Honda CR-V

My wife has a V reg (1999) Mk 1 CR-V with 114k. You may be looking at newer and better of course.

In no particular order... I feel it's 'tinny'. The doors don't close nicely, it's fairly noisy. I get 30 mpg round town, it's a manual. The seats are short. I find my thighs not supported enough. The rear diff has a habit of getting noisy when it's not used off road, as most aren't. The boot needs a tannau (spelling!) cover as the contents are always exposed.

But, it has plenty of space, good vision, good screen clearing and A/c. Spare wheel stored outside and it comes with a built in picnic table in the boot! Really. Back seats alter angles better than most other cars. It's green. Standard radio is average. Built in roof bars are handy. I always carry straps in the boot, just in case. And apart from the diff noise it's reliable and easy to self service. I'm about to put new brakes and discs on.

Hope it helps. I want a Lexus LS400 instead.

I know it's just not the point. but thx.

On Sun, 16 Oct 2011 23:32:45 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) stammered:

It depends. I often drive from Twyford to The Oval or South Norwood on Sunday. It's *always* quicker to drive, and costs way less, which if there's 3 of you is also a consideration. £45 quid on the train for 3, or £10 quids worth of diesel? Hmmm.

On Wednesday this week I had to be in Holland park for 9:30am. Took me an hour and 5 mins in the car, cost about £9 quid for the return journey if you include the congestion charge. That would have been £90 on the train for the three of us, having to travel at peak times. We'd have also had to change to the tube and walk a while. Train alone takes 45 min to Paddington..

Thank you :-) I'm gonna buy civic :-)

But I was referring to pure London traffic driving where a hybrid will give fuel savings. Not a journey like that. Where a hybrid will use more fuel than many conventional cars. They only make some economic sense when used exclusively in heavy town traffic. Where, as I said, public transport is a better solution.

On Mon, 17 Oct 2011 00:02:37 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) stammered:

I've just told you why it's not a better solution. Have you tried travelling on PT through London with a toddler and a pram recently?

No, clearly you haven't. PT is an utter nightmare.

I'm also unsure what you mean by "pure London traffic". I suppose driving down through Hammersmith, Fulham, around Crapham Common and through Brixton on a busy summer Sunday when it's jammed doesn't count does it not? It's still quicker, easier and cheaper than PT. About a month ago I had to go to the hell-hole that is Stratford. Did that by car too - again, easier and cheaper than PT, and that was on a Wednesday lunchtime.

My rush-hour trip into Holland park was quicker than PT too.

actually I have, it wasn't bad. Sitting in the traffic jam out on the M11 on Friday was fa duller.

Always been good for me. An insurance company the has always paid out when needed, a fully comprehensive insurance premium stable for the last few years at only £224 (up until a few weeks ago when I changed my car from a 10 year old one to a 4 year old - which bumped up my premium by [gasp] £56 to £280 including a 75% NCD.

I would suggest that you do that my dear! You are now almost unable to see the wood for the trees.

Sighs, and shakes head in wonder! I don't think that you quite grasp the fact that *ALL* vehicle insurance quote/policies are 'bespoke' to the person[s] making the application based on the information that is given - whether that be male or female (the quotes are even more comparable now between the sexes after the European Courts ruled that reducing premiums just because you're female is now a no-no)

No such thing/person as Jesus, so you're not going to get any help from there!

How do you work that out?

In my experience, you visit their sites out of choice to see if you can get a cheaper insurance quote [1] [2] - and from my limited experience of using them, you are able to opt out of receiving unwanted messages (as per the law) either in electronic, hard copy or telphone forms.

[1] They don't exactly twist your arms to go to them! [2] And when you read their T&Cs closely - some of their policies are next to useless when you have to make a claim.

Ah well, that's life I suppose.....

& if you don't go & play on the comparison sites, elephant & direct then= =

ou'll end up paying more than you need to.

Duncan,

I don't recall visiting them, but on the major comparison sites, I accept that I could get cheaper quotes for comprehensive cover - but not at the level of cover that I already have.

On all the comparison sites I visited, I could reduce my quote by around 25% to 30% with a very basic level of cover - but as soon as I reduced my excess down to around £100, added windscreen and legal cover and a maximum of 50% NCD along with a few other bits and bobs that my existing company automatically provides (such as 75% NCD, free legal cover and business use in connection with any employment) then the quotes would rapidly rise.

In every case the comparison sites exceeded my premium[s] by between 15% and

45% - and some of these sites were rather stringent in their T&Cs statements - and one company vastly increased their quote because I was (at that time) doing around 30,000 to 40,000 miles a year on a mix of business and pleasure use.

Are you mad? I only meant that 207 is acceptable for ordinary daily within the normal speed restrictions, and it doesn't feel as twitchy as the Corsas or Puntos. The french use the word: "Comfortaaaaable". A 208 is coming soon.

BTW, puntos = corsas = mitos = ypsilons (whether Chrysler or Lancia), these are the same under the skin.

I'm hoping you are saying that you have had a driving licence for 12 years and not that your licence is 12 years old. They only last for 10 years and then need to be renewed.

[...]

Mine doesn't ;-)

Chris

Mine didn't either but then I moved and had to get it updated so now it does :-(

[...]

Another old-timer then!

Chris

Mine gets re-issued every ten years because of my HGV entitlement :(

My wife's licence is her original from 1981, BUT the postcode for our house changed in the early 90's, which gives a problem if eg an employer wants to see it to show that the address is correct :(

To compound things the name of my road has also undergone a slight revision, whereby it used to be one word, it is now two! This caused raised eyebrows from the gun licencing department at county police :(

I so need to move .

No. But plenty manage it. Including my niece who lives outside London - and has two cars.

I use it a lot. I wouldn't dream of driving into London during the day. Parking is either impossible or very expensive. As it is in the evening/weekends too in certain areas. Usually the parts I want to go to. ;-)

If you are travelling into London you may well be correct. But if your journey was purely within London, it's very rare for that to be quicker by car. Assuming you know the best PT route, of course. Which may not mean just using the tube.

Indeed. Every time I cross London during the day - usually when returning from somewhere - there will be more than one frustrating traffic jam. Which adds a vast amount of time to the journey. I can avoid this on the outward journey by leaving early in the morning to miss the traffic - but not so easy on the return journey.

FWIW if I need to go "darnn the smoke" Train is the preferred option and for the One person in the car its around the same loot cost wise.

However I do find that if you should your event finish after say 23:00 Hrs then its the car every time as the trains pack up just past midnight.

I think if I lived in London I wouldn't bother with a car. I'd perhaps join streetcar or similar...