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[grim_d]

^theres comprimise, then theres Peugeot 107's

cars with less than 4 cylinders are unnaceptable

[bucko]

I'm still debating holding of buying a car now after oil is nearing $200 a barrel through the summer, I will still carry on learning, I just bought a hazard perception DVD now and with my Theory DVD and book once I've revised everything I should be all set and I will try and get to my aim of passing my final test before the year is out.

I'm just slightly worried about the petrol prices I don't think I can afford it so I'm seriously considering getting quite a good car and converting it to LPG or buying an LPG car a year or 2 down the line I seriously don't think I will be able to afford to fill up a car by the end of the summer I'm trying to get insured on my Mums car at least to get some practise in.

[commandersafi]

You guys have to be put on the insurance to practice in your parents car over there?

Here if you have your provisional license you don't have to be put on insurance, but once you get a real license you do

[bucko]

Well you have to be 17 or over (I'm 21) and have a provisinal license plus L plates (red letter L in a white square on fron and back of car) you can either be insured or be a named driver (latter is cheaper and you are like added to a family list)...Yer it's by law you have to be insured weather you are provisinal or full license. You get a big fine if your not insured.

[commandersafi]

QUOTE(bucko @ Jun 27 2008, 01:02 PM)

Well you have to be 17 or over (I'm 21) and have a provisinal license plus L plates (red letter L in a white square on fron and back of car) you can either be insured or be a named driver (latter is cheaper and you are like added to a family list)...Yer it's by law you have to be insured weather you are provisinal or full license. You get a big fine if your not insured.

Ah, ok i get ya'

[Albino]

I've had 2 corsas both of them were first shape b models. The first was a piece of crap 3 cylinder 1litre job, like grim said steer away from anything less than 4 cylinder, mine couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding. My brother wrote off the first and i replaced it with one I bought for £650 from a friend who owns a garage, it came with a crate of beer in the boot as well, bargain. Anyway overall I've found the corsas easy to maintain, easy to work on yourself , parts are not hard to find (I've replaced numerous bits and pieces on mine, after all it is nearly 12 years old). Insurance is not too bad I'm fully comp, (not for the sake of my car but my policy covers me on my parents cars too and friends third party).Their nice reliable cars as far as I'm concerned, if your looking for a car though buy it from a granny who just nips to the shops at weekends not one that some boy racer has ragged the tits off.

[bucko]

Yaa I do like corsas I know Grim D don't but I definitely will not get one thats been thrashed. They are good at being economical I think..Thats is an important factor now I think petrol is like £1.20 a litr. I think I'm going to email elaphant.co.uk about insurance because for me to be a named driver on my parents car is very very expensive it's either cheaper to get more lessons or buy a very small car and corsas are indeed very small.

Anyhow I just did a mock test on my theory DVD got 41 out of 50 (need 43 to pass it) so I'm almost ready and on my hazard perception dvd I'm getting around 5/5 or 2/5 on each scene, need to do a bit more reading I think.

[twistedsymphony]

QUOTE(bucko @ Jul 3 2008, 11:58 AM)

...I think petrol is like £1.20 a litr. ...

What's interesting is that works out to just over $9USD a gallon

prices here are still LESS THAN HALF OF THAT and already I'm seeing used car lots filled to the brim with cheap SUVs and Pickups and fat people riding around on mopeds  

[bucko]

QUOTE(twistedsymphony @ Jul 3 2008, 06:09 PM)

What's interesting is that works out to just over $9USD a gallon

prices here are still LESS THAN HALF OF THAT and already I'm seeing used car lots filled to the brim with cheap SUVs and Pickups and fat people riding around on mopeds  

Petrol is cheap, try getting Diesal at £1.30 a ltr, but thats no point for me ill be doing short runs.. Diesal is good for long runs you get more miles to the gallon.

[twistedsymphony]

Diesel is more expensive here too (I don't know why... it used to be cheaper, and it makes sense that it should be cheaper because it requires less refining)

[grim_d]

QUOTE(twistedsymphony @ Jul 4 2008, 11:25 PM)

Diesel is more expensive here too (I don't know why... it used to be cheaper, and it makes sense that it should be cheaper because it requires less refining)

well here its more expensive because more people are switching to it so gordon brown slaps more tax on it.

LPG is dirt cheap here, but you can guarantee that if more people went LPG it would be £1.20 a litre too.

fuel is so much here because the goverment takes something stupid like 70% in duty on it.

[StrictPuppet]

Dont forget that a gasoline engine converted to run on LPG gets approx 10-15% worse fuel economy than it did on gasoline, with also a 10-15% decrease in power.  Make sure to figure that into your equation to decide whether LPG is cost effective or not.

[grim_d]

QUOTE(StrictPuppet @ Jul 5 2008, 03:38 AM)

Dont forget that a gasoline engine converted to run on LPG gets approx 10-15% worse fuel economy than it did on gasoline, with also a 10-15% decrease in power.  Make sure to figure that into your equation to decide whether LPG is cost effective or not.

well given the huge price difference between the 2, you would have to have around 50% worse economy for it not to be worth it.

plus if your wanting to run around on LPG i think performance is the last thing on your mind.

don;t get me wrong, i'll be sticking to petrol

[Albino]

I've considered getting a diesel car a few times just for the fact that my dad has a 1000 litre tank of biodiesel at home, that his volkswagen passat runs fine on and its only 70p a litre direct from a farmer friend.

[bucko]

I know LPG aint very econimical but Ill be only doing short runs... and the odd long run. But I'm not sure if I will have LPG maybe for a second car or convert it at a latar date (since it is expensive).

I'm now looking into the idea of possiblity getting a newish car on loan..like if I pay so much back each month, I've been advised to do it as a first car because you get all the warranty and everything else with it (ill just have to make sure I pay it back)..

But I was at Silverstone at the weekend and I watched Lewis Hamilton win the grand prix (amazing it was), I bet he doesn't have to worry about fuel costs