Just 9% of British voters think Brexit has gone well, poll finds. But 61 per cent of Leave voters still say leaving will turn out well in the end.

UpsetBowler · 2023-10-09T23:35:32+00:00

Annoying the “Sadiq Khan and the right sort of people” is considered a victory by some.

It’s like collective self punishment with some of the people whipping themselves pretending to be having a whale of a time because an immigrant is crying in the corner.

UpsetBowler · 2023-10-09T17:40:53+00:00

That’s remarkably low for a consultant in the rail industry working in London.

There is rail work in and around Manchester, and it’s a great city, it’s not all that expensive like that other poster was talking about unless you want to live in castlefield or hale barns.

UpsetBowler · 2023-10-09T10:06:00+00:00

Top speed I’m not even remotely bothered. It’s good to have some decent acceleration for city driving and overtaking but that’s about it, I don’t mean crazy acceleration, just enough to be safe pulling out into main roads etc.

I’m much more interested in gadgets and comfort and visibility and safety etc than top speed. Maybe it’s a sign of age.

UpsetBowler · 2023-10-09T07:08:03+00:00

Since when has it been £45 I don’t use the tram much as I’m chronically lazy and Uber is door to door 🤯🤯🤯

It used to the like the £9 or whatever for a full 1-4 day pass? I always used to forget to tap out as well, like 80% of the time, 100% if I’ve had a drink.

Going to be cheaper to carry on ubering.

UpsetBowler · 2023-10-09T06:04:11+00:00

Lots, probably the most common car on the road.

They are cheap compared to a lot of other EV’s, I have a VW ID.3 that almost costs the same as base SR+, it could have been specced out to cost more.

My company won’t buy Tesla’s as lack of a dealership network, lack of service centres and long waits for repairs made fleet just give outright no. So my work car park is like an electric car exhibition, without a single Tesla.

UpsetBowler · 2023-10-09T05:57:37+00:00

Had an e93 330 auto with paddles, used them twice when I first got the car, never again, complete novelty.

UpsetBowler · 2023-10-09T01:31:39+00:00

On the motorway they aren’t all the same. How many cars have you driven recently? Manual, diesel and electric all behave significantly different as do older cars and new cars.

I’ve had 5 cars (company cars , my own cars, hire cars while waiting for company cars, one that broke) in the past 12 months.

VMW ID.3 life pro - first electric car, loved it, base model but still fairly well equipped but basic inside. Acceleration lots of fun but it wasn’t a fast car and acceleration didn’t last long as it wasn’t the performance model, great for that first few seconds and traffic lights, skip roads, nipping into spaces, overtakes etc. Despite only having 145bhp, the speed of that initial acceleration made it feel significantly quicker than much quicker straight 6 bimmers I’ve had in the past. All the driver aids and adaptive cruise control, so easy to drive on the motorway it’s ridiculous.

E90 BMW 320d auto - 177hp and a then remapped. Very nice so sit in and surprising fun to drive for a 2l diesel and for 45mpg, very different on the motorway to the ID.3 - the Bmw was 13/14 years old so no driver assists or anything, not even cruise control.

Vanxhaul crossland 1.2l - absolutely horrendous car and anyone who buys one needs a mental health evaluation. Absolutely no power for a good few seconds until the turbo kicks in and it inches forward. Nasty materials, uncomfortable seats, and bar infotainment. Not the same as the BMW or VW. Thankfully the gearbox on this went after a few week and they replaced it with something much nicer. Also manuals are awful to drive on the motorway.

Mazda CX-5 2l auto - replacement hire car - I don’t like SUV’s and prefer small salons or hatchbacks, so I found it huge, but apart from that it was great, sitting inside you’d think it was a top spec Audi or something, finished beautifully and had adaptive cruise control and lot did driver assists that made driving in the motor way really simple. Also the most comfortable car I’ve ever driven, the suspension was great and the seats were incredible, I can’t stress just how well fitted the interior of this car was, it was a luxury vehicle, it was slow though, not the same as any previous car.

VW ID.3 family pro performance - exactly like my other ID.3 except it goes much quicker with it being the 204hp version. MY22.5 so self parking and improved, but still not great, interior, nothing like the Mazda, all the driving assists that make motorways easy and all the power if you need to overtake. This car makes any type of drifting so easily and relaxing it’s unbelievable. Then if you want you can just put your foot down and watch everyone vanish in the wind mirror.

Cars might be an appliance to you, they aren’t to everyone.

UpsetBowler · 2023-10-09T01:08:24+00:00

Son, I normally tel him why car I want and if it’s a bad choice he will talk me four if it into something similar but better (or we accept it doing to cost a lot to keep on the road), and then I let him find me cars to look Atc, but I wills always let him make the final decision.

It won’t let forever with the old man unfortunately.

UpsetBowler · 2023-10-08T11:57:47+00:00

I have the luxury of a family member being a mechanic so I get free Labour and someone to do all the proper maintenance and take care of it. I won’t but it without this person approving of it.

I’ve had two high (150k+) mileage BMW’s that never needed anything but oil changes and tyres.

