I’m glad the majority of you see the sheer good sense in not ruling out those dirty diesels from your used car deliberations. Certainly, recent diesels have a pretty clean bill of health. Richard is one of you correct thinkers who liked my diesel saloon piece. “A used diesel saloon really is a shrewd commuter car but an estate is even better!” he says. “My philosophy is to have a cheap-as-chips Citroën C5 diesel estate as the daily driver, which is economical, smooth, quiet and comfortable, and is the ideal calm and tranquil commuter. What’s more, it’s only worth insuring third party, and it’s no slouch on long journeys either. This lets me afford a luxobarge for the weekend and my Mercedes S600L fulfils that role to perfection.” Richard is clearly doing Bangernomics right and I am glad that the C5 is serving him well. He’s dead right about estate cars. The SUV is apparently killing them off but just for now there are plenty around and, in practical terms, they are unbeatable. Not least because they are not carting around tons of extra metal, propshafts and other space-robbing, economy-sapping ballast. I would be inclined to go for the nominally more reliable product with a Japanese badge, even though they are not fully on board the diesel train, because the engines are damned reliable. The Honda Accord may have a sloping roof, but here is one of the prettier estates in circulation. If we only want to spend £1500, then that will buy a 2006 two-owner 2.2 i-CTDi EX with 150,000 miles. The combined consumption is officially 47.9mpg, so it ought to do a solid 45mpg. Otherwise, a Toyota Avensis is the rather more blunt-fronted affair and, again for £1500, you will get a 2007 2.2 D-4D T-Spirit with 150,000 miles. The one I came across was all ready to roll with a full MOT from a dealer. Then there is the Mazda 6. A 2004 2.0 TD TS2 with 106,000 miles and an absolute ton of history from a dealer was a tempting £990. Alternatively, a much more recent 2010 2.2 D TS with 165,000 miles is a realistic £1794. One of the biggest and most practical of all the real-world diesel estates has to be the Ford Mondeo. There is such a huge classified ad choice, which is always good news. I rather liked the fact that it is possible to get a 2008 2.0 TDCi Titanium with 159,000 miles, also for £1500. Unless you want an old-shape 2006 2.0 LX with 101,000 miles, which is a part-exchange clearance. I sort of love both and am sure Richard would too. What we almost bought this week “Always had oil and filters changed yearly.” It’s a good start to any used car ad and certainly caught our eye. The 2004-reg Clio Extreme has done 100,000 miles and, says the private seller, “has never let me down and is mechanically fine”. Begs the question why sell it – but, at £250, it’s got to be cheaper than taking the train. Tales from Ruppert’s garage Just to let you know that the fuel line was fixed. I got so covered in gunk patching it up, I let my local garage finish the dirty work and also make the headlamps work again as there was a rogue earth connection. Meanwhile, the driver’s side sliding window popped out again. My mistake: I slammed the door without the window being shut. I remember 99% of the time, but I forgot just the once and there it was on my lap again. Hopefully that is it for the Lorry, as there are now so many stories to tell about the other sorry members of the fleet. A to Z Bangerpedia J is for Honda Jazz: What we have here is a compact hatchback that nonetheless has lots of flexible space inside. Yes, the Jazz is such an ingenious little car, it is hard to find a rival model that is any better. The well-proportioned small-people-carrier styling is a key reason why the Jazz works so well. At the back is a very large boot and the load area can be changed easily. Simply fold the rear seats into the footwells for a completely flat floor or just fold the seat bases forward to effectively create two separate boot areas. It is very clever and all passengers appreciate the extra head and leg room. The high driving position is great for the driver and there is lots of adjustment in the seat and steering wheel. Under the bonnet is a highly efficient 1.4-litre petrol engine that delivers almost 50mpg across the range. A 2003 1.4 i-DSi SE is £490. Readers’ questions Question: My four-year-old Peugeot 308 is starting to develop problems, but is almost at the end of its PCP. Am I tied to Peugeot for its replacement? Donald Stewart, Kirkcudbright Answer: Fortunately, under the terms of a PCP, you can offer your Peugeot to any car dealer in part-exchange for another – be it a new or used Peugeot, or another make entirely. Peugeot Finance, or whoever stumped up your loan on your 308, is only interested in getting back the money it’s owed. Whichever dealer you go to will contact it to establish the car’s so-called settlement figure. Assuming they think your 308 is worth this sum and that you plan to buy
