Your Car and Lockdown.

Dale.

Dale.

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Dale.
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These are sobering times and there's a lot more important stuff going on than this. Lockdown 1 though highlighted something to me.

We have 2 cars, one is a'main car', which my wife uses for her commute or to get the her Mum's, 60 odd miles away, during normal times. It's over 4 years old now but used daily as my wife is a keyworker.

Our 'second' car is (was) used mainly by me, for the school run and photography outings.

I filled our second car with fuel in February 2020 just prior to lockdown one. It was June before I had to put fuel in again. Our other car was getting filled every 10 days or so, so it was being used a lot more.

When I started using our second car again, it was obvious that it needed a few bits, new brakes, some springs etc, mainly consumable stuff, which it didn't prior to lockdown. Car 1 didn't, it sailed it's MOT too. Car 2 was a little older than car one, granted but I really think it suffered just sitting there for months.

I've since replaced our second car for a newer one, it's had a few teething problems but nothing major. It's just sat there again though at the moment and I'm fearing a repeat of it needing work. I went to start it just last week and the battery was flat and the rear brakes stuck on, there was a bulb out at the rear too.

I'm not sure that a car just sitting there does it any good, the car that is used daily seems to fair much better. I'm tempted to take car 2 for a run every week but it doesn't sit right just now doing that. Being a 1.6 TDI, letting it sit on the drive for a while ticking over isn't an option as that will clog the DPF. It's also had a new throttle body recently (more correctly, throttle valve I believe) and that needs calibrating as it's brought on the engine management light since I replaced it.

So, I can't help but think, that cars don't fair well just parked up for longish periods.

Anybody else see this?

:)
 
Car sitting doing nothing will get problems.. including cracked tyres.. A car not getting a decent run out regular will also get problems.. my mechanic likes to tell me cars are made to be driven..

My wifes car only goes accross town every day and she doesnt even get into 5th gear and rarely gets to 30mph because its town center only... I take it out instead of mine now and again to give it a blast.. get that rev counter up towards the red now and again :)

I am not a mechanic.. but having a car doing little or no milage is not good according to my garage
 
Take it for a good run once a week, for various reasons we currently have far more vehicles than people in the house and I have to. You are not coming into contact with anyone if you don't get out of the car, or get your wife insured on the second car and get her to use it once a week.

As long as you run it hot the DPF will regenerate
 
We have two cars, my JCW Clubman is now 5 years old and just sailed through it's 2nd MOT, that gets most use. My wife's 10 year old 3 door Mini gets used less, in fact it has similar milage to mine, despite twice as old. We had to renew the battery this month. With both of us not currently working, what we are doing now is swapping the cars around.

I need a regular hospital visit about once a month, and it's 35 miles each way. We took the wife's car last time to make sure it had a bit of a run. The problem is, my JCW has heated seats, SatNav etc, (and a lot more power) so I miss mine, but hey, it works better this way...
 
The there is low mileage cars. My mum does less than 3000 miles a year never gets the car above 40. rarely if ever does more than 5 miles from home. Car is 10 years old, other than tyres has had no other parts that are not covered by a service.
Previous car was 14 years old and had 40000 miles on it, from memory this had only had a new battery after 10 years or so
 
Dale. said:
These are sobering times and there's a lot more important stuff going on than this. Lockdown 1 though highlighted something to me.

We have 2 cars, one is a'main car', which my wife uses for her commute or to get the her Mum's, 60 odd miles away, during normal times. It's over 4 years old now but used daily as my wife is a keyworker.

Our 'second' car is (was) used mainly by me, for the school run and photography outings.

I filled our second car with fuel in February 2020 just prior to lockdown one. It was June before I had to put fuel in again. Our other car was getting filled every 10 days or so, so it was being used a lot more.

When I started using our second car again, it was obvious that it needed a few bits, new brakes, some springs etc, mainly consumable stuff, which it didn't prior to lockdown. Car 1 didn't, it sailed it's MOT too. Car 2 was a little older than car one, granted but I really think it suffered just sitting there for months.

