Spacewagon52

Have seen a few "Cars of the Year" that were actually rubbish! Talbot Horizon (1978?)

Can't give you much direct experience of post 2008 cars, but the forums and Honest John give an indication. I try and make sure all the usual boxes are ticked before I buy a car - but when I bought my older BMW with a full BMW service history, about 90,000 on the clock, it turned out to be a lemon. All the problems I have had with reliability, have been from non-Japanese derived cars. Just my limited experience. I would have no hesitation in taking my Lexus to Spain - and I WOULD expect it to return!

What would you change it for?

They are good cars but not that reliable. My Octavia's turbo went, that negates all the economy I got. Some makes are more reliable than others. Yes, I have bought some dogs - Volvo, Skoda, BMW, Renault - but I have never had a bad Japanese derived car. I will stick to experience, good and bad. Yes, you can be unlucky and buy a poor Lexus but you are more likely to get a poor Renault, Peugeot, Citreon in my opinion. Possibly younger members on this forum have a different perception of reliability - I remember the good old days as Mikeyv has explained.

Hilman Imp - yes I had one. But we have both matured a little since then!

Yes! IMHO!

I agree. Interestingly I get more of a kick out of buying cheaper cars - the expectations are low - and when you find out how good they are you get a very warm feeling. I bought a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee for £500, it was in such good condition and everything worked, I was more excited than when I bought my new car - never again new for me.

A very interesting topic may I add! Thanks noby76!

I think running a vehicle for people on here is a lot more than getting from A to B. Income / money is the BIG factor for all of us. Given a choice, I am sure we would all like to easily afford a new Lexus. Imagine you could buy a new Lexus today for £1,000. ( I appreciate this is very hypothetica but bear with me!) Someone could give an excellent financial argument for NOT buying a new one, as the second-hand ones only cost £250! At that sort of money it would be a no brainer, of course we would all buy the new one - I hope! Owning a car, to me, is more than just practicality. It is more emotional and personal for me. There is also the number plate snob angle for the neighbours for some people. As Rayaans said, he has bought two new cars and when you work out the depreciation, it makes most repairs look insignificant, Rayaaans £6200 for ONE year could buy a lot of repairs, even at a Lexus dealers, so I appreciate why he would think twice before buying new again. On a side issue, I used AutoTrader to give me a quote for a Trade-in on my 2009 Mitsubishi Grandis diesel with 74,000 miles - they suggested £2400 - If I had the opportunity to buy car like that for £2400 I would jump at it! Whenever you get a trade-in price, turn it around and ask yourself, Would I buy this car at that price? Food for financial thought - not the heart!

Only ever bought one new car and the depreciation was about £1600 a year. The big question and one that I do struggle with, is how much to spend? My LS400 has taught be that you can go old and really still enjoy a good car with reliability. A friend bought a secondhand Peugeot 3008, around £12000 he paid. It now has clutch problems and is going to cost quite a bit of money to sort it. Trade-in he will lose a great deal. If you spend a lot, then something major goes wrong, you have little choice but to take the hit. If you buy "cheap" then you can just say goodbye without losing too much. It is a balancing act.

Was not me! I just waft along at a steady pace!

Colour?

Let us know how you get on please.

That is reassuring, to an extent!

Hope to make it with my old barge and put faces to names. I hope that is OK - I would not wish to upstage the ISF group.

That is a bit of a concern, as I was considering RX450h in the future as my tow car. Did Lexus Bristol have any suggestions why? Is it going to be expensive to fix?

10 years old - check that it might be just one cell that has gone. Prius seems to last for mega mileage. What mileage does your car have on it?

How are you finding your car?

I ran kit car racing team at my local school, sponsored by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, it was very interesting to watch and help the children to build and then learn to drive. They even took part in races against other teams. The sad part was that it was getting harder to raise a team ( only 6 pupils) as most of the children were not that interested! It was cracking project but screen based entertainment won in the end. I would have loved when I was 10 but never had such an opportunity. Engineering is SOOOOO important to the future of our economy and country, we need to make more.

The main point is that no one was hurt. He is very lucky to come out of that without serious injury. Cars can be replaced, panels can be replaced, limbs and lives can't.

Just checked my 1996 Lexus LS400, still going strong! 144,000 miles! MOT due in Decembert Vehicle Information Registration: P136APG Make: LEXUS Vehicle status Tax not due Tax status Tax due: 01 March 2018 MOT status Expires: 04 December 2017 First registered August 1996 Year of manufacture 1996 Engine size 3969 cc CO2 emissions Not available Fuel type Petrol Colour Gold Vehicle type approval Not available Wheel plan 2 axle rigid body Revenue weight Not available Tax exempt No Tax band Not applicable Tax - 12 months £245.00 Tax - 6 months £134.75 Tax - 12 months DD £257.25 Tax - Monthly approx £21.44 Tax - Single 12 month DD £245.00 Tax - Single 6 month DD £128.63

The key word here is FUN. Some cars we purchase to do a job, e.g. People Carrier. But a classic choice, or "fun" car must be something that puts a smile on our face - one day that could be a Rodius? But I doubt it.

A friend was bought one of these as a wedding gift by her new husband. She let me drive it down the road, what a heap! Noisy and the brakes were aweful. Really put me off going too far back in time. I think we forget how much we now appreciate, Heated rear windows, power steering, electric central locking, air con. Yes all basic now but in the olden days!

Wow! Yes! They came in the dead of night and did the whole of our cul-de-sac - never happened again. My father had one of those! Memories! The charge notes they plastered to the windscreens were a nightmare to get off I remember.

I bought some Goodyear G800's in the day. After a 500 mile trip, I noticed one had a very large bulge in the side wall - I was lucky it did not blow at motorway speeds.