Petrol Head?

[J*B]

If anyone can help me out with this or share with someone suitable it would be much appreciated! 

[Upside Down]

Petrol head. As in someone who is really into cars.

I suppose in England it's referring to people who are more into older cars like pre 85'.

[Gav]

Got to say that having had all manor of cars over the years the Mrs insisted we went electric this time around and its by far the best car I've ever owned. 

We tend to charge once a week, 280/300 miles - £20 and thats it.

Superb vehicle, I doubt I'll ever go back to petrol or diesel. 

[RoverDom]

Best car I've ever owned is a Ford fiesta 🤣🤣

Favourite car I've ever owned is my very first one a knackered fiat punto. I cable tied the exhaust on a few times and the power steering would cut out and seize up going round a roundabout. Would have to switch it off and back on again to get steering back. No one dared try to cut me up in traffic when driving that thing

Edited February 18, 2022 by RoverDom

[only2garners]

5 hours ago, Gav said:

Got to say that having had all manor of cars over the years the Mrs insisted we went electric this time around and its by far the best car I've ever owned. 

We tend to charge once a week, 280/300 miles - £20 and thats it.

Superb vehicle, I doubt I'll ever go back to petrol or diesel. 

What have you got Gav?

We have had a Renault Zoe as a second car for 4.5 years and we use it for the majority of the time - it's just wonderful. We also have a petrol car that is due to be replaced in September and I will be getting another electric and like you I can't see me ever buying another petrol or diesel car.

[Upside Down]

Interesting, my main concerns with the electric vehicles are the potential repair costs and the longevity of them. 

How have you guys found them to be on those fronts? 

[only2garners]

11 hours ago, Upside Down said:

Interesting, my main concerns with the electric vehicles are the potential repair costs and the longevity of them. 

How have you guys found them to be on those fronts? 

Well nothing's gone wrong yet after 4.5 years. In general maintenance costs are much less than ICE as there are far fewer parts to go wrong.

[Armchair supporter supremo]

Just cant see used fully electric cars beaing available at under a few thosand for at least 7 years. But the bigger problem/question will they even remotely last anywhere near that long before they're just a heap of burnt out irreplaceable circuits, battery and scrap. 

Admittedly I've never really looked into the nuts and bolts of electric vehicles, but like any electrical item they will usually just have a limited shelf life before they are just burnt out and unrepairable, where as petrol or diesel vehicles can easily last 15+(or 200,000miles) years if well looked after, as most parts are relatively easily replaced) 

 

I think the kind of people that will be buying electric cars are the kinds that would just go out and buy a new car and then replace it for another new car within 5 years or so anyway, for more lower income working class folk or people that don't give enough of a crap about cars to justify spending more than a few thousand on one then i think it will be unlikely used electric vehicles will last long enough for us to buy a used one(that still has years of life left in it anyway!)

Edited February 19, 2022 by Armchair supporter supremo

[Armchair supporter supremo]

3 hours ago, only2garners said:

Well nothing's gone wrong yet after 4.5 years. In general maintenance costs are much less than ICE as there are far fewer parts to go wrong.

yep but 4.5 years is nothing really for any car if its serviced well. but when something does go wrong its not like you can just go and buy cheaper aftermarket parts and get your local mec to sort it.is it? I imagine it will all have to be done officially through the manufacturers dealers(ie. rip off merchants)

Edited February 19, 2022 by Armchair supporter supremo

[Gav]

On 18/02/2022 at 13:39, only2garners said:

What have you got Gav?

We have had a Renault Zoe as a second car for 4.5 years and we use it for the majority of the time - it's just wonderful. We also have a petrol car that is due to be replaced in September and I will be getting another electric and like you I can't see me ever buying another petrol or diesel car.

We bought a Tesla, superb motor and after today, brilliant in the snow, not a bit of trouble.

[only2garners]

25 minutes ago, Armchair supporter supremo said:

Just cant see used fully electric cars beaing available at under a few thosand for at least 7 years. But the bigger problem/question will they even remotely last anywhere near that long before they're just a heap of burnt out irreplaceable circuits, battery and scrap. 

