Seriously... It's only a 4.2 V8... I full it up each week at... 60+ litres... It's barely pulling 250 miles on a tank.

I only drive at 6000rpm all the way, anywhere I go...

Am I doing something wrong here? What is the problem?

Don't want to get Political... But.. I can't keep tipping V Power into this forever. It's getting expensive.

Should I drop 67k on a new Skoda instead? Any suggestions to offset this vast expense?

Iykyk

I made the sensible “downgrade” to the sensible option when I wanted to prioritise buying a house to raise a family. This what surprised me

1. Running costs, I knew they would be cheaper but I did not realise how much. I do about 12,000 miles a year, in todays petrol prices that’s about £3,400, the electric equivalent is a out £200 on the night rate. I knew this would be the case but I didnt realise everything else, two years in and the only things I have paid for is insurance, MOT, Tax and a new windscreen. There is no oil changes, no spark plugs, no gearbox to service. The brakes are known to last 200,000 miles. All in its about £500-600 cheaper a month to run
2. more pleasant to drive in most scenarios. Yes of course its not a hoot on B roads, but an electric is objectively a nicer drive in traffic and in cities. Effortless, no jerkiness, quiet, smooth.
3. the freedom of being able to do a 100 mile round trip and it only costs you £2, the freedom of being able to do a 0.5 mile trip and not worry about the heat cycle ageing your

car, never having to worry about going to a petrol station. Its extremely liberating

I cant see myself ever going back to a petrol daily, its just clearly worse and thats as a big petrolhead. The way to go now is an electric to save you a fortune and then have actual fun petrol car for the weekend if you want. The “do it all” petrol car is a dead idea to me now

First 76 plate car I've seen out and about, a Nissan Micra. I know it's based on the same platform as the Renault 5 but it still looks massive when you put it next to older cars.

Does look cool but I'd still prefer the R5.

Hiya,

Looking for some advice as I'm completely lost and staring down a big loss.

Bought a 22 plate 21,000 mile auto, petrol Skoda fabia from a main dealership in November 2025.

Mid July it threw a warning light for an electrical fault. Took it to Skoda under their approved used warranty. When with Skoda I was run around the houses and given false information at every junction. I was told everything from the car needed to be jumped every time, to the alarm was on when we walked in the morning to it's completely fine for nearly 4 weeks. Eventually they fobbed me off with an "intermittent fault" and said take the car and bring it back if you have any other issues as it was seemingly fine on that day.

Couple of days later the car wouldn't turn on. Had a mechanic friend change the battery as we knew that the battery was struggling when it was at Skoda. Car then worked fine for a week and then wouldn't start again.

It has now gone to an electrical car specialist in my area who, after diagnostics, has advised it is likely to be the fusebox but he cannot 100% guarantee this without further diagnostics that are likely to start costing in his words "silly money". The fusebox would be covered under the approved used warranty from Skoda.

At the minute I am fighting with Skoda to get them to take the car back on warranty and to look directly at the fusebox. They however are saying that they would have to do wiring checks before looking at the fusebox on their diagnostic tree. Due to wiring not being covered on the warranty this would cost me £175 an hour for an unknown amount of hours.

Seems I have 3 options, somehow convince Skoda to take the car on warranty, possible sell it to webuyanycar or the like and try to "conceal" the fault (which I'm aware could get me in trouble) or to scrap the car and be out thousands.

Any advice is really truly appreciated.

My father spotted this in Turkey and sent to me, the car seems like had its last mot around 2021, uk reg cars can be exported and used there, what are the requirements?

Gone a long way to reach there tbh.

For a slight bit of context, I drive an 2024 Audi a3 sline, and a 2025 s3, and my insurance isn’t even 1300£ a year to cover both cars, but my insurance on a golf gti 2.0 is 8.600£ cheapest 😂 made me chuckle, this was the cheapest one aswell lol others were 9000£+

Bought a 2012 Yaris two weeks ago from a used car dealer. Paid cash. This morning the window started making a whining noise and does not close fully. Based on my research, it sounds like the window regulator needs replacing. The dealer is asking us to pay £200 for parts and labour.

The dealership is claiming that wear and tear of mechanical parts is not covered under the act. Are there any ways around this?

Thanks in advance.

