time to tart up the soggy old waterbed.

I am, but not to supplement a state pension.

I plan to take a leaf out of my dad's book: he retired at 57 and him and my mother bodded off to Aus for three months touring. Mortgage was paid off, no outstanding finance etc. Came back, chilled out for another couple of months and then bagged a contract in charge of site safety at the nuke power station near Hartlepool. They now take four foreign holidays a year etc. etc.; he's working now because the money's too good for him not to. He says he'll just quit when he's bored with it.

--=20 Carl Robson Audio stream:

You can comfortably drive a few k miles a year in a stripped out mini, or any basic shopping trolley with just enough seating room to cramp every muscle. For communting you need comfirm and room to breathe.

A second car wouldn't attract the no claims if I insured with a seperate=20 insurer for limited mileage. I know the rangie as a second car was=20 nearly a grand to insure without no claims, and =A3250 with.

So either I have an =A3800 car which I plan to spend some cash on, with=20 one lot of insurance tax etc.

Or say a =A32k modern daily driver with modern newish car level insurance= =20 and emission based tax

• The =A3800 car, and the insurance that costs more than the car, and the=20 high level tax for having a big engine and the cost of renting a garage=20 for secure storage (about =A31k a year locally for a lockup) as I'm=20 already using both the car spaces at home.

So, as well as maintaining the new one to keep the value up, I'm also=20 paying an extra 2k a year in insurance and storage costs.

So I have one car that might cost and additional 2k every 10 years in=20 abnormal wear and tear maintenance, but you suggest that I should=20 ideally have a second car for fun that would actually have roughly =A32k=20 per year in storage and insurance costs, not allowing for any special=20 maintenance.

It was =A3800. No depreciation, cheap enough to break, less than some=20 peoples finance payments. Less than a lot of peoples company car tax=20 liability, only just more than one month mortgage payment.

--=20 Carl Robson Audio stream:

Like I said, last time it was up at this level locally, roughly when I=20 bought it, as long as it stays below =A31.20 a litre I'm fine.

Having said that, if it goes above =A31.20 a litre, then no petrol car=20 apart from maybe a Smart will be suitable. It will be time for the=20 Delica/Shogun/Bighorn and a bulk purchase of pre-filtered WVO and an=20 electric drill operated pump.

Jap standards of build quality that I like, basic solid reliability, and=20 the ability to run 40-50% chip oil over winter and 70-100% over the=20 summer. I'm already planning ahead, but not planning to change.

--=20 Carl Robson Audio stream:

and that last statment barely contained any proper english.

Like I said, last time it was up at this level locally, roughly when I bought it, as long as it stays below £1.20 a litre I'm fine.

Having said that, if it goes above £1.20 a litre, then no petrol car apart from maybe a Smart will be suitable. It will be time for the Delica/Shogun/Bighorn and a bulk purchase of pre-filtered WVO and an electric drill operated pump.

Jap standards of build quality that I like, basic solid reliability, and the ability to run 40-50% chip oil over winter and 70-100% over the summer. I'm already planning ahead, but not planning to change.

I'll just have to reduce my number of country lane thrashes if it gets that high :'(

TBH, if I swapped the good bits (all the rear seat electrics and aircon) that make it different to a uk LS, It would take weeks of work. Those options weren't available in the UK at that age. Granted I could find a uk car for cost of the parts I need, but likely at that price to need the parts as well.

Which is why they're so cheap.... they all need, or will soon need, expensive parts to get them 'right'.

Of course, they don't ever need anything replacing, so it doesn't matter if parts cost an arm or a leg.

That's the idea... although I'd sooner get an older one that's been looked after which has cloth than spend the same money buying some ragged to death pile of s**te which just happens to have leather - wait long enough and some scrote will be selling the leather out of the GTi they've just written off. ;-)

I've got the money in the bank for one (up to =A32.5k), I just need to find the right car now.

-- JackH

Strange how everyone who's borrowed mine has come back pleasantly surprised by how comfy it is for a small car?

They're not that noisy... glove boxes are for poofs... I'm driving and I'm 6'3" and fit with plenty of room to spare - my daughter sits behind me when we use it as a family and she doesn't moan about leg room etc.

And the steering... you've obviously driven some fecked ones, because the steering is absolutely spot on in these.

Now if you'd moaned specifically about the small boot and rot, you might have had a point. ;-)

-- JackH

Pah! Don't the heaps of s*it have ring-massaging leather?

You know no car is worth buying unless it has.

her is failing to the point

Which is why, without wanting to restart the cycle, you don't buy a car like that in old age - not when you're up to your neck in debt as it is, anyway.

Look... you obviously like it, and that's good - your money, your choice.

Can we leave it there and not have vomit inducing ramblings like 'slushmagic' thrown into the equation? ;)

-- JackH

My ring is trigger happy enough as it is, thanks... no need of any extra stimulation.

-- JackH

Not difficult given your 'long term anorexia suffering giraffe' physique.

-- JackH

Not difficult given your 'long term anorexia suffering giraffe' physique.

No no, it did the same to me as well heh.

With the exception of the £40K bit, you've just described an Alfa 75...

No, not really.

I've only once had to source bits from abroad for the 75 - that was new hoses for the cooling system. Even then, I could have replaced them with DIY bits, but I wanted to get OEM bits.

Suspension and brake parts etc. are all available off the shelf in the UK for surprisingly reasonable prices.

However, I still wouldn't go back to using the 75 as a commuter, 'cos it's an apreciating classic.....

Even your teutonic boredom wagon needs service parts replacing, wether it is you, your work or the service contract that pays for the work.

If they last 100k it is better than most, a lot of the motor factors carry honda and ford etc top/bottom arms on the shelf as standard everyday replacement items, not something to be done once or twice in the total lifetime of the car.