Used car buying advice

[The Duke]

Sad times bob, lung cancer got my nan, but she still looked well when she went. Hid any pain well. She was lucky, as some can be dying of cancer. My aunt was got by it, to my shame I don’t recall what form, and it is her away within 2 months of going the docs feeling off. The day before she died when I saw her, she looks 90 was 58iirc. She was tiny, fragile, couldn’t even move her body or talk. That was a shocking sight.

I said my goodbyes, and on the drive, though she should have been put off by her mystery before she got that far. Luckily for her, she was gone the next day.

It was a strange thought, but if it’s humane to put a dog down, surely people should have the right to decide.

My FiL once asked me, about 10 years ago if it ever comes to him being in such position would I help him out. He was/is a proud man that doesn’t want to go out slobbering and having is arse wiped. Now that is a strange son in law, father in law convo. He must really trust me, of thinking I’m a phyco.

[Richard]

The longer we live and the larger the reach of families and friends the more troubling cases we get to know about. All can be pretty ghastly. I knew a couple of 7~8 year old girls, one died from a brain tumour a long drawn out lingering end filled with peeks of hope and troughs of parental despair. They had to make 150 mile each way trips to the specialist hospital during the 1950s but the treatment then was pretty primitive and the hope at the end of the journey was really no more than a chimera. The other was killed very simply by the drugs her father took while delayed on his journey home by yet another British Rail strike. At least her end was sudden and quick so no lingering as the father lost control of his vehicle and ploughed into a fence. I will omit the gory bits.

An uncle was one of several who had lung cancer, again back in the 1950s. He had been a highly successful men’s hairdresser with an expanding business in the centre of Bristol until a major series of works closed roads and cut the business off from its customers. George’s end carried the double burden of his health and business failing leaving his wife and children to soldier on.

It is easy to try to create league tables of good and bad ways to go, a sort of I’ll trade you a liver cancer for a lung cancer and raise you a dementia. I’ll trump you with a sudden accidental death, for bowel cancer, etc.

Steve, I agree with your comments on end of life, it used to be so much easier when the matter was somehow less political and a suitable(?) pain killer could ease everyone’s existence. The likes of H Shipman, Beverly Allitt et al have a lot to answer for. If you have ever seen the long term decline of anybody with a condition that can only ever end badly any normal person will know that it is human to want to reduce the level of suffering to be endured. When their time is right they should be able to ‘go silently in the night’, their affairs in as much order as possible and so far as it is possible with their mind at rest.

[JayCeeDee]

Richard wrote:

When our time is right we should be able to ‘go silently in the night’, our affairs in as much order as possible and so far as it is possible with our mind at rest.

 

Apologies for amending/personalising your quote, but it’s exactly how the wife and I feel. Having seen a few examples of the opposite while getting treatment at the Marsden that’s not a road I’d ever want to tread.

[The Duke]

Well i turned that grim. I should stay off the net in the wee hours. Sorry.

[Richard]

Perhaps grim, but also less grim if you can achieve the end you desire with dignity. When you have a neigh on 90 year old running about the roads chasing the police to find her ‘missing parents’, you know something is not right or going to end well.

[Bob Williams]

It’s life Steve, the small hours can depress the soul, but sometimes you have to look at the guy with the scythe and laugh him in the face. As for being allowed to make one’s own choice, I think yes if the sufferer has really had enough. However, my old dad died hard at 1:30 am with me at his side and I asked him a few days before that if he had had enough.

“No son, not going like that. I read a quote once – ‘Do not go gently into that good night.‘* Just let me keep waking up and seeing the birds on the feeder, in the sunshine.” It was July. A part of me misses him every day, 29 years later. One regret is that I never got to show him our home here: he would have loved the Lincolnshire countryside, growing up dirt-poor in Stoke.

I lost to some form of cancer, in order: Granddad, Gt-uncle, 2x uncles, dad, big brother, 2x nephews. All of it industry-related, with tobacco thrown into the mix. Most pain can be managed, it’s one’s own choice about any alternatives. I hope not to ever be in that position, but if I have to make that choice, I will fight to stay here. I have a picture window by the bed, 3 feeders and a bird bath in sight and a family of blackbirds return every year to nest in one of my trees. Plus about a zillion sparrows nest in the Privet hedge next door. My garden is a theatre and I want to be there when the curtain goes down. In about 40 years, please, when I am finally too old to hobble away from all my misdemeanours.??

*It’s a Dylan Thomas Poem:     http://tinyurl.com/y964al23   Born 100 years ago on February 20th this year.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[PlaneMan]

Had to update my mileage allowance yesterday, not far of my estimated mileage for the year and 4 months still to go, probably rack up close to 500 miles this easter weekend so needed doing. Extra 2000 miles for just over £20. £19.50 was admin. ?

