jeremy996

I'd like a modern 110SW, so the currently announced vehicle would do me, but the taxation class would be of interest. In my ideal world, I'd like it to be a commercial vehicle, so the VED is calculated differently. I can live with any speed restrictions; I have little sports cars if I want to go fast.

OBD that is readable without more kit, for the engine, gearbox and interior systems. After my last experiences with new vehicles, I would like to be able to avoid the dealer network once out of warranty. Well priced spares - they don;t have to be cheap, they have to be "good value". The ability to add trim options in the field from factory kits. To afford to buy the damn thing I need a "bare" one, to stop family from whinging, I need to add creature comforts over time. I want a vehicle I can keep for 30 years+, so the same basic infrastructure with stuff I can add/alter, (pretty much like the old Defender, but without the leaks, drafts and rust!)

I had a bit of a dig, as I found your questions interesting, so:- https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/ICCTupdate_EU-95gram_jan2014.pdf The best explanation I could find on how to calculate it, so based on sales volume across the fleet For Suzuki, 95g/KM is a struggle, I couldn't find one of their cars that could make it, https://carfueldata.vehicle-certification-agency.gov.uk/search-new-or-used-cars.aspx Celerio 108, Ignis 127-132, Swift 124-130, Balano 136, SX4 142-148, Vitara 146, Jimny 198. Now the Jimny getting the chop seems obvious; plenty of sales elsewhere and fines heading their way anyway.

Pulled from AutoExpress "Earlier this year, Suzuki said the Jimny would remain on sale in “very limited numbers” during 2020 and that the car would be pulled from the market in 2021. However, this date has been pulled forward, following the EU ruling that all car makers must ensure their vehicles emit no more than 95g/km of CO2, as an average across their fleet. Exemptions exist for low-volume manufacturers and there are concessions such as super credits, which reward brands for selling pure electric cars. Car makers that produce heavier vehicles are also allowed to have higher fleet average emissions than those that produce light cars. As a manufacturer of small cars and with no pure electric vehicles in its portfolio, Suzuki has few immediate options other than to cull the Jimny. The Jimny’s relatively high CO2 emissions of between 154 and 170g/km, coupled with its low mass of 1,135kg, mean it's the latest car to fall foul of the regulations. This trend is one that also threatens Europe’s small-car market as a whole. The future of city cars looks increasingly shaky as firms struggle to balance high emissions and low kerb weights against the disproportionately expensive development costs and low profit margins of small cars." Suzuki have no heavy vehicles with concessions and no pure EVs. Their small cars can still be 'highish' CO2 producers as they have more small cars with 4WD than other manufactures.

The CO2 targets are based on average fleet, (i.e. across the manufacturer's range), with a fixed % improvement each period. Suzuki's problem is their range isn't wide enough and the volume is low. Suzuki just don't have a proper gas guzzler to give them a bit of wiggle room!

The French have some rather nasty laws about making people redundant, so Ineos may be hoping to be bribed by Daimler to pick up the slack and get whatever sweeteners are offered by the French local authorities. (All a bit depressing as my wife, working from home, is making arrangements to make lots of people redundant around the country).

My favourite overheard description was a "Yeti blown up by a photocopier" Scarily, that was a Sturgess Leicester, the JLR dealer, who seemed to have a stream of new Defender owner collections going on. (I was quite taken by the I-Pace also being handed over to the new owner.)

According to the Telegraph, INEOS has just bought BP's petrochemical buiness for $5Bn. There's a guaranteed market for some Grenadiers. Telegraph Business Pages

https://www.gov.uk/personalised-vehicle-registration-numbers/take-private-number-off The vehicle must: be registered with DVLA in the UK be able to move under its own power be of a type that needs an MOT or heavy goods vehicle (HGV) test certificate have been taxed or had a SORN in place continuously for the past 5 years be taxed currently (or have a SORN in place - if it’s had a SORN for more than 5 years, it must be taxed) be available for inspection DVLA will check your application and contact you if your vehicle needs an inspection.

Talk to a broker, this will be too weird for the likes of Direct Line and Meekats. i have always had good service from NFU and Hoskins.

I'm an independent financial adviser and it has mostly been business as usual. No going to clients, but video chats with Zoom, Teams, Skype or FaceTime. The market turmoil has triggered a few wobbly phone calls but most clients see the markets have dropped 15%ish and their portfolios dropped 3% and now rising, so are fairly chilled. I've done a fair bit for 4x4 Response, both locally and for national, from delivering prescriptions, making grant applications to finalising accounts. Mechanical work = none. Bit disappointing as I have a LR90 with a replaced bulkhead but a dashboard in 1000 random componants. Fixed a few bits of dodgy DIY at home. Now acting as taxi driver for my son, a doctor's receptionist, as the public transport is even more pants than usual, (and the little darling still hasn't passed his test).

Unfortunately they were not sold to the general public. Saw one at the Eden Project and spoke to the operator and he was quite keen; bags of torque and few traction issues.

