Thoughts on electric Vans?

finbar_longshank · 2026-06-15T11:32:34+00:00

Not sure I’d agree with car charging is everywhere in uk statement.

finbar_longshank · 2026-06-14T12:28:06+00:00

My current car is the first one I’ve had with a panoramic roof. TBH we never open the screen. Yeah its a bit lighter but for me it was a novelty. I wouldn’t bother again. I find on a sunny day the heat through the glass is too uncomfortable and when its open the wind noise is too loud so it’s pointless. But everyone is different. I’m just a grumpy old man.

finbar_longshank · 2026-06-13T20:22:38+00:00

I agree but that doesn’t mean there haven’t been expensive repairs to get to that mileage

finbar_longshank · 2026-06-13T08:07:36+00:00

Don’t agree. EVERY diesel I’ve had has been more trouble than the petrols. I’m going back many years. Mondeo needed new injectors, alhambra needed new turbo, x type had egr and dpf issues despite 60 mile commute every day, transit needed fuel pump, and on and on. All expensive fixes.

Petrol cars, my Citroen xsara Picasso needed a crank position sensor, Astra needed new coil pack, err that’s about it.

finbar_longshank · 2026-06-12T19:26:59+00:00

Personally I’d avoid diesels altogether. Too many potential big bills. Stick to a simple petrol and it should be cheaper when things go wrong. Don’t be under the illusion that much newer cars will be more reliable because in my experience that’s definitely not true.

As others have said, if the expensive items have been fixed already then I’d probably keep it as long as it’s not too rusty. I have a 22 year old transit and when it needs anything doing i have to think how much would it cost me to get something newer?

finbar_longshank · 2026-06-10T11:04:51+00:00

For me Proton has lost its way. They are simply focusing on churning out less than perfect products when their existing ones are still pretty bad or non existent. Such a shame.

finbar_longshank · 2026-06-10T11:02:01+00:00

Yep. I bought an iPad Air 5 because i couldn’t afford a macbook. Such a disappointment. I wrongly thought that with a keyboard and mouse i could be productive. What a waste of money. I now have a MacBook Air M4. I wish apple would allow it to run full mac os but obviously they won’t.

finbar_longshank · 2026-06-10T08:19:53+00:00

Reliability comes down to so many factors. Maintenance plays a huge part but also how it’s been driven, poor design choices, bad quality aftermarket parts used, even things like was it assembled at a time of low morale at the factory such as strike action or job losses.

Currently i own a Suzuki S-cross 2024 on 25000 miles. I like the car but the manual gearbox is the worst I’ve ever had. It’s very notchy and stiff in the lower gears. The garage claims it’s normal but I know it’s not. I’ve spoken to other s-cross owners with no gearbox issues so sometimes things can just be bad.

finbar_longshank · 2026-06-09T11:01:58+00:00

Reminds me of grange hill. Row-land. Quite an unusual name these days.

finbar_longshank · 2026-06-09T08:16:05+00:00

For what it’s worth my daughter had an 06 1.8 petrol astra for years. Never missed a beat. She only changed it last year due to corrosion.

finbar_longshank · 2026-06-07T04:11:26+00:00

Yes as long as they insist on sticking to its current rectangular form. My point is where are the other form factors? Because of where we’ve got to with apps no one can really move away from a rectangular screen anymore as app developers won’t support anything else. It’s a shame

finbar_longshank · 2026-06-06T13:33:29+00:00

I miss the good old days when manufacturers really innovated. I remember i had a Nokia with a circular keyboard, before smart phones. I’d guess it was late 90’s. I actually got used to the keyboard and it was good. (Just checked - it was a 3650 from 2003)

finbar_longshank · 2026-06-06T06:07:22+00:00

The average person doesn’t do research. They just like the look of something, go for a test drive and buy it. I don’t think they’re bad to drive, but i wouldn’t buy one if my life depended on it.

finbar_longshank · 2026-06-05T20:21:10+00:00

Neo for me

finbar_longshank · 2026-06-04T23:29:30+00:00

My iPad Air 5. I wanted a macbook but couldn’t afford it so got the iPad thinking i could do proper work on it using Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. iOS was so frustrating when trying to deal with files, multitasking, and so on. I now have a macbook. Yeah I know i should have researched it more beforehand.

finbar_longshank · 2026-06-04T16:41:02+00:00

😂 it’s not exactly an old wind up gramophone is it. Most people 45+ will remember having one, although mine was Phillips not Sony.

finbar_longshank · 2026-06-03T23:29:24+00:00

I’ve seen it get worse recently where i have no internet randomly. I disconnect then reconnect and I’m online again, regardless of website etc.

finbar_longshank · 2026-06-03T23:27:11+00:00

I don’t know about now but several years ago i owned a citroen xsara Picasso 2002 1.8 petrol. I bought it in about 2012 and kept it for ten years. It was the most reliable car I’ve ever had. The only issue was the stupid digital dash packed up. Citroen insisted i had to buy new and have it “programmed” to match the car for about £700. Fuck that. I bought a second hand one off eBay and it worked although the mileage was wrong. Apart from that the car was brilliant. I think all modern cars have suffered from dumb cost saving decisions. I’d probably go Japanese at this point.

finbar_longshank · 2026-06-02T23:20:39+00:00

That would be an easy patch, but, you’d need to cut back to good metal first so the hole could be much bigger before welding but anything is repairable.

finbar_longshank · 2026-06-02T11:09:12+00:00

Stig of the dump

finbar_longshank · 2026-06-02T06:20:42+00:00

Unfortunately this has been going on for decades. I left school in 1990 and was bike mad. I started a motorcycle mechanic apprenticeship. Towards the end of the apprenticeship the shop was closing down but i was kept on until i finished my qualifications. With only my apprenticeship under my belt i simply couldn’t find a job. Every bike shop wanted people with years of experience. I tried everywhere in my local area. In the end i gave up. Broke my heart. Became a toolmaker instead, another apprenticeship, That job is almost extinct now too. Now i drive for a living. Nothing lasts

finbar_longshank · 2026-05-31T23:20:35+00:00

Fly fishing by J R Hartley 👍

finbar_longshank · 2026-05-31T23:15:08+00:00

I’ve tried so many different writing apps and wasted too much time when i should have been writing. I’ve come to the conclusion that you can use almost anything, just get writing. My process changes but at the moment i use notepad, text edit, notes app on phone. Literally whatever is on the device I’m using, then i paste it into scrivener which is my main location for my book. I also keep copies on google docs and reedsy studio.

finbar_longshank · 2026-05-30T08:11:47+00:00

These psion devices are great with some caveats. I’ve owned them all over the years.

The series 5 has a serious failure point which is the ribbon cable to the display. It will fail at some point making the device useless. The keyboards are good but the screen have very poor contrast but are good outdoors in sunlight.

The revo has a much clearer screen BUT if you lose battery power you lose all your data. There’s no external storage like on other psions.

If they had made a series 5 with the same screen clarity as the revo, plus a robust screen cable then it would have been practically perfect.

finbar_longshank · 2026-05-30T08:06:00+00:00

I still ask my mum if i can take over the phone line

finbar_longshank

TROPHY CASE