How cheap is “cheap”?
If we are only talking a few hundred quid then as long as it has a years ticket and isn’t obviously falling to bits then bid low and see what happens.
If you’re looking at more than a grand then run away fast!

As said before – if she wants a Golf, buy her a Golf.
It’s not worth the grief otherwise.
Yes, Golfs are stupidly overpriced. They are not particularly reliable. They are not particularly nice to drive. You will pay more money for an older car with lower spec and higher mileage than the other, better cars suggested.
But she wants a Golf. If you buy her anything else then if the slightest thing goes wrong, or even sounds like it might go wrong – it is your fault.
Buy a Golf.
Mike (speaking from experience!)

Not much to add that hasn’t already been said.
The first few months are tough for a dad, you give, give, give and all you get is shit, vomit and screaming in return.
It does get better, once they can move they are great fun but newborns still do nothing for me.
My way of dealing with it was to go to work – I worked shit-loads of overtime in the first year. This actually really helped my wife, as the extra money took the pressure off her to go back to work. My little lad never got palmed off on all and sundry as a result and settled really well at home.
He’s now officially awesome!
Stick with it.

chewkw – Member
Toyota Auris
Suzuki Swift
Nissan Micra
Mazda 2
Honda Jazz
Hyundai i20 or i30

A pretty much perfect list – any of these will give years are trouble free motoring (unless you buy a diesel version).
Easy to drive and park, cheap on fuel, great reliability.
Japanese and Korean cars may not be as funky as European ones, but they are a whole lot more reliable.

Got to agree with pictonroad on this one.
It’s a 9 year old Berlingo with 130,000 miles on the clock. Just move it on and buy another – they’re not exactly rare.
You’re daft spending all this time and money on it.

^^^This^^^
Most modern cars are well designed but in a big accident you’re in the lap of the gods.
Primary safety is more important – try and avoid the accident in the first place, or at least shed as much speed as you can.
So – good quality tyres with plenty of tread and well serviced brakes are more likely to save you than an encap rating.
Consider advanced driving courses as well, no matter how long you’ve been driving you’ll learn loads.

I would never recommend second hand tyres, you never know their history. Many have come off cars written off in accidents.

They taste the same, what’s the problem?

Just to lighten the debate a little –

Cameron, Clegg, Miliband, Travel To Scotland To Personally Remind Voters What They’ll Be Free From

(Slightly sweary, but just about safe for work)

“How to train your dragon” read by David Tennant.
A kids book but brilliant.

The first six weeks or so are tough – you give, give, give and all you get in return is vomit, screaming, poo and wee.
But then, at some point soon your smile at them – and they smile back. At that point your heart melts and you forgive everything (until they next pee in your eye (if you have a boy, with girls it just goes everywhere)).

Fnarr Fnarr.

I can’t comment on the wolf specifically, but those needle scalers REALLY consume air. I once helped a friend de-rust a landrover chassis with one – we were using a huge 500l 3 phase garage compressor and it was still running almost non stop to keep up.
I would go for the biggest you can afford – have looked at what is available secondhand?

I don’t want to be rude so I’ll instead suggest you look again.
The 308 is about the least reliable medium hatchback and as for buying an ex-rental – have a word with yourself.
As well as being unreliable, the 308 is a very ordinary car. It isn’t good at anything, merely adequate. They tend to be bought by people who know nothing about cars.
Damn, I said I wasn’t going to be rude…

Keep looking – if you can only afford the cheapest possible 3yr old car then consider looking for the best 4yr old car instead – you’ll get a much better car and have more choice.

Aldi dry food here, just make sure your cat has plenty of fresh water.
Oh, and don’t forget to get a scratching post – it’ll give your cat something to walk past on it’s way to trashing your sofa…

Hot tubs.
It’s like having a bath.
In your garden.
With your mum…

Bugger, they are my “only 1 hour from home” marker when driving back from up north. How am I meant to know now?

wwaswas – Member
My flap remains intact and attached despite a years enthusiastic use.

Fnarr!

Unfortunately, this happens with main stealers dealers.
Any decent techs will be working on the new and high value stuff.
If you turn up with a p.o.s. Clio and are not a valued customer (i.e. You didn’t buy the car from them) your car will be given to the most junior mechanic. Normally this isn’t a problem as a more senior mechanic checks the work, clearly this didn’t happen in your case. You’ll have a real problem proving it though, and I don’t fancy your chances of getting your £100 back.

