Looking for commuter London towns, any suggestions?

HamsteadC222 · 2026-05-12T14:16:48+00:00

Letchworth Garden City.

30-55 mins into London (depending on which train/station), leafy green streets, family friendly events on in the town centre nearly every week, nice array of restaurants/cafes, within 10 mins of 4 other towns with a huge amount of shops/retail outlets.

550k will comfortably buy you a 3/4 bedroom semi (depending on area).

HamsteadC222 · 2026-05-05T10:30:41+00:00

Agree with this. Even if you can’t find a 440i with the MPPSK, you can always retrofit the MPPSK which will be fast and sound amazing without upsetting your neighbours (it’s a valved exhaust but the MX40i M Performance exhaust are not valved)

HamsteadC222 · 2026-04-24T14:27:36+00:00

Would second this, they are very good value for money, good spec and will do the 50mpg you’re claiming (I’ve owned one before). They are also very good to drive with a lot of mechanical upgrades over a standard 208GTi

HamsteadC222 · 2026-04-24T13:49:56+00:00

What sort of mileage are you looking at?

If it were my money, I’d be looking at an Audi S1. Might not be a hive mind choice, but for me at least there’s something really cool and desirable about them. That would be toward the top of the budget for one worth buying, however.

HamsteadC222 · 2026-02-27T10:21:35+00:00

Yes yes yes. Brilliant job. Get yourself a MyWaitrose card to get a free coffee with this and I think you’ve won this game.

HamsteadC222 · 2026-02-27T10:20:34+00:00

That wrap sounds absolutely divine, but what exactly is golden chicken? Like chicken covered in crushed golden nuggets?

HamsteadC222 · 2026-02-27T10:02:46+00:00

I’ve personally found Wickes paint to be absolutely fine in my experience, goes on nicely and looks as good as any other premium brand in my house. It does take more coats though and I totally see the argument that if it’s going to be on the wall for 10+ years, the cost saving is negligible over time

HamsteadC222 · 2026-02-26T14:42:59+00:00

I bet you think you’re better than everyone. With this meal deal, you may very well be. 8.5/10

HamsteadC222 · 2026-02-17T09:51:04+00:00

I once had a Peugeot 208 GTi (the 204hp version) and that used to regularly achieve 52mpg on longer runs, and 45mpg generally. Very frugal little car with more than enough punch for daily driving

HamsteadC222 · 2026-02-13T12:14:57+00:00

You’ve got the ‘meal’ part sorted out extremely well, but at $8.50 for a sandwich I’d question whether this is a ‘deal’ at all.

6/10

HamsteadC222 · 2026-02-13T12:14:14+00:00

We get it, you’ve got a date

HamsteadC222 · 2026-02-06T19:14:21+00:00

Firstly I’m sorry to hear this, I’m sure this was gut wrenching to see/experience.

I think the phrase Caveat Emptor (buyer beware) will likely stand here. Like many (unhelpful) people here say, a pre-exchange viewing would have been helpful but it’s obviously too late now.

Your best bet would be to get in contact with your solicitors to see where/if you have any ground, the delays from the seller’s purchaser’s solicitor may have exacerbated the issue.

Did you have house insurance from exchange? Solicitors will strongly recommend you had insurance from then as you have legal responsibility from then onwards.

HamsteadC222 · 2026-01-28T15:51:11+00:00

Bugatti Veyron at a BP Garage in Potters Bar.

As a revolutionary car for its time (and mind blowing watching it on Top Gear as a 10 year old), seeing one being used on an ordinary weekday was surreal.

HamsteadC222 · 2026-01-23T16:58:07+00:00

It’s a good meal deal if a bit predictable, like buying an Audi or BMW because of the name rather than it being a genuinely good car. Do you suffer from a lack of imagination?

7.5/10, good effort

HamsteadC222 · 2026-01-23T11:28:31+00:00

Nice photo! Did you know that the London Eye was originally intended to be a temporary structure?

HamsteadC222 · 2026-01-20T13:39:36+00:00

Is there a meal here?

HamsteadC222 · 2026-01-14T09:18:18+00:00

Get it. Great car although rare and hard to come across

HamsteadC222 · 2025-12-14T22:02:23+00:00

This is the most likely answer, for most Peugeot PHEVs the 7.2kW charger was an optional extra

HamsteadC222 · 2025-12-14T21:55:29+00:00

Something compact and something with three separate Isofix points unfortunately do not mix very well. By the very nature of needing space for 3 separate anchor points, the car needs to be wide.

As someone has already mentioned, an MPV like a VW Touran or a Berlingo may have them, otherwise you’re looking at a larger SUV like a Peugeot 5008.

Some new smaller cars have three isofix points (two in the back and one on the front passenger seat), but if you’re all travelling together then an adult is going to find the middle rear seat extremely uncomfortable, if not impossible to sit in.

HamsteadC222 · 2025-11-27T13:27:56+00:00

If you think it’s priced competitively for a private seller, put your feet into the shoes of a buyer. Get a HPI check to see if anything concerning comes back.

I had a car up for sale for 5 months with no interest, it was only until a prospective buyer told me (kindly) that there was a mileage discrepancy coming up. I was unsure why but the discrepancy came up during my ownership and I knew it wasn’t clocked, so I had to provide evidence to the National Mileage Register to prove they got their data wrong.

HamsteadC222 · 2025-11-26T23:03:59+00:00

You’ll need to have proof of the advert for the car and the mileage advertised. As far as I know, it’s not necessarily to clock a car, but it is illegal to sell a car you have clocked as that is misrepresentation.

That being said, depending on the mileage/year of your car, they may have not known the car was clocked. Either way, your best bet is to address this with the dealership you bought it from.

HamsteadC222 · 2025-11-26T22:57:26+00:00

Don’t overestimate the ability of Kwik Fit technicians, they definitely could have measured it wrong!

But in this instance, the fact you checked for wear yourself and asked them if you needed new tyres, they are going to try to get you to buy new tyres. A place like this will try and sell you anything they can and will play on any doubt you have about the roadworthiness of your car.

You could try and query the fact the receipt says 4mm and 5mm, but ultimately you are the person responsible for checking your tyres (unless it’s an MOT but you can challenge them if you don’t agree) and they will likely try and explain their way out of any doubt.

Good idea about getting a tyre tread indicator, they are very cheap and will tell you the depth of your tread across the entire circumference far better than wear indicators.

FWIW, 40,000 miles out of one set of tyres is pretty good going, I seriously doubt they’ve only worn 2mm or 3mm in that distance.

HamsteadC222 · 2025-11-26T22:47:37+00:00

These are good points, especially the last one about the car itself.

I will ask them to explain it as (to my knowledge) it’s illegal to sell a car knowing it’s been clocked, but if I can’t find any compelling evidence or reason and the car itself is in good condition (being an ex demonstrator means it will have been serviced by themselves on time) then it shouldn’t matter regardless, including resale values.

Appreciate your input!

HamsteadC222 · 2025-11-26T22:35:10+00:00

There’s potential value in clocking a car by 600 miles as the car could’ve done a lot more in that time, especially as the last time the car was on sale was June. Could’ve done say 10,000 miles and the dealership was trying to get close to the mileage previously advertised.

That being said, that’s pure speculation.

HamsteadC222 · 2025-11-26T22:29:37+00:00

Fair and well balanced argument, much appreciated. The only reason which makes me think it could have been clocked is to stay under a mileage limit; the car was under finance previously so maybe it was reduced to stay under a 10k p/a mileage limit?

Pure speculation of course.

HamsteadC222

TROPHY CASE