I am a middle manager in IT for a big “blue chip” and drive an Audi. I think the answers to the follow up questions are blindingly obvious.

I have only been there once and on my first night a local tried to mug me on Las Ramblas. I gave him a good kicking 😀

Word must have got around that there was an angry disrespectful scouser in town, as after that my stay was without incident.

Joan miro museum for some modern art. A bit of a trek IIRC.

I have had an A3 Sportback from new for 7 years (2.0t FSI Quattro). Other than a new battery and tyres I have not spent a penny on it. It is the most expensive car I have owned but the cheapest to service, cheaper than a VW Up!

It is the only car I have ever owned for this long and I am still very happy with it. So my money would go on the Audi.

I would say anywhere but Prescot, Whiston or St. Helens. I grew up in Rainhill, what I would probably describe as a posh village by comparative standards and that was mostly a dump.

I really am puzzled by the comments that St. Helens has got it head screwed on.

£560 is still more expensive than my audi main dealer quoted me last dec, £480 IIRC

I bought a new Polo at the end of March. I don’t know about the margins etc, but there was absolutely no doubt that the dealer was only interested in hitting, monthly, quarterly, annual targets, and comission on finance, not profit on that individual sale.

I gave them a 10 month old Up! they gave me a new Polo and a cheque for £7k. I made a gentleman’s agreement not to pay off the VW finance in the first 6 months, I can only assume so VW did not clawback the salesman’s commission.

Getting my car back from the body shop for a third time following a minor accident and it still was not right, how difficult can it be to fit a headlight after a bumper and wing replacement repair?

I was told that the manager had inspected it personally! It was also delivered two hours late so I missed some meetings at work and to add to my frustration they returned the car with about a litre of fuel left, 8 miles left on the counter.

I feel a stroppy letter to Aviva in the making.

I stopped drinking over 10 years ago and don’t miss it at all, perhaps I have one or two bottles of beer over the course of a year, but that is about it. I am not evangelical about it, certainly in the first few months there were big improvements in sleep and energy, not so sure anymore, but then again I am 10 years older.

Disk brakes – I run mine for about 18 months, sell them on and buy new ones from Merlin. I would need pay an LBS to bleed them, and with the cost of pads, flog the new rotors etc I am not much out of pocket.

Although I find bikes are pretty consumable, rarely keep them more than a couple of years so bar cassette and chain I don’t recall replacing anything because it was wore out

I agree with stoner, oh and it is the right answer to!

I had a VW Up! High Up for year and loved it, lots off fun to drive and the new 3 cylinder engine is very smooth. Traded it in at 10 months for a brand new Polo. The Polo is more practical, and versatile ie long trips but nowhere as much fun.

The only reason I traded up/ in was the deal was too good to refuse. In real use the fuel consumption does not seem too different in relation to the paper specs, perhaps I drove the Up hard.

I still miss the Up.

Goes to check his own contract ….

For my last two cars I have taken the dealer finance to get all the manufacturer discounts etc and then refinanced it a few months later on a cheaper M&S car loan, generally with slighter higher monthly payments but a much smaller balloon payment. Only works if less tha 15k being borrowed.

Doesn’t really address the problem at hand but I feel it puts me back in control and IMO is more flexible

Goes to check his own contract ….

For my last two cars I have taken the dealer finance to get all the manufacturer discounts etc and then refinanced it a few months later on a cheaper M&S car loan, generally with slighter higher monthly payments but a much smaller balloon payment. Only works if less tha 15k being borrowed.

Doesn’t really address the problem at hand but I feel it puts me back in control and IMO is more flexible

My Audi petrol is every 5 years and I felt badly done by when I changed it at 5 years and only 35k on the clock. Sounds like I was wrong in my assessment, another reason for me never to consider a diesel by the look of it.

I would get it done on a four year old car, it is not that expensive, or is it on an oil burner?

Very happy with my Domane, but I have never ridden a Roubaix. I would not describe it as bouncy. I also have a Madone which is more “positive”. Horses for courses etc..

Ask to see the accounts for the last 3 years.

Ground rent is typically nominal, I think mine is £50 per year but it does increase in line with the lease. If I live to be 150 then I may be paying £400 per annum.

Beyond that there should be service charge account to cover repeating costs insurance, communal lights and heating, cleaning, gardening, and minor repairs. Any service charge service at the end of the year cannot be retained and should be deducted from next years service charges. But sometimes the leaseholders may agree to transfer it to the sinking fund.

The sinking fund is used for major works and money can be retained year on year. Generally the lease will provide a clause that enable the freeholder to ask for extra to cover large urgent costs that cannot be met from the existing sinking fund e.g a new roof ours cost £600,000!

Depending when the lease was drawn up then you will need to accept some latitude in how the accounts are used. To exercise my lease to the letter of the law would not be pragmatic. But my residents association of which I am a 1 / 32 shareholder will do their upmost to hold on to my money. Pees me right off at times

Ask to see the lease, and read it carefully.