I've since replaced our second car for a newer one, it's had a few teething problems but nothing major. It's just sat there again though at the moment and I'm fearing a repeat of it needing work. I went to start it just last week and the battery was flat and the rear brakes stuck on, there was a bulb out at the rear too.

I'm not sure that a car just sitting there does it any good, the car that is used daily seems to fair much better. I'm tempted to take car 2 for a run every week but it doesn't sit right just now doing that. Being a 1.6 TDI, letting it sit on the drive for a while ticking over isn't an option as that will clog the DPF. It's also had a new throttle body recently (more correctly, throttle valve I believe) and that needs calibrating as it's brought on the engine management light since I replaced it.

So, I can't help but think, that cars don't fair well just parked up for longish periods.

Anybody else see this?

:)
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Why are you using just the one car? Get your wife to use the other car once or twice a week at least, it will keep the battery charged. Just as well your second car is diesel and not petrol as the petrol would be going off.
We have two cars, I drive mine to work and back Monday to Friday, the wifes car gets used at least once a week to go to Tesco a 6 mile round trip, and when tier ratings allow, an occasional 70 mile round trip to her mum and dad's. First year she had it, it only did around 800 miles, second year was around 1500 miles, last year was right down, but other than replacing a couple of tyres, it hasn't required anything in the last 3 yrs beyond normal servicing. You really should be using the second car more.
 
I guess it's not really a second car as such, but I've not used the old Escort since September. Probably just sat there covered in condensation and requiring a new battery again.....

Yes, cars need to be used.
 
We have two cars and one was definitely the number one. However, even that has only been filled three times since last March. It is an Alfa GT and has taken us on three good trips to Europe, covering around 2.5K miles each time. Two weeks ago, we left home to pick up a C&C order from the supermarket. Only a couple of miles into the journey I could see an excess of smoke coming from what I thought was the exhaust. I thought maybe the turbo had blown, but the car was pulling well. Then I got flashed by a van and by this time the smoke was billowing out. I slowed down in the inside lane and made it to a services (still only a few miles from home). When we stopped there was an acrid, burning smell. We both got out and there was a lot of black deposit around the rear n/s wheel. I hadn't been driving with the handbrake on, so I assume a rear caliper has seized on. I managed to nurse it home at crawling pace and due to the weather I haven't been able to work on it yet. Now, the other car is a 15 year old Octavia which we had to press into action. Charged the battery, gave it a once over, booked the MOT and it flew through without a warning. The car hadn't been used for a year.
 
I have a Prius and when my wife wants to go to Stroud, a 20 mile round trip, we go in mine just to give it a run as per the above posts. I only used it to go to Slimbridge, 9..miles away..Somerset Levels 70 miles away and wherever a steam loco was passing in our area.. so about 3000 miles a year. When I get petrol I note the mileage, the amount and the cost per litre in a notebook and tyre pressures. Noting the tyre pressures gives a heads up for any ongoing problems. I have written for 18th March ..'been in lockdown for 3 weeks ..battery flat'

So, from February 24th to yesterday I've done 1177 miles'.In that time I've had to twice jump start it . The garage I take it to put it on overnight charge because ,as with everyone, I couldn't take it far enough for a good run because of the lockdowns. I was unaware of what long periods of no use would do to the tyres until I read the post by KIPAX. Arriving back from our recent trip to Cornwall as the new lockdown kicked in the battery was flat. After reading up on the best charger(s) I now have this one and I can see why it got such good reviews by Auto magazines and a websites I like to go to..Honest John being a favourite who said that if the battery is completely flat jump start it and take it on a short run so the charger recognises it's linked to a battery..which is what I did. It charged it in 6 hours. It can be left on number 7 setting (light) which keeps it topped up from 90%-100% or number 8 (light) keeps it topped with pulses of charge. Hopefully, by taking it out once a week I won't need to use the charger but it's a great piece of kit.


By the way, the car now lives in the garage as not long ago, when it was parked on the driveway overnight, the catalyctic converter was stolen. Cost me £730 for an aftermarket one at the garage I've been going to for tyres, exhausts and batteries for years. I saw it online as low as £350 but after some research realised that by not going cheap the product can be as good. The only factor I had to consider was durability. The EM item may not last as long but with my very low mileage it wasn't an issue. Having it done at Toyota was £1250.