Origin: James Ruppert: big, old diesels are proper pocket pleasers
James
James Ruppert: when it comes to second-hand EVs, buy mainstream
If you read this column often, you will probably have gathered by now that I am EV-sceptic. Used EVs are a thing and I concede that, for some, they can make some sort of practical sense, if you’re a milkman. However, if you start doing the CO2 calculations, it all becomes rather harder to justify batteries as a method of environmentally responsible propulsion. As we all know, Bangernomics is the only way to drive with a jolly green conscience. But, hey, I like to do my bit for the home-grown car industry, so I was pleased to read that there was a Me (micro electric) car apparently being built in north London that costs a substantial £12,000. It looked like a Jeep that had been shrunk in the wash. These days, however, there is something called the interweb and, pretty quickly, you find that you could have bought one of these in China for three grand a few years back. So that didn’t go very well. This brings us to the electrification of classic cars, which seems to be breaking out all over the place. If it is your car and you want to do that, knock yourself out. Have fun. I don’t care. When it comes to commercial operations, I’m not quite so sure. Aston Martin DB6s converted by Aston Martin to EVs (and fully reversible) is presumably a pricey PR exercise. Even if someone buys them. A colossal amount of money is being pumped into one company that specialises in converting classics to battery-fy Fiat 500s and Ferrari 308s. What a colossal waste of finite resources that is. It is a pointless virtue-signalling exercise. So I asked to speak to the founder, who suddenly became unwell, and then someone else important, who went very quiet. I thought journalists were supposed to ask questions? Silly old sceptical me. The toy-town battery cars are promoted on the basis that they are Ultra Low Emission Zone-compliant, but so is a historic vehicle, making the whole convert-a-classic thing redundant. Never mind: don’t buy a brand-new Chinese battery pseudo toy car when you can buy a Nissan Leaf with airbags and everything: £5995 gets you a 100,000-mile 2012 example, which at least proves they will do some solid service. Dealer ones are £6995 and I am sure that there are plenty of years left in them yet. Much cuter Renault Zoes seem to have lower mileages and broadly similar prices. A 2014 one with 40k miles is around £6750. If you love EVs, great. There are more to choose from and it’s best to buy major-manufacturer examples. Meanwhile, the rest of us still have plenty of fossil options. As long as that continues, we have a credible rather than artificial marketplace. What we almost bought this week Citroen ZX 1.4 3-door And still the 1990s producesgems, such as this one-owner,1995 M-reg ZX 1.4 with 85,000miles for just £395. With thatkick in the window line, thethree-door is a pretty thing,and because ZXs are light, ithas a decent turn of speed. Themodel handles and rides well,too. Still holding out for a 2.0Volcane, though. Tales from Ruppert’s garage Porsche Cayenne, mileage – 101,500 There was definitely a coolant leak. I got right underneath butcould not see exactly where it was coming from. The curse ofthe engine cover. Anyway, I asked my local garage to take alook, which they did. They burrowed as far as they could andlocated the leak to somewhere at the back of the engine anddribbling down the gearbox. The leak is not colossal. So we have decided to live with it and,later in the year when we have more time, will ask a specialist toget stuck in – unless they suggest it will cost a million pounds. Bangerpedia A-Z: P is for Patrol The Nissan Patrol has always been one of the biggest andcrudest 4x4s you can buy. This revised version from1998 onwards was much friendlier than before,though. There’s acres of space inside that huge bodyand five-door models even provide seven seats.Luggage space is more than adequate, too. Buildquality is good and overall the ride is acceptable.Arguably, this is an alternative Toyota Land Cruiser,but cheaper and duller. A seven-seat 2004 3.0Di SVEwith 120k miles is £4450. Readers’ questions Question: I’m a shy and retiring21-year-old aboutto buy my first car.Everyone tells me I shouldhaggle but how, and what ifthe salesman just says ‘no’?What then? Damon Cliffe, via email Answer: First, go online to get a feel forprices. Now you can negotiateintelligently, but only when you’vechecked the car, test driven itand believe it’s the one you want.Confidently state your offer. A good salespersonwill try to talk you round to a number they believeis fair to you both. Keep giving those signals thattell them you’ll deal today if the number’s a bitfairer to you. At all times, be friendly but firm –and lose the shyness. John Evans Question: I’m torn betweena one-year-oldHyundai Tucson S1.6 GDi with 15,000 miles for£13,995 and a new DaciaDuster Comfort 1.6 SCe115 for £13,400. Which oneshould I buy? Angus Crawford, Fife Answer: The Duster is a great alternative tomore
Origin: James Ruppert: when it comes to second-hand EVs, buy mainstream
Aston Martin details James Bond-inspired DB5 continuation
When Aston Martin announced that it was planning to create 25 ‘continuation’ replicas of the DB5 used in the James Bond film Goldfinger, the big question was how it would deliver on the original car’s huge tally of gadgets. Now the firm’s Works Division has shown us several of the gadgets under development in the programme, led by Academy Award-winning special-effects creator and Bond film veteran Chris Corbould. While the finished cars, which will be delivered to customers next year, will have more features, we have been shown three: the replica machine guns that will pop out from behind the front indicator lights, the oil-spray system that deploys from behind the taillights and the smoke screen. Paul Spires, Works Division’s president, confirmed that the finished cars will also have rotating numberplates, a sliding ‘bulletproof’ rear deflector and a representation of the original DB5’s famous ejector seat, although one that won’t actually be capable of firing passengers out of the car. A simulated radar tracking screen and an identical centre console to the film car’s will also feature. Corbould said he had to think “for about a second and a half” when asked to work on the project, but admitted that there have been serious challenges in making features that are both convincing and repeatable. “If we were doing an oil slick in a film, then we could fill the boot with equipment and put out about 50 litres in a couple of seconds,” he said. “Here it has to fit into a much smaller space, and it has to be able to work again and again.” There was also the need to consider health and safety. Although the Goldfinger DB5s won’t be road legal, Spires said that the company does have to make sure they won’t harm anyone. “We have had to make all of this work within the limitations of health and safety,” he explained. Corbould has worked on every Bond film with the exception of Octopussy since The Spy Who Loved Me, and admits to working on the forthcoming 25th outing of the franchise. The decision to produce a corresponding 25 of the Goldfinger cars – each priced at £3.3 million including VAT – suggests we can expect to see 007’s long-running connection with Aston
Origin: Aston Martin details James Bond-inspired DB5 continuation
James Ruppert: Ignore the mileage, focus on condition
‘Clocking’ is the ancient art of changing the mileage on used cars, which should be called what it actually is: fraud. Oh, and it seems to be getting much worse. Here is a long-established stat: the car check people at HPI estimate that one in three cars that they check every year has a hidden history. Apparently, used car buyers now have a one-in-14 chance of purchasing a vehicle with a mileage discrepancy, which is extremely concerning. Well, that’s HPI’s take on it. I am so old I can look at something I wrote about this 19 years ago. Back in 2000, the Retail Motor Industry Federation (RMI) said that it could “eradicate this problem once and for all” by logging the miles at every service, MOT and bodyshop pit stop. And yet the problem is still here and at apparently an all-time high. You would have thought that lowering the mileage to boost the value of a used car would have gone away by now. Especially as the 1980s digital dashboards and mileage readouts were supposed to be tamper-proof. Well, it didn’t take long for a criminal with a laptop to work that one out. A radical one-point plan is simply do nothing. Just rename the odometer, or milometer, as the service interval indicator. So when you go and buy a car, look a little further