My truck runs mostly on cooking oil, so I don't have too much of a vested interest, but my wife and I have been looking at solar panels and a potential electric car purchase in the next five years. Most people worldwide don't do much more than 40 miles a day, so the longer ranges of modern electric cars are a waste of battery capacity and excess weight. My wife's Fiat 500C does around 30 miles a day from home to Grantham and back, so a Leaf or Zoe would work, but is just too boring. The new Fiat 500 will come as a full range incuding an electric convertible, so one of those will do, (although the £30k it might cost could be a stumbling block). Technology is moving on quite quickly, with solar panels that work sufficiently well when they are not pointed directly at the sun, (so our roof becomes viable), and batteries that have a cost per kWh of less than US$100. Reuters were reporting that Tesla/Chinese sources suggested they could get down to $60/80 per kWh, https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/14/teslas-secret-batteries-aim-to-rework-the-math-for-electric-cars.html. If you can afford the purchase price, then running an electric car is cheap. It is noticeable that my clients who have electric cars won't go back to ICE, (I'm an IFA, so my clients usually have enough capital to buy shiny things; they are usually surprised how much their fuel bill drops by).

Victor Meldrew syndrome is only ever one inconsiderate numptie away. My wife wants to blow up dog owners whose dogs foul the path and don't clean up. She would like a landmine targetting the owner and leaving the dog surprised but uninjured. (She's a HR consultant, she doesn't like people much).

I drove a few SD1 V8s as a delivery driver - one tried to kill me on the A1 on a drive from Wolverhampton to Aberdeen, when it dropped its prop, (bolts not tightened/locked correctly). The West Mids Police had a worse accident record with SD1s than with the Marina TCs that proceeded them. The Marina was feared as a scary, bad handling car in extremis, whereas the SD1 was considered fairly benign, so they pushed it harder. Always liked the look of the classic "jam sandwich".

There is an article in the Spectator that goes through some of the statistics around the various death rates in the UK normally. The phrase that grabbed me was "But we have yet to see any statistical evidence for excess deaths, in any part of the world." (Excess deaths - i.e. more deaths than we would have had normally in the same period). Spectator, 28th March 2020, "The Corona Puzzle" Dr John Lee.

When my TD was ripped out we discovered that all 4 pistons were cracked at 152,000 miles. I have replaced the TD with a 200Tdi and the LR110CSW now has 350,000+ on it. Even with extra sound proofing it does sound much rougher the the TD, but with advancing age, I'm going deaf and less bothered by it!

I suppose I had better come clean; I am a 4x4 responder, my 110 has discrete orange lights that I have turned on three times in the last 12 months, road marshalling for a national cycle race, parade marshalling for Battle of Britain Day and road closures for Remembrance Day. I'm treasurer for Leicestershire & Rutland 4x4 response and a trustee for 4x4 Response UK. We are waiting for our Local Resilience Forum, (LRF, the replacement for the old civil defence structure), to decide how to use us. We are expecting to be used as transport for pharmacy meds to the self-isolating and similar. Each of the roughly 35 regional groups are different and some are much more rigorous than others. We, (L&R4x4R), try to get all responders a recognised first aid qualification and training time for public events marshalling and a bit of light recovery. More than half of us are also Police Community Volunteers, so DBS checked and trained. At the moment, I have stepped back as a responder as I am "vulnerable", (asthmatic diabetic with high blood pressure), so I'm group controller. If you meet a 4x4 response idiot, please let me know as we are trying to raise our game nationally. (Although I appreciate that the orange fetishists, the jobsworths and the tinpot napoleons are easy to ridicule).

I have run my 200Tdi on SVO using a two tank system for 8/9 years and 160,000+. I am not running it at the moment as the solenoid valve that switches over the flushing from the diesel pump has partially seized. I am currently looking for a replacement valve. Until the valve failure, I have been very happy with it. My engine was reconditioned last year with an initial failure that might be tied to SVO, (the piston rings stuck in their grooves and the lubrication oil was blown out of the dipstick), but the state of the main bearing shells was such that it had to be redone anyway, (head cracked, valves, pistons, rings, over-bore, oil pump, full set of bearing shells and new injectors). The engine had probably done well over 200k. I'm wondering what I would need to do to run it 100% on SVO; any suggestions? (200Tdi heads suitable for rebuilding are becoming very scarce, I'd like one for the shelf).

But at what cost? £91,650 or £143,520. The G-Wagen price makes even a blinged-up new Defender look almost sensible. (I'm waiting for the LR commercial variants as I'm NOT spending £50k on a work vehicle).

Stolen from the comments in the Sunday Times following Clarkson's review of the new diesel G-Wagen:- "I’d have loved to have wished to buy the new Defender but it doesn’t know what it is; it is neither practical (you wouldn’t throw a sheep in it) nor luxurious (you wouldn’t throw a supermodel in it), so what is the new Defender other than a Disco Sport with great hindquarters but not much else?" Well, it made me laugh, anyway. Reply