The Car Thread

[Kenny]

How slow are you driving?

 

[leedswolf]

Hopefully not the actual clutch, maybe the master cylinder or slave cylinder.

Depends on the car, if the slave or master cylinder requires changing it could involve the need to remove the gearbox. If so you might as well get the clutch done too.

 

[sycophantia]

Depends on the car, if the slave or master cylinder requires changing it could involve the need to remove the gearbox. If so you might as well get the clutch done too.

Bloody modern cars

 

[EpsomWolf]

Not forgetting the increasing tendency to have to change the flywheel along with the clutch too.
Fingers crossed it’s a straightforward repair but bills can really stack up with a clutch unfortunately.

Don’t get any of that with an EV to be fair.

 

[pagey]

Son passed his test recently, aged 20, brought his 1st car Wednesday and insured for Sunday. Cheapest Insurance we could find on anything cost him 3k with a box. Wtf?

Madness.

 

[Keef]

New jaaaaaaagggggg concept car and bar the rear grille, I’m not hating it, the pink colour has upset all the anti woke people as well

 

[sycophantia]

It's fucking horrible and I don't mean the colour, looks like summat from a computer game.

 

[Keef]

It’s only a concept not the actual car

 

[BillyDee]

PS1 graphics

 

[sycophantia]

It’s only a concept not the actual car

True, as long as they completely change the front, the rear and the middle it might turn out OK.

 

[AndyWolves]

I can't explain why but I'm getting lady Penelope vibes from that car

 

[Alan]

Is it just me or does visibility seem to be the first thing to go in modern designs? I’d like to be able to see behind me without necessarily using a camera with a dozen points of failure.

 

[Tredman]

Looks awesome in blue

 

[EpsomWolf]

Interesting watching how the established premium brands adapt to the changes as a lot of them don’t seem to know whether to stick or twist. Performance brands such as Porsche are in a whole lot of trouble as EV’s have already smashed them in the performance stakes and adding the weight of batteries to hybrids kills their visceral experience.

Jaguar are being quite cute here as their current lineup is very dated and has about the same appeal as herpes, but they’ve still got the rep of a premium brand. Seems to me to be an ideal opportunity to have a complete refresh and catch the established players caught in no man’s land a bit off guard.

 

[MARKakaJIM]

Are Porsche in trouble? Their EV offering seems to be almost universally lauded as the best driving experience in that category and their ICE offering still retains it's original appeal too.

 

[Kenny]

From where I work, Porsche are hugely popular and a complete bastard nightmare

Can take 12-24 months to build and the bastards don't lock in the price. So we have people who ordered in 2023 now being told the price has gone up by 10k and you have to pay it if you want the car.

 

[Keef]

and the wolves dealer had a van full of cheap service parts once a day from euro car parts, and charged for genuine parts

 

[Alan]

Looks awesome in blue
View attachment 12332

I dunno, it’s giving Chrysler Crossfire.

 

[Jolemai]

Will find out on Tuesday

Almost £1300

 

[EpsomWolf]

Are Porsche in trouble? Their EV offering seems to be almost universally lauded as the best driving experience in that category and their ICE offering still retains it's original appeal too.

They certainly have a few problems. Nobody wants their best-in-category Taycan as a used buy to the extent it has such chronic depreciation that some dealers are refusing to stock them. I think the market in general has a real problem when that is happening to something considered to be a good car. Porsche’s ICE’s are suffering the same way as any other manufacturer in losing their raw appeal with extra weight from hybrid systems and restrictions and driver aids from increasing legislation. The Taycan appears to have benefitted a few wealthy people from tax breaks but for everyone else has been a disaster.

I find it interesting following values, that’s always indicative and there’s no hiding place. Harry Metcalfe and Tim Schmee (as two balanced commentators) talk at length about this sort of thing. People are turned off and increasingly looking for kicks elsewhere with prices of certain used makes and models with what would be considered peak driving engagement sky-rocketing. Some older Porsche models like this are really on the move too so the wise money is moving there driving prices up. Hard to see why you’d buy new unless you weren’t allowed to buy used and were able to offset some costs with tax-advantages, but even then would be significantly more expensive that buying a car with values on the up.

Even Ferrari and the like are suffering chronic depreciation on their hybrid vehicles as buyers ditch them in favour of some their used conventional models whose prices are moving upwards too. Great interview with Horacio Pagani recently who at the extreme end said he’s effectively dodged the bullet by being below thresholds and still able to offer his customers ICE’s which is in fact what they want.

All that of course is at a premium end way beyond myself and most people but it is still telling. Going to be fascinating seeing where this goes but I think for the moment the only real indicator is the markets, and it’s clear the smart money is going elsewhere.