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Early Risers.

Mr.S.corn78

By Mr.S.corn78,
in Wheeltappers

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Robert

Robert

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Morning All,

 

It looks like it could be shaping up to be a reasonable day. The cloud is at least broken and so there is the possibility of some sun. The temperature is around 3°C.

 

On the subject of cars - I considered replacing my Zafira, but don't really have a good option to replace it with. I wouldn't buy a Volvo either, the old "proper" Volvo's were a different story (200 series flying bricks) but the later Ford derivatives just don't seem to be anywhere near as good. My Cousin recently got rid of his as it was always breaking down. Finally the head gasket was showing signs of distress and it would have cost a fortune to fix, so he got rid of it.

 

I've considered a number of vehicles, but I haven't really found anything worth changing the Zafira for. I would consider a Vectra estate - but they are too expensive. The way it looks at the moment, I might just run the Zafira into the ground and then think about getting something else.

 

Have a good day everyone...

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NGT6 1315

NGT6 1315

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I wouldn't buy a Volvo either, the old "proper" Volvo's were a different story (200 series flying bricks) (...)

 

Oh yeah, those were among my favourites back when I was a kid :) . I'm also very fond of the Saab 900 series - that's one car with character.

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skipepsi

skipepsi

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Morning all we had a sharp frost last night after a relatively warm sunny day. On the subject of Volvos mine will be making two 400 mile round trips over the Christmas break I will check the oil water tyres etc before but even at 14 years old I expect to get there and back without problems and feeling able to walk normally when I arrive back. The only reason for swopping it for a zafira under the motability scheme is the anount of fuel it drinks, the round trip to Carlisle will cost more than £70 in a diesel Zafira I expect it to cost around half that. I recently sold a 940 estate for spares or repair on ebay for £285 to a bloke who said in his opinion they were the last real Volvos.

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NGT6 1315

NGT6 1315

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Had a parcel delivery this morning via Royal Mail which was a pleasant surprise.

 

Do RM offer regular Sunday deliveries? Of course, I am not familiar with UK rules concerning business on Sundays, which may well be different from those here in Germany. Far as I know, DHL do offer Sunday deliveries, but at an extra charge of about 20 € at least.

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skipepsi

skipepsi

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it is the reason it has to go Dave, it might be endlessly reliable but after 10 years or more the exhaust is on its way out and repairs at main dealer prices exceed the value of the car by a factor of two. i expect to acheive 30mpg on the motorway section but only around 22 mpg on the cat and fiddle section. Mind you if we have more snow it will be M1,M62,M6 for me. If DD1 didn't need a desktop tower for her work then the train would be the better option.

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Tony_S

Tony_S

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Do RM offer regular Sunday deliveries? Of course, I am not familiar with UK rules concerning business on Sundays, which may well be different from those here in Germany. Far as I know, DHL do offer Sunday deliveries, but at an extra charge of about 20 € at least.

 

 

 

Not a normal situation. I suspect it is an overtime arrangement to deal with the backlog caused by the weather and the Christmas post.

Sunday trading in England (may be different in other parts of UK?) is restricted to 6 hours for large retail businesses. Delivery business usually work working weekday, Saturday (normal delivery here with Royal Mail) usually costs more with a courier. Sunday delivery is available via some couriers but expensive.

I suspect if a business isn't retail the only major restriction would be the EU working hours directive. There used to be all kinds of strange laws about what could and couldn't be sold on a Sunday but they were all changed when the Sunday trading laws were revised.

 

 

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Tony_S

Tony_S

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it is the reason it has to go Dave, it might be endlessly reliable but after 10 years or more the exhaust is on its way out and repairs at main dealer prices exceed the value of the car by a factor of two. i expect to acheive 30mpg on the motorway section but only around 22 mpg on the cat and fiddle section. Mind you if we have more snow it will be M1,M62,M6 for me. If DD1 didn't need a desktop tower for her work then the train would be the better option.

 

I'm not sure Matthew could get all his stuff home on the train. His room at Leicester is one of the nice rooms they use for conferences so he has to remove all his possessions. When I was at university we had a locker room where we could store stuff in suitcases or trunks but it wasn't secure. Matthew plans to start packing this week so I can go and get him on Friday afternoon., rather than early Saturday. The main part of the journey is M25, M1. If the weather is dreadful I'll have to ask his uncle in Kettering to rescue him!

 

 

 

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sixoh8sixoh

sixoh8sixoh

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Morning all.

 

I've been offered a Volvo S40 to replace my Focus, but I'm not keen. The Focus just seems to keep going, and is a lot cheaper* on the fuel than the S40 will be. Dad has that and a 940 estate in the garage, but uses his Freelander 2 all of the time now. Both Volvos are in decent working order, I think, but haven't turned a wheel in about 3 years.

