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Original poster

Has anyone got a 4x4?

673 replies

momof2 · 04/03/2004 13:36

We have just decided to get rid of our faithful Hippo (Nissan Micra) and branch out into the uncertain world of much larger family cars.
I have been looking at a discovery or freelander - please note all old ones not new.
Has anyone any experience of how good/bad they are please? Or any 4x4's they would recommend or MPV's
Many thanks

OP posts:
skinnycow · 07/11/2005 23:05

yes oh well!

JoolsToo · 07/11/2005 23:05

I don't have to justify my choice of anything to anyone and especially not to people I don't know.

Underneath or over the bonnet - neither sounds like much fun!

mykidsmum · 07/11/2005 23:06

Neither is funny but i'm sure one is more fatal than the other

edam · 07/11/2005 23:09

Normal cars cause less serious injuries. Someone hit by a normal car goes onto the bonnet and suffers lower-limb injuries, and then possibly meets the windscreen. Very nasty, but less lethal than meeting a 4x4 where you go under the car and are crushed.

It's not really something to be flippant about - 4x4s do much worse damage to people than normal cars, and are much more likely to kill. I don't find that very amusing.

skinnycow · 07/11/2005 23:10

Gdine - you dont appear to have been here long? or are you a name changer?

Gdine · 07/11/2005 23:11

Yup, I dont see anything about my posting that is harder on Skinny Cow than she has been on others.

We seem to be in a very selfish age, no sense of community or society - just the consumer. Skinny Cow's own words betray her logic

"I CAN AFFORD"...

To someone like Skinny Cow this seems to equate to....

"I HAVE THE RIGHT TO"

Well yes you may have in the lies of the law - fair enough but there are deeper issues than this including what we choose to pass onto our kids good (leave them some resources etc) or bad ( leave them global warming etc ).

skinnycow · 07/11/2005 23:11

GDINE - read my lips! I run my car on LPG!!!!! which is better than diesel or petrol!

JoolsToo · 07/11/2005 23:12

who's laughing? certainly not me!

Gdine · 07/11/2005 23:13

Nope, not a name changer. If you had a spat with someone else in the past then its not me.

I am not the type to change spots like that.

G'dine is my name ( ie Geraldine ).

skinnycow · 07/11/2005 23:13

nope havent had a spat with anyone!

notasheep · 07/11/2005 23:15

In Wales we have 4x4s to drive down our mud track,what they r for!!

notasheep · 07/11/2005 23:16

Subaru Foresters are fantastic in my view and Jeremy Clarksons.They ARE the BEST

Gdine · 07/11/2005 23:20

Yes, I looked into that because I was interested.

Yes LPG is more green in that there are less toxins....but the CO2 (ie greenhouse gas emmission) is hardly any better than for any other fossil fuel.

Since my argument has been about global warming and not the other emissions (which I do agree are serious) then I dont really see your argument.

I have done a lot of research over the last few days and the only way to use a diesel engine cleanly is to use biodiesel. This is made from crops and does not add to the amount of CO2 in the air because the crops capture C02, then you burn it and then they re-capture it etc. The problem with fossil fuels is that they were not part of the carbon cycle until we started digging them up. LPG is a fossil fuel - its not that Green really so dont kid yourself.

And before you question my Green credentials, I have already made arrangements to have the minor adjustment made on our car so that it can run on biodiesel, and before this, our car is a humble small diesel, we drive as little as possible and I take the bus into work by choice rather than drive.

JoolsToo · 07/11/2005 23:21

some good news anyway - pedestrian deaths are down in all categories for 2004 let's hope the pattern continues.

Wordsmith · 07/11/2005 23:22

Like the sound of that Biodiesel gdine - is it widely available? What do you have to do to your car? How much does it cost? Where can you get it from? Please fill me in...

JoolsToo · 07/11/2005 23:23

don't you mean 'fill me up'? - only joking!

notasheep · 07/11/2005 23:23

We walk to school!

skinnycow · 07/11/2005 23:23

PMSL JT!

Wordsmith · 07/11/2005 23:24

.

I really should go to bed....

Gobbledigook · 07/11/2005 23:24

Ah ya see, there's the flaw - you have to 'buy' this global warming malarky

suzywong · 07/11/2005 23:24

Psssst...G'dine
the cereal box back links to the outside world have been working very well for Skinnycow, please don't demolish that small step. Her 4x4 is by Matchbox and she is really a 13 year old schoolboy in Romford. Come on, play the game woman.

Gobbledigook · 07/11/2005 23:26

I'm more concerned about safety tbh. Most cars are not 'green' anyway.

I wanted to get out and key the one next to me today - I couldn't see a bloody thing edging my poor toddlers out into the road without having the slightest clue if there was anything coming

skinnycow · 07/11/2005 23:28

SW

notasheep · 07/11/2005 23:30

The most dangerous place to drive is on a Motorway,not many of those on the school run,and r we all using real nappies?

Gdine · 07/11/2005 23:32

Hi Wordsmith

Here's the info you wanted...

www.biodieselfillingstations.co.uk/
www.goldenfuels.com/ ( Oxford only )

The second link is only really any good if you are near Oxford. I read the stuff on the first site and got a wee bit confused about some things but in the end I just picked a few numbers and phoned. Got a really nice bloke called Adrian and he told me what I needed to know. Nice thing is that its actually going to work out a little bit cheaper for us ( maybe around 15% ).

I love the idea of driving on corn !!! Well actually they say its mainly rapeseed but that doesnt sound as good :-)

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