remove them, the head of police there was apparently always keen to collect cash and punish wrongdoers [thats anyone with a car.]
Now they are introducing distance travelled speed cameras its probably all broken i suspect.
Here, drink driving isnt illegal, and the police have no speed measuring equipment, except possibly a tape measure, but then people who speed excessively die on these roads.
There was the wiltshire stretch where they had static cameras for a while till the dot told them to remove them, the head of police there was apparently always keen to collect cash and punish wrongdoers [thats anyone with a car.]
Now they are introducing distance travelled speed cameras its probably all broken i suspect.
Here, drink driving isnt illegal, and the police have no speed measuring equipment, except possibly a tape measure, but then people who speed excessively die on these roads.
#146
I still dont believe it..
Joined: Oct 2013
Location: 12 degrees north
Posts: 2,775
Re: New car suggestions
Quite right, see, just dont have to do motorways any more... ;-] i used the m3 more recently to portsmouth a lot, but it was the m4 that was civilised...
#147
Re: New car suggestions
I would suggest that Audi would be last. Not that they aren't good cars but they are overpriced. VW is better value for money, and Skoda even better still. I'm not sure where SEAT sits in all this, as we don't get them here in Australia.
#148
I still dont believe it..
Joined: Oct 2013
Location: 12 degrees north
Posts: 2,775
Re: New car suggestions
All VAG cars are made from the same pile of parts, and they all share the same sort of reliability, average really. You can also add lambourghini bugatti, bentley and some of porsche. In the eu vw costs more because it is made by ze germans who are paid more zan ze poles who make schkoda or ze greazeball spaniards who screw together seat.
I know soneone who works in an agency that does their branding 'make a big relatively cheap saloon but it mystnt look as attractive as the german one.' It can perform as well, just look boring... Skoda superb vs vw passat...
I know soneone who works in an agency that does their branding 'make a big relatively cheap saloon but it mystnt look as attractive as the german one.' It can perform as well, just look boring... Skoda superb vs vw passat...
#149
I still dont believe it..
Joined: Oct 2013
Location: 12 degrees north
Posts: 2,775
Re: New car suggestions
There is of course the clever wheeze that you cant get the best bits in a skoda. Want a 4x4 sports convertable saloon with a good v6 or 8, that will be german made sir...
#150
Re: New car suggestions
All VAG cars are made from the same pile of parts, and they all share the same sort of reliability, average really. You can also add lambourghini bugatti, bentley and some of porsche. In the eu vw costs more because it is made by ze germans who are paid more zan ze poles who make schkoda or ze greazeball spaniards who screw together seat.
I know soneone who works in an agency that does their branding 'make a big relatively cheap saloon but it mystnt look as attractive as the german one.' It can perform as well, just look boring... Skoda superb vs vw passat...
I know soneone who works in an agency that does their branding 'make a big relatively cheap saloon but it mystnt look as attractive as the german one.' It can perform as well, just look boring... Skoda superb vs vw passat...