diy maintainable car by design

Ours says "in a roadworthy manner," so strictly speaking we're not covered by our insurance if a lightbulb fails and I don't replace it...

The engine's they use are the same as you'd find in 'normal' cars, but some can also use motorbike engines. The emissions should therefore be the same as any other vehicle. You can get kit cars with engines made by Ford, Honda, Rover, Fiat, and many others. The engines themselves are abvoiusly the same, but they may be more accessable.

The safety generally isn't as good, but they are still legal. There are some strict safety rules though, such as no pointy bits on the dashboard incase you have a crash.

I depends greatly depending on which one you go for etc. Most kits are made from 2nd hand part with just a new chassis, body panels, and a few other bits, but you can build 100% new ones. They are usually lightweight which gives them good economy.

Cheap ones, with 2nd hand parts can be built for around =A32000. These aren't much more than a tin can on wheels though. For more money you can get what look like proper cars. The GTM Libra is my dream car (at the moment), and you can buy them prebuilt from the factory (search the net for more info). For a turn-key (prebuilt) one you are looking at about =A322k, but from what I've seen it does like a good car. You can drive these away from the factory like you would a Ford from a Ford dealership.

to answer some questions presented:

i was thinking more like something like a early series landrover but lower profile and more aerodynamic shaped and with FI and a engine management systerm that works on any computer.

if you crashed in that (

)whatever was left of the vehicle could be driven off in the boot of amini

the benefit to the manufacture would be greater sales to a growing niche market of DIYers, as more people (maybe even women too) realize that they can do some of the maintenance work

manufacturers could charge a slightly higher price for the car as people know it would be cheaper in the long run and be worth more in the second hand market.

the car doesnt have to be *officially* marketed as a *DIY* car, just as a easily maintainable car. you could if you want take the car to a mechanic to do the work and he would probably charge you much less than working on a complicated brand.so you are still saving money even if you dont do the work yourself. as an example how much does it cost to change a head gasket on a old mini compared to the new BMW mini?

i dont understand how using Torx screws is going to protect a car company from people doing crazy moficiations to their cars if they are so inclined

Absolutely. There are somthing like 25 million cars on the UK roads, and how many regulars in this NG? 50?

That is correct.

Personally I think drivers/owners should be responsible for their vehicles, and if they clearly haven't maintained it then, I don't think it should be on the road. If the car hasn't been serviced for years, and then it crashes due to the fault then the owner should be at fault. If the owner has maintained it regularly, and something goes wrong then I think this is what insurance is for.

My insurnace says a similar thing to yours. I think it's 'efficient and road worthy manner'.

lol, most people are probably like me. I got a computer with good expandability options, and have used hardly any of them. I had 6 PCI slots, and am only using one. About 9 drive bays and I'm using 4. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Anyway my other computer's a bit different. 4 drive bays, and 1 PCI slot, which I've already used.

The message from snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com contains these words:

You ain't seen the tub. The firewall is about an inch thick.

The message from snipped-for-privacy@spamcop.net (Andy Hewitt) contains these words:

Yeah, but all those other people aren't real people.

i am not critisising the quality of the steel used. its just that there is no where to attach the three point seat belt.

what are you supposed to do? duck beneath the dash before impact?

The message from snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com contains these words:

It's GRP and there is indeed a three point belt.

Yes, just think what they're missing eh? ;-)

I must admit, I'm now of the opinion that upgradeability is not worth the cost. It's better the buy the right machine in the first place, and replace it as technology changes enough to make the change worthwhile.

Mind you, I am more into Macs here, and it is generally accepeted that these are bought just to work out of the box, don't get upgraded, yet have a long useable life.

You wait, they've done it with home electrics, it'll be car maintenance next.

Erm...

What for those people that "maintain" them but screw things up? Careful else you'll fall into the trap that only a trained technician should be allowed to work on the vehicle.

Hmm.

LOL! Mind you, I come to usenet to escape

The engine's they use are the same as you'd find in 'normal' cars, but some can also use motorbike engines. The emissions should therefore be the same as any other vehicle.

Are you sure about that?

by Ford, Honda, Rover, Fiat, and many others. The engines themselves are abvoiusly the same, but they may be more accessable.

The safety generally isn't as good, but they are still legal. There are some strict safety rules though, such as no pointy bits on the dashboard incase you have a crash.

Points bits on the dashboard should be a legal requirement.

I depends greatly depending on which one you go for etc. Most kits are made from 2nd hand part with just a new chassis, body panels, and a few other bits, but you can build 100% new ones. They are usually lightweight which gives them good economy.

Cheap ones, with 2nd hand parts can be built for around £2000. These aren't much more than a tin can on wheels though. For more money you can get what look like proper cars. The GTM Libra is my dream car (at the moment), and you can buy them prebuilt from the factory (search the net for more info). For a turn-key (prebuilt) one you are looking at about £22k, but from what I've seen it does like a good car. You can drive these away from the factory like you would a Ford from a Ford dealership.

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Damn poxy machine isn't formatting the message correct...

Yup. It's coming.

You don't know much about mainstream PC design, do you? I'm about to build a new box for some friends, who currently have an old Compaq P2. Yes, you could fit a new CPU, drive, RAM, but it's limited, with one of the strangest and most annoying case designs ever seen. Their parents recently bought a new PC - A Packard Bell, with a TFT. The machine is as cut price internals for high price retail load of crap, but it's in a pretty box, and they bought it from a professional company with a great reputation, not some nerdy git down the road...

Because people don't want it. They want gadgets. They want the trained smart technician to handly any of the dirty bits. They want a shiny box, without having to even think about how it all works. They want to never open the bonnet, preferring to call an AA man when the windscreen wetting things stop working rather than just filling the bottle themselves.

Me, I prefer to be the nerdy git who actually knows how to assemble and maintain a PC, and the untrained jeans and T shirt beclad oik who understands what goes on under the bonnet of his 20+ year old car. And believe me, that makes me an outcast in modern day society.