A cut/paste

Quality and performance:
Almost anywhere you look you can find a generic or aftermarket parts manufacturer with top quality products of equal or superior standard to the genuine or OEM parts. Even though aftermarket manufacturers design their products to fit a wide range of needs, they use quality materials to make their products.

Like we said earlier, you get what you pay for with aftermarket manufacturers. However, you can expect the highest-quality aftermarket parts to be cheaper than standard-quality OEM parts or genuine parts. This means you can enjoy the best quality parts without spending too much. What's more, you can find these quality aftermarket parts in your local store.


The thieves don't even wear a face covering. I don't mean re covid..re ID. The high cost of the metals in the converter gets them about £400 -500 at dodgy scrap metal dealers. It's illegal to pay cash for scrap metal but,as with other such laws Trading Standards have been cut back so spot checks don't happen much read that some even go abroad I could pay £200 for a shield but the chap at the garage said they'd just saw either side and take thgat too. they are even being stolen in supermarket car parks after people have parked upo and gone in to shop. Noit a nice feeling when you start the engine and hear the roar. I had to take down some shelvinmg etc in the garage to get it in because I read of a chap in London who had his stolen and he took it to havre replaced . He collected it at.say..1.00pm and parked it outside his home in London and at 6.00pm that one was stolen. He was then quoted £2000 for insurance and told that if the second one was stolen the company wouldn't in sure him. The cars moist at risk arte the older Prius (there's less of the precious metals in the 2017 onwards ones to help stem the thefts)..Honda Jazz and Lexus hybrid.

Any car fitted with a catalytic converter within the exhaust system could be at risk. In the case of Lexus, we are aware that second-generation Lexus RX 400h models (2005-2008) and the Lexus CT 200h have been a target for thieves. Below we've gathered the best advice for Lexus owners who may be concerned

So, the thieves would probably drive by our house to see if my Prius has a new one. https://heycar.co.uk/guides/best-ways-to-prevent-catalytic-converter-theft

Re insurance https://www.theguardian.com/money/2...rter-thefts-hybrid-car-insurance-toyota-prius

A clip of the thieves at work.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUlikgzaDOE


Normally, I'd have been moaning about it but in the light of what's happening in families with covid re illness, death, loss of jobs, soaring debt, mental welfare issues etc I thought that having this happen, whilst darned annoying, needed to be put into perspective. I haven't claimed on my insurance as we all know what happens to the premiums next time and that has a ripple effect for the next few years even by changing insurance company as a claim must be declared.Whatg's the point in in suring somethinbg if aftrer a claim the premium is hiked..sometimes to a third more of the premium. They'll tell you it's because you are obviously a risk. That risk is already assessed by a range of criteria at the start. Fair enough after a second claim but not for a first and if you want to avoid that penalty then you have to pay for a No claims discount protection. Average to protect a 5 year NCD is £33.

From Money supermarket "

TIPPING POINT: PROTECTED NCD vs UNPROTECTED NCD
Motorists looking to ‘protect’ a five year no claims discount (NCD) will pay an extra £33 on average on top of the cost of their annual car cover, however this varies significantly between providers.1

The longer a motorist protects their NCD and doesn’t make a claim, the less cost-effective it becomes. For example, in the first year, a motorist who protects their five years NCD, and makes a claim will be £54 better off on average, compared with a motorist who made a claim on an unprotected policy. However, because of the £33 annual cost to protect your NCD, if you haven’t claimed until the second year, you will be £21 better off.

The tipping point comes in the third year; if you finally make a claim, you will have paid £12 more compared with someone who didn’t protect their NCD and claimed2, and in the fourth year, you will have paid £45 more."
 
