On a biking weekend away and before I’d even got on my bike I decided to spin my rear wheel with the bike upside down and then insert my finger into the rotor.

Cue quite a lot of blood, finger tip hanging off and a trip to the local doctors surgery and a miserable day sat in CYB cafe waiting for my mates to finish riding. I then rode Penmachno the next day with a rear brake only (it was my front braking finger) and the tip taped on with insulation tape (it was very wet and my dressing came off within seconds).

When I got home a few days later the nurse at my doctors said I might like to look away when she inspected it – full flip top finger as perhaps unsurprisingly it hadn’t knitted together over 2 days riding in the rain :-/

Cheap = £30-£40 ish?!

I’ve got a set of cheapish cateye somethingorothers but the front one in particular is a bit rubbish!

There’s no fog!

Cheers chaps – the thing is I don’t know if printing off a cash price has much bearing on what would be offered on a pcp deal? The numbers the dealer gave me seemed a bit arbitrary!

I’m looking for a bimmer 3 series. I probably don’t do enough miles to justify diesel so am happy with petrol. I think pcp is preferable to pch as any equity over the final payment can be used etc.

My dealership has offered me zero deposit deals but so far the best they’ve come up with is a 328i M Sport for £439 a month :O

I’m not in a position to buy cash unfortunately :-(

Would you expect most dealers to provide a quote for a car with a specific spec or would you expect them to be vague so they can up sell or whatever it’s called?!

It’s a fair point, just that the dealership is literally opposite my work so handy to pop into.

The thing is, they won’t just give me a price for a particular car which is irritating. Some of the deals they’ve so far offered looking like spanking value but are beyond my comfort zone budget wise.

Also, can some explain why they’re saying that adding leather interior adds £30-£40 per month on a 4yr pcp deal when it’s only £1100 as an option if you paid cash? They’ve basically said that the two options I want (18″ alloys and leather) are adding £70 a month to my quotes?!

I learned (learnt?) to drive at 32 and my ancient Astra was £570 ish to insure with Tesco.

8 months later I got my 3 series coupe insured with Admiral for about £920 which I considered a bargain given how little experience I had. They both might be worth a look.

Just to clarify, my current car wasn’t new when I took out the HP (it was 4yrs old, 11k and 1/3rd the original price!), it’s now 6 yrs old. I’m not desperate to get a new new car but HP on a couple of years old car is again looking like a tempting compromise.

My current car is worth a little bit more than the outstanding HP and I can return it at any point without penalty. I’m just tying to get a feel for what others do as the I think the work lease scheme has distorted my view!

^ hmmm

Not really, I am open to the idea of not getting shiny shiny hence asking what’s a reasonable amount to spend. I’m well aware that my own thoughts probably aren’t those most logical hence asking for perspective!

Funkydunc – out of interest where did you get your lease deal? I thought my work’s offerings were good value but perhaps they’re not?!

Ninfan – this is why the work lease is tempting as it’s 3 yrs of no stress followed by the option to buy a well maintained car that I know the history of, at a reasonable price (apparently)..

TooTall – nope, the milage justified the newish car aspect. The lack of sprog at the time helped justify the coupe bit! :D

^ hmm current car isn’t a status symbol, I just like it! Tbh when I got the car I was doing quite a lot more miles hence that helped to justify it!

I guess we probably don’t need anything more than an 8yr old focus but I’m not sure at what point cheap becomes too cheap.

^ 3 series coupe but have been driving for only 2 yes

The lease schemes require no deposit I should add

.. Im suffering “requirements creep” in that a normal family car is reasonable but there are some shiny mercs/Bimmers for not a whole lot more. I’ve just lost track of what’s sensible to spend tbh!

.. But as I’m currently paying HP and we only have the one car I don’t have the luxury of just saving some pennies (which arguably would be a sensible idea) hmmm

Well my current car is on HP but at mid term so I can hand it back without penalty. I can get many decent cars on the work lease deal for what I’m paying now in total for HP/Insurance/maintenance but obviously I won’t own it (although there is an option to buy after 3 yrs).

I could for example get a passant or mondeo for £350 a month all in which seems a bargain given my insurance alone is £75 a month at the moment. I am also considering the banger route (although it means I’ll cry when returning my current 6yr old car) but like you say reliability is quite important with sproglet on board!