than the row of digits. Concentrate on the condition. In that case, let’s look at these. Avoid the MOT failures, ‘needs work’ and ‘spares or repair’ bunch and seek out a frog-eye 2005 Nissan Micra 1.2 S three-door with 208,000 miles at £400 and apparently in good working order. That’s a wonderful starter car if it all holds together. For a little more practicality, a 2007 Skoda Fabia estate in Elegance trim and a 1.9 TDI PD diesel engine seems to wear its 280,000 miles rather well. Charging £490 for it seems jolly reasonable and it is a dealer part-exchange as well, which often means that it is decent but they struggle to get anything remotely retail with those miles. Oh, and what is it with Skodas these days, which are like old-school redacted Volkswagens? A 2008 Octavia 1.9 TDI Classic with a staggering 318,000 miles and a year’s MOT for £490. Fantastic. If you want something posher, a 2003 Volvo S60 2.4 D5 SE with 250,000 miles and a year’s MOT is just £799. But here is a real head scratcher: a 2011 Alfa Romeo Giulietta 2.0 JTDM-2 Veloce with 206,000 miles for £1850. A pattern emerges here in that all these mega-mileage cars are those evil diesels. Okay, they will cost a bit to sort out when they go wrong, but they do seem to be capable of some serious mileage – clocked or not. What we almost bought this week The Accord coupé of 1998-2001 was a stylish and, in 197bhp 3.0-litre V6 guise, potent motor that deserved a better reception than it got. We found a 1999/T-reg with 140,000 miles for £800. With just three owners from new and “no issues”, save for a broken wiper, it prompts the question: what stopped us? Tales from Ruppert’s garage Well, this wasn’t good. It happened rather suddenly one Friday when the Lorry sprang a leak. First thoughts were oil, because it looked very oily. I assumed a seal had gone on the transfer box or something, looking at the location. Oddly enough, I’d been pre-booked to pick up a massively heavy old sofa to add to the old sofas we already have. When I got back, I looked underneath and clearly it was fuel. The flexible part of the line had been holed. It was messy, but packaging wrap and gaffer tape made for a temporary fix. Irritating. A to Z Bangerpedia A is for Audi A3: Here it is, a small quality hatch that you’d be proud to own. There is a great range of engines. Some argue that the petrol 1.6s are not that sporty, but they are more than adequate for most buyers who just want a posh hatch. If you want to get places, though, there is a 2.0 turbo, while the 3.2 V6 is sensationally quick. Buy the five-door if you often take more than one passenger but the three-door is great otherwise. Reliability has been fairly average. Still, a decent 1999 1.9 TDI is £695 with 150k miles and 10 months’ MOT. Readers’ questions Question: I’m replacing a Peugeot 208 GTi. I have £5000, do 8000 miles a year and want something that’s as sporty. It must be reliable and have done less than 50,000 miles. Shaun Riordan, Bracknell Answer: You need a Skoda Fabia 1.4 TSI vRS DSG. With 178bhp, it can crack 0-62mph in 7.3sec and is an agreeable little handler. Being a Skoda, it’s practical and will never let you down. We saw a lovely one-owner 2010 car with 46k miles and full service history for £5k. John Evans Question: Can you fry an EV’s battery by fast-charging it? A lithium battery costs up to £1000 – a considerable expense. Ken Bashorun, via email Answer: Fast-charging a lithium ion battery can cause it significant stress but EVs have systems that help manage the process. In any case, a good-quality fast-charger should match its charge rate with the battery’s ability to absorb it. Check if the
Origin: James Ruppert: Ignore the mileage, focus on condition
James Dyson: why we’re building an electric car
James Dyson came up with his electric car idea in the 1990s, while experimenting with equipment to collect diesel particulates by centrifugal action. He knew exhaust pollution was harmful, but his attempts to sell clean-up technology were overtaken by official directives suggesting diesels were “clean and green”. Speaking here from his Singapore base, where his cars will be made from 2021, he discusses the car’s design. The latest on Dyson’s electric car What is your motivation for making an electric car? Nobody was interested in our original exhaust clean-up idea, but we had a bright team developing high-speed electric motors for other Dyson products, we were researching air purification, we had our own aerodynamicists and we were developing solid state batteries. Put those things together