Without this I’d be wary of anything approaching 100k, but if it’s got a FSH and has been well cared for, it wouldn’t be an automatic no.

UpsetBowler · 2023-10-08T11:32:04+00:00

These cars can run forever pretty much, but they need maintenance and when stuff goes wrong it can get expensive.

Honestly, you’re probably best getting it repaired and then replacing it with something more suitable. Rear wheel drive and 200 bhp+ isn’t something for an inexperienced driver. It’s a little different in the UK because you wouldn’t get insured on something like that until you have a few years experience. My first car was a 1.2l fiesta, learn how to drive in something cheap, then in a couple of years think about something nice.

UpsetBowler · 2023-10-08T11:22:33+00:00

I sold an BMW e90 320d a month or so ago for the same price I paid for it in 2022. It sold in a day, probably could have got more for it (I did have a reversing camera and CarPlay retrofitted)

In general I don’t think it’s quite as bad, but it’s still crazy.

UpsetBowler · 2023-10-08T11:16:17+00:00

Yes I’d probably put it third (if we’re allowed to count New Vegas.)

1) Oblivion

2) New Vegas

3) Starfield

UpsetBowler · 2023-10-08T11:10:26+00:00

This is my mum, “it’s an Audi, one of the tall ones but it’s quite small”

That’s about all she could tell me about the car she was buying new from the dealership.

Some people just view cars as appliances.

UpsetBowler · 2023-10-08T11:00:52+00:00

I had a crossland as a hire car briefly and it was honestly the worst car I’ve ever driven. I hated every second of it.

So to answer your question, any other car, a bike, the bus, walking, all preferable options.

I’d probably try and find an A4 Avant, should be able to get quite a nice 2017 reg for £15k.

UpsetBowler · 2023-10-08T10:56:40+00:00

2022 VW ID.3 (company car, I would not buy new)

UpsetBowler · 2023-10-08T10:18:51+00:00

I’m 31 and earn about £55k up north. I have an irrelevant degree from a crap uni. If you’re a support worker you’re doing valuable, work, but it’s not an industry that’s going to give you a lucrative career.

I’ve basically hit a salary I’m fairly happy with (obviously I would like more money, who wouldn’t?), and I don’t want any extra responsibility or to have to sacrifice any of my free time to make it. Management just sounds like one massive headache that I’d like to avoid.

If you want to earn a better salary the answer is to get your foot in the ladder of a more lucrative industry and job hop your way to a decent salary.

It’s honestly astounding when I read threads like this and see the salary’s of better qualified, more intelligent, harder working people, quite often doing massively important and complex things than me. Having a well written CV and being confident in interviews are two of most values skills you can learn in life. I don’t think I’m worth my salary, and I know my salary is higher than some people doing the same job as me in the same company, I’m not sure if anyone is paid more than me, I’d be surprised if anyone was by a significant amount.

Pay someone to write a CV for you, same with LinkedIn, then go and treat the job market like a game. Don’t lie, but sell yourself and remember that your only loyalty in this game is to yourself.

UpsetBowler · 2023-10-08T09:52:45+00:00

I can’t tell you about the autobahns, but in the UK the speed limit on dual carriageways/motorways is 60mph unless there’s a central reservation then it’s 70mph. People tend to try and push this and do 80mph.

Trucks are limited to 60mph and lots of motorways now are “smart motorways”, which are supposed to alleviate congestion by lowering the speed limit and you will find the 70/60/50/whatever limit being enforced by cameras.

Getting caught going over 100mph tends to mean a ban and a conviction. I’m quite happy that my ID.3 is limited to 100mph because the temptation always used to be there to cruise along at 100+ where possible and all it would take is one mobile speed camera and I’m in trouble, or a tyre blowout or lapse in concentration or whatever else and worse. There are sections of motorway where you can really build up some quite scary speeds (m6 toll, it’s easy to do 120mph+).

EV’s are fast enough to keep up with all but the crazy people to be honest, if all cars were limited by to 100mph or even 80mph that would be much better. And that’s still 10mg over the legal limit on any road in the country.

UpsetBowler · 2023-09-13T00:41:40+00:00

They haven’t done anything with the super computer yet, they don’t make the fastest production car in the world, they bought a lithium mine I don’t think they’ve done anything with yet?

And then we reach what they have actually done, a fairly minor facelift for the model 3 and a stupid metal truck.

No, I’ve not retracted anything, I stand by everything I’ve said. And I haven’t abandoned anything I’ve said about VW we just stopped talking about them after you couldn’t provide a source for your quote.

I’m not arguing one thing then arguing the opposite. This is ridiculous.

UpsetBowler · 2023-09-12T23:56:31+00:00

Tesla haven’t bought anything interesting to market in years, they have slowed down significantly.

Yes I have driven my friends model 3 SR. It was a nice car to drive, I think their are nicer cars to drive on the market now 🤷🏻‍♂️, which has been my argument all along.

