Off Topic First Ever Cars

I could tell some horror stories about Golfs and other supposedly reliable German makes. Fires and brake/ steering failures due to dodgy German electrics.

 

So we appear to now be off the opinion that all cars are either **** of great?

 

still got the same problem now
catching fire for no reason

 

Mk5 Escort, 1.8 diesel. Drove like a tank as it had now per steering and didn't have a turbo either. Think I paid £400 for it of the parents back in 1999

 

Luck of the draw unfortunately.

 

H Reg Vauxhall Nova. Horrendous piece of s**t to be honest. Wrote it off in a crash many, many moons ago.

Have been driving a Tesla Model 3 for 6 months and I'm not going backwards. ICE are literally killing the planet and you are mad to buy anything but electric because they will take over in a few years and you'll be left with a worthless asset. Bought some Tesla shares too which aren't doing too badly....

 

Vw golf mk2. Was my first and still is my favourite car. Bought for £700 in 1996.

 

Learnt to drive in a Nissan sunny in 87
Then went and bought a Ford Capri 2.8 when I was in Germany, what a car !
But it was prone to throwing you a few “surprises” now and again

 

Electric is the future. Once they produce batteries that have the mileage.

Lexus/ Toyota's range of hybrids are the best affordable option for most people until full electric is cost effective.

 

They need to improve the method of paying at stations ( too many independent companies with their own cards) and increase the numbers or charging points but they are infrastructure issues that could be fixed almost immediately.

 

Nice thread!

My first car was a sky blue 1992 nissan Micra. My greatest achievement at the time was fitting some decent speakers and a new head unit into it myself. I think it had about 40k on the clock when I got it. Seem. To remember paying £750 for it.

That car was a beast, never broke down and literally took it all over the country fully loaded with me mates driving to various raves at full tilt the whole way (which wasn't much with a full car!) Still count myself lucky to have survived some of those drives home after a long weekend partying.

After that it's was a 306 GTI which was good fun. Then a 1.4 ford fiesta, less fun but Ford to make good engines. Was a very good car for basically a budget hatch.

The. Me and my now wife got given a Hyundai Amica...I'm still trying to rebuild my street cred. But did us a job while we tried to save for a house. Also I've never known demand like it when we sold that. Actually had a bidding war going on!?

Golf GTI after that. Not the best buy had a few problems with that car but again great fun to rag it around and it had heated seats so felt like we had gone up in the world.

Next my fav car by far Gun metal Alfa Romeo GT. God I loved that car. Regularly I had to fix some kind of electrical fault but everywhere you went everyone told you how beautiful the car was. Fantastic drive too.

We had a Renault 5 for a little bit after again as a stop gap and now drive a Alfa Romeo Giulietta 1.4 Sprint. Really love it too. Great engine, very quick, handles great and has been super reliable.

Best driving moment was on our honeymoon. Hired a 1962 Alfa Giulietta Spider (a pic we took below) and drove it all over the Amalfi coast with the top down. The Italians loved it. I'm a bit of an Alfa geek if you hadn't guessed. Just something about them that makes you happy. Even the new ones somehow have a personality that seems largely lacking in modern cars.

 

Definitely. Electric is inevitable. It's just timing.

 

Have toyed with the idea of getting an Alfa but haven’t yet done so. Have tried a variety over the time including Morris, Ford, Vauxhall, Volvo, Saab, BMW, Fiat, Volkswagen, Jaguar and Mercedes. Was tempted last time by Alfa but went for E Class. Due to change again next year. Looking for something just a little bit different and haven’t decided yet.

The Spider looks beautiful how was it to actually drive especially along the Amalfi Coast?

 

Agree.

The electrics need to sort out distance first though. I travel minimum of 56 miles per day during week and depending on work that can jump to upto over 100 miles per day. I don’t want a car I’m effectively “filling up” each day or every other day and that’s without the long distances every couple of months.

Not sure how easy electrics are to charge as in places to do it but that seems another “to do” item for the Government before electrics will catch on.

 

The technology seems to be developing all the time. Electtic needs to have the range of diesel before they really take off.

 

I'm surprised Jim has put his car on here
with all the mod cons that he had

 

I see he’s got a newer car. A bit of an upgrade on his last one. I’m also guessing he doesn’t need the man with the flag to walk in front of him now. Anyone know? @jimileysbaldhead ?

 

I charge it at my house 99% of the time. Same for everybody else. Those in flats have a problem but the chargers are plentiful and getting better.

 

But how far can you travel before having to recharge? And how long does it take to fully recharge say from almost used to full?

 

Can you not charge your vehicle at home every night? 100 miles each way is very doable these days.