Agree with bruk. I have driven some fast Audi’s in my time and the only one that got me going was a Dialynx Sport Quattro Conversion and an old Audi 80 Sport with Quattro Turbo 10v running gear. What a Qcar that was. The handling is good but you don’t feel it in the same way as you do in a good rear wheel drive car, say a Mk1 M3. I’d go for a 3 series. Should be plenty good ones around now due to the weather! A lad at work has a 330 D fantastic car. Probably faster than the TT and certainly cheaper on fuel.

If you want reliable and cheap then there is only one car you should be looking at.

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/toyota/corolla-1992

Ticks every box and will last longer than you will!

Change now while you’re still young and have the support of your parents. The longer you leave it the harder and more expensive it will be to change. It’s not the end of the world. On the other hand it’s a very worthwhile job your training for. You could be responsible for saving many lives. These members of the public you don’t like are probably crapping themselves. Cut them a bit of slack, improve your bedside manner and get on with it! :?

I’m sure that any RSPCA officer would gladly enforce the law regarding abuse to any animal. Whether that is a right or not is irrelevent. The outcome would be the same.

A dog either bites you or it doesn’t. If a dog wants to bite you it will, most just warn you off or are protecting their owners. Granted these should be on a lead. If somebody assumed that my dog is going to bite them and gives them a kick first then I’m afraid they are going to have to Vaseline their frame so they can remove it in Casualty. As a Dog owner and MTB’er I always give dog’s right of way and stop if I have to. That also includes Horse riders and walkers. I’ve never had a problem on a trail with anyone other than a fellow MTB’er who assumed that it was his own personal race track and as he came full chat round a blind bend that I shouldn’t of been in his way. I was slowing and on the left and he’d ran wide coming the other way. The trail runs both ways by the way.

Had a 1.9TDI 90bhp estate for a year. Worst handling car I’ve ever owned but the best fuel economy. That 1.9TDI is a fantastic Diesel. Parts are cheap and home servicing is a doddle. Small things needed doing in that year, having said that it had 140k on it when I bought it. Wiper linkage and anti-roll bar bushes. Side light replacement is a bumper off job but only takes 20mins. You can improve the handling with after market shocks etc but having said that if its for the wife she may prefer a softer ride :wink: Never failed to get me to work and I sold it roughly for what I paid for it minus the parts cost. The 1.8T is the only petrol model I would have. The 110TDI would get my vote. It has the best MPG and a good spread of torque and power.

Verti Pro’s 2.3 in Winter.

Maxxis Larssen TT in Summer.

Our Secretary at work bought a 1st Gen Rav4 at the start of last Winter for 200 quid, with the intention of dumping it in the Spring and buying something newer. Well one year later and its still going strong, looks OK and has never gone wrong. Oh how she laughs at all of us digging our way into work with our fancy BMW’s and Audi’s.

I have been toying with the idea of getting rid of the Focus estate and getting a Honda CRV. This I believe has the Haldex type diff, so most of the time is 2WD switching to 4WD when needed. Good enough for most types of situation ie snow and ice on the roads. Nice driving position and good on tarmac when all of this crappy snow is gone. Just got home tonight after having full snow tyres fitted to the car. There is still 5 to 6 inches of snow and ice on our estate. It was seriously impressive, never lost grip or got stuck once. It just dragged its way through. The Honda may have to wait to see how the car handles the rest of the winter.

It’s an Auto as most Japanese imported cars are. Most parts should be available but some you may need to get from a specialist. Would suggest economy 22 to 25mpg at most. Underside may not be sealed. Speedo probably in Km’s but not so hard to convert. Apart from that it looks ok. Checkout whatcar’s test on a Terrano. Not so good on road but great offroad. Ford parts and servicing are cheaper, they sold a version called the Maverick.

http://www.tau-trade.com/gen/TopPage.do

Several mates have imported from this company themselves, mainly FTO’s.

In reply to Scud’s post I now find that Audi drivers especially those in Q7’s are equally as bad if not worse than Beemer drivers. It appears that Clarkson was right for once. If it carries on like this I shall soon be able to buy an old M5 and appear not to be a complete tw*t!