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andya700 said:
We have two cars and one was definitely the number one. However, even that has only been filled three times since last March. It is an Alfa GT and has taken us on three good trips to Europe, covering around 2.5K miles each time. Two weeks ago, we left home to pick up a C&C order from the supermarket. Only a couple of miles into the journey I could see an excess of smoke coming from what I thought was the exhaust. I thought maybe the turbo had blown, but the car was pulling well. Then I got flashed by a van and by this time the smoke was billowing out. I slowed down in the inside lane and made it to a services (still only a few miles from home). When we stopped there was an acrid, burning smell. We both got out and there was a lot of black deposit around the rear n/s wheel. I hadn't been driving with the handbrake on, so I assume a rear caliper has seized on. I managed to nurse it home at crawling pace and due to the weather I haven't been able to work on it yet. Now, the other car is a 15 year old Octavia which we had to press into action. Charged the battery, gave it a once over, booked the MOT and it flew through without a warning. The car hadn't been used for a year.
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I noticed the wheel 'noise' as I started to move my car and realised the calipers were sticking so, as our drive is level on the part I park on I left the brakes off. It won't move anyway because it's an automatic.The car is now in the garage (re my above post ) and I still leave the brakes off and also the doors are unlocked because the alarm will run down the battery. The garage is locked, the car needs a special 'key' to start it and my wife's car is close up to the garage so it can't be opened, anyway. Life used to be so much simpler..:)
 
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JohnC6 said:
Had to chuckle at some of the comments. I didn't like to say..:D
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That car is currently MOT'd and taxed, so I wonder if it was stolen and returned or the scrotes are still pursuing their career.
 
JohnC6 said:
I noticed the wheel 'noise' as I started to move my car and realised the calipers were sticking so, as our drive is level on the part I park on I left the brakes off. It won't move anyway because it's an automatic.The car is now in the garage (re my above post ) and I still leave the brakes off and also the doors are unlocked because the alarm will run down the battery. The garage is locked, the car needs a special 'key' to start it and my wife's car is close up to the garage so it can't be opened, anyway. Life used to be so much simpler..:)
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Front and rear calipers can seize. Just because you haven't applied the handbrake, it doesn't mean the caliper hasn't seized when you parked the car in the garage. Especially if it's been raining.
 
andya700 said:
That car is currently MOT'd and taxed, so I wonder if it was stolen and returned or the scrotes are still pursuing their career.
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Possibly even cloned number plates.
My mate had a Focus ST estate, he disturbed the theives stealing the car off his drive, but they threatened him and his family with iron bars, so thought better of intervening and called the police instead.
The police were round within 20 minutes, but the theives and car were long gone. His insurance company paid out within a month and a week or so later, the police contacted my mate to tell him his car had been found. In the boot of the car was an angle grinder and a trolley jack, the rear seats and door trims were all torn etc. Obviously used for catalytic converter thefts and the stolen cats just thrown into the car as they made their hasty escapes. As my mates insurance claim had already paid out, the car was auctioned off. It was bought by Essex police and put into service as an unmarked police car.
 
We have two cars, the posh one and the banger. The banger( an 18 year old nissan micra) does about 1500 miles a year at most, never goes out of town, short journeys less than 5 miles only, it was stood for 4 months during the first lockdown and never missed a beat, starts on the button, its failed its mot once due to the wire supplying power to the number plate light broke where it passes from the car to the rear door, its still got the original nissan battery in it and its great in the snow with winter tyres on it.
 
I've got two cars, my "photography bus" VW Tiguan and my "good car" the Volvo....since getting the Tiguan after my Rav4 decided to die on Skye last March, I've barely used the Volvo, so after 6 years of owning it I think it's time to move back to one car, and that's the Tiguan, at least until I can find a nice toy :D
 
Put your wife on the insurance for the second car and ask her to use it say once a week seems the best option.
 
nilagin said:
Possibly even cloned number plates.
My mate had a Focus ST estate, he disturbed the theives stealing the car off his drive, but they threatened him and his family with iron bars, so thought better of intervening and called the police instead.
The police were round within 20 minutes, but the theives and car were long gone. His insurance company paid out within a month and a week or so later, the police contacted my mate to tell him his car had been found. In the boot of the car was an angle grinder and a trolley jack, the rear seats and door trims were all torn etc. Obviously used for catalytic converter thefts and the stolen cats just thrown into the car as they made their hasty escapes. As my mates insurance claim had already paid out, the car was auctioned off. It was bought by Essex police and put into service as an unmarked police car.
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What an ironic ending :)
 
I think for now, I'll be taking the car for a run once a week, I did 30 odd miles with it yesterday, it started fine, everything got nice and toasty and it pulls like a train. I really enjoy driving it, it's quite nippy and economical too, it will do 50 odd to the gallon without trying. We have some good driving roads around here too.