Admittedly I've never really looked into the nuts and bolts of electric vehicles, but like any electrical item they will usually just have a limited shelf life before they are just burnt out and unrepairable, where as petrol or diesel vehicles can easily last 15+(or 200,000miles) years if well looked after, as most parts are relatively easily replaced) 

 

I think the kind of people that will be buying electric cars are the kinds that would just go out and buy a new car and then replace it for another new car within 5 years or so anyway, for more lower income working class folk or people that don't give enough of a crap about cars to justify spending more than a few thousand on one then i think it will be unlikely used electric vehicles will last long enough for us to buy a used one(that still has years of life left in it anyway!)

Obviously it will take time for electric cars to become old enough and cheap enough for many. But already you can get a used Zoe 8/9 years old for around £7K. No doubt still out of range of many but you do have to add on the vastly cheaper running costs.

[only2garners]

4 minutes ago, Gav said:

We bought a Tesla, superb motor and after today, brilliant in the snow, not a bit of trouble.

I have more or less discounted a Tesla for 4 reasons: -

1. Poor reliability record

2. It seems most functions need you to use the screen rather than knobs or sticks from the steering wheel - I would feel uncomfortable with that.

3. And the biggest one for me - it's a saloon so you can't put the back seats down to make a big boot and I wouldn't be able to get my bike in easily.

3. Elon Musk is a kn*b.

[Gav]

28 minutes ago, only2garners said:

I have more or less discounted a Tesla for 4 reasons: -

1. Poor reliability record

2. It seems most functions need you to use the screen rather than knobs or sticks from the steering wheel - I would feel uncomfortable with that.

3. And the biggest one for me - it's a saloon so you can't put the back seats down to make a big boot and I wouldn't be able to get my bike in easily.

3. Elon Musk is a kn*b.

1. Had one for 4 months flawless, mate had his for 12 months, flawless.

2. True, takes a bit of getting used to and after 4 months I still have my moments.

3. Depends which one you get, bike racks are from £150 - £420 for official Tesla version.

4. Couldn't agree more.

 

[ChrisyG]

I used to love my little J reg Renault Clio RT back in the day.

I currently have a Toyota Pro Ace Verso. Its an 8 seater, all the seats fold down or can be taken out and theres loads of room for all the family and clobber. I also coach a junior football team and the rest of the time it's full of footballs and corner flags!

I haven't seen an EV that will do the same job and if there was one, I'd expect it would be out of our price range anyway.

I'd also be conerened about spending big on an EV. I haven't heard a CEO of any of the big EV car manufacturers say how long the battery will last. It's the most expensive and important part of an electric car, that's a bit of a problem for me.

I'd say hydrogen engines are the future for larger vehicles, big-engined machinery, HGV's, buses etc. I watched a good video on youtube about the JCB hydrogen engine, it's very impressive. Its very similar to a normal combustion engine.

[Armchair supporter supremo]

I just want my little 13 year old F reg Vauxhall Nova 1.2 merit back, best car ever, nippy af and probably the most fuel efficient car I've had and only cost me 300 quid. 

 

I'd never have a Tesla at any price, purely for the same reasons I've never owned an apple product. 

Edited February 20, 2022 by Armchair supporter supremo

[Armchair supporter supremo]

18 hours ago, only2garners said:

Obviously it will take time for electric cars to become old enough and cheap enough for many. But already you can get a used Zoe 8/9 years old for around £7K. No doubt still out of range of many but you do have to add on the vastly cheaper running costs.

But that's what I'm saying, once they get to an age where theyre relatively more affordable they will be to much of a gamble even to just spend a few grand on, because they could just go completely caput in an instant and become irreparable at any moment

[Gav]

1 hour ago, Armchair supporter supremo said:

But that's what I'm saying, once they get to an age where theyre relatively more affordable they will be to much of a gamble even to just spend a few grand on, because they could just go completely caput in an instant and become irreparable at any moment

As mentioned above, electric cars are far less likely to go caput because they have less things to go wrong compared to a traditional car.

