dutchie01

I see Linas is making friends again.. A little luxury car will be hard to find for the simple reason they are not produced. Soft touch points all over the cabin, no hard scratchy plastics, premium interior design combined with a excellent silent drivetrain with enough torque and expensive looking interior can of course be built but it will come at such a price that the car will be unsellable it will not be a viable businesscase. Top of the range LBX or UX are probably the closest you can find outside of building your own. Thought of that? get a car you like and tune it up. Leather interior can be had for 2k. Nice wheels and wrapping or repaint. How about a classic? Audi A2 springs to mind. Peugeot 205 GTI? Golf ? Saab 93? How about really small Toyota IQ? buy one for a good price have it fully serviced at a toyota dealer immediately, get leather at a color of your choice and have it repainted and that will be your dreamcar at a reasonable price!

from todays autoexpress. Lexus is confident that there will be a market for such a car here in Europe, and it’s a confidence that’s been ratified by the fact it’s already over-subscribed. As it stands, Lexus UK has over 170 units already on pre-order, which is nearly nine times the typical annual volume of its LS flagship. So while the luxury saloon market might be shrinking, luxury car buyers now have one more van-shaped reason not to bother going back.

The climate industry is everybody that is making money from the Climate Crisis. This can be very wide indeed. From large corporations ( even the likes of shell bp) to pressure groups , lobbyists, manufacturers of windmills solarpanels, lawyers EV producers and you name it. What they have in common is they use the climate change/crisis/environment as their business. This can both be pro or against it. This must be a billion dollar industry?

That is called Climate Industry

Unfortunately the Uncomfortable thruth, the Environmental Crisis, is a soft target that everybody can use for their own agenda. Creative accounting in various reports and fake news make this an easy thing to do. As in this thread figures stated can be true or not nobody knows. It is however a strong political argument which is backed by lobby groups from both sides. From IsmellsoRebellion to official political parties trying to push their agenda with exactly this. I expect it to become an even more polarized topic over time where nobody listens to the other side.

Fully correct and not only in the UK. I started driving a bike way back in 1980. The number of cars on the road was half of what it is now, police was not really interested in speeding ( and had no radar). The small countryroads were not filled with in lycra wrapped middle aged groups of men on expensive racebikes and nobody cared about driving like a maniac or even noise. Remember the 4 in 1 exhausts without dampers? I even had a Suzuki 750 3 cylinder twinstroke for a short period of time. Replaced the original exhaust with a 3 in 1 expansion without dampers. The noise was absolutely deafening, the bike suicidal. With todays knowledge it is bizarre what was allowed back then. On a summers night i hear the imprezas, bikes, and whatever fast doing their rounds from 22.00 hrs on. no traffic and looking for a thrill. But even that will disappear. Belgium has started to install section control areas ( intelligent radar system pic of number plate when you enter one in the middle and then when out. over the limit is 100% fine within 24 hrs all fully automatic) on B ROADS. For sure this will come to an area near you. Finding a thrill at low speed seems the only thing left. Narrow tyres, small wheels and a truly bad chassis can give that just drive a suzuki swift from 20 yrs old, every roundabout is a challenge at 40 kmh!

Its about the feel, the thought, the knowledge that if needed you can simply go warpspeed by pushing a pedal. Makes driving more relaxed and safe by knowing you can get out of a dangerous situation easily. I dont have a tesla but my neighbour has two ( private !). He told me you do it 3 times and thats it but its very easy cruising. Maybe the EV will save high powered fossil cars that will be used for hobby like the car did save the horses?

Isnt the issue about the helping hands at the bed? The nurses, the cleaners, the caretakers? Hard work long hours irregular schedules, not enough staff so double shifts. And all for little money?

Ooh this brings back memories! I grew up in holland during the seventies but ice on the inside and damp blankets ere well known. I slept with my mothers wintercoat over the blanket. And remember the coal man? Came along once a week to deliver coal into to the coal shed. I vividly remember the fire brigade howling past for another fire. We sure came a long way also in improving the environment!

It sure does. saudi arabia hit the news this month with issues about exactly that. Desalination plants run on fossil aka oil and consume big time apparently 15% of all oil they pump up. Plus toxic waste and harm to sealife but the catch 22 is as always what is the alternative? No water no life?

I am afraid the useful idiots gluing themselves or throwing things at things are only the soft side of extinction rebellion. These radical left anarchists could become the second baader meinhof group. I am convinced the security services as MI6 ar all over them.

Hang on Malc, surely that cant be true? We have to turn it around and instead of eating less cows we have to eat ALL of them! That solves the problem i tell you! Now, whats on the menu tomorrow?

