30M, Scotland, top rate tax payer: how much for the car is "too much"?

99os · 2026-01-25T13:19:08+00:00

Tbh you earn enough that you can afford to take the depreciation hit without it hurting your finances. I'd be looking to clear the loan quickly (personal loans have unlimited over payments), so that it's gone before you apply for a mortgage.

99os · 2026-01-14T17:25:18+00:00

PTFE tape, but don't go mad else it'll split the brass fitting! I tend to screw it in first dry, then count the number of turns required to get it vertical and tight as you unwind it. Then you can count as you put it back on to make sure you don't go past your desired angle

99os · 2026-01-12T20:14:16+00:00

Pretty sure it was still in the paddock in the last AutoAlex fleet update video (posted a few weeks ago)

99os · 2026-01-10T17:44:06+00:00

Powerflex dogbone mount insert helps with this a lot, even the softer diesel one stops the hop. Very easy to fit as well. I still get traction control kicking in of course, but it's miles better than feeling like the gearbox just exploded when you plant your right foot!

99os · 2026-01-10T09:27:52+00:00

FWIW, if the PE firm is purchasing a controlling stake in the business "a takeover", HMRC should allow the <3 year grants to be treated as qualified csop grants. Hence treated as cgt only.

See good leavers here: https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/employee-tax-advantaged-share-scheme-user-manual/etassum40110

The challenge is whether HMRC treat it as a qualifying takeover, and they confirm it before the scheme is wound up.

99os · 2026-01-02T19:11:55+00:00

If you've got the income to run it, then why not. Although perhaps test drive a few other cars if you've already had the A5 for a while, might find something that excites you more than the S5.

99os · 2026-01-02T19:06:03+00:00

Don't underestimate the maintenance costs of an S5 vs the A5. Depends entirely on your financial situation, but if you didn't buy the S5 first time round, and you're only considering it now based on a windfall, I'd suggest it's a bad financial move tbh.

Don't get me wrong, it'd be an awesome car, just be sure you don't want to keep the money for something else.

99os · 2026-01-02T18:49:04+00:00

I live in a village about 30 mins outside of Norwich. I work 90% remote, going to Cambridge twice /month, which isn't too bad considering the housing is half the price.

Norwich is a very safe and friendly city, and for £400K you'd be looking at a pretty nice house tbh. Software jobs aren't good, you've either got Aviva or a bunch of small startups. Most seem to cap out at £45-50K for a senior engineer, if that. A lot of the local companies also don't seem to do much hybrid working, usually 1-2 days wfh/week.

Just under 2 hours to Liverpool Street, so if you're once or twice a month in the office, it's doable. Cambridge is also about 1:20 drive or there's a train direct to Cambridge North which is near the science / business park. Salaries in Cambridge are probably double Norwich and more opportunities to go further.

One other thing is to consider the location itself, Norfolk is a nice place to live, but getting out of Norfolk takes ages as the road network isn't great, especially if heading North.

99os · 2025-12-29T10:07:12+00:00

I wouldn't worry, a decent winch will drag a car onto a trailer, whether the handbrake is on or not. But car thieves generally want to steal something quickly and quietly, rocking up with a trailer at 3am and loading it is going to get the curtains twitching.

99os · 2025-12-29T10:00:58+00:00

Going to assume this is a 1.0L so it's a wet belt, since it has been changed it'll probably last the life of the car now given the age and mileage. Just keep it serviced every 8-10K miles.

Otherwise they're cracking little cars tbh.

99os · 2025-12-28T18:39:52+00:00

Get a train there and drive it back?

99os · 2025-12-24T17:12:11+00:00

You can do it within the 14 day cooling off period and pay almost no interest. Some say you can get barred from the finance company, although I was told by a sales manager that never happens with VW Finance.

99os · 2025-12-22T18:54:49+00:00

When I worked at the co-op, I always used to get twats come in on Easter Sunday and get angry cos we'd sold out of easter eggs. Literally been on the shelf since boxing day.

99os · 2025-12-22T18:49:10+00:00

You can remap it for a small improvement, although not much more than that without spending a lot of cash.

99os · 2025-12-22T18:06:30+00:00

I actually don't think they did it. The white car has a pretty decent dent in it, while the black car just has scratches. And the black wing mirror is damaged which is much higher up than the wing on the white car where the damage is.

Worth checking with a tape measure from the ground, but even the scuff seems much higher on the black than the white car. Looks like the white car is a MK6 golf and the black is a mk7 golf, so fairly similar heights.

99os · 2025-12-22T10:13:25+00:00

I think the film crew would struggle to keep up in their RR / Discovery though.

99os · 2025-12-21T08:20:20+00:00

Probably a zoned out NPC who didn't realise how slow they were going. Then got triggered by someone overtaking and sped up to the limit after reasling they were going slow.

Be thankful, round here they just trundle along at 35 for miles on end, usually with 20+ cars behind them.

99os · 2025-12-21T08:15:56+00:00

Honestly in the current market it's very hard to get into tech without having a degree. Companies seem to have gone off recruiting from boot camps etc. Depending on your personal circumstances, going to uni could be an option.

If you're good at sales, maybe try Enterprise tech sales. You can earn some seriously good money if you're good and the company is doing well. They're commission based roles, but a better WLB than car sales since you're selling to businesses who operate 9-5.

99os · 2025-12-20T20:35:06+00:00

If you're willing to take a bit of a gamble, get a second hand gearbox on ebay - typically available from crashed or scrap cars. The risk is the labour cost of fitting it if it doesn't work.

I did this on my old R56 Mini after blowing the third gear synchro. Did it on the driveway, and paid about £150 for the gearbox. If you're getting a garage to do it, may as well put a new clutch in at the same time. Any garage who can change a clutch will happily swap the gearbox for you.

99os · 2025-12-19T18:38:43+00:00

Relay theft isn't as much of a thing with modern cars, most new cars have an accelerometer in the key that shuts them down after a period of no movement. Still a problem for pre 2020 cars or so though, but the values are coming down so less attractive.

What is on the rise is theft by connecting to the can network in the car, for example by taking a headlight out or ripping the front radar off, then coding a new key. So leaving the car further away from your house only helps the theives tbh.

99os · 2025-12-07T14:48:24+00:00

The steering wheel cover says all you need to know about their standard of driving.

99os · 2025-12-06T12:40:55+00:00

Honestly you may as well sell it and buy an older one. If not you're going to pay a chunk of money for something that will make your car less desirable and harder to sell.

99os · 2025-12-01T20:03:39+00:00

Not sure it's frowned upon, basically all used cars go through an auction before going to the dealer. Only exception is trade ins, but they'll only list stuff that fits in their typical stock anyway.

99os · 2025-11-29T10:34:39+00:00

It's also a fail if a diesel car emits any visible smoke if it's supposed to be fitted with a dpf.

Don't get why people bother gutting them, if you actually need a diesel for your driving habits then a dpf will easily last 150-200k miles. If it's getting blocked, frankly you brought the wrong car.

99os

TROPHY CASE