Well, I’ve just tried using the old yahoo password from before the changeover and it works.
Buried in the 150 messages was one from BT saying they have gone back to yahoo for a while.
Brilliant idea to email us to explain how to get emails working! It was only by chance I tried the old login.
Fixed for now, until they try to migrate us over again…

I’ve got 4 other emails, but this is the household account we use for all the family stuff. All the school stuff, the kids sporting activities and all that kind of stuff come through it so losing it is a real pain.

DezB
Does that sign-in link I posted work?

Unfortunately not 🙁

Yes, that bbc report describes what has happened to me.
Apparently it is all fixed but mine isn’t working.
@btcare have been in touch so I am just waiting for a phone call now.

Yes, that is exactly what I did on Wednesday. It all worked perfectly for a couple of days, but nothing since.
Btcare said clear cookies and try again but when I try to logon to emails the BT email logon page just keeps looping back to the bt home page.
Occasionally I get directed to a BT yahoo “make sure your bt yahoo email is secure” page, but that doesn’t work either…
Tearing my hair out here!

M1 then M6 – get there in one day. Spend the rest of your 7 days in the lake district- it’s much nicer than anything in between.

I went to see him and his spoof rock band “Bad News” at Portsmouth guildhall many moons ago.
They were brilliant, I have never laughed so much in my life. They were also remarkably talented as musicians- I’ve heard much worse from “proper” bands.

RIP properly talented bloke

Watch pron instead?

Whoever suggested feather blades for a beginner is a sadist.
They are ultra sharp and really for experienced de shavers.
I would recommend astra stainless or platinum, plenty sharp enough,inexpensive and won’t leave you looking like the guy in the photo above.

“Ulp” as in we’ve been using it for years and apparently the council have been trying to close it down, also for years.
It wasn’t the smartest place but the staff were friendly enough.
The issue was with a leaking roof, apparently you can’t be having outdoor animals getting wet…

Oh, I forgot to mention.
Now sell the car. At some point down the line the high pressure fuel pump will fail due to the lack of lubrication while running on unleaded. You do not want to be owner at that point (big bill).
Of course, if you buy another diesel there is no guarantee the last owner hasn’t also mis-fueled it…

Doh!
Make sure you get it all out. Suck it out using a pump from the return side of the fuel filter – this will clear the petrol from the fuel pump as well. Prime the system with fresh diesel from the same place – this will help you start it. Don’t be surprised if it is a bugger to start – jump leads from a running car will help it turn over quicker and you might have to resort to a sniff of carb cleaner. DON’T use easystart- it is too violent on modern diesel engines.
Good luck!

My favourite is this guy –

Do a google search on the psa 1.6 hdi engine problems.
Then buy something else. Almost anything else will have better built quality and be nicer to drive. They are the ultimate “car for people who know nothing about cars”

llama – Member
as a UKIP voter my wife is obliged to vote for whoever I tell her to

Fantastic!
Sums up your average ukip voter perfectly.

Most new cars don’t come with a spare at all, so be grateful that you have anything.
Temporary ‘space saver’ wheels are fine for the job intended: i.e. to get your car mobile again so you can get to a tyre fitters and get the proper tyre repaired/replaced.
Contrary to popular belief, you can use them on the motorway- just not at more than 50mph. There is no distance limitation but obviously get it changed asap.

Yes. They will travel a long way for sugary food. In our experience, putting it in wall cupboards did not help, they found the new location overnight.
The only long term answer is to find and destroy the nest. It is not particularly environmentally friendly, but a gallon of diesel does the job very effectively.

The major tyre companies spend spend millions on research every year, this is why their tyres are more expensive.
The real budget end of the market are simply copies of old designs, made with cheaper materials.
I personally choose premium tyres for my car – my whole family use it and I’m not risking them for the sake of saving a few quid on the tyres.
If this sounds a bit melodramatic then remember I see the aftermath of failed tyres every day as part of my job.

One thing to bear in mind is puncture resistance.
I do a LOT of wheel changes and I have noticed the real cheapos are not very robust.
The sidewalls hole or bulge very easily and I have seen a lot of delamination problems.
Saving £30 a tyre is not much of a saving if you have to replace it after brushing a kerb.
My rule of thumb is that if you don’t recognise the name of the manufacturer then don’t buy.
I don’t understand the “I don’t drive fast so I don’t need my tyres to have any grip” mentality. If a child runs out you need all the grip you can get.

Audi’s

(Awaits flaming from the resident stw fanbois…)

This “Japanese parts are expensive” is an old urban myth.
1. They are not expensive. Loads of cheap suppliers nowadays.
2. You won’t need to buy parts anyway as Japanese cars are more reliable.