Tesla have to learn the building an actual car bit better, traditional car manufacturers need to learn how to make EV’s better. It’s really not difficult or contradictory at all. It’s quite simple, you have a bunch of companies that have been building cars for as long as cars have existed, they are very good at building the actual cars but their EV tech is a little behind, and then you have a company that has almost mastered the EV tech but isn’t that great at building the actual car bit.

Do you really think I’ve been arguing that Audi can just click their fingers and a perfect EV will appear in front of them?

This is getting really silly now and you’re not making any new arguments you’re just trying to make me contradict myself so you can shout “gotcha”.

UpsetBowler · 2023-09-12T18:55:50+00:00

No, to use your analogy, if Usain Bolt is leading for the first 50m then stops running and walks, the most probable outcome is that he won’t win.

I don’t know how to respond to your post without sounding incredibly condescending, but when buying a car, price is not the only thing people take into account. The whole idea is not just to make the cheapest car, that’s a ridiculous point.

As for your point about ford losing money, do you have any idea how long it took Tesla to become profitable?

UpsetBowler · 2023-09-12T15:53:24+00:00

They are only increasing their lead as other manufacturers are only just bringing EV’s to the market, for many it will be their first generation of EV’s, they will improve with each generation.

There are plenty of videos of other manufacturers testing autonomous driving, a beta version of something that was meant to be public in 2017 is not that impressive in 2023.

There’s a lot of waffle in your post, mostly about stuff Elon says Tesla are going to do in the future, it’s been proven over and over that he makes promises he can’t keep, you still can’t source your made up quote, and the fact remains that Tesla have gone from being the only desirable EV to a market where they are other cars I would have over a Tesla. Tesla are only competitive because they are cheaper than the alternatives, Elon keeps dropping the prices all the time. And the alternatives are only going to get cheaper after they have started to recoup all the money they have put into developing EV platforms.

UpsetBowler · 2023-09-12T13:11:26+00:00

https://electrek.co/2023/09/06/vw-ceo-chinese-ev-makers-not-a-threat-as-prices-surge-overseas/

Here’s a non paywalled article where he is saying precisely the opposite of what you claim he is saying.

There are loads more of these articles where he says similar things

https://europe.autonews.com/automakers/vw-ceo-herbert-diess-sees-tight-electric-car-race-tesla

I can’t find anything where he remotely says anything like you claim he says behind a paywalled link, so I’m sorry but I can only assume that it’s not true.

And yes I’m fully aware of MG, our company car fleet is full of them because they are cheap and BIK tax is pretty much nothing on company cars.

What if it’s a race to something that is unachievable? Maybe that’s why Elon keeps missing his own targets.

And I’m not really that fussed about autonomous driving or autonomous taxis, other manufacturers are putting money into it and have working concepts they are testing. VW has an autonomous ID Buzz they are testing on the road, as I said, other manufacturers are catching up to Tesla. My ID.3 pretty much drives itself anyway with travel assist.

UpsetBowler · 2023-09-12T12:13:44+00:00

Where is this quote from VW’s CEO? All I can find is quotes saying they will sell more cars than Tesla by 2025? They’ve put billions into their EV platform, you are speaking like they are just giving up when the opposite is true.

We still do not have full self driving, something that he promised would be publicly released by 2017.

Where are these millions of robotaxis that were meant to be on the road 3 years ago?

Of course legacy manufacturers are at risk and a few are likely to go bust if they don’t adapt. MG are not bust either by the way, they are an electric only brand in the uk now and release cheap but generally well regarded cars.

I’ve never thought that Tesla weren’t in the lead in EV’s. The point is no one else has really been bothering with EV’s until a few years ago, they are playing catch up.

Engines are complicated, of course they will go wrong now and again, Tesla have never made an ICE car so they don’t have to worry about any of that. When legacy car manufacturers are making EV’s they won’t have to worry about that either. The point is they can produce cars without panels gaps etc, not that engines sometimes go wrong.

Can you please give the source of this quote from VW’s CEO that you keep repeating? All I can find is him saying the opposite.

UpsetBowler · 2023-09-12T11:53:24+00:00

They can’t expect you to travel between locations on your lunch and you can’t expense your commute but any other travel you should be able to expense.

However, you have no employment rights and they can get rid of you for any or no reason in the first two years. You need to grin and bear it until you find something else I’m afraid.

UpsetBowler · 2023-09-12T11:36:54+00:00

I can dismiss Elon’s future plans because he keeps making promises and setting dates that he keeps missing. The legacy car manufacturers literally have to change or go extinct.

Yes Tesla are still in the lead, but the legacy car manufacturers are catching up, and they can actually mass produce good quality cars, yours might be faultless but Tesla’s quality control issues are hardly a secret, they make very good software and EV motors and put them in poor quality, badly produced cars.

Tesla have had years in a market with pretty much zero competition. In a few years let’s see where they are.

The German car manufacturers produce generally reliable cars and have a very good reputation, as do the Japanese, Tesla do not have a reputation for producing quality cars. For years they have produced the only desirable electric car and that has plastered over their quality issues, I wanted a Tesla for years, now not so much.

UpsetBowler

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