 

The one car I vowed never to get behind the wheel of again was a Mercedes A Class. The one I drove (for about a mile) scared the bejeesus out of me. Put the clutch down to change gear, clutch didn't come back up. Couldn't understand this - until I realised that it was stuck under the mat and didn't have a strong enough spring to free itself. I remember when I was learning to drive having aching thighs from the spring on the clutch pedal of my Clio at the time!

 

 

 

* I say cheaper. Less expensive.

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TheSignalEngineer

TheSignalEngineer

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Far as I know, DHL do offer Sunday deliveries, but at an extra charge of about 20 € at least.

 

Don't think that would work if it went via DHL Ashton depot. They are an absolute shambles. A parcel from Bangor to Glossop, 110 miles, took over a week having been routed Anglesea - Ashton - Hatfield - Ashton (apparently arrived twice if tracking is to be believed) then delivered by a man-in-a-van 7 days after it was due to arrive.

 

Also, DHL@Home is just what it says on the tin. The delivery driver works from home in his own white van. DHL take you precious loco to his house, not yours. Then it is open to chance if it gets to your house or someone else's.

 

If you are offered delivery by DHL, buy it from someone else.

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45156

45156

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Morning All

 

Very cold again overnight and a sharp frost which is lingering, but where the direct sun is hitting the rime, it is steaming off quite quickly.

 

Feeling a bit rough myself today, mainly due to a bad night - I rolled over onto my bad hip and probably lay on it for a couple of hours, then woke up about four with a painfully stiff leg.

 

Other than that, I can't enter the debate about Volvos, as I've never owned one, but it is probably significant that my brother works at their Warwick plant as an IT specialist, and gets preferential prices (or possibly even a free comany car) but drives a Ford Focus and his wife drives a Vauxhall!

 

Regards to All

Stewart

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Tony_S

Tony_S

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Morning all.

 

I've been offered a Volvo S40 to replace my Focus, but I'm not keen. The Focus just seems to keep going, and is a lot cheaper* on the fuel than the S40 will be. Dad has that and a 940 estate in the garage, but uses his Freelander 2 all of the time now. Both Volvos are in decent working order, I think, but haven't turned a wheel in about 3 years.

 

The one car I vowed never to get behind the wheel of again was a Mercedes A Class. The one I drove (for about a mile) scared the bejeesus out of me. Put the clutch down to change gear, clutch didn't come back up. Couldn't understand this - until I realised that it was stuck under the mat and didn't have a strong enough spring to free itself. I remember when I was learning to drive having aching thighs from the spring on the clutch pedal of my Clio at the time!

 

 

 

* I say cheaper. Less expensive.

 

My mother-in-law has an S40 now. I'd forgotten that she also asked if my wife wanted that one as well. However we very politely declined that one as well! I 9really) think she is going to get something smaller this time, Toyota Yaris or Honda Jazz sized. It is odd how people form their car ideas. My BiL told MiL not to buy a Toyota. Apparently he got a RAV 4 stuck in a ditch in Ireland and it must have been the manufacturers fault!!

Tony

 

 

 

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Tony_S

Tony_S

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... and, if you are below average, don't put your Clios and whatnots in front of my Volvo.

 

Fortunately I don't drive my car with a mouse!

I think I got Matthew a bit worried when we got the Freelander. It is a Bluetooth enabled vehicle and I was winding him up suggesting that I wondered what would happen if I tried to drive it with my netbook's Bluetooth mouse. Fortunately it is only the audio system that is Bluetooth enabled.

 

 

 

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shortliner

shortliner

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Re my earlier post - not Youtube, but here http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://theamcforum.com/forum/uploads/3/smart-car-2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://theamcforum.com/forum/still-want-a-smart-car_topic12220.html&usg=__o4PhCxK2eu6PSwU9RZa6t6AvQJM=&h=724&w=965&sz=103&hl=en&start=0&sig2=WbDq4nXxAkOC2K2KPXtCIA&zoom=1&tbnid=DLolaXBURjQesM:&tbnh=152&tbnw=203&ei=4woFTbGwHM744AbUjriDCg&prev=/images%3Fq%3DSmart%2Bcar%2Bvs%2Btwo%2Btrucks%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26biw%3D1248%26bih%3D793%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=347&vpy=84&dur=1266&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=154&ty=100&oei=4woFTbGwHM744AbUjriDCg&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=20&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0

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Robert

Robert

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The structural integrity of a Smart actually isn't too bad. There is a video on You Tube from Fifth Gear where they crash one into a concrete block at 70mph (I can't post a link for copyright reasons). The passenger cell remains in tact - although of course the survivability would be limited by the rapid deceleration.

 

There's hardly a car out there that would come off well against two HGV's!

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Tony_S

Tony_S

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I've been out for some railfanning after all, checking out the two new light rail lines which went online in Frankfurt today. Images of this are in my blog, as usual: Click.

 

:)

 

 

Is that real or artificial grass in between the rails?

 

 

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