Lots of unexpected hospital/doctor visits pushed my mileage up by a lot, sometimes 1 or 2 hundred extra a week. Fair play to Admiral, first year of my own insurance for a long time, I was expecting a quote of £100 or more.

[The Duke]

I’ve never bothered updating my milage allowance. I always predict 10k and do a tad more but in close to the average. Though the spain drives add a fair chunk at about 3.5 to 4k a trip.

[JayCeeDee]

Because we did stupid mileage driving in and out of London every day, I’ve never bothered with this as we had business insurance with virtually unlimited mileage. Over the last few years, as I’ve changed insurers, it became a fact rather than an issue. The only time it caught me out was when I was in to the Marsden two or three times every 3 weeks for chemo, over a 6 month period and then once a month for checkups and/or scans. We may have bust the limit that year, but it was only when I came to renew and they asked the mileage question that I even thought about it.??

[Richard]

I used to have a 14,000 mile limit on one car and suddenly realised when the MOT was due that I had done about 13,500. Cue a quick swap to the the other car for a while and I ended up just about on the limit that year. Now I only do less than 4,000 so dropped the annual total down on that one to something closer to the expected total @ 6000 it is now giving a good cushion. All mileage is now more or less local, supermarket, doctor or hospital, though one or two hospitals are a little further away, a 55 or 60 mile round trip is about the longest. It was the regular longer round trips two or three times a week a week that build up the total. Once or twice a year we might see my wife’s family and that is only about 100 miles round trip so I am comfortable with the mileage limits on the cars. If all else fails I will dig my wife’s car out – because of all of the health issues it has done less than 2000 miles in total and is now 5 or 6 years old… I do find that increasing the journey lengths was not as challenging as I expected, but after a longer trip I want to sit down for an extended rest. Longer hospital round trips with our daughter are the most tiring because of the strain of her possibly brewing up to a meltdown, seizure or something else. Every safe arrival home is a walk away success.

[JayCeeDee]

Richard wrote:

Longer hospital round trips with our daughter are the most tiring because of the strain of her possibly brewing up to a meltdown, seizure or something else. Every safe arrival home is a walk away success.

 

From when I was volunteering with Mencap and we went out on a few runs in the Mini-bus, I know what you mean and echo the sentiment.

[The Duke]

Longer hospital trips are always a pain due to the fact they are 1. Stressful enough, and 2. You don’t get to relax until you get back home / the local hotel.

When you add children into the mix or worse disabled, it could all make for a long stressful day.

[Bob Williams]

Motability annual mileage allowance started at 10,00 for my first car in ’95, moved to 15K later and in 2007 they made it 20K. The lease terms state it as 60,000 miles per 3-year lease. Throughout all Motability leases, it is reckoned as (XX,xxx miles per 3years.) This means that care had to be taken to keep an eye on mileage in the last year of a lease, especially when allowance was low. My second lease was a 5 door 1.6 auto petrol Astra, by far the worst car I ever had from Motability. For the last year of the lease, I moved here to Lincolnshire and changed dealerships to a local Louth dealer. That was lucky, because I did go over the limit. Even though I was not taking another Vauxhall, the Louth dealership which ferried the car back to the original Mansfield dealer actually photographed the mileage for me when they delivered. The Mansfield dealer had obviously used the car, because they tried to claim a lot more mileage from me. In the end, after both dealerships had an argument, the Louth dealer wrote on my behalf to Vauxhall UK, I was not charged for any excess and the Mansfield dealership was reprimanded.

Meanwhile, the Louth dealership opened a second outlet next door – Nissan – and I took a 5 door, 1.8  Almera petrol auto. See what the Louth dealer did there? The Motability Sales girl lived on the next street: now she is a high powered PA, married her boss, big house in the village and has 2 kids that we see all the time. It ain’t what yer know…

I actually really liked that Almera, it drove well, had quite a bit of poke and was reasonably economical. Never gave me any trouble and only used one set of front tyres. We had a really daft dog then and Charlie loved that motor, would run around to the back and jump in when I opened the hatch. There was a Dog Guard and he had one ear sticking up, one hanging down, a patch over one eye. I would look in the rear mirror and this daft head would be there. “Get down Charlie!” and he would sink down, then gradually rise back up like a furry periscope.

They stopped making the Almera and I didn’t fancy another Nissan, so I took to Fords.

…worst car I ever had from Motability.  –   3x Breakdowns, ignition lock failure, sunroof stuck half open, electric locks and windows failed. One of those cars that you look at before you drive every day and ask it, ‘OK, what is going to go wrong today?’

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[The Duke]

Did the almera have one of the most comfiest rear seats? That and the Carlton for me had the best rear seat. Like two beds.

I’m going outside my wheelhouse Tuesday evening to drove a Seat Arora, its everything i hate about a car I’m one package. But i quote like it.

A whole 115bhp petrol with a meager 200lb-ft torque, from a 1 litre 3cyl engine. 7speed DSG.

