Over complicating things....the 'wodern world'

[greenwoo]

I've been umming and ahhing about buying a tin top of some description. Now admittedly part of the dithering has been that it'll be a utilitarian car; Not a super sexy flying machine, but a practical 'something' for days out.
Which likely means an estate or a crossover....so, I asked a few pals for suggestions.

And then disappeared up my backside. Why? Because manufacturers have (imho)sucked the life and fun out of car shopping, or rather shopping for the right spec.

I gave up thoughts of a Tiguan after realising it needed either a genius or perhaps something with an IQ of a frog to work out which models have which bits of kit.
Ford bless them, kept things sort of simple, until revising the trim designation for the latest Kuga - i thought i'd nailed it til then, and again, realized it would be back to school to work out the '17 to date trim levels.

Which made me ponder why the need for so many trim levels....given that nowadays the base models of most seem relatively well equipped in comparison ti the models of yesteryear.
X, XL, Ghia and GT or get sexy with a GT XLR. Simple enough? So i wonder why the need to confuse things to the nth degree.

I guess buying a new one is easy enough, tell the salesman what you need, let him fry his brain working out which variant.
But 2nd hand is a frigging nightmare.

Which led to a secondary thought. I believe that Jag offer a 'new' E-Type. In which case if say Ford ran a limited 1000 unit run of Capri/Escort m1/2/Mk1 Cortina...surely they'd sell?? (given the big bucks which changes hands for classics).
What am i missing? Surely they could knock a mk1 escort up (with modern bits n bobs) and flog them for £35k/40k or so?
maybe that'd be waaaay under what the unit cost to them would be?

anyway....what#s your take?
modern spec levels confusing or have i just had a very shitty week and am extra grumpy?

[Hammy]

GBS are doing just that with Mk2 Escorts mate with Duratec and other modern running bits. Turnkey build only.

[DJ.]

If you don't mind buying French, we have a Citroen Cactus and I think there were only two trim levels and only one engine. All you have to decide on is the colour. It's very economical and has a good ride, it will go around corners surprisingly quickly, but will make your passengers sick.........better to take it easy

[b33fy]

You could buy a Zafira.. comes in one level of shitbox

[Wingco]

Hummm it is a night mere out there Mark got to be honest.
We have just bought a new second hand car and are very pleased with it.
We new what we wanted so okay that helps, we bought a Audi A3 sport, its only a 1.4 16v but has 150 HP and goes very well. It has bags of room, very comfy and easy to drive.
Started looking on Autotrader got an idea what I wanted the searched the dealer networks for a deal. Very pleased with the car and the Mrs likes driving it as well.

[greenwoo]

GBS are doing just that with Mk2 Escorts mate with Duratec and other modern running bits. Turnkey build only.

Yep John, i've heard of others doing 'similar' with bike engines in escorts and so on, hadn;t heard that GBS were also in the game. Thing is ( to me ) that's still a kit car rather than a bona fide 'Blue Oval'.....


@ Colin. It helps if the manufacturer has clear spec levels, ie/ if a 'trim level' always denotes say full leather and heated seats, trouble is many don't. Plus the search function on most sites like ATrader are pretty basic.
Might look for a hearse, be easy to get Sue in the back with her leg, and one eye to the future.....

[b33fy]

A hearse is a bit brutal, there’s some cheap low mileage ex-mobility berlingos out there, still got the wheelchair ramp. Was thinking of grabbing one myself. Make a sensible alternative to a van, easy to load and can get in the tip with it. Be good for the dogs.

[DJ.]

A Make a sensible alternative to a van, easy to load and can get in the tip with it. Be good for the dogs.

We had a couple of Berlingos when the kids were small and they were based on the older smaller vans. Absolutely brilliant. I had a guy lower a 28 stone flypress in with a fork lift (getting it out was more "exciting" ) and another time I broke up an 8' x 6' shed and got all of it in in one go. Once I'd dumped the wood I jumped in the back used a full size broom to brush the debris off the rubber floor. The other advantage was on holidays (like in Scotland) when I came up behind much faster cars, they all seemed to think I was some local van driver and kept pulling over to let us past

[b33fy]

A Make a sensible alternative to a van, easy to load and can get in the tip with it. Be good for the dogs.

We had a couple of Berlingos when the kids were small and they were based on the older smaller vans. Absolutely brilliant. I had a guy lower a 28 stone flypress in with a fork lift (getting it out was more "exciting" ) and another time I broke up an 8' x 6' shed and got all of it in in one go. Once I'd dumped the wood I jumped in the back used a full size broom to brush the debris off the rubber floor. The other advantage was on holidays (like in Scotland) when I came up behind much faster cars, they all seemed to think I was some local van driver and kept pulling over to let us past

I remember you singing their praises previously Duncan, hence taking a recent look. The mobility ones have low mileage circa 30k for around £5k which is better value than an over priced Caddy (imo) Mind you at the moment I don’t go anywhere, getting most things delivered and swmbo going to screwfix. Got a skip to get rid of the shite. I can’t stand any shopping in the current situation and tend to “make do” which is probably not a bad thing tbh. Will probably grab a van type daily driver in the new year, if we find a project somewhere.

(Sorry for the thread hijack Mark)

[b33fy]

Talk about over complicating things.. been trying to source some column radiators on line. Trued the usual suspects, screwfix etc. some of the potential order not in stock and unable to deliver. Victoria plumbing ruled out on price. Found a company ‘columnrads.com’ all seem to be in stock and you can order ‘packages’ and save money. Want three rads, valves, feet and tails. Tails not included in packages so plus £45, not a problem. Sum of all the packages £711. On par with screwfix or thereabouts.

Decided to order separates and double check the saving. Surprise surprise, the package option is dearer by £20. This is after 6 hours checking, double checking, looking at all options etc.. So much for a saving. Phone call beckons tomorrow. £20 ain’t a deal breaker but why state something and not deliver? Fookers.

Not as bad as the lighting purchased from John Lewis, then advertised at 20% off the next day.. lucky they got a good returns policy.