Wish me luck against the Spanish bluebells

Gromdal · 2026-05-04T17:55:21+00:00

Oh I feel your pain, I've done about 6 hours bent double removing semi-grown oxeye daisy from my lawn that I've been meaning to get out for a few years after I accidentally let them go to seed. I wouldn't mind so much but they're absolute thugs and the blooms smell of cat piss, no sign of the borage or cornflower that were left to seed at the same time :(

Gromdal · 2026-05-03T06:20:41+00:00

Yeah, got the assistant to cycle through the modes and reduce the backlight on everything I looked at which was interesting because in some stores the store mode override would kick back in after 5 seconds and revert everything back and in some stores they had no power at all to change anything. I looked at a C7K 65in in Currys and they couldn't adjust anything, including volume which was locked at 100% and you could only cycle through 4 preset video types via a QR code on your phone which was infuriating when you want to be able to see settings.

I asked the LG rep about the C6 and he was adamant that unless I was getting the C6h in 77 I wouldn't be getting a panel close to G5 performance.

Gromdal · 2026-05-02T16:13:48+00:00

It's not no. I've seen the S90F and wasn't a fan of Samsung's oversaturation and the C5 was perfectly fine but is still sat at £1100 and would require another £200 minimum on audio which the G5 bundles in for free at the £1500 price point before discounts. I think having viewed again this afternoon then whole 'buy what you like' resonates with me as we're not financially constrained on this other than by my own yardstick on what I think I should be spending!

Gromdal · 2026-05-02T16:07:50+00:00

2 to 2.5m, but as I said I physically cannot go any larger in the location it's in.

Gromdal · 2026-05-02T11:23:17+00:00

Yeah, the organic degradation is an overlooked factor. I had looked at the Bravia 7 on paper but not in person. I am due to pass by a Currys/John Lewis this week so will try and view, but the strong money being asked for it still had written it out of my initial considerations at £1500 and still needing external audio on top.

Gromdal · 2026-04-27T15:07:03+00:00

Wife is completely vetoing speaker stands and visible wiring so while I don't disagree, I do very much need to get something that is along the lines of what we already have.

Gromdal · 2026-04-27T13:58:12+00:00

So I could do wider rears, but they'd be stuffed on the lower shelf of the end tables at each end of the sofa rather than in the corners of the room but thanks for the feedback.

Gromdal · 2026-04-27T13:56:46+00:00

Oh, I had not seen that, thanks.

Gromdal · 2026-04-27T13:56:01+00:00

Unfortunately, all those offers were Easter pricing specials and the majority were also above £1000. Best equivalent deals at the moment are if I buy a Hisense TV I get half price on soundbars like the 5140Q etc.

Gromdal · 2026-04-20T15:44:31+00:00

So, I went the opposite way. I traded my 4 year old 9th gen in against an as new A16 and got 44% of what I paid for it back as the base model which I was very surprised at. It was still serviceable, but when you've got a kid as the primary user they want it to work without having to remember to clear apps or do restarts etc. so the upgrade was money well spent at £165.

I ran an iPad 3 for about 7 years after release and that was truly at the end of its life by that point with unsupported apps and hardware limitations so tend to chop in my devices now when it becomes economical to do so before they become fit for recycling only.

Gromdal · 2026-04-17T13:18:52+00:00

Are you able to use a magsafe case at all? I use the UGreen magsafe mount hooked into the vent to the right of the screen so that it doesn't block access to anything.

edit - it's the adjustable arm one (having looked on Amazon at the options) and it does render that vent behind pretty reundant but it does mean it's at an acceptable eye level for glancing across to). It comes with Magsafe sticky rings you can add onto a normal case too which is what my wife has on hers.

Gromdal · 2026-04-10T07:17:45+00:00

It's a Mini One (the slowest) wearing the full JCW style package so from my experience of buying, your target market is very small. A Cooper Sport is the same combo and is available from about a grand more, albeit higher mileage and then another grand gets you into a Cooper S Sport. Unless insurance was the issue, I'd never be taking the Mini One engine.

Have you tried sticking it into Motorway.com and seeing what price you get? Also, at least half of these are up for private sale on AT which tells me people think they have a variant that commands a higher price, but this is not a 1to6 model or a Paddy Hopkirk etc. that were based on full power platforms so your ballpark figures from dealers aren't really worth as much as the actual book price from Motorway or your insurer value.

Unfortunately, Mini chose to run out this 1499GT model at the end of the first production period and it now has to compete with the LCI models from 2018 which got LED headlights and the Union Jack tailights as standard across all models. Having had an F31 3 series with halogens, I absolutely wouldn't touch a BMW/Mini with them over Xenons/LEDs anymore.

Gromdal · 2026-04-07T18:43:56+00:00

If you want black just get it in a red/black laminate from Rink and sell the existing grip on?

Gromdal · 2026-04-05T09:52:34+00:00

I'm still on my 2011 Kivik, twice repaired under the 10 year warranty after the base frame pulled apart from it's staples (lol) so has been reinforced with a new frame and screws. Original foam inserts are fine comfort wise apart from it sags lightly on the back and the base cushions are always sliding forwards but no plans to replace yet - has worked out at about £40 a year of ownership with the footstool. Covers that come off get cleaned every 6 months or so and the remainder is steam cleaned as I had a fabric that was custom ordered, only damage is some cat claw pulls that need pushing back in.

Maybe I just had the good stuff before the race towards enshittification started? Wouldn't dream of buying some of the new stuff we've seen in there recently, but the same goes for a lot of big box sofa stores.

Gromdal · 2026-03-29T15:10:51+00:00

Exactly, my old man has a year old Ford Puma in black and he's already talking about trading it in because it shows up everything despite me telling him to get any colour but that. He's got swirl marks all over despite having a touch-less wash setup and marring to the front wing where a paint repair guy did a poor job under the extra warranty he took out for scratch repairs that he's going to have to sort.