and you have the main elements of an electric car. What’s your view of the sales potential of electric cars? Seems to me the industry, and industry commentators, are under-egging the likely growth of the market. People will buy them for the right reasons, because they don’t want to cause pollution. It’s nothing to do with what the industry thinks. The public will decide it wants electric cars. Your new car looks big and expensive. Where will your car sit in the firmament? Is it a premium product? I guess it is. That’s how we generally operate. We’ll make several different versions — different car types, not longer or shorter models. We’re not announcing anything about price yet, but we’re not a mass producer yet. When you go into production for the first time you can’t be the cheapest. We’ll do our best with that but we’ll be making a big car with a lot of innovation in it, so it won’t be cheap. What led you to your car’s unique proportions? It’s all about efficiency. The high ground clearance and low roof cut the car’s frontal area, which is one of the keys to efficiency. We wanted a car with good ground clearance, and you get that with big wheels. They have low rolling resistance, they’re better in snow and the wet, you can have bigger brakes but you still get a big footprint. Your patents refer to hydrogen and hybrid power as well as battery propulsion. Will this car be battery only? And will it use solid state batteries? Yes, it will be battery-powered. As for battery type, we’re not revealing that yet. But at the moment we’re researching two different types of solid state battery in four locations — UK, USA, Japan and Singapore. How important is a long battery range? I believe the public wants electric cars to go as far as possible. You’ve seen our plans; the car has a big battery pack. But aerodynamics and frontal area are also key to having a good range. People don’t want to be filling their cars with electricity to find they’re inefficient. Having efficient motors means that as well as needing less electricity to propel yourself, you make regeneration more effective. You seem very interested in comfort, and your car’s ground clearance and big wheels suggest lots of wheel travel. Will you use air suspension, adjustable ride height and ride rates? Comfort is very important to us, and something we definitely want to deliver. It’s another thing you get from big wheels. The things you mention are on offer to us. I don’t want to reveal what we’re doing, but suspension is a very important area. Pitch is a good example: if you’ve got a long wheelbase it becomes more controllable. We’re having fun with all of this. It’s an interesting area. You’ve referred a lot to keeping you car’s weight down. I presume you won’t be making this car from steel? No, we’re not up at those sort of production numbers. But we also want to be able to produce in reasonable volume. We don’t think carbon fibre ready is yet ready for our sort of operation. It’s an interesting experiment, and okay for very small volume specialist cars. That just leaves one thing, really. I don’t think we have to be too revolutionary about the way we do the chassis. I can confirm the car will have an aluminium body, but that’s as much as I want to say. What’s your weight target? Everyone knows a battery is heavy, much heavier than an internal combustion engine. But if you do it our way you get a very low centre of gravity, much lower than an internal combustion car. There is certainly a weight penalty with batteries, but you mitigate it as much as you can, and in any case, and it helps you with regeneration. Once this car is on sale, could you imagine launching cheaper models to attract more people? I think that’s going to depend a lot on the progress of technology. If we’re successful with solid state batteries, that could be a possible moment… When will you reveal more about your car? When we launch it. We’re only talking about it now because our patents are going public. We don’t usually talk about products until we launch them. We’re a private company, getting on with our own
Origin: James Dyson: why we’re building an electric car
James Ruppert: how to take advantage of depreciation