Verticals are 2.3 from tread edge to tread edge not diameter of tyre edge if you know what I mean! Great all round tyre. I have the protection one’s on my Inbred. Use these all year round.

Spoke to a friend of mine who races landies offroad and he thinks that any landrover product as a main family car is a no-no. As a hack for green laning and the like or for getting around the farm they are great. He recommends the older Rav4 2.0 petrol. Reasonable Off road and snow capability and good on Tarmac.

The biggest thing to extend the life of a turbo on any car is to leave the engine to idle for a few minutes when you stop to allow the turbo to cool down before turning the ignition off. I used to have a Tuned Saab T16 Aero. Still going strong after 285k miles on original engine and turbo. Simples!

I’m getting a couple of Lassa snow tyres fitted on Thursday to the Focus. I think part of the problem is that most budget tyres have a radial tread that has a lower rolling resistance and a harder compound for better fuel economy and thus lower emissions (and no GRIP.)I blame the Green Lobby! 70 quid each fitted, I will take them off in the spring and keep them for next year. Small price to pay for peace of mind.

Which Wagner? He died years ago 22 May 1813 – 13 February 1883

Try the Retired Greyhound Trust. This is ours Merlin named by our 8yr old son. They are in desperate need of homes. Sensible people that know what they are doing. He’s Cat friendly and can be left for long periods when needed. Some dogs can spend many hours in crates when racing.

Buy a normal estate and fit or keep a spare set of snow tyres in the garage! Seems to me that a sh!t load of things go wrong with these cars and they cost a fortune to fix. With depreciation and running costs it would be cheaper to buy a second house and just use taxi’s.

Just sold my Golf MK4 TDI Estate. Very reliable but possible the worst handling car I’ve ever had. Nicknamed the Barge. Dynamically poor in just about every regard. Having said that it was cheap to run, easy to fix when something failed and always passed its MOT. The hand me down Focus from my wife has been just as reliable though and is 10 times better to drive.

I take my Son (8yrs) when I go. It now takes longer to cut his hair than mine so we both score for a kids cut at about £7.00 each! I don’t get offered a lolly at the end though.

I had a woodman clamp and had to replace the plastic bush with a homemade brass one. No troubles since. Go for one with a brass bit!
On-Ones still have a brass shim I think and only £14.99. I forgot to get one when I ordered my frame hence the Woodman from LBS.

I have utter contempt for anybody who intentionally wants to be a Politician.

A politician is someone who, on seeing light at the end of the tunnel, orders more tunnel!

Buy a decent bike light and leave em to it. That’s what I’m going to do. Great excuse to get another ride in. :lol:

If it must be an old Saab go for one of the last original Saab Aero 900’s, not the GM ones. The T16 was one of the best cars I’ve ever owned. Got rid at 235,000 miles to someone who was willing to restore it. The window pillars started to rust. Engine and interior bullet proof. The 9000’s are great value and very well built as well. Good Luck.

Trust Labour to have a system that favours the second place candidate! Speaks volumes does it not. Harriot clapping for her new leader, sickening. Career politicians don’t you just hate them. All of them of course just to keep a sense of parity.

He's not acting in The Office, he's just playing himself. He's the sort of person I just wouldn't tire of hitting!

90 k seems a bit premature for a turbo to blow if the car has been serviced properly. One of the problems with a Turbo is oil starvation to the bearings. If you have been caning the car and then stop suddenly and turn the ignition off, don't forget that the oil pump has stopped supplying oil to the engine including the Turbo. This may still be spinning at several thousand RPM. I was always told to allow the car to idle for a couple of minutes to allow the Turbo to cool and slow down. Saab 900 T16. Maybe different to a diesel Turbo but I doubt it. If the next Turbo has blown after 800 miles it would seem to me that either the turbo was faulty or the supply of oil to the turbo has been suspect or poor , again due to poor servicing or failure of the oil pump to supply the oil at sufficient pressure due to blockage. By the way the Saab T16 had done 285000 miles on the same turbo before I sold it.