Batteries are the main consideration I guess, they’ll not be cheap to replace.

[den]

The battery packs can cost more to replace than the car is worth. Also, it seems important to take certain precautions for them like not using rapid chargers too often or letting them run down too far. 
So buying second hand might deter some people.

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/advice-electric-cars/what-battery-life-electric-car

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

3 hours ago, Armchair supporter supremo said:

I just want my little 13 year old F reg Vauxhall Nova 1.2 merit back, best car ever, nippy af and probably the most fuel efficient car I've had and only cost me 300 quid. 

 

I'd never have a Tesla at any price, purely for the same reasons I've never owned an apple product. 

A workmate of mine made it be known he needed a car years ago. Just to get him the few miles to work each day.  I had another pal who was selling one of the old Skoda’s. So I put the two of them together and the deal was done for £300. About a fortnight later a lady driver ran into the back of the Skoda whilst it was parked up outside my workmates house. It was obviously declared a write off and the insurance paid him £450 for the car. “ Best car I ever had “ he said - “ Only car I ever made money on “.

A week or two later he was promoted to service engineer and he got a company vehicle.

Some guys have all the luck.

[Armchair supporter supremo]

2 hours ago, Gav said:

As mentioned above, electric cars are far less likely to go caput because they have less things to go wrong compared to a traditional car.

Batteries are the main consideration I guess, they’ll not be cheap to replace.

like i say electric items may have less moving components, but once something does go wrong it's usually far more cost effective to replace them instead of repairing. Rechargeable batteries naturally deteriorate over time and become less and less able to maintain a good charge

 

Proof will be in the pudding though, still a few years off before knowing how they'll go and I'm sure in the future electric cars will be much cheaper to produce. 

Edited February 20, 2022 by Armchair supporter supremo

[Armchair supporter supremo]

There's also the Elephant in the room of where are they going to keep finding all the raw materials from that make up the batteries on these vehicles thay they hope will one day soon be replacing the the hundreds of millions of petrol & diesel vehicles currently on the rd AND what about environmental and ethical issues that come with mining these raw materials 

[Gav]

2 hours ago, Armchair supporter supremo said:

like i say electric items may have less moving components, but once something does go wrong it's usually far more cost effective to replace them instead of repairing. Rechargeable batteries naturally deteriorate over time and become less and less able to maintain a good charge

 

Proof will be in the pudding though, still a few years off before knowing how they'll go and I'm sure in the future electric cars will be much cheaper to produce. 

I wonder how long it will take the government to start taxing electric vehicles, they're going to lose a fortune in duty over the next 20/30yrs, it won't long i'd wager.

[only2garners]

20 hours ago, Gav said:

I wonder how long it will take the government to start taxing electric vehicles, they're going to lose a fortune in duty over the next 20/30yrs, it won't long i'd wager.

I think that it's more likely that a system of taxing on mileage done will replace the current tax system.

[Gav]

2 hours ago, only2garners said:

I think that it's more likely that a system of taxing on mileage done will replace the current tax system.

They'll get us one way or another o2g, you can count on that.

[ChrisyG]

So my family bus, the Toyota Proace Verso 2.0 Diesel, is due to go back in July (I PCP and swap every four years), and I've been weighing up my options.

The GFV on the vehicle is £11,000. I did an online valuation and double-checked on Autotrader, and its value now is around £22,000. It's worth double what they thought it would be worth.

I've looked into getting another one as it's very practical, but they're only making them now with an electric motor. I'm not overly keen on getting an electric vehicle, but I looked into the specs.

The range on a Proace Verso EV is 135 miles, with a top speed of 80 mph, which probably explains why the price of the used diesel has increased! So, that's not an option for me as I need a longer range and like driving fast on the motorway. I reckon I'll settle the balance and keep my bus until it no longer functions!