Wifey could use the car for work, she is insured on it but she's reluctant to use it with the EML on. Despite the light being on, the car runs well, it's just a case (I hope) of calibrating the new throttle body.

I've questioned the need for a second car lately but it is handy to have and will come back into its own once we can get out and about again. (y)
 
If it's just the new throttle body that needs to be recognised by the car, the garage that fitted it should do it (have done it) when they fitted it. Might need a main dealer (or specialist) to do the reprogramming - Mrs Nod's old car had to be done by a specialist with the correct software when it had its throttle body replaced.
 
chris954 said:
We have two cars, the posh one and the banger. The banger( an 18 year old nissan micra) does about 1500 miles a year at most, never goes out of town, short journeys less than 5 miles only, it was stood for 4 months during the first lockdown and never missed a beat, starts on the button, its failed its mot once due to the wire supplying power to the number plate light broke where it passes from the car to the rear door, its still got the original nissan battery in it and its great in the snow with winter tyres on it.
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They must have made them better in days gone by although I love the modern technology. Yesterday our new car showed a message that the rear offside tyre pressure had fallen below the pressure that was logged into the system. I inflated it and reset the alarm. Amazing.

Re you Nissan's reliabitiy. My wife had my Prius T3 1.5 from new...2006. It was a lease car from her employer.After 4 years they gave her a new one..can't recall what it was//not a Prius. I was so taken with the Prius ..first time I'd seen an LCD display ..and green too. It's so quiet (noiselesds,infact)I have to make sure people see me as I exit the likes of a supermarket car park. Infact that precaution is written in the manual. Up to 28mph it runs on the very large lithium-iron battery, after that then petrol. Pity it wasn't 30mph re the urban speed limit. Travelling at 27 mph isn't appreciated by those driving behind. I keep cars for years and my Audio A4 SE..I say the SE bit because that was white leather seats and oak wood..automatic too all of which I really liked. It felt a bit posh.lol. I'd had it for 8 years and sold it to my near neighbour telling him that it only did 27/28mpg. No probs,it was for his wife who only ued it locally. So, I got this Prius. The most I've spent on it was replacing the key fob. £175. A lot,I thought until I saw that for the likes of BMWs and Mercs they can as much as £500. It's 'failed' its MOT only once. I left it with the garage who said there was an issue with the steering. 30 minutes later I got a call to collect it. How much ? No charge. Very decent,I thought. What was wrong with it ? Oh, nothing,really,it's ok now. Strange, I said. Ok., said the boss .."it was failed on the steering wheel lock not working" I told him that the Prius doesn't have one. He said, "yes, we know now" :D So..all I've had to pay out for are new tyres, a back box on the exhaust wipers and the like. After this incident with the cat converter and having to garage it I can get down the side of it in our garage only because I've lost 2st in weight since August-October ....lol..and kept it down at 11st '6 but I do need to be careful re twisting my back. Of course, I can't stop where I'd like to because as sod's law would have it the driver door lines up with 3" wide garage pillar. I also have to push in the wing mirrors. So I get out of the car,open the garage door, get back into the car start moving forward very slowly and then see the wing mirrors are about to hit the frame. So, I get out again.Once the car is inside then we can't get items out of the cupboards on the wall and shelving under them on the far side. No end of unforeseen problems. My wife has suggested I get a different make but I'm wedded to it so I'll keep it. I should be ok travelling to the Somerset Levels (wildfowl/birds), same with Slimbridge WWT..centre when lockdown ends etc and leaving it unattended but these thieves nick the converter in supermarket car parks..takes just a couple of minutes. They watch people park and go into the supermarket and an accomplice keeps an eye on the shopper to make sure he/she doesn't immediately return to the car to get a shopping bag they'd forgotten to take. So,I only take it to the supermarket to give it a run but stay in it and my wife goes into the store whilst I read the paper which I'm find quite a good arrangement.:D
 
JohnC6 said:
They must have made them better in days gone by although I love the modern technology. Yesterday our new car showed a message that the rear offside tyre pressure had fallen below the pressure that was logged into the system. I inflated it and reset the alarm. Amazing.

