Tell me about your car!

[NinnyJam]

Automatic or manual?

Petrol, diesel or electric?

Diesel manual 2020 Ford Ranger double cab pick up truck. Fully expensed by my employer as my role requires regular travel including off roading in muddy fields. It's agriculture support roles like myself, tractor mechanics etc that will end up being shafted by this government's reclassification of this type of truck as a non commercial for BIK tax to close the loophole of completely unrelated businesses like cleaners and decorators buying them to benefit from the lower tax rate.

Manual, petrol.
It's beautiful and goes like shit off a shovel. It smells like cherries and i LOVE it 😍

Manual, petrol, 16yrs old. Three door hatchback and I do about £1k miles a year!

Auto Kia sportage. Really like it.

Oh and it's 5 years old, petrol.

Manual petrol 1 litre turbo Skoda Karoq. It's great round town but the turbo kicks in for my 40 mile round trip to work via a town that gets snow in June.

As someone who's only ever driven an automatic petrol car, how different is the feeling when driving diesel

It’ll probably feel less refined than you’re used to. Diesels produce more of their power and torque low down the rev range so can feel lazier to drive. Personally not keen on Diesel, I like my engines high revving in general, requiring 7/8/9k RPM to get the best out of them.

7 year old Mini Cooper D. 5 doors and boot is way bigger than you'd expect. meaning I kept it when I got pregnant and had my now 3 year old. I get 52 mpg (obsessed with my mpg haha) it is zero road tax (yey) and I love it as much now as the day I got it. I'll drive it until it dies. It's got 90k miles on the clock currently and I hope to reach 200k before we part ways lol. I can park anywhere in it and turn in the road down tiny country lanes where I live easily. It's also really comfy. Only downside is how certain other drivers perceive and react to you being in a mini - cutting you up and almost racing you if you overtake them at a sensible speed on motorway. My partner thought I was crazy when I said that. Then he started driving it occasionally and 100% agrees. I just ignore those drivers, I blank them as I whizz past them. My car is way faster and better handling than it looks 😂 and there ends my mini essay about my car, my love, my mini lol 😂

Loving all the Mini owners on this thread! They have to be THE most fun car to drive, I genuinely don't think I'll ever drive anything else! Have gone from a petrol ONE, to diesel Cooper, Cooper S and now a 2l Paceman... I think I'll start a Mini appreciation thread, I want to see everyone's cars!

OP, on the diesel vs petrol - basically, I find petrol is probably a smoother short distance drive, but diesel feels much more powerful. There's a lot less gearing down, they are more fuel efficient if doing high mileage or pulling horse boxes, have multiple people in the car etc, and if you're driving motorways regularly then diesel is your best bet.

@littlekipling I'll be sure to invite you to my Mini appreciation thread, we can nerd out on Minis together! 😅 And totally agree about the boot, I had young DC and always had my Mini, they really are the best and so much more spacious than people think. Anyone that ever sat in my One or Cooper even always immediately said how they were shocked by the space.

And there is now 350k kilometres on my 10year old Paceman!!! 😳 Absolute work horse of a car!

3mth old Škoda Enyaq Estate, fully electric, the 85 one so it’s got a longer range. I absolutely love it and will never go back to a petrol or diesel now. It’s much smoother ride and so cheap to run.

An old but beautiful RS Turbo. Petrol

Most diesels are not clean emission cars. There are differing levels of emissions so I’d buy the cleanest. Some cities charge for entry! They have better torque and pulling power and better mpg if it’s a big car. They are generally noisier and smellier. We have the Disco diesel (like around 99% of other Disco owners) but I would not bother with a diesel small car. Far fewer diesels are being sold, for obvious reasons. Probably good value secondhand now but they do have drawbacks.

Automatic electric, the best car I've ever driven. Had petrol and diesel previously, hopefully never again.

@Vvvvvvvvvvvvvv We have a 9 month old electric bought as a used car and at a huge saving over new price. I’ve been surprised how few people on this thread have electric cars. Ours is just one of several cars we own and it won’t be going on long journeys! Too much effort re charging it. However it’s perfect for shorter journeys but looking at the love of petrol and diesel here, I’m not sure how the uk will meet ev targets: a distant dream if people here are anything to go by. Pumping out the fumes seems very far from anyones mind!

@TizerorFizz by your own admission though your electric car is one of many that you own and taking it on long journeys is too much effort!! So why do you think everyone else doesn't own an electric car.....ermmm.....possibly because they do a lot of long journeys and only one car?? And that's not to mention the percentage of the population who live in flats or don't have off-road parking and the option to install a home charger.

Manual,
petrol
4 year old Hyndai Tucson
love it and so easy to drive

BMW i3 - full EV. Had it for a decade & still love driving it. Smooth, quirky, accelerates amazingly. Defrost itself for your leaving time. Makes even commuting fun.
Only change I'd make when it needs replacing would be to get the bigger battery as mine only does 60-80mph per charge.

Skoda kamiq automatic with hand controls, petrol and lovely to drive!

Decent boot space as fits ds wheelchair in it!

@MiddleAgedDread I know exactly why more people don’t have evs! However lots seem to own very small cars and presumably don’t drive that far in them. I’m well aware of ev limitations and have had two hybrids before the ev. However 28% ev sales are the target next year and MN posters are well shy of that. All of the issues you mention will need addressing but I don’t think we will meet targets unless people buy Chinese cars or Musk ones! I’d avoid that personally. Not great.

@TizerorFizz not to mention the price of fully electric vehicles compared to the alternatives! A lot of people with small cars who don't do many miles also don't replace their cars as often (because they don't do many miles) and it's only the last few years that there's been more EV options on the market, in which time the price of new cars has also gone up considerably! My petrol car is 7 years old and second hand with similar mileage on it they're still selling for around 2/3rd of what I paid for it. In the past I've kept cars a similar length of time and they were worth bugger all by the time they got to that age!

Another 22yr old Polo here!

MOT next week and that will decide it's fate I'm afraid.

Bit sad if it's too pricey to get it through and have no idea what to replace it with.
Currently scouring car ads and websites.

Anyone got a Hyundai i20 or i10?

I have an 06 VW fox and I love mine too! Would only change it if I really had to and probably go for something very similar. Absolutely no interest in fancy cars!

I have absolutely no desire to have an electric car. My little Smart car is 17 years old and has only done 24k so hopefully it’ll last quite a lot longer. A full tank of petrol did me over 300 miles during a camping trip last year with no worries about trying to find a charging point in the arse end of nowhere. And it’s as basic as they come so very little to go wrong.