What's made you not grumpy but not smile either today?

[portland_bill]

Panda tax due. Just paid it. £190.
Last year was £132. Fuel consumption the same, mileage covered consistent. But we have to subsidise the EV brigade of course.

Edit: No it wasn't. Last year was £180, so not such a big increase. It was £132 some time back.
Makes the £240 for the Doblo not so bad after all.

 

[StevenRB45]

To be fair the one that always stings for me is vat on petrol. Road tax is what a month of fuel?

Whereas charging 20% on top of a figure that already includes a another tax, while ensuring that every time fuel prices go up government tax take goes up and simultaneously cutting funding to public transport for everything except the money pit that connects the south to the south 4 minutes faster seems to be vaguely stupid.

But hey...why not? Not like there's anything else we need.

 

[bugsymike]

Panda tax due. Just paid it. £190.
Last year was £132. Fuel consumption the same, mileage covered consistent. But we have to subsidise the EV brigade of course.

Edit: No it wasn't. Last year was £180, so not such a big increase. It was £132 some time back.
Makes the £240 for the Doblo not so bad after all.

My first cars were £25 per year Road Tax I recall and no there wasn't a guy with a red flag walking in front.

 

[vexorg]

Our Fiat £500 is £20 or £30 road tax

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

The Ibiza was Nil and the panda is £30 (2010 1.2 eco dynamic)

Edit Scala? £180

 

[portland_bill]

The Ibiza was Nil and the panda is £30 (2010 1.2 eco dynamic)

Edit Scala? £180

My Fabia is £20.
The Pandas fitted into the £30 bracket, unless they had alloy wheels, with the wider tyres. Enough to tip them over the threshold.
My Alessi, being based on the Eleganza, therfore is in the higher bracket, despite wearing steel wheels, needed for the Alessi wheeltrims. I suppose the auto climate control running all the time probably increases the emissions a little.
I could have registered the Doblo as 'disabled', and got the tax free, btu that would mean it should only be used for the benefit of the disabled person. It would sit and rot most of the time. Paying the tax allows me to use it any time, and it does 'van' things quite well.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Panda tax due. Just paid it. £190.
Last year was £132. Fuel consumption the same, mileage covered consistent. But we have to subsidise the EV brigade of course.

Edit: No it wasn't. Last year was £180, so not such a big increase. It was £132 some time back.
Makes the £240 for the Doblo not so bad after all.

NO it doesnt. Its a pile of money for not a lot. As HMGovt keep applying over inflation increases I hope you do what I do and tell your MP what you think of it. Highway robbery is a great description!

 

[StevenRB45]

This is interesting...or not depending on your stand point.

Citroen C3 review | Auto Express

A clever rethink of the small, affordable car theme, the C3 and its all-electric e-C3 twin have the potential to really shake up the market

www.autoexpress.co.uk

The basis of the new Panda.

For me it's interesting on the basis it seems to share the strong and weak points of the old one but the press are complimentary about it...even autocar gave it 4 stars.

Perhaps they've sorted it's slightly wayward waterbed character or perhaps the lack of a fiesta means the handling bar is lower these days. The handling section especially feels very familiar..drive it well on a high-speed road it settles into a cruise lovely...drive it hard or attack something with sharp edges and corners and the soft set up needs handled with care to stop your passengers vomiting extravagantly.

But actually safe and predictable and grippy...just feels like it wants to be upside down if you push on.

 

[vexorg]

Citroen have always had a bit of a softer setup, though the DS4 manages that trick of soft and harsh at the same time

 

[The Panda Nut]

This is interesting...or not depending on your stand point.

Citroen C3 review | Auto Express

A clever rethink of the small, affordable car theme, the C3 and its all-electric e-C3 twin have the potential to really shake up the market

www.autoexpress.co.uk

The basis of the new Panda.

For me it's interesting on the basis it seems to share the strong and weak points of the old one but the press are complimentary about it...even autocar gave it 4 stars.

Perhaps they've sorted it's slightly wayward waterbed character or perhaps the lack of a fiesta means the handling bar is lower these days. The handling section especially feels very familiar..drive it well on a high-speed road it settles into a cruise lovely...drive it hard or attack something with sharp edges and corners and the soft set up needs handled with care to stop your passengers vomiting extravagantly.

But actually safe and predictable and grippy...just feels like it wants to be upside down if you push on.

Its not a Panda. And that my grump for the day.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Being FORCED yes forced to invest in yet MORE Fiat Forum stickers today to get @ben off my case with hsi new thingummyjigs.

Forced godammit forced, practically at gun point, on pain of death

PS I would have asked for 6 but the discount code wouldnt do it for more than three so some Panda windows will be NAKED...

