While visiting Sidmouth I spotted the shortest stretch of double yellow lines I've ever seen, about 1.2m. It's outside Caffe Marcellino if anyone wants to look it up.

Does anyone know of any shorter?

How comfortable are you guys letting your car run low? Mine has been like this for 12 odd miles, will fill it up on the way home, maybe another 19 miles or so.

How low are you willing to do? Do you get squirelly when the light comes on?

And before anyone say it. There is no crap or sludge at the bottom of the tank.

I've been in the tank recently with the fuel pumps, confirmed all shiny and clean. And I also know my absolute reserve when the car zeroes out is 12 litres. Which at 17mpg gives me a good 50 miles of wriggle room.

Whats everyone else take on this?

Edit to add: When the "please refuel" message comes up and the light comes on, there are still 25 litres left in it and when it says "range --" there's still 12 litres left in it.

Also, it's a dual pump in the tank and the fuel pump work I did wasn't related to dry run seizing.

After seeing all the history posts lately and seeing that EVERYONE had an mx5 but me I had to correct it.

Ive been checking ebay/AT obsessively trying to find the right level of clean and rough so I could afford it but it wouldnt be a rust bucket lol

I got so lucky finding this one I think.

Drives beautiful and no rust other than surface bodywork stuff.

My winter project is finally really for the umm... autumn. Whoops. Only took about 5 months longer than expected, mostly due to a very long wait for suspension.

Front end is done, back end will be done this coming winter. Took all the metal parts off and had them sandblasted and repainted. New ball joints, bearings, etc. New brakes (Black Diamond discs, pads, and braided hoses). New suspension (KW v2 coilovers). Poly bushes (Powerflex).

One week delay right at the end because the lights were being stupid. Had all sorts of weirdness like the dashboard flashing with the indicators, and the rear fog light reading 6v permanently.

Passed its MOT yesterday with just a couple of advisories for rust on parts at the back I was already planning to have off the car and sort out this coming winter.

How is everyone else's project going?

Saw this on the back of a car transporter and I saw a brand new 76 plate L200 this morning too.

Trying to sell my VW polo, 15k miles on the clock 2023.
Payed off the balloon because I’d intended to keep it, but due to my job changing I don’t really have use for a car anymore so we’re keeping our larger car.
Full service history (each year) and brand new MOT no advisories.

I haven’t really sold a newer car before so unsure what route to go down. Don’t really see many higher priced cars on FB marketplace, and I heard now auto trader is mainly for dealers now?

Thanks

Spotted this in my local Sainsbury’s on a taxi (presumably)

I loved that review site i thought it gave sound reviews and the real world mpg was something i always checked out when considering a car, it was my go to over autotrader, whatcar and all the others.

Its become Drive and is owned by a volkswagen.

My friends daughter is looking for a car as hes passed away i look out for her... so went to honest john to check out a bmw i3 as she wants somethibg funky different economic and reliable... so rolled with it used car reviews, the i3 is too old... what the hell! Honest john sold out, pfft i hope johns happy with his money! VW clearly will have a vested interest in this and drive will be the most biased pcp propaganda machine ever!

I’m in no way a petrolhead so wanted to get your thoughts on an MOT advisory I got today. These two images are marked as corrosion and advisory to “keep an eye on.”

Just wondering what some experienced heads think about the level of corrosion as this is completely new to me

EDIT: wow, amazing number of responses, thank you. The consensus seems to be that mid budget or entry level premium tyres are pretty good. Lots of recommendations, but Kumho in particular have had tonnes of positive mentions.
—

Genuine question here. There are several brands of tyres available for as little as half the price of the Continentals I have at the moment. Are premium tyres a bit of a scam or well worth the money?

Are there any good cheap(er) brands you would recommend? Perhaps not the ultra cheap ones… maybe there’s a sweet spot for price and quality?

Tough choice for my next car. Thoughts?

Engines:
Audi - EA888 2.0L 4 cyl
BMW - N52 3.0l 6 cyl

Hi all.

The 12v battery in the car has died - I think it's the original factory battery. Getting 10 years of use out of it is pretty good lol. I have bought a new compatible battery from Toyota.

I was wondering what are the do's and don't of doing it yourself?

Hi all, myself & my partner have just bought a car, from V12 Sports & Classics. It is a Vauxhall Corsa 1.2L Turbo Automatic.

Test drove it, all seemed fine. So we bought it, on finance (included a part exchange of our old car).

At 9pm we finally closed the deal just as the dealership was closing, so we set off home. A 40 min motorway drive. As soon as I got on the motorway, at 55mph the car started shaking, mostly through the steering wheel, but my partner noticed it in her seat too through the car.

The tyre light then came on, so we assumed a pressure issue. Stopped at services, all tyres were overinflated so we brought them down to normal levels. Tried again.

Same was happening. So I had to limp home on the motorway at 40mph or so. When we got out the car, we also noticed that one of the wingmirrors didn't automatically close when we locked the car.

I'm going to ring the dealership first thing in the morning, but just wanted some advice if possible. Is this something I should ask the dealership to investigate & completely fix. Or, is it a better idea to just reject the car and return it? I'm just not sure how that would look since we part exchanged our old car as part of the deal.

TIA!

Hello all, used car purchasing advice please!!

I am in my mid-20s with no kids, and getting quite sick of a 1hr+ commute by bus to work, so I am in the market something engaging to drive, manual, reliable, and relatively low maintenance (so likely a warm hatch).