Pea gravel is quite cheap compared to slate. I bought a ton of purple slate about 1/2 of a cubic metre and it cost me £118 about 6yrs ago. Covers about 5 Sq m's at 50mm depth approx.

P.S. The cats hate walking over large lumps of stone 30 or 40mm SQ.

My old man has just bought my Mum an 04 Focus Estate 1.8TDCI (99Bhp) with 80'000 miles on her for about 2500. It's immaculate with full service history. She does 6k a year and uses it to carry grand kids and dogs etc. It's economical, handles superbly and is cheap to service and fix. What more do you want. :wink: If it was my money I'd get a Mundano estate. I do like Beemer Estates but where I work in the winter I'd need a shovel and a set of snow chains cos they are dire in the snow.

Go for a polycotton one if you can. Dries faster and feels ten times better than the nylon ones. Outwell do some good ones.

When you go to the fridge at work for some milk for a coffee and the Tw*ts on night shift have used it all for there brecky cereal. Bring your own milk for cereal you B*stards!

Ride up to Tesco's and past the retail park, straight over at junction and ride down to Bent House Lane then up through Shincliffe then at the top of Shincliffe bank turn right along Strawberry lane. This will lead to a network of bridleways and cycle paths that could take you to Barnard Castle, Waskerly and Blanchland Moor to name but a few. All off road.

A good book for some local rides is the Derek Purdy book MTB in Durham.

I can second "Don't stop at Sherburn Road!"

There was only one repeat of that episode then that's it. It will not be shown again because of the price of showing old F1 footage. If you missed it the second time you've had it I'm afraid. Top gear producer Andy Wilman was on Evan's show on Monday morning and said the cost of showing the footage is prohibitive and it's heading to the BBC archives never to be seen again.

I think the other factory veyron test driver got the average up to 266mph!

I love Defenders but if I worked on a farm I wouldn't touch one. Hi lux or Shogun every time. Defenders are easy to fix which is good because they breakdown regularly. You want a workhorse not a Donkey.

Sorry meant the E30 model not the E21.

Always liked the 3 series Touring right back to my favourite the E21. Bit small for my needs, Lab and luggage. Never took to the 5 series as much although a great car by all accounts. When I was considerably younger I had the chance to buy a E21 325i Touring with a Hartge conversion. Bottled it and have regretted it ever since, it went like stink and would wipe the floor with most things back then.

What pray tell is the stealth bomber? Is it matt black? I have to agree the Golf MK4 was/is a terrible handling car, the Focus probably the best handling front wheel drive standard production car I have driven.

Mike have now switched it to fixed service and change oil every 9000 using the standard PD oil VAG recommends not the mega expensive variable service stuff at 10 quid a litre +vat.

My best experience of owning VAG cars was during the 80's and early 90's.I would say their golden era. Audi 80 sport(red)loved that car, MK II Scirocco with the smoked lights. Audi coupe 5cyl. They were light years then ahead of Ford and Vauxhall. Now I guess the other manufacturers have caught up. Still think the 1.9TDI engine is one of the all time great engines.

I only use WD ,JDP , What Car, Parker's etc to get an overview and a feel for how reliable a car is. I don't only use one site. Then armed with as much info as I can get, I'll choose some models to test drive and take it from there. Remember to take into account the service intervals and cost, tyre costs and tax etc. My Golf has never got anywhere near it's maximum mileage on its variable service schedule, 9000 to 20000 miles, service light always comes on at approx 9050 miles.

Having said all of the above the best car as a family we have had was a Bog Rover 216si s reg. Universally slated in every survey it's been in!

So a survey based on actual claims compared to an owner stating an opinion about the car they have bought is some how inferior or less accurate. If I had just spent say 25 k on an A3 and it's been poor. Would I then slag it off in a customer survey thus indicating what a plonker I have been or say nothing, hope everybody else said nothing and then sell the thing.
Anyone using WD is a plonker because the data is flawed or because they don't pay out?
Don't the Top Gear lot use the JDP Survey.