Vovchandr

Can't find who I ordered them from but somewhere in UK. Personal advice, order more than you need. They get lost or broken with time. I just realized I had 3 that failed on the last track day (fatigue/vibration) Just hope I have enough in stock now without having to order more.

Fix the cigarette lighter. One of my all favorite movies for no particularly good reason.

What are your thoughts on the new Defender?

Almost 3 hours for me. Not sure if I'd drive or actually tow if I were to go.

Unfortunately we already know the answer to these questions. We can look at Hoovies Garage to see old luxury being mechanically totalled while having a lot less features. Old 7 series BMWs and Mercedes having things fail but not being worth repairing. And that's with A LOT less features. Contrary technology rolls downhill and a $30k new car will be better equipped with modern safety and features than even a 15 year old luxury car. I'm not in any position to know what it's like to buy a $50k plus cars, buts my understanding that the owners can afford and not care that it's a depreciating disposable asset. Few people buying a new $100k 7 series BMW are concerned with residual value and reliability 10 years later. The technology will trickle down to $30k cars and those are a lot easier pills to swallow for most. Tesla's are a good example having most modern features for entry price. Long term ownership is still questionable but unlikely to be reasonable. I think writing is on the wall for 90s and early 2000 cars will be quite desired for enthusiasts in the near future and cars will become nice, electric and disposable for dailys. Electric performance cars will be untouchable and we will take solidarity in the fact that our slower ICE cars have more soul and gears to row through.

It really depends on the brand. European brands in general tend to have better paints and more zinc? I believe in their steel making them more rust resistant. Which is why it's rare to see a rusty BMW/Volvo/Benz etc. Japanese and Domestics on the other hand are much harder to keep on the road especially with less preventive maintenance. With that said, there is an asterisk to that statement as premium European cars generally tend to receive better care throughout their life (garages, washes, upkeep etc) when compared to run of the mill entry cars helping maintain their condition.

I agree but there is no solution. "Simple" is relative. We all want certain things in our dailys and they add up, making cars no longer "simple" to begin with. Now it's just semantics of how many add ons are we comfortable with having. Cruise control? Sure. Power windows? Course. Automatic? Likely. Computer screen for Apple Car/Android auto? In a daily? Of course > for GPS/Waze etc. Automatic climate control? Heated seats? Remote start? It just keeps going. We have a 2007 Nissan Versa in the drivway. At the time of sale it was cheapest car in America. Around $12k new. 6spd, 50K miles. It is about as simple as you can get in modern day and age. Power windows/doors are about the only electronically controlled features. No screens, not even cruise control, no power anything. It works but it's hardly an ideal daily. I've driven it long distances and its a dramatic difference compared to even the 2003 Volvo in terms of comfort as daily and minimal features. Looking at the current market I feel the same way, cars are too complicated and too many things will break one at a time making a long term ownership not really a reasonable commitment. They start to feel disposable but there isn't necessarily anything wrong with that. We like features. We find them useful. I can't wait to have a car that has automatic cruise control feature to make my driving easier. I digress, you brought up an interesting point. Last ~15 years have seen a huge change in automotive development and features. It's hard to accept the new market and reality of it but I'm coming around to it. In NE it's very hard to keep a car long term anyway without it rusting away. If daily becomes a disposable item, I'm okay with it.

Slight change of pace from the beloved 7's discussions. What is your daily driver and how do you like it? 2003 Volvo XC70. Had it for about 10 years now. Was very "comfortable" stock but a little too grandpa like for my taste. Will like it more once engine swap is done. An upgrade for anything is not really in the cards right now, but if I had a wish list I'd have the new Land Rover Defender on there beyond all logic and reason.

Volvo is once again giving away cars this year if safety happens during the Superbowl. Odds are about 15% of it happening, so certainly a shot in the dark. You configure a car and get entered into the drawing if you do and then hope for the best https://www.volvocars.com/us/volvo-safety-sunday?gclid=CMys37z0ue4CFbSYxQIdKxkOMA&gclsrc=ds

Half hood has its uses, but if you're not planning on having the windshield on then it's rather useless. Mine goes on when it's too cold for aero or I want a "different look" for photos etc. I was pleased to see that mine even made it to the SoftBits Instagram! https://www.instagram.com/p/CHFeGoYlYqS/ On the Volvo front... I see your P2 Alarm batteries have also failed causing the sunroof not to work at some point.. It's amazing how some Volvo problems are so expected and predictable they make British cars seem reliable. With that said, once a few known problems/annoyances are sorted they are great cars/platform.

Thats the single item I use to determine the difference as well. Hex shaped spacer = wide track. I know you're looking for something more concrete but that's all I've got at the moment. Might be able to measure later on if I can get to the car and you're still looking for answers.

Hi and welcome. Do you happen to have gotten the orange one from BAT? I think there are a few WA members here.

Questions of importance: Aero or no aero. Plans for HANS device or similar or not? Carbon for helmets is giving money away but look cool doing it.

Great news! Thanks for all the hard work

Fair point

I didn't know how big of a deal this was, just knew it sounded relevant and positive. It appears to be huge news. Buying a turn key Caterham or Atom will open up the door quite a bit. Wonder if this will somehow make my registration easier? Do these limited cars have to obey to things like OBD2 requirements? I'm still battling that with inspections in NY at the moment.

Good news overall https://www.autobodynews.com/index.php/industry-news/item/21889-nhtsa-issues-regulation-allowing-replica-car-sales-to-begin.html https://news.yahoo.com/nhtsa-finally-passes-law-allowing-200500617.html

This should help http://www.sjmmarsh.f2s.com/Caterham/WheelCarrier.html

I'll play. Heater :rofl:

$48.7k I wasn't too far off! Great buy.

I don't know the prices of the top of my head but BAT good used 7 models seem to sell close to what they would have been new in recent years. Instant gratification and all that. $45k figure is just my gut feeling but if comparable model would be $55 to $60k new it might go up that high. It does seem like its very well sorted, however there is 911r driving video to hike up the price..

Thats fair. Unfortunately I don't have anything more constructive to contribute but if you do go through with it, please share. I'm sure there are others that are considering this as well.

Good find. I'd bet it's the same. Last price is also where I'd ballpark it at.

Devils advocate is motorcycles. Vast majority with minor exceptions ride huge distances without having a spare. While there is a better replacement availability nationally the risks are also higher on bikes, but people still do it without a major concern.