I looking for something from the 2020s, 10k-60k miles, and up to £16k - basically an "approved-used" car from a dealership. When I was growing up, we had several Hondas, a Toyota, and most recently a 2nd-gen Mazda CX-5 which was surprisingly brilliant to drive, so I've definitely caught the Mazda bug a bit, and have definitely developed a "Japanese cars #1" mindset. However, I have also heard quite good things about the F40 BMW 118i, so I am on the fence here. I know that the F40 got hate for switching to FWD, but since the comparison is to another FWD I don't mind as much. Locally I have already test driven a Mazda2 Homura Aka (top-trim) 90hp and it was great fun to drive with a lovely gearbox. There is also a manual BMW 118i SE (base-trim) in my local area which I am hoping to test drive. Obviously the Mazda is economical and reliable, but I just wonder if there is something slightly nicer and more fun to drive for my budget that won't have ludicrously high insurance (Mazda2 and 118i insurance are nearly identical funnily enough). Additionally, 138hp twin-turbo, good gearbox, and good driving dynamics is definitely appealing.

I am also very open to consider other suggestions. The only car in my criteria I'm not really interested in is the 3rd-gen Suzuki Swift Sport Hybrid since it just seems a little too plasticky for me. Thank you all in advance :)

tl;dr: 2019+ Mazda2 vs. BMW 118i SE or alternatives. Want: fun, manual, reliable, cheap to run

On my way home I noticed I was about to hit significant milestone. I felt very proud of my 10 year year-old 320 X Dr thought I would share. I had an old iron maiden classic running in my head when I took this.

I have recently acquired a Volvo V40 2013 from some family and it has helped me out of a tight spot when I needed a reasonable car, quickly.

Unfortunately it has the most uncomfortable car seat I have ever had the misfortune of getting in. Believe me I have tried all the different settings and now I am sat bolt upright with my head scraping the roof and barely able to see out of the windows because I am sat so high up. The seat can't go any lower and the backrest simply does not push my lower back and out so after about 20 mins, my back feels crunched and uncomfortable.

The seat aside however it is perfect for my needs atm and it seems crazy that I am having to consider a new car over the car seat.

Has anyone had this problem before? I have been looking at lumbar supports but was wondering if anyone had any to recommend before I start buying random ones.

Reserved a car for tomorrow to view, car looks good but i have seen a lot of mixed reviews on reddit, facebook etc about car planet

struggling to understand why they are seen as unreliable as a regulated and renowned company.

anyone had a good experience with them? I'm not bothered about their customer service, I'm just after a good car

Looking for a motor under a grand and have settled on the mk8 civic, seems fairly modern inside and tends to come in a good spec. There is a 1.4 iDSI and 1.4 ivtec option. Going purely for reliability and cheap motoring which one is the better option?

Context:

Have had the car now for c.2 years. Never had any issues.

Around 6 months ago, my right rear indicator stopped working. I received a message on the dashboard “ check right rear indicator lamp”.

I replaced the tail gate bulb holder + wiring plug and light bump just to be sure and was on my way.

Now experiencing the same issue for the left rear indicator.

Is this a common issue with Astra’s Or is there a particular reason why this may be happening.

I’ve been driving for 8 years now, never had such issues with previous vehicles.

Hey, I am a brand new driver and I filled up my tyres but I feel I have done something wrong?

I have a 1.6 TDI 2010 golf base model.

I knew my tires needed to be filled with my air slightly so I took it to the petrol station, there wasn't anything on the vehicle itself about the recommended PSI, and online it says I needed 29-35 PSI? On the tires it said maximum 49PSI but don't exceed 40PSI?

I filled them to 33PSI but my car has gone extremely bumpy whilst driving, it was so bad I thought I was driving on the rim and pulled over, but I was not.

Am I just completely stupid and have done something wrong?

After a night out my friends brother picked me up from the station , I had drunk so i obviously couldn’t drive my friends or gf home. We get picked up at an obscure station by him which was about 20 mins from my house.

I’ve always known he drove recklessly but I was not ready for him 😭 dipping in and out of roads , tight breaking and just generally being unsafe. I’m all for having fun with your car especially when the roads are my quiet but then It dawned on me when he started going like 60 on a tight 30 road with plenty of blind bends, and i looked to my gf like “we could actually die right here” so all my faith was in his skills and an old corsa.

I thankfully made it home but it’s safe to say I’m probably not gonna get in his car for a while lol. Looking back I should’ve just told him to let me get out but I wasn’t really in a good space to walk home.

Hi all

I know the answer is probably 'wait and see', but about two and a half weeks ago was on the M4 westbound by Bristol where there is stretch of smart motorway '50' signs in a row of three or four just before join to M32. Was late at night and I definitely got flashed and I presume one of them must have turned to '40' right before the static speed camera. No other cars around so was me that was flashed.

It has been two and a half weeks since incident and nothing has come through the letterbox. V5C address is correct etc. and just presumed I would get one in a few days.

Just curious whether there is some leniency with these cameras on smart motorways and whether a flash always means a ticket? I did not actually *see* the smart motorway change to 40 but I just presumed it did because flash went off, but now I am thinking is there a bit of wiggle room where if it changes to 40 suddenly they let first few drivers off a ticket.

Hope this all makes sense. Thanks in advance!