I had to look at some stats the other day and it seems that electric cars outperform diesel and petrol when it comes to holding their value. Apparently a study of more than 7000 cars by our sister title What Car? revealed electric and hybrid models retain most value over three years and 30,000 miles, with diesels depreciating the fastest. That’s interesting, because for me it brings into sharp focus just how irrelevant resale value is. Apparently everyone now buys cars on a PCP basis, so although the future value affects the monthly payments, the used cash buyer wants to hear the bad resale news because it makes that model cheaper for them to buy. Just so you know, the new car money is going into the premium brands. They will be buying Range Rover Evoque P250 R-Dynamics, which lost the lowest percentage over three years (retaining over 70% of its £38,675 price tag) and 30,000 miles. Audi A3 e-tron, Porsche Cayenne E-Hybrid and Toyota RAV4 all retain more than 63% of their purchase value in specific trim configurations. The less resilient ’lecky and hybrid cars are headed by Renault’s Zoe in R110 i Dynamique Nav trim, holding just 26.6% of its value. Meanwhile, the other high depreciators are all oil-fired and include the Fiat Doblo and Tipo, Vauxhall Astra Sports Tourer and Peugeot 308 SW diesel. A prestige badge, however, does not protect anyone from a drop in value, so the Maserati Quattroporte V6 diesel, BMW 420d convertible and Jaguar XJ V6 are also at the bottom end of the chart. So there’s your instant guide to what you should be buying in a few years’ time when the PCP expires. I would leave it even longer for a full shakeout of values, and, mostly for the stupidest of reasons, it doesn’t look at all good for diesels. It’s a great time then to buy an XJ 2.7 TDVi or two as a tidy 2006 example with just over 100,000 miles is £4500 and falling. These are not skanky private sales but car dealer ones with warranties and include long-wheelbase Executive spec examples. If that’s a bit rich, drop a zero and for £450 a 2005 Renault Clio 1.5 dCi Expression with a functioning MOT is yours. It delivers EV levels of minimal cost but with a stress-free range. It will always be worth nothing, or something provided it remains roadworthy. Otherwise, the short-term future seems to be more electrified, provided, that is, you can afford the very high cost of buying a fully electric or hybrid vehicle. Unless you need to bother with congestion zones, go diesel or smaller petrol. Depreciation is always the used car buyer’s friend, although, as ever, it still pays to shop carefully. What we almost bought this week Not a patch on its predecessor, the CRX Mk2, but we’re thinking future classic here. It’s rare, it’s a sports car – of sorts – and it’s got some novel features such as its Transtop powered roof. We spotted a privately advertised 1997 P-reg 1.6 ESI with 140,000 miles, a functioning roof and a long MOT for £1650. We’ll only kick ourselves later… Tales from Ruppert’s garage Land Rover Series 3, mileage – 129,903: There I was casually filling up with petrol and something came off in my hand: the petrol cap. That’s normal, except that it’s usually attached to the car by a piece of chain so you don’t lose it in the jungle. After 35 years, it had given up being attached, which I suppose is some sort of record for a Land Rover. Anyway, I don’t think any chain ended up in the tank and all I had to do was get a pair of pliers out. A wonderfully simple distraction from the potentially fleet member-ending issue that has just reared its ugly head. Reader’s ride Colin Strickland is back and keen to give us an update on his expanding Bangernomics fleet. He says: “The £300 Focus is still going strong and has just passed its MOT, with just a new brake hose and pipe needed. It’s so good that my son set a budget of £300 for his first car. Needless to say the best value car I found was an identical Focus. It needed a new rad, but then a clutch slave cylinder went, taking the clutch with it. Still, it provides zero-deprecation, low-cost motoring and it’s just passed its MOT, too.” Readers’ questions Question: I’m changing my 11-reg Mazda 2 Sport 1.5 for something as fun to drive but more economical. I’m thinking an A-Class-sized Saab 9-2 coupé with a Scirocco-esque roofline. Any ideas? Calum Dalgetty, via email Answer: That’s some car you’re thinking of but you’ve answered your own question: a Scirocco. You say in your email that you’re a recent architecture graduate, so you’ll appreciate its concept-car styling. Meanwhile, it’s fun to drive and in diesel form will give you the economy you’re looking for. We found a 2011/11- reg 2.0 TDI with 60k miles and full Volkswagen service history for £7990. John Evans Question: I’m buying a car for my daughter and choosing between a Toyota Aygo, Peugeot 108 and Citroën C1. It must have a spare wheel, not a repair kit. Which of these cars does?