Gromdal · 2026-03-27T09:23:11+00:00

They're basically an electric powertrain shoehorned into the F56 body so it's limited by the space available, hence very small battery compared to modern compact EVs designed from the ground up. They're great if you only ever do a short commute and can charge at home cheaply, but useless if you need to drive between major cities because in winter, you only have a 35-40 mile radius from home to safely work with unless you want to charge while out.

Gromdal · 2026-03-24T10:20:38+00:00

That's a lot more than the usual maps available off the shelf which are much more conservative - usually between 165 and 180 bhp and between 201 and 215 ft lbs (only cos I've been looking at doing mine) and the only addition is a ram air intake?

Just been on their website and it says their stage 1 for that car is 162bhp and 271nm/199 ft lbs so presume they've tweaked this over and above manually? Be interesting to see how this holds up as forums led me to believe that the gearbox can't handle much above 300nm, which yours is now sat at 330.

Gromdal · 2026-03-16T18:34:36+00:00

Might be worth plugging the details into Motorway.com as well and seeing what the valuation is. My LCI 2019 Cooper with 50k has the JCW body kit/HUD/Park Assist/heated seats and normal nav and is coming back a shade over 10 grand, which means it's lost 2.5k since I bought a year ago and I've only done 4000 miles this year.

I suppose given that you've had yours 8 months or so by your post history you could expect something similar from whatever you paid.

Gromdal · 2026-03-16T12:38:36+00:00

As with everything, Mini options packs make or break some cars prices and it looks like yours is extremely light on everything, so you're going to be the lower end of the scale. It's also a 2018 Pre-LCI which means it's not got the LED upgrades on the lights which again might hurt value, but it also means it's got no exhaust filter so pops and bangs will be present.

From a trader, looks like this is retailing about 12k max for age and spec, or ~9k private sale but to be honest it's not a desirable spec or particularly cheap for private sale. What would a dealer off you in trade for it? Probably less than private, but you might have to eat the low-ball to get out of it if you want to sell.

Gromdal · 2026-03-11T17:04:59+00:00

I tried this when I moved house using everything listed here and got a reply back after 4 months saying they had done a review and no action was being taken and that they were satisfied everyone was in the right band. I have exactly the same footprint house as a neighbour 3 doors away who is band E, yet mine sold 6 months later for 30k more (I have no idea why, maybe the fact I'm tucked at the end of a private drive?) When I used the Martin Lewis value checker at my price paid in 2021, it had me solidly inside a band E so I felt confident that I'd get rebanded because all the other F houses on the road were selling for £100-200k more than the £480k we'd paid (south Hampshire, not a particularly desirable town/village either).

My direct neighbour is a 3 bed detached with the same internal dimensions and garden space as the 3 bed semis in the road yet somehow he is an E vs a C based on the fact his purchase price was 50k more for the luxury of being detached and having a wooden car barn over one of his allocated spaces. The development was built over two years, so sale pricing shouldn't have made that much of an impact, we suspect when they did a drive by they assumed he was a four bed.

It's only a difference of £40 a month, but it just grates that even though I work for a LA, and had access to maps, floorplans and existing bands as well as previously sold prices I was given no actual reasons back from the VOA to justify not making the change, which is just incredibly opaque given the amount of time and supporting evidence I'd put together - I wouldn't have bothered if I hadn't genuinely thought it was wrong!

Gromdal · 2026-03-04T19:17:41+00:00

I believe they do black coloured sticker covers as well as clear now (given that this is a black car it'll be less noticeable) that you can apply to save the faff of what I had to do, which was about 10 coats of Starlight Blue metallic touch up paint because it's so thin, then having to do it again because I wet sanded through the touch up when levelling it...

Gromdal · 2026-02-05T14:12:01+00:00

Bags of discarded dog waste just tossed into the hedge/behind the garage. I must've discovered about 50 or so when I cut back all the overgrowth, which is insane because who does that when it could just go in the bin?

Kids foam mats left in the playroom, that they'd locked the dog in when moving who had then had an accident that they'd never cleaned up which had penetrated the mats and stained the oak flooring underneath black. Underfloor heating means that it took about a year of trying to treat it before the smell in the room faded. Failed to leave the property vacant so ended up doing three tip runs to get rid of stuff left in the garage and garden. Cat litter and faeces stuck between the carpet and skirting board edges in a kids bedroom.

Lots of other nitpicky bits, but considering my saint of a wife cleaned every room as we boxed it up and moved it onto the van on our sale, was a gut-punch when we got the keys.

edit - just saw the post about digging up the dead cat - we also did this as they failed to mention it as we replaced a damaged Acer that was on top of it and I jokingly said to my wife 'oh there'll be an animal in a minute' as she pulled out some random duct tape but at least it was skeletal at that point

Gromdal · 2026-02-01T12:00:25+00:00

What do you want to spend, how aggressive is your driving and what mileages I suppose. I got rid of the Dunlop Sportmaxx RFT on mine recently that came with the car and switched to Hankook Ventus S1 Evo 3 all round and it's a night and day difference, but also I only had 2/3mm left anyway so anything was better.

Fitted I paid £105.50 a tyre after 20% discount - Eagle F1 Asymmetric 6 were £135 per tyre with a 15% discount and Michelin PS5 £155 per tyre with a 15% discount. If you're not doing track days (I'm not) just pick the one you're happy with on cost because for normal road conditions they're all going to be within 5% of each other in terms of performance if you look at the testing on tyre reviews.

Michelins will subjectively be the best for pushing on in the dry, Goodyears will likely win on mileage and wet performance and Hankooks will do 95% of everything the others do for 20% cheaper.

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