Car (or bike) Chat!

[Audio Al]

Did you have a sticker on it saying " If my Van's a rocking don't come a knocking "

[dave2010]

it was a wreck when i got it.. i rebuilt... i probably should have left it in the wreckers yard cost a fortune but it was fun to do.. i was no expert as you can see, the fit n finish aint great, but it was solid. had leckie/ battery and mains plus gas. could sleep 4 at a push but was really a 2 or 3 in comfort. mileage was poor and top speed was about 50/55mph..

Our VW van could in theory sleep 4, but the most we had was 3, and one was rather small and fell out of the front window on one occasion - child abuse!

I can't remember the exact mileage figures - probably around 30 mpg when most cars were struggling to do 40 mpg. It was quite often a battle to keep it going - dismantling and cleaning the carburretor etc. en route, and it wouldn't do much more than 50 mph.

Re scary roads - mentioned about the Zoe - one we went up with the van was in Spain - Picos de Europa. There was a long road up a mountain, with nowhere to go but down a precipitous drop. At the top there was a meadow, where we parked up for a while, thinking that nobody would come up there - not that we got up to too much - perhaps had a pee in the open.

Then, all of a sudden a coach came up presumably full of tourists. The driver must had had nerves of steel, or been completely insensitive to danger. I think we found another way out of that region, but memory now fails me.

[struth]

was on a coach in spain up mountains.. their drivers are nuts...must be on summat

[InThe Sticks]

After todays Moto GP, Valentino Rossi may well consider hanging his boots up and to call it a day.
Got to be the luckiest guy on the planet at that time..

[dave2010]

That crash looks horrific. Hopefully everyone is now OK - we could see that the drivers seemed OK at the time.

In the meantime however, I wanted to comment again on EVs. I have had an order for a Tesla Model 3 since March. All I can say so far is that if Elon Musk and his people in the US can launch and recover rockets and satellites, there is hardly any evidence that Tesla as an organisation in the UK has any idea of customer service.

Covid 19 has been disruptive for almost everyone, and we all know that, but Tesla in the UK seems to work on the assumption that people will put themselves out for them, rather than the other way round. This contrasts mightily with Renault, who have a local agent, and kept in touch with us re the Zoe throughout the complete lockdown period, and were able to provide the car almost as soon as restrictions were lifted.

Tesla on the other hand have no local agencies, are not prepared to consider deliveries, and trying to deal with people in that firm suggests that "it's nobody's problem" - nobody is taking ownership of customer relationships.

Given that attitude, why should I even consider keeping my order active. I might lose £100 deposit if I cancel my order, but that might be a small price to pay to minimise the chances that this firm would give me grief in the future. Servicing? Would have to return to depot - which is hundreds of miles away. OK - they never go wrong - or at least nobody admits that they might.

Oh - did I mention that the order was only a few pounds short of £50k?

Now looking at other options - either eNiro or returning to Toyota either for a petrol hybrid, or a plug-in hybrod.

[struth]

That crash looks horrific. Hopefully everyone is now OK - we could see that the drivers seemed OK at the time.

In the meantime however, I wanted to comment again on EVs. I have had an order for a Tesla Model 3 since March. All I can say so far is that if Elon Musk and his people in the US can launch and recover rockets and satellites, there is hardly any evidence that Tesla as an organisation in the UK has any idea of customer service.

Covid 19 has been disruptive for almost everyone, and we all know that, but Tesla in the UK seems to work on the assumption that people will put themselves out for them, rather than the other way round. This contrasts mightily with Renault, who have a local agent, and kept in touch with us re the Zoe throughout the complete lockdown period, and were able to provide the car almost as soon as restrictions were lifted.

Tesla on the other hand have no local agencies, are not prepared to consider deliveries, and trying to deal with people in that firm suggests that "it's nobody's problem" - nobody is taking ownership of customer relationships.

Given that attitude, why should I even consider keeping my order active. I might lose £100 deposit if I cancel my order, but that might be a small price to pay to minimise the chances that this firm would give me grief in the future. Servicing? Would have to return to depot - which is hundreds of miles away. OK - they never go wrong - or at least nobody admits that they might.

Oh - did I mention that the order was only a few pounds short of £50k?

Now looking at other options - either eNiro or returning to Toyota either for a petrol hybrid, or a plug-in hybrod.

shocking dave.. doesnt surprise tho outwith the big cities in england they aint really interested. toyota service is very good as is kia

[Audio Al]

Tesla are making 500.000 cars a year worldwide , A drop in the ocean compaired to the big boys

IF I had 50K spare I would want one , The local dealer in Dartford has a fourcout full of cars

You could try and recover the one Elon shot into space

[AJSki2fly]

Tesla are making 500.000 cars a year worldwide , A drop in the ocean compaired to the big boys

IF I had 50K spare I would want one , The local dealer in Dartford has a fourcout full of cars

You could try and recover the one Elon shot into space

Before you buy one I would consider a quick search on google for "tesla catches fire", this also applies to other electric vehicles with Lithium-Ion batteries, if the casing is punctured and the battery shorts up they go, and very quickly!

[struth]

Petrol tanks kinda don't react well to punctures either
Sure it can happen but how many fuel lines and tanks go?
Whether we like it or not electric is with us and soon will take over. Not saying it's right in all cases but it's being driven that way.

[InThe Sticks]

Before you buy one I would consider a quick search on google for "tesla catches fire", this also applies to other electric vehicles with Lithium-Ion batteries, if the casing is punctured and the battery shorts up they go, and very quickly!

Ridiculous scare mongering.
If anyone was worried about that, they wouldn’t use mobile phones, cordless power tools and pretty much everything else that uses Li-Ion batteries, which is a lot.
I’d feel a lot safer in a hybrid car than one that has 60ltrs of extremely flammable liquid sloshing around in it.

I’m a fan of Mr Musk and Tesla, so Dave if you can wait, i’d like to think it’d be worth it.
I say that from knowing some guys who have them and simply adore the things. Also having driven one (model S) i found it a wondrous thing.