Yep! What’s a reasonable amount percentage wise (of income) to splurge on a car? There must be some sort of “rule” or something?!

Happy baby monitor is er… happy?

Not quite.

I have a felt F95 which is from the racier range. It was absolutely cracking value for money and although I know naff all about road bikes it’s overtaken quite a few mega buck full carbon bling machines!

Merlin had some amazing deals on Felt road bikes recently – worth a look.

Cool, hoar cross shall be checked out.

The thing is that we live near chesterfield/sheffield so don’t want anything too close to either of them (I mentioned an hour from derby as that’s where sprog will be staying).

Yeah I might need to check out breadsall thingy.

Losehillhouse I did look at but they’ve got no availability when we need it (it’s also 3 min from my brother’s house and my usual biking ground so might feel less special).

What happens in B&Q when you pop in for a bit of decking; do you punch the clematis or bugger a parasol?

You should never punch a lady’s clematis; tickly perhaps or just stare confusedly..

Changing bag is happy (he was on holiday)

:-S

None of the above were euphemisms , just to clarify

Ooh and upholstery thread! I’ve been waiting for one of these..

.. So what’s bestest to remove

a)salty bum marks (mates on a beach holiday piling in the back all damp)

b) sticky sweet/sugar marks

c) general dirt

From a very light grey textured upholstery? Eh? Hmmm?

Poah

I guess it’s the change in climate, flying , waiting , change in environment for sleeping, whether or not it’s actually possible to relax / worth the effort etc

Interesting ..

Ok, so next question – how does it work with taking a car seat, luggage and a pushchair on a plane? Presumably you have to pay lots for the privilege? Is there a limit to the size of pushchair thing (ours is quite bulky)?

I also need to find a quiet location .. Just choose a random resort in menorca…

Hmm, it could be do-able then it seems.

Right then, can anyone recommend an above all else QUIET ish resort somewhere like manorca or Majorca?! I absolutely hate busy places and am emotionally scarred by our last trip to such a place where I had to wipe another mans sweat off me as he slid into the sun lounger rammed against mine :-S

13.5

(Or 15 if you have an apple immediately afterwards)

My tip would be to not get hung up on googling the 320i engine.

What you’ll come across is a lot of scare mongering by people who don’t own but have heard about coil and injector issues. There were some issues with some early engines granted but BMW sorted these out under their improvement programme thingy.

Also, those used to the torquey 320d seem to have a huge problem with how different the petrol – it needs revving hard to get some speed but flies when it does. 0-60 in 8 secs isn’t bad for a 2.0L n/a engine and neither is 45mpg+ at 70-80mph!

I love mine

4 years old, £10K and BMW, Audi, or Merc E class or C class – I don’t think so unless the mileage was stratospheric.

Nah. I got my 4 year old 3 series coupe from a BMW dealer, with a years warranty for only 10.5k with 50k on the clock. It’s “BMW approved” and hasn’t so much as rattled a vague squeak in 2 yrs and 20000 miles.

Flippin lovely

^ there is a sister yes but you wouldn’t erm want to . Erm no.
Just no..

I think I was spoiled (spoilt?) as it was my first Father’s Day. I expect next year it’ll be socks or a lynx deodorant …

A mixture of pride and disappointment for me yesterday.

Five and a half month old mini RRR thoughtfully booked me a helicopter ride (co-pilot’s seat no less) over Stanage edge and the surrounding area for yesterday.

However he didn’t have the foresight to check the weather forecast so it had to be cancelled :-(

He did however then buy me lunch at the fox house inn so it wasn’t all a complete dissapointment :-)

My Felt F95 was way less than £600 and is pretty quick. Carbon fork too which some at that price point don’t have. Worth a look

All this talk or v8 w!lly replacements!

I didn’t say my car was exciting, it’s just the little 2.0l

(But still quicker than some of those Lada vRS’s :D)

The thing is, the wife hasn’t yet passed her test but already she’s talking of wanting “her own little car” which, given our budget wouldn’t be something new enough/safe enough for me to want her doing long journeys in..

Hmmm indeed

You’re not suggesting anyone on here would start a ridiculous argument for no particular reason, are you? :D

Ads678 – no need to edit your post. Passats are nice cars! I also love the Pyrenees :D

Rickmeister – I’m 6’3″ so if the lad grows to be my sort of size we’re going to need the biggest roof box that’ll fit..