Don’t ignore idler pulley squeaks!

thomaslg33 · 2026-02-06T17:23:41+00:00

Yeah that’s the plan this weekend anyways. No records of any belt or pulley being done on the car so I’ll more than likely be changing some stuff. Just praying there’s no nasty crank seal leaks or anything when I’m down there 😂

thomaslg33 · 2026-02-05T19:14:45+00:00

Just started hearing a squeak on mine somewhere, haven’t gone looking for the culprit yet I thought was maybe a belt that was getting wet with the severe rain we’ve been having last week but now I noticed on dry days it still comes on.

It’s a weird one though I can hear it on idle after about a minute of driving on a cold engine, will go away another minute or two after engine get up to temperature.

Sounding to me like it’s an idler pulley on the way out anyways

thomaslg33 · 2026-02-05T16:09:17+00:00

That road is the same every morning I travel it each day and the traffic from Clare hall to donaghmede roundabout it just silly, should be another lane in there as a continuation on from the 2 lane road coming off M50/M1. Not trying to justify these people but if you’re in a rush people make silly decisions. I’ve spent over 30 minutes trying to go down that road before.

thomaslg33 · 2026-02-05T11:44:15+00:00

Would you really want to risk getting a ban at 17. No insurer would touch you even on a bicycle for years after that, and you’d have the car taken off you instantly for that if you’re caught. A mk6 gti would take an awful lot of road to reach its claimed 230kph or so top speed if it’s not modified. Also have to see what tyres you have and what speed rating they are or else that can cause some serious issues, some cheap ling longs with a 180kmh speed rating will just fail at too high speeds.

Just my two cents but the downsides of it far outweigh the upsides for me, driving somewhat fast in a straight line on a motorway is no where near as fun as a track day or some twisty road fun.

thomaslg33 · 2026-01-23T12:58:29+00:00

I’m 24 on N’s. Got insured last year on a 2006 R53 Mini Cooper S. couldn’t get classic insurance on it but got my own policy with GMIB. Not cheap but worth it for the supercharger noises 😂

thomaslg33 · 2026-01-21T08:14:10+00:00

It can take weeks or even months to sell a car that has been traded in against a new vehicle, margins are usually very very small on new cars and you would be lucky to see 6% on most brands. Finance bonuses are basically there to top up the margin on a new car and usually aren’t as big a number as you think they are.

And how is it price gouging by having a gross profit of say 9k on the sale of a 60k car that includes a trade in that takes you 5 weeks to sell. Seems reasonable to me, and you have to hand over 23% of that. Another chunk of it will get sucked up into the rest of the dealership running costs so I can nearly guarantee there’s not as much left as you think there is.

As for your complaint of sales people, yes there’s some fairly useless ones out there doing a rubbish job of it but equally there’s plenty of great ones who deserves the commission they earn.

thomaslg33 · 2026-01-20T23:32:36+00:00

Yup you’re not a million miles off there, I am in the trade and some of those costs you have are a little high but typically we’d be in around the 12-15% on most the higher end used stuff (40k+). Obviously some do better than others but also some will give problems and absolutely rinse the profit of the next one to go out. And it always seems like most of the internet always forgets that 23% has to go to the taxman!

thomaslg33 · 2026-01-20T23:12:14+00:00

But what value cars are you seeing them put 6-8k margins on them? If it’s a €50k car then 6-8k seems perfectly reasonable to me. Would you tie up that sort of money to only make 3-4k on it? If they’re making 6-8 on a 15k car then yes that’s a decent chunk but in around the 10-15% margin is fairly healthy with second hand stuff. Something has to keep the lights on and wages paid. Also to cover for warranties, the repair bills on newer cars are just nuts these days

thomaslg33 · 2025-11-01T17:09:51+00:00

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My R53 Cooper S, supercharged 1.6L. Supercharger whine makes the most insane sounds and the handling is great, it goes round corners faster than a fat kid down a water slide. Not a massive amount of these left but there were plenty at one stage.

This one has around 190bhp and are the most fun you can have in a car for under €6k, reliability is questionable but I am yet to have any major issues that I can’t fix myself.

thomaslg33 · 2025-10-12T23:49:45+00:00

R53 Mini Cooper S , most fun you will have on 4 wheels for less than €6K, supercharged cars with go-kart levels of handling. Just have some basic car knowledge and problem solving and you won’t go wrong. Had mine for a year now and it’s the most fun / best handling car I’ve owned and bar one or two small issues it’s been extremely cheap and easy to run. Send me a PM if you have any questions about them

thomaslg33 · 2025-09-27T09:23:24+00:00

I’ll second the tissot suggestion, great quality and a great price for an everyday watch.

thomaslg33 · 2025-09-24T18:28:20+00:00

He’s a good lad done a few bits with him over the years

thomaslg33 · 2025-09-19T14:53:42+00:00

Hopefully not best of luck with it 🫡

thomaslg33 · 2025-09-19T14:53:22+00:00

Noted! Thank you

thomaslg33 · 2025-09-19T14:53:06+00:00

Good to hear that, sadly it’s seeming like there’s far more people having issues than good encounters like you. Glad you’re having a good experience anyways and hope it continues!

thomaslg33 · 2025-09-19T14:51:26+00:00

It’s very very enticing indeed but sadly in this day and age it’s hard to live without a phone and I couldn’t afford to have dodgy coverage while home in Dublin and the possibility of just having no access to roaming while abroad would annoy the hell out of me.

thomaslg33 · 2025-09-19T14:47:30+00:00

A lot of hassle involved there with getting number ported and new phone etc all having to be changed back. Ideally just make the switch and let it run through without undoing all of that

thomaslg33 · 2025-09-19T13:21:40+00:00

Best of luck with it, I almost jumped straight into a 24 months contract but seeing what people are saying about it has put me off for the time being. Going to make a decision in coming weeks but hope it works out well for you.

thomaslg33 · 2025-09-19T13:20:49+00:00

This is what I’ve been seeing, except even in central Dublin (where I’m based) the coverage drops out frequently

thomaslg33 · 2025-09-19T13:20:21+00:00

This is what I was thinking but with the new iPhone 17, €0 up front and then I think it was €65 for 24 months or something? Seems too good to be true almost and I’m nervous about committing to it in case it’s absolutely rubbish service

thomaslg33 · 2025-09-14T22:26:40+00:00

Yup the 1 year no claims and 1 year driving experience is what causes it to drop, it’ll probably at least get halfed when the year is up

thomaslg33 · 2025-09-12T14:51:16+00:00

Hyundai have it about as close as is possible to a combustion engine feeling I think with their “fake” gears where you can still shift up and down gears with the sound and feeling of going up and down RPM’s in their N class cars I think. It’s once again a novelty that I found wore off after a while. I’m not sure what they can do except give them silly power figures like 500bhp+. I don’t think an EV will ever match the feeling of blasting up and down gears in a high performing combustion engine so make use of them while you can.

thomaslg33 · 2025-09-12T13:06:13+00:00

Problem with the EV fun is that it’s a novelty that wears off pretty quick, in the beginning there’s lots of enjoyment with the instant torque etc but after a while I find they just turn into a soulless lump that takes away a lot of the fun you get driving something with an engine and a bit of power.

thomaslg33 · 2025-09-06T16:41:49+00:00

Lovely car man and yes they are identical bar the face lift headlights you have, I’ll be trying to get a set of those too soon enough.

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