Re you Nissan's reliabitiy. My wife had my Prius T3 1.5 from new...2006. It was a lease car from her employer.After 4 years they gave her a new one..can't recall what it was//not a Prius. I was so taken with the Prius ..first time I'd seen an LCD display ..and green too. It's so quiet (noiselesds,infact)I have to make sure people see me as I exit the likes of a supermarket car park. Infact that precaution is written in the manual. Up to 28mph it runs on the very large lithium-iron battery, after that then petrol. Pity it wasn't 30mph re the urban speed limit. Travelling at 27 mph isn't appreciated by those driving behind. I keep cars for years and my Audio A4 SE..I say the SE bit because that was white leather seats and oak wood..automatic too all of which I really liked. It felt a bit posh.lol. I'd had it for 8 years and sold it to my near neighbour telling him that it only did 27/28mpg. No probs,it was for his wife who only ued it locally. So, I got this Prius. The most I've spent on it was replacing the key fob. £175. A lot,I thought until I saw that for the likes of BMWs and Mercs they can as much as £500. It's 'failed' its MOT only once. I left it with the garage who said there was an issue with the steering. 30 minutes later I got a call to collect it. How much ? No charge. Very decent,I thought. What was wrong with it ? Oh, nothing,really,it's ok now. Strange, I said. Ok., said the boss .."it was failed on the steering wheel lock not working" I told him that the Prius doesn't have one. He said, "yes, we know now" :D So..all I've had to pay out for are new tyres, a back box on the exhaust wipers and the like. After this incident with the cat converter and having to garage it I can get down the side of it in our garage only because I've lost 2st in weight since August-October ....lol..and kept it down at 11st '6 but I do need to be careful re twisting my back. Of course, I can't stop where I'd like to because as sod's law would have it the driver door lines up with 3" wide garage pillar. I also have to push in the wing mirrors. So I get out of the car,open the garage door, get back into the car start moving forward very slowly and then see the wing mirrors are about to hit the frame. So, I get out again.Once the car is inside then we can't get items out of the cupboards on the wall and shelving under them on the far side. No end of unforeseen problems. My wife has suggested I get a different make but I'm wedded to it so I'll keep it. I should be ok travelling to the Somerset Levels (wildfowl/birds), same with Slimbridge WWT..centre when lockdown ends etc and leaving it unattended but these thieves nick the converter in supermarket car parks..takes just a couple of minutes. They watch people park and go into the supermarket and an accomplice keeps an eye on the shopper to make sure he/she doesn't immediately return to the car to get a shopping bag they'd forgotten to take. So,I only take it to the supermarket to give it a run but stay in it and my wife goes into the store whilst I read the paper which I'm find quite a good arrangement.:D
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The theives will nick the cats where ever they find the cars, middle of the day on an urban street, even a remote car park in s country park. My mate who had his car stolen and used as the getaway car, has seen the latter taking place in his local country park..
 
Nod said:
If it's just the new throttle body that needs to be recognised by the car, the garage that fitted it should do it (have done it) when they fitted it. Might need a main dealer (or specialist) to do the reprogramming - Mrs Nod's old car had to be done by a specialist with the correct software when it had its throttle body replaced.
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Yep, exactly this. :plus1: The garage that fitted it didn't realise they couldn't calibrate it until after they'd fiitted it, it needs the Volkswagen software, which they don't have. I'm reluctant to take it anywhere at the moment though for obvious reasons and being a second car, it's not essential.
 
A specialist will be a lot cheaper than a main stealer. Still probably not as cheap as you'd like but the full software suites don't come cheap either! (And having the light extinguished means it'll pass an MOT.)
 