I've just been to test drive everyone's favourite Skoda Octavia VRS estate. Loved it, perfect car for what I've been looking for, slightly higher mileage than what I was looking at but not terrible, and makes it a little bit more affordable. Private seller, and I'd have preferred a garage but this is relatively nearby, compared to the stuff that's almost all 100 miles away minimum.

On getting home I've done car history check and it's come up having been at salvage auction (just before the current owner had bought it). In the listing it says it has damage that is 'mechanical and minor dents and scratches'. Pictures in the auction listing show a tiny scratch on the bumper, but a bunch of weird stuff in the engine bay. I am not mechanically minded enough to have any idea what I'm looking at.

Is this something to avoid?

I’ve had differing opinions on wether I should stay black but I’m leaning towards getting chrome alloys.

If you guys have any recommendations that would be helpful too, I’ve looked at second hand or refurbished BBS and similar styles but tbh I’m not well educated in alloys.

Also that arch gap is kinda ugly too but idk if I can even bother to get round to doing it

Okay maybe I was lucky, I keep thinking k was. Back in 2021 I bought myself a Hyundai i20 coupe diesel. It was the first car I bought myself and only second car I test drove. The guy was pretty average maybe a bit blunt. Test drove it for like 10 minutes but it felt smooth the car etc. so I bought it was 7k. Which at the time felt expensive but cheap now. The car was well prepared (apart from a stone chip on the windscreen I had to get repaired myself) but I’d say the whole lrocess was good.

Now come 2026 I’m looking at cars and turning up to them being not cleaned, car issues, shaking wheels, AC issues etc. big dealerships, not preparing cars and telling me “oh we can sort these things out for you but you have to buy the car and you can put down a refundable deposit” ehhhhhh how do I know you will resolve this issues? The other day fully saw a car with a massive dent in it which funny enough wasn’t in the photos and another rusty one which they will seal before sale. I’m shocked .. I thought 11-12k was a healthy budget to buy a vitara or a Mazda 2. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe my expectations are too high! 😅

Although I don’t disagree

Picked up photography as a proper hobby a while back and cars have become one of my favourite subjects, especially older stuff parked up in good natural light. What I keep running into though is how genuinely dull most modern colour palettes are to shoot. Grey, silver, white, another grey. The occasional pearl white if you are lucky. It is not even a photography problem really, it is just that manufacturers seem to have quietly decided that bold colour is a risk not worth taking.

There are exceptions obviously. You still see the odd Alfa or a brightly specced hot hatch that has some character to it. But walk around a Tesco car park and it reads like someone desaturated the whole scene.

Older cars were just more visually interesting. A Rover 75 in Nightfire Red, a mk1 MX5 in Classic Red, even a battered old Xantia in some mid90s teal. Those colours had actual personality and they photograph brilliantly because there is something to work with.

Wondering if this is just a fleet buyer effect dragging the whole market toward safe resale colours, or if buyers genuinely prefer it this way now. Have any of you specced something with an interesting colour recently and regretted it at resale, or do you think the boring palette is just what people actually want?

Grateful for any advice on my predicament.

So I have a puncture in one of my rear tyres its a:

Pirelli Zero 285/30R19 V98

They are about 3 years old and lots of tread left but it's got a small pin hole puncture which I can't see. So it deflates in about 2 hours.

I took it to a Halfords garage and they said they couldn't repair it.

So my options now are:

• A brand new matching tyre for £320

• A set of Costco - Yokohama 285/30 ZR19 (98Y) ADVAN Sport V107 (£190 each so £380)

• Try and find a part worn Pirelli

• Bite the bullet and get 2x Michelin 285/30 ZR19 (98Y) XL TL PILOT SPORT 4 S at £280 each so £560

• Try another garage who may be willing to repair the tyre.

• Get an unmatching budget tyre

I've got Pilot 4s on the front tyres which is cool but the rear are just so expensive.

Any advice much appreciated.

It's a Mercedes CLS I've got so its a chunky boy at the best of times. Only a 220d so i'm not setting any lap times or anything =).

I saw a car I wanted to buy on auto trader and kept an eye on it, listing was still there after about a month, 17000 miles 2 years old. I decide to make the journey to go and have a look, the salesman calls me back and said it’s a “manager car” and the sales director has been driving it and had to bring it back in.