Naked for heavens sake how can we now be seen in public. We shall have to always park next to a wall so only the stickered side is on display...

May be three more when my OLD age pension is next paid.

I wonder of the backing paper is edible? And dont complain if they are not on straight.

 

[StevenRB45]

Citroen have always had a bit of a softer setup, though the DS4 manages that trick of soft and harsh at the same time

This may be why I've never owned a DS4 having test driven them..and hated the DS3.

Too soft to be direct or sporty and yet too hard to be comfortable due to terrible initial bump absorption with the low profile tyres. Every expansion gap like a railway sleeper.

At least the driving round in the sponge there's a pay off for the floatiness/in that the big profile tyres deal with sharp edges before the suspension has had time to.

 

[portland_bill]

A couple of months ago, I purchased a new battery for a laptop.
It took a week or so to arrive, coming from China, then after dismantling the laptop, the battery was not recognised. Battery is nominally 11.55v, but only showed just under 1.10th of a volt on each of the three power connections. I've heard that lithium ion batteries, if they get too low, will not accept a charge. Either that, or the management system built in is not compatible with the laptop,
After an email exchange, they sent a replacement, declared known good before despatch. At least the laptop could see this one, but still refused to charge it, and the voltage was similar.
More email exchanges. They agreed a refund, after they received the second faulty battery back. (For some reason, they are not interested in having the first one returned) But, due to a warehouse move, cannot have returns yet. So I'm supposed to wait for the refund.
More email exchanges, they offered 50% refund, then the rest once returned, but still wait. I suggested I'd contact the credit card company for a refund. The company refunded my costs.
Still awaiting return instructions.
Meanwhile, received a Trustpilot review request. I ignored it.
Later, a second review request, so I left an honest review.
Today, they've asked me to delete my review. I said no.

 

[vexorg]

Make a deal with then, they give yo ua working battery at no cost to you then you'll sort the review.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

A couple of months ago, I purchased a new battery for a laptop.
It took a week or so to arrive, coming from China, then after dismantling the laptop, the battery was not recognised. Battery is nominally 11.55v, but only showed just under 1.10th of a volt on each of the three power connections. I've heard that lithium ion batteries, if they get too low, will not accept a charge. Either that, or the management system built in is not compatible with the laptop,
After an email exchange, they sent a replacement, declared known good before despatch. At least the laptop could see this one, but still refused to charge it, and the voltage was similar.
More email exchanges. They agreed a refund, after they received the second faulty battery back. (For some reason, they are not interested in having the first one returned) But, due to a warehouse move, cannot have returns yet. So I'm supposed to wait for the refund.
More email exchanges, they offered 50% refund, then the rest once returned, but still wait. I suggested I'd contact the credit card company for a refund. The company refunded my costs.
Still awaiting return instructions.
Meanwhile, received a Trustpilot review request. I ignored it.
Later, a second review request, so I left an honest review.
Today, they've asked me to delete my review. I said no.

Had a similar experience with a spare battery for my digital camera. It was quite a bit cheaper than the genuine article but got loads of good reviews so I got "sucked in" and bought one. It actually worked quite well for about 6 months but then went downhill quite quickly. It now manages maybe a dozen shots or a couple of shots using the flash whereas the original Panasonic battery that came with the camera (the camera is a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ7) is still working almost as well as when it was new. Too late to do anything about it now, forewarned for the future though.

 

[portland_bill]

Make a deal with then, they give yo ua working battery at no cost to you then you'll sort the review.

No point. The second one they sent they declared was good, but is no better than the first, so they are incapable of determining a good one.
Already got a very good one from another supplier.

 

[portland_bill]

Needed to remove the nearside front wheelarch liner from the Doblo. These things are rarely easy, being larger than the hole they fit in, but this one fought back determinedly.
Found it already had a big split in it, where a part joins the undertray, and removing it added a small crack at top centre. Not as flexible as it probably was when new.
'Sewn' the big split together with small bits of plastic and pop rivets. At least one piece again, and won't flap in the breeze.
I'm sure i've seen aftermarket wheelarch liners, so will start a search for a replacement.

 

[The Panda Nut]

Make a deal with then, they give yo ua working battery at no cost to you then you'll sort the review.

I might agree, but my Mrs says it could be construed as extortion. Secondly I bet they couldnt supply a working battery, or they already would have.

 

[vexorg]

but my Mrs says it could be construed as extortion.

You are not demanding, you are negotating, they made the demand of take down the review.

 

[The Panda Nut]

You are not demanding, you are negotating, they made the demand of take down the review.

Thats exactly what I always say. Frankly its the least they could do. Selling bad batteries is an ebay speciality. Im sure there are some good sellers but I have not come across them. I suppose with batteries you want a top rated supplier with high turnover and never go necessarily for the cheapest.