We got our new car on 1st March 2020, a brand new 20 plate Volvo XC60, then a few weeks later we locked down, it's done around 3000 miles since then. Gutted that I'm paying a monthly lease for something that is hardly leaving the drive, but in the grand scheme of things (with everything happening in the world) it's not really a problem.

Our second car, which is technically my car, is a Volvo C30, bought new in 2013, it's done under 16000 in 8 years, been used once or twice in the last 8 months, starts first time every time and never misses a beat.
 
Dale. said:
Yep, exactly this. :plus1: The garage that fitted it didn't realise they couldn't calibrate it until after they'd fiitted it, it needs the Volkswagen software, which they don't have. I'm reluctant to take it anywhere at the moment though for obvious reasons and being a second car, it's not essential.
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Many independents will have VAGCOM tools and be able to do it for you, auto electricians are also likely to be so enabled. It will need to be done for the mot btw.
 
Nod said:
A specialist will be a lot cheaper than a main stealer. Still probably not as cheap as you'd like but the full software suites don't come cheap either! (And having the light extinguished means it'll pass an MOT.)
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We have an independent local garage who do the Alfa and Skoda and are very reasonable. Best to get MOT's servicing done at the same time IMO.
 
I take my car down to the specialist who we originally found to reprogram Mrs Nod's XK8's throttle body. Parts are the same price as the main dealer but labour is far cheaper. All the mechanics are manufacturer trained, there's just no massive silver big cat atop the showroom!
 
Hanley said:
We got our new car on 1st March 2020, a brand new 20 plate Volvo XC60, then a few weeks later we locked down, it's done around 3000 miles since then. Gutted that I'm paying a monthly lease for something that is hardly leaving the drive, but in the grand scheme of things (with everything happening in the world) it's not really a problem.

Our second car, which is technically my car, is a Volvo C30, bought new in 2013, it's done under 16000 in 8 years, been used once or twice in the last 8 months, starts first time every time and never misses a beat.
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I know what you mean, I have a 30 month old Mini Cooper S with 4200 miles on it, my wife's 15 month old car has 2000 miles on it and our 15 month old motorhome has 500 miles on it.

I regularly rotate our CTEK MXS 5.0 smart charger between them to keep the batteries charged. THe motorhome has a solar panel which helps too.
 
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broc said:
I know what you mean, I have a 30 month old Mini Cooper S with 4200 miles on it, my wife's 15 month old car has 2000 miles on it and our 15 month old motorhome has 500 miles on it.

I regularly rotate our CTEK MXS 5.0 smart charger between them to keep the batteries charged. THe motorhome has a solar panel which helps too.
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Ah..so you have the CTEK MXS 5.0 too. (y)
 
JohnC6 said:
Ah..so you have the CTEK MXS 5.0 too. (y)
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Yes, a brilliant piece of kit. I am waiting for my daughter to return mine as her car battery went flat last week, she was going to buy a new battery but I suggested she borrow the charger occasionally until such time as she is no longer furloughed and uses her car normally, hopefully it will be ok then, otherwise that's the time to buy a new battery.
 
same here with my snail ( citroen c3) it came home from Salisbury at the mid march 2020 when covid kicked off and my contract with the MOD got put on pause.
i just stuffed it in the garage with the motorbikes, i think it was 3 months before it came out into the sun, between then and now it has done 300 miles and been for an MOT and service.
oddly enough my contract with the MOD started back up in sept 2020 but i have been on call (at home) until now being paid full rate. next week it gets dragged out of the garage for a trip out as i have to collect some kit for my first trip to a site in.............. mid march :)
 
I regularly SORN my "fun" car over the winter (usually Nov - March). I have some "tyre savers" and also pump the tyres up to stop them going out of round.

I disconnect the battery and put some paper under the wipers to stop the rubber sticking.

Then it's covered and garaged.

When spring comes, reverse everything and all is well.
 
I have a 2001 MX5 and a 2008 Hyundai Getz. Both are reliable. I think the Getz did 2k miles between MoT's and the MX5 did 200. I/we tend to walk as often as we can which cuts down on the short trips.
 
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