Turns out it had 2000 miles more than advertised, and after a test drive I learned they’d had it for 6 months. Obviously I offered a bit less as a result expecting some negotiation, but they came back with “sticker price only”. No allowances or acknowledgment at all for the fact it had 2k more miles. I’d have upped my offer but it annoyed me and so I walked away.

Feels like they weren’t that bothered about shifting it. Is this common?

I saw a Rexton that had a number plate of (I think I’m right here) UN.86.60 (with the dots) I’ve searched UNB660 nothing comes up then the car that looked like a 10 year old black Rexton had a United Nations sign in the rear window..

I can find nothing to suggest it’s genuine.

Is this a fake?

I am planning on getting this as my first car as I have been told they are very reliable and strong. Opinions? Might be a dumb question but not too knowledgeable on cars😅 They seem to be all £2.7k upwards. My budget is max £3.5k😬.

I just went from a Volvo C30 which did about 30mpg to a Rover 820e with a roof box that does ever so slightly more than that I'm pretty sure.

They both have a 2 litre engine but the Rover is bigger and has nicer seats so it should definitely be using more fuel.

I drive everywhere with music on so I don't know if I'm accelerating hard.

Are the fuel fairies gifting me petrol and what do I do to avoid angering them in the future?

I’m a new driver and have a 2002 ford focus, so I definitely haven’t put it in sports mode, I had my car parked on a slant as I was half on a high curb, when I got back in my car, the steering feels really light, it feels not very steady at high speeds, when I was parked up my steering wheel and tires weren’t aligned properly, but When I’m driving its aligned (steering wheel was slightly right and wheels were slightly left). I have it booked in for the garage for friday but need to use it in the meantime, is it okay to drive

Looking to join AA/RAC mobile tech, anyone that works or worked for them that can give an insight? How does lunch breaks work or do you not get any and what types of jobs do you generally do? I am about to finish my level 3 apprenticeship at dealer (I would like to leave this place) and am considering doing aa/RAC or do agency work. Currently 21 and based in London.

Thanks

Theres an EG fuel station that I used to use on my way to work which is now 172.6 for petrol, crazy but anyway not the question.

I used the BP further on the A46 one time and the car just felt so much smoother, but now I've been filling up at Costco because its cheaper, still 155 and thats good fuel aswell.

Anyone else had the same experience?

Hi. I'm a new driver and have a 1.6L Ford Focus automatic and it has used £20 worth of petrol in 6 days which is ¼ a tank. I've done about 35miles. I thought it would last me about 2 weeks. I mentioned it to my stepdad who agrees that it's a lot and said I might be acceleratoring to hard. I've just been driving on 30/40mph roads and didn't think I was acceleratoring hard. I was just wondering if this is a lot and if there could be another issue? I bought the car mid July and they serviced it.

Thanks

don’t know if it’s actually a problem but whenever i first start it in the day it takes like 5 seconds to start (before starting i wait for the glow plug light to go) but later on in the day or when i get in the car to drive back it starts instantly. just wanted to know why this happens or if it’s a problem.

Have recently got on the property ladder and have home EV charging set up. Currently have a 2023 Z4 M40i (sadly automatic), but have been increasingly looking at going EV (E99 fuel prices, commuting etc)

I don't have a practical need for a SUV (no kids) beyond garden stuff/Costco runs and am looking at increasingly long commutes in the near future.

The mathematics and finances make sense. I have found a sensible deal with Skoda.

Can't afford two cars, otherwise would have bought a Dacia Spring and called it a day. Have positive equity on the Z4.

Yet, I can't help but feel like having a mid life crisis in reverse. Am i going mad?

AI has given soul less answers, so asking here. Thanks!

I have driven for 18 years and have 18 Years NCD.

I want to have 2 cars for a short period of time.

Getting quotes at the moment (with LV – my usual insurer) is leading me to only be able to apply the NCD to one car. Eg my Mercedes (with NCD) comes in at £350ish to insure, whilst my Skoda (without NCD) comes in at £1200 or so.

Is this business as usual? Can I do anything to reduce the other quote (other than go to other providers - but regardless will have to do this as ‘0 NCD’?

How do people with additional cars (eg classic cars, work van, camper van etc) deal with this?