I was told the 4 series includes project 1.

I have a 2012 madone 3 series and a 2013 Domane 4.3. They are both good, but I would go for the 400 series carbon for a few hundred pounds extra. The madone H2 geometry is pretty relaxed, so go whichever floats your boat. The Domane is clearly more comfortable you can just fly over cobbles without losing your teeth, but you do notice the longer wheelbase. Even a MAMIL like me can tell the difference

Ford focus sales jan to June 2012 were 489,616 (world wide figures). Not sure what this tells us?

90 per hour equates to 750,000 per annum assuming 24×7 x 50’weeks (2 weeks shut down)?

I recall a number of years ago it took Toyota and VW about 37 hours to build a car. It then took VW about the same amount of time to QA the car and sort out all the issues, still to have a car less reliable than Toyota. Toyota had QA and the TQM, Lean etc principles sorted.

These figures are quite old ie several years and VW has no doubt moved on a lot more than Toyota in the intervening period. Bastid Germans (ie Checks) still managed to build me the wrong car just over a year ago, so they have so still have some basic sales order to manufacturing comms to be sorted.

Will be very interested to here from those with more up to date info.

Is that just the service charge or does it include the sinking fund for major repairs? I pay over £3k per annum for my flat (about £2k service charge and £1k sinking fund). In addition in the 12 years I have lived here i have been asked to pay a further £19k as a 1/32nd share for a new roof.

Yes I agree about the buying a house comment.

I would take a look at the trek Domane 4.5? The 2013 £1800 model can be had for £1500. Wheels not great, but the frame is a cracker. Never ridden a defy, but on paper the trek frame is in a different class.

A girl at work won 15 to 1 and won about £2.5k. Another guy was on mastermind and came last in his heat. Whilst working in the states one of our VPs won 1 million dollars on some golf put. He was loaded anyway.

Have they confirmed it is broken. I was in plaster for 2 weeks following the first x-ray, but on the second x-ray after 2 weeks they said it was not fractured. Still hurts, after now about 5 weeks, but they said I could ride if I took it easy.

As Neil’s says. On new cars this seems to be the norm, so they can register and tax it?

A new Trek Domane bought in the sales. Postman brought a new cassette

I just changed from m&s to aviva. I was paying £32 a month with m&s. Basic quote from aviva was £55. I added in cycle cover, reduced excess, and full acidental and now only paying £16 a month. So premium halved with better cover.

Iolo hang in there it can and will get better with the right treatment and support.

I lost 5 or more years of my life living with my bipolar, partly due to both the stubbornness of my psych and me. I never tried lithium as that was my last resort, but now all I take is lamotrigine and at last I feel normal and no longer do I live one day at a time as before i never knew how I would feel from one day to the next.

2 years now without a major episode. My mood still certainly cycles but nothing like it used to. The long last winter was tough

Take care and good luck

Yep I have been there and done that. Bike survived with a few scratches, not the Audi or 2 week old Thule bike rack 😯

Can I open a jam jar! No point in trying that one!

Went to local minor injuries along with every other man and his dog on a Sunday summer afternoon. Suspected broken scaphoid so now in plaster for 10 days before next x rays. At least the arm ain’t broken which is what they also suspected.

It was ok for the first hour but now itches like crazy. But more importantly how do I scratch my bum 🙂

It’s about zombies but they are French, so chic zombies, who smoke Galois. 🙂

No I ain’t got a clue either

Chris, Many thanks, minor panic over. Mine was still in the bag with chain catcher. Gary

I can’t wait to get mine built but planning on waiting for the new 11 speed Ultegra groupset to be available, only another 4-6 weeks.

My 52cm CR1 Pro arrived this morning 1 minute into my alloted 1 hour.

I think I am also missing the crown race – so will call Westbrook cycles tomorrow.

However, should there not be some plastic cable guide below the bottom bracket shell? mine does not even appear to have a hole never mind the plastic guides. How does that work then?

Can someone please advise.

Thanks
Gary

52cm Pro on order for me.

16stonepig. What you describe seems like a side effect called “emotional blunting”. As sandwich says worth a chat with your GP

I am with Aviva and paying less for two cars than I did for one, not sure why it worked out this way but not complaining. Been with them for a few years and always had full protected NCD, so why adding a car reduces my premiums is beyond me.

Not sure where they stand on 3 cars.

I have had a VW Up High Up from new for the last 9 months. An excellent little car IMO, loads of fun to drive, nippy up to 50 mph, struggles a little over 80 mph, or rather it starts to feel a little unstable for my liking. Drive it on motorways everyday but only for 15-20 miles. Would happily drive it on a motorway for 90 mins or so but would drive my other car for longer trips than this. The furthest I have driven it on a motorway is about 60 miles when I was not in a hurry!

Having done my PhD at Loughborough then I would go to Bath. Loughborough has one of the highest proportions of public school students, if that matters to you at all.