future of the motor trade?

They can be, in a completely different way. I'm not denying this. I meant to put it in my post. I've enjoyed some of the cars I have owned but few would I/have I missed when it was time to sell.

gazzafield (rufty_tufty snipped-for-privacy@nospam.thankyou.says_I.ko) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Well, no, but if you insist on going around buying mediocre crap like Ashtrays and Chavaliers...

Each to their own. I would never have a 2CV, or anything French again for that matter.

Yeah. I'm thinking we need to move away from soft touch engine bays and on to things like involved driving experiences.

Sandy Nuts ( snipped-for-privacy@forme.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Heretic!

I would wager that the average car buyer doesn't give a damn about the involved driving experience and wouldn't know one if it smacked them. Colour size and badge are far more important.

In news:eaIHh.326$ snipped-for-privacy@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk, Sandy Nuts wittered on forthwith;

Although most Vauxhalls aren't much better than Kias.

I've never liked FWD Vauxhalls.

I don't like Kias either.

higgins@work ( snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Indeed. Some people think '80s Astras and Cavaliers are "great cars"...

Yes, but at the end of the day, market forces dictate what something's worth, and it's worth around the £3k mark because statistically they last pretty well.

Mk2 Cav was great!

Went well, easy to service. Didn't look bad.

Pete.

Pete Smith (pete snipped-for-privacy@lethe.org.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

You're obviously thinking of a very different car to my old man's A-reg estate. Yellow, it was.

That was the one which failed it's first MOT on rotten brake pipes - one of which was held in by exactly one full thread turn.

Still, it wasn't long after that before I was wirebrushing and hammeriting over rust for him.

Blimey, it lived until as late as '99...

Before you all rush out and buy a quality Chinese car, you ought to take a look at the crash test of the Landwind

However to try and draw a balanced comparison, it would only be fair to browse through some of the the crash test results of some of the much better known and long established global manufacturers <

It's hardly possible to "draw a balanced comparison" between a couple of tonnes of 4x4 and a 6-700 kilo shopping trolley :)

AIUI the Landwind was derived from an Isuzu design from the 1980s, when safety standards were very different to what they are now.

Also from what I gather that particular test has been a wake-up call to the Chinese about the standard of vehicle design and construction which is demanded here in the West, especially if they ever expect to make major inroads into our markets.

Apparently it will be at least the beginning of the next decade before they seriously start making an attempt at exporting millions of low cost vehicles.

My own guess that it's going to come whether our manufacturers want it to or not, just as it did with the Japanese in the 1960s.

Incidentally when I was looking around for a replacement vehicle, one of the reasons I plumped for the Ford focus was because the build quality got very good reviews, whereas some of the other vehicles I was interested in, such as 'certain' Peugeot and Skoda models had some rather negative comments made about their flimsy construction, so I gave them a wide berth.

Oooo...uch. Now, that was a spectacular, well-aimed left hook.

Re: "Budget Tyres" on 2007-02-11

Oh, I know that there are privately owned cars around. It just never occurred to me that some of them might be Vauxhalls. It would be like finding out that someone between the ages of 20 and 70 owns a Ford Ka ...

Ian