Origin: James Ruppert: how to take advantage of depreciation
James Ruppert: the ideal sub-£5000 multi-car garage
Received a very nice question from Gus about how to run a multi-car garage. There are a lot of Autocar contributors and readers who are bonkers enough to entertain all the fun and games involved when looking after more than one motor. After all, you can only drive one at a time, but then again, it’s always handy to have a spare. This isn’t a flippant answer situation. There is plenty to be said when it comes to multiple motors – except I don’t want to bore you with all the procedural bits. Let’s have fun trying to buy something small, something medium, something large and something sporty. The beauty of this is that it’s your garage and you can have whatever you please between the walls, or on the drive. Let’s set a realistic budget of £5000, which, because there are no other pressing bills, your other half says you can blow on your four-wheeled dreams. Okay, small. A characterful one for bobbing about and doing hardly any miles to the gallon. A Daihatsu Charade would be a hoot. A little cube of joy with a raucous 1.0-litre engine. A 2004 example, which is still £30 to tax and has air-con that isn’t a sunroof, is yours for £795. Plus it delivers 58.9mpg. If everything else goes askew, here’s your daily driver. Medium-size mile-muncher? The great thing is that a middle-order executive with a posh badge would work, even if a Ford Mondeo is the obvious answer. Instead, how about a Jaguar S-Type with the V8 engine and, even more convincingly, a full MOT and an outrageously reasonable mileage? Really well looked after and all for just £695. A 4×4 can be an inappropriate buy but, in our case, it counts as large. Best go for a square slab of wonderfulness that isn’t a Defender. No, a 1990s Jeep Cherokee is a tackily constructed expression of the original SUV culture. The great thing is that you can get a 1995 2.5 TD Sport for under £1000 now. Not all of them are in great nick, but one of your vehicles always turns into a project anyway. How about one car that doesn’t need to pay that pesky car tax? It might even go up in value. A Lada Vaz 2101 from 1972 rather took my eye. Needs a bit of meddling (but not that much) and it’s £1200. Seemed tidy enough and suddenly I’ve only spent £3690, not bought a real sports car and I already have two that need some attention. Well, that didn’t go quite as I planned it, but do you know what? That is mostly how car collections, even the modest ones, come about. What we almost bought this week Could you resist a mint Cortina Mk5 from a time when saloons ruled the roost and SUVs were things Americans drove? It’s the base L spec, the staple of 1980s sales reps and in 1981, when this one was registered, Britain’s best-selling new car. We love its orange paint and contrasting beige cloth interior. It’s got a new MOT with no advisories. Tales from Ruppert’s garage Mini Cooper, mileage – 102,618: The Mini Cooper is a fully functioning, small noisy car from more than half a century ago. When I remind myself of this, or just drive the thing like it’s the last time I will be allowed to, I don’t mind paying out £824.62 to make it better. That included a lot of small parts, from hoses to studs and clips, plus a colossal amount of labour. Oh, and rather a lot of petrol, as well as all the usual fluids. Totally worth it. Reader’s ride Robert Carr invites us to take a closer look at what he describes as his cheap ride. “I needed a five-door runaround for driving around town, going to the tip, taking the parents out,” he says. “Bought this Golf 1.9 diesel from a friend’s sister in July last year. It came with full VW history, a recent service, 12 months’ MOT, 130,000 miles and two mature owners. I lobbed some second-hand winter tyres on the steels that came with the car, then bought these alloys for £40 from a friendly breaker. Bought a set of Bosch wiper blades to see properly. Cost £700 in all. I’ve done 5000 trouble-free miles since.” Readers’ questions Question: My wife’s choice of new car is between a Mini Countryman Cooper Sport auto and a Mercedes-Benz GLA Urban Edition auto. The Mercedes is bigger but has no sat-nav, which the Mini has. Advice, please. James Wilson, Devon Answer: The GLA will be replaced next year by an all-new model, while the Countryman is relatively fresh (it was launched in 2017). Don’t worry about the GLA’s lack of integrated sat-nav – it has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto so you can run your phone’s maps on it. The GLA is quicker than the Mini but not as fun to drive. Both aren’t especially comfortable but the Mini is roomier and more practical. It gets our vote. John Evans Question: Is it worth paying to have my nearly new car’s paint protected with a sealer? The car salesman is very insistent. Karen Pitchford, via email Answer: If properly applied, it probably is. That’s a big ‘if’, though, since you’ll never know for sure. It doesn’t help that the stuff is insanely expensive and thrust at
Origin: James Ruppert: the ideal sub-£5000 multi-car garage