It’s also a crossover.  I’m dying inside writing this. The top of the line one come fully loaded, and is cheap. So I’m going for a spin next week.

Also taking out the Seat Leon ST FR 180 with dsg. Which is the front runner.

 

LBut this little Arora really  me interested. I dont know why, joyfully it will be the Cactus all over again.

[Bob Williams]

” Did the Almera have one of the most comfiest rear seats? ”

Don’t know from my own experience, but none of my passengers ever complained Steve. SWMBO says it was comfy, she used and still uses, rear seats when our son travels with us, says that our conversation is male and boring.

When the Thought Police arrive at your door, think -
I'm out.

[PlaneMan]

Steve, the engine to have in the VW group is the 1.5 TSi. Very clever 4 cylinder that switches to 2 cylinder when cruising.

The 1 litre  is meant to be very good though.

Seat have always had good cars, some great. My brother has had loads of them and mum had a couple. The Leon you might find a bit harsh over bumps, especially in FR trim.

This long weekend I did 469 miles. That was up until 10am this morning when I got back from the early morning airport run. That’s about 2-3 weeks worth of normal mileage, sometimes more.

Friday afternoon it took 2 hours and 45 minutes to get to the airport and 2 hours 15 to get back with no stops. This morning it took 2 hours 55 to get there and back with one quick stop for a ‘comfort break’.

[The Duke]

I took the 184bhp Leon ST FR outlast year back to back with the Skoda Octavia Vrs wagon 180bhp.

The Seat was a better drive, not quite as firm of the Vrs yet more pointy and direct. They have worked some magic over at seat.

Though the Leon is a little bland compared to the vrs, which in diesel form is the exact same car.

Saying all that, Ive now decided to go away form Diesel for the first time in 15 years. I could go with the 180 or 150 petrol even a 110 petrol.

The wife though will be better off with a hire car, due to here lack of flexibility. Bit I hate 4×4* or even crossovers.

I do like the pug 3008, but it would need to be in the gt line trim. That two comes with a 3cyl engine, I drove one for giggles, thinking it would be a dog. I was wrong it felt fine. Though if guess mpg would be garbage. Which defeats the point of a small power unit. (In laws got a ka for efficancy, my 2l diesel laguna was more efficient over its lifetime at 55mpg every month)

The big skoda is very nice, in sport like trim, but so is the price!

The seat Ateca is a nice crossover, but still its a crossover. This new seat Arona (iir ) looks decent and is keenly priced. So im off tomorrow at 2pm to check it out.

 

 

I don’t hate, I just hate them that have them and think off-roading is curb side parking.

 

[PlaneMan]

I’m not not at the point where I need a taller car to help getting in and out of, anything more than a couple of inches lower than my Swift would be an issue though, say a TT or something.

Had a sit in the new Fiesta the other day, not a fan of the way the touch screen looks like an afterthought and the back is cramped and claustrophobic. Supposedly it’s a very good drive though.

Still after a new generation Swift, the SZ-T is near as makes no difference as fast as the 140 new Fiesta, despite having about 28 ps and 20 NM less to play with. It’s very light, the Fiesta isn’t.

[Richard]

PM, I suspect that you touched on one of the big issues over buying anything and a car is a bigger purchase than many; that is personal taste and style. Some would possibly like the touch screen being a stand out feature and not all of them have a large well trained dog and a white stick! My last car was something of an urgent purchase as the usual runabout had a fault* that was causing the garage trouble and my need was urgent. *It was an intermittent wiring error and NOT what the computer kept claiming. Having rule out Ford on the basis of previous experience of their ‘stuff’, my choice rapidly narrowed down to who has what and would like to sell me something. The Seat and Hyundai sales points were not very interested and so many fell by the wayside. I did not want a 50 mile drive to a service point and so on. My choice was a bit of Force Majeure in the end so no great mental effort required. I wish you good luck.

[Ed P]

Unfortunately I find that cars have gone from a ‘fun to drive’ object to a utilitarian object to get myself & loved ones  safely from point A to point B. Cars used to be fun, but the imposition of senseless speed limits (Surrey is one of the worst counties) both irritates and removes any pleasure from driving. As a result I no longer really care what I drive provided it is safe, comfortable and economical.

I’m not ranting against speed limits. In fact I think in some areas (around schools for example) mandatory 20mph limits make a lot of sense, but to stick a 40mph limit on a country road with a half mile visibility and no houses adjacent to the road is plain daft. Equally, I would rant against cones with no workers anywhere in sight, or Highways England’s malicious use of stop/go restrictions on the M25.

70mph Motorway limits were possibly appropriate in the 60s when cars took half a mile to stop, but they should be increased to cater for the better/safer driving conditions of the 21st century! There should also be a public right of appeal against inappropriate use of restrictions just because a doddery County Councillor (think Surrey) lives on a road.

Inappropriate restrictions make my blood boil.

[Author]

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