Haha, how come i am not surprised??

Not sure Linas if the differences are so big. Maybe it has to do with different expectations as well. When i entered the workforce early eighties in The Netherlands it was in the middle of a big economic crisis following the Oilcrisis. Youth unemployment was 25% and when i bought my first apartment some 10yrs later interest rate was 17% and yes it was a 2 bedroom flat at a 30 year lease. My first car was 100 Euro did not have more cash. I grew up during the cold war and there is just no comparison with regard to overall quality of life and financial situation of the average household, just not. Now you can eat left turning quinoa yoghurt from Argentina each day and then you were lucky if you could afford meat when you wanted it. Also then it was not possible to go from a junior position to MD in 10 years. Thats a dream. I requires hard work, long hours and just be better than your colleagues. It took me 30 years to be where i am now and it will still take you decades to climb the career ladder. Thing is the younger generation sometimes does not seem to be willing to put in that effort. 4 day working week does not bring you to the top. Nor does hopping from job to job when there is something that you dont like or offends you. Just hang in there, work hard and try to enjoy life as much as possible, have a drink and a good meal and enjoy friends and family. Cheer up mate!

Linas i dont know if you have crossed the dreaded line of 30 years old yet but i sure have and can simply reply with "Everything". The jump in 3 decades in the western world has been immense. Healthcare, Economy, Freedom, Automotive, Air travel, Employment i can go on and on. Yes of course not all is rosy and happy and every period of life has its own problems but overall my life has improved drastically compared to 30 or even 40 years ago. May i politely suggest that if you feel your quality of life has been decreasing you might find a way up again? Like you said maybe find your luck in another country or, but that is my free tip, leave the overcrowded London area and move to more rural surroundings? That is what i did 25 years ago and after 2 years of getting used to the deafening silence and staring at cows i really found my place. I promise you will never look back! Oh, and if you are not happy in your job just get a new one! ( was not so easy 30 yrs ago my friend..).

Really? a bass player in a band showing up in a yaris? Come on Mincey THIS is what you need, add some rock and roll into it! https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202309061610494?sort=relevance&advertising-location=at_cars&include-delivery-option=on&make=Chrysler&model=300C&page=1&postcode=bt364rb&fromsra ( paint it matte black with a brush)

Try Catalunia. plenty of space great roads/food/climate low prices and they seem to dislike governmental interference a bit ....

You havent met another car have you?

a new ES300H for 50K or a 2019 one with 29000 miles only full warranty at dealer for 25K. Overhere we have a saying 'you might as well throw your money in the river at least you can see it floating away"

VFR, the facts are that Russian military invaded a country almost 2 years ago and since then deployed WW2 tactics i.e. bombing the hell out of everything, destroying entire cities with artillery, murdering civilians and basically did a WW2 German Nazi terror campaign. The war would be over the moment the Russians would withdraw their troops. There is no other way to interpret the facts. Decades ago i served in the infantry to prevent exactly such an invasion from then the Soviet Union. When this collapsed tensions disappeared and inevitably the western military shrunk, money was going elsewhere. When the tanks rolled across the Ukrainian border i was angry, mad and disappojnted at Russia, the western world and myself, How on earth could we be so naive? I traveled a lot in Russia visiting the big cities like Moscow and st Pet. and always people told me that one day Russia would surprise the west. Well that day did come. A dictator is bringing the country into Isolation, the USA spend some 6% of their annual Defence Budget to destroy half of the Russian army and Russians are seen as the new fascists. No bike shed needed to see what is going on. unless of course it is funded by Moscow

In my idea the vast majority of people are concerned and are trying to do their best for the climate. Separate waste, turn off the tap when brushing your teeth, install solarpanels, explain your children about climate and so on. Nothing wrong here. However, one must not underestimate the power of money. With Climate beeing a number one topic in most countries a multi billion industry has formed behind it. It would be highly interesting to follow the money in most European countries to establish the amount going round in taxes, subsidies, law firms, lobbyists, energy companies, earth saving organisations like greenpeace ( hi Greta), NGO,s and all i forgot. Maybe this has already been done if somebody knows or has a link it would be helpful. Same for immigration. A battalion of lawyers is waiting to offer assistance, people smugglers, suppliers of boats etc. An industry is behind this.

Interesting philosophical question. Who will we send to planet B ?

Alfa Giulia from the seventies. Now that's a steering wheel. Drove it for 4 months some decades ago until it had a flat tire. Could not jack it up as the jack simply went straight through the chassis.

steering wheels that are NOT round but flattened at the bottom as it looks fast. The word says it it needs to be round.