James Ruppert: the best ULEZ-beaters for urban families
Well, this is becoming something of a regular occurrence: the ULEZ (Ultra-Low-Emission Zone) question. Promise I won’t make a habit of this, but it isn’t just London which is affected. There’s heaps wrong with the scheme, not least that some include motorbikes, but I’m not here to write about those. Indeed, I am here to write about something pretty awful. Let’s see what the reader’s question actually was. “I am looking for a petrol-engined automatic car that’s ULEZ compliant and can fit three full-size car seats across the back. Budget up to £8000. Priorities are safety, comfort, reliability and some driver appeal. And it can’t look as ugly as a Seat Alhambra. Please help.” Not quite sure what their problem with an Alhambra might be, although I accept that unless you have a big brood or are in the private hire game, MPVs are universally grim to look at and drive. Never mind, let’s waste a few hours of life on the ULEZ checker with real registration numbers. What emerges is a handful of models that gives a buyer some sort of choice. Yep, Fords Galaxy and S-Max, the go-to MPVs of London’s leading minicabbers, are the obvious answer. Actually, the S-Max does look slightly interesting and is quite nice to drive. A 2.0 Ecoboost Titanium would seem to be the perfect family mover. I did find a privately owned 2011 with 61,000 miles, and all for £7200. Add a lot more miles – 100,000- plus – but sold from a dealer with a warranty and an absolutely loaded specification plus an added X in the name, and it raises the buying bar to £7450. Unsurprisingly, there don’t seem to be many recent petrol auto Galaxys, so we can leave those there. I did stumble across a Mercedes Viano at one point, but that was snapped up very quickly. The R-Class 350 is probably the most prestigious and blingy model you can buy; a 2009 example with just over 60,000 miles at £7995 would seem to be less offensive than an Alhambra. The more you look at the R, the more likeable it becomes, and an automatic petrol one is relatively affordable. When searching for petrol MPVs you inevitably fall down the grey import wormhole and find yourself looking at the chrome overload that is the Nissan Elgrand. The 2006 example I saw with just over 40,000 miles with no less than eight seats costs just £7000. The sensational news is that it is ULEZ-exempt. What a wonderful way to look down on the other City dwellers who have to take the bus or get on their bike. All this is rather depressing, and depressingly necessary. It’s not the future, either: this is the very real present where we have to check what we are actually allowed to drive. What we almost bought this week Few cars are as shabby chic as an old Volvo estate. The 850 (1991-’97) still looks fresh, too, while the 2.5, five-pot petrol engine is a lusty old thing. This example is a 1997/P SE auto with 155,000 miles and, according to the seller, no mechanical issues. It costs £495. Throw in a year’s MOT and it’s a deal. Tales from Ruppert’s garage Well, this will be interesting: the nipper’s Gordon the Golf is due its first MOT in a few days. One of the tyres is more than an advisory and there’s been another pheasant strike, which has cracked the offside bumper and pushed it beyond the lip, to the extent that we have to stage an intervention to pull it square again. So what is the youngster going to drive to work while the Golf is in for work? Well, there are BMWs, Minis and Land Rovers available. But what’s the insurance on a V8 for a 21-year-old? More details on that soon. A to Z Bangerpedia C is for Chrysler PT Cruiser: This is a 1930s gangster-style family MPV that drives like a hatchback and has plenty of standard kit. Not much else is going for it because it’s no people-carrier, taking just five on board – and don’t even try to get the seats out. Mind you, the boot is big and they remain really rather cheap. At some point they might become rare and ironically interesting. For now, though, this is a cheap set of fairly ugly wheels. You’re better off with the 2.0-litre petrol rather than the 2.2 CRD. Manual is more fun than the grim automatic, but who cares? Readers’ questions Question: I’ve just bought a 500-mile ex-dealer demonstrator. On the test drive I asked the salesman if it had been run in. He said new cars don’t need to be. Was he right? Paul Goodall, Scarborough Answer: We’re told new car mechanicals are so much better machined these days and modern oils more efficient that running in isn’t necessary, but keeping the revs down in the first 1000 miles can’t be a bad thing. It’s unlikely a dealer demo will have been treated in such a way, but if you’re really worried have the oil changed on your car at around 1000 miles to rid it of any metal particles, should they exist, and then think no more about it. John Evans Question: I need to find my young daughter a car that is small, economical and reliable. What do you advise? Susan Hurst, via email
Origin: James Ruppert: the best ULEZ-beaters for urban families
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