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

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

My computer started spouting AI manure today so I said what to do when Ihave found a dead body in my garden,

Try asking and you too will see the value of teh AI response.....

One story . Most people havnt seen a dead body, but I have seenlots, On one occasion when I was 11...... Is this **** real??
 
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My computer atrted spouting AI manure today so I said what to do when Ihave found a dead body in my garden,

Try asking and you too will see the value of teh AI response.....

One story . Most people havnt seen a dead body, but I have seenlots, On one occasion when I was 11...... Is this **** real??
I thought your reply would have been "it wasn't me":)
 
I need to chage Rubys oil as there is something odd going on. The oil is strangely discoloured and very dark, along with the excess start up rattle thas appeared in the last month or so. The car was time due a few days ago for a service. So I trotted off to Swaffham to AVS and got 10 litres of Quantum Premium 5w40 C3 so good for oil. I decided Castrol Edge did not perform as expected so will try this stuff. Basically VW spec. So today decided to put in my service parts order £233 from S4P. Sadly no discount on my dozen spark plugs, but with free delivery and 13£ off for teh FF discount it is a big help, and I have included a new slave cylinder for Ruby to stop the creaking. Thats the dealer service out the window as Im not paying them £229 to change the oil on top of this expense. I shall cancel that on Monday.
 
Some of you good folks will be aware of me "going on" about the Dacia Spring - a wee car which got me really quite excited. I'm still quite sceptical regarding electric cars but this one seemed to quite fit the bill as a replacement for our Becky when the time comes for her to retire and even now there seem to be some pretty good pre-reg deals on the go. I've been reading all I can about them when stuff comes up on line and I think I've discovered something I'm not so keen on. I think it has no battery thermal management. Just relies on passing air to cool it and has no way to elevate battery temperature in cold weather. I'm not too sure how much of a problem this might be on a relatively small battery pack such as this. Going to do some "digging".
 
Some of you good folks will be aware of me "going on" about the Dacia Spring - a wee car which got me really quite excited. I'm still quite sceptical regarding electric cars but this one seemed to quite fit the bill as a replacement for our Becky when the time comes for her to retire and even now there seem to be some pretty good pre-reg deals on the go. I've been reading all I can about them when stuff comes up on line and I think I've discovered something I'm not so keen on. I think it has no battery thermal management. Just relies on passing air to cool it and has no way to elevate battery temperature in cold weather. I'm not too sure how much of a problem this might be on a relatively small battery pack such as this. Going to do some "digging".
Do some digging on its ride and handling too, even some of the Dacia lovers in the motoring press have stated it’s ’less than adequate’.
I quite liked the duster, when I test drove one when looking at a year old panda cross (back in 2014/5), but when you added up all the extras and the AWD option, it wasn’t that cheap anymore and wasn’t as ‘fun’ a ride as the Panda. Then came the customer reviews!!
 
I think it has no battery thermal management. Just relies on passing air to cool it and has no way to elevate battery temperature in cold weather. I'm not too sure how much of a problem this might be on a relatively small battery pack such as this. Going to do some "digging".
Especially as you live in "The South of France"????;););)
 
Some of you good folks will be aware of me "going on" about the Dacia Spring - a wee car which got me really quite excited. I'm still quite sceptical regarding electric cars but this one seemed to quite fit the bill as a replacement for our Becky when the time comes for her to retire and even now there seem to be some pretty good pre-reg deals on the go. I've been reading all I can about them when stuff comes up on line and I think I've discovered something I'm not so keen on. I think it has no battery thermal management. Just relies on passing air to cool it and has no way to elevate battery temperature in cold weather. I'm not too sure how much of a problem this might be on a relatively small battery pack such as this. Going to do some "digging".

From what I remember they do not charge particularly quickly so thermal management is unlikely to cause too many issues.

I think my main issue with them is they are based on a Chinese and Indian market petrol car from 2010...(Renault Kwid).

As a result safety is terrible and not in the "oh no it's got no lane assist" way in the "if I crash I'm significantly more likely to injured because structure isn't up to much" sort of way.

I understand the simplicity appeals but I'd bet the panda is a stronger shell than the spring. They are cheap but you can get a 2 year old 500e for the same money and if you crashed one into the other it would be no contest.
 
Do some digging on its ride and handling too, even some of the Dacia lovers in the motoring press have stated it’s ’less than adequate’.
I quite liked the duster, when I test drove one when looking at a year old panda cross (back in 2014/5), but when you added up all the extras and the AWD option, it wasn’t that cheap anymore and wasn’t as ‘fun’ a ride as the Panda. Then came the customer reviews!!
From what I remember they do not charge particularly quickly so thermal management is unlikely to cause too many issues.

I think my main issue with them is they are based on a Chinese and Indian market petrol car from 2010...(Renault Kwid).

As a result safety is terrible and not in the "oh no it's got no lane assist" way in the "if I crash I'm significantly more likely to injured because structure isn't up to much" sort of way.

I understand the simplicity appeals but I'd bet the panda is a stronger shell than the spring. They are cheap but you can get a 2 year old 500e for the same money and if you crashed one into the other it would be no contest.
All oh so true chaps. Get real Jock, you're not going to spend that amount of money on an electric vehicle of doubtful quality when you can buy a really nice panda for a lot less. It was just a silly dream - but I'll get over it. Oh, and I just thought, the money I save can be used to buy a nicer AV Receiver. Looks like the Spring will soon be a distant memory!
 
I need to chage Rubys oil as there is something odd going on. The oil is strangely discoloured and very dark, along with the excess start up rattle thas appeared in the last month or so.
Is this a diesel? If so, does it have the exhaust particulate filter, and need the occasional regen? Regens tend to drop some fuel into the oil, diluting it, which is why they have an oil degradation counter.
 
All oh so true chaps. Get real Jock, you're not going to spend that amount of money on an electric vehicle of doubtful quality when you can buy a really nice panda for a lot less. It was just a silly dream - but I'll get over it. Oh, and I just thought, the money I save can be used to buy a nicer AV Receiver. Looks like the Spring will soon be a distant memory!

I would say it's not a silly dream as such, I attempted to have a similar conversation with my father before I found him the Yaris. The car he was replacing did max 3k miles a year his usual usage is a maximum of about 12 mile round trip and he has a drive. An electric car would actually make a lot of sense especially a used one just the spring is not a very nice thing. I always feel like a good cheap car should make you wonder slightly how they did it for the money, with the spring on its ling long tyres and cheapest of everything quality it's just obvious.

But in his case he likes to think he would just take off and go to somewhere or other...he never actually does but he likes the idea.

The irony here is the furthest he's been since before COVID was down to the far side of county Durham to look at cars...and of course that was in my C3 as a passenger anyway.
 
@Pugglt Auld Jock Given the use case for Becky and the way it has been looked after, the cost of buying a new car, especially something electric and the fact you've just bought yourself a nice decent sized car which could arguably see you out, would it not just be more cost effective to throw some money at the panda.
New read beam, new brakes all round, new clutch, all the bits the might or could go wrong being replace would still be considerable cheaper and probably more reliable than something that is built to be the very cheapest it can be.

Appreciated that the panda would have been a "cheap" car when new, but these "cheap" electric cars are built on such a shoe string that every nut bolt and piece of tape is accounted for in the built cost to squeeze the price down as much as possible. I don't think I would want a car that has been built with this mindset.
 
Is this a diesel? If so, does it have the exhaust particulate filter, and need the occasional regen? Regens tend to drop some fuel into the oil, diluting it, which is why they have an oil degradation counter.
Nope, 1.2. I had this discolouration with the Petronas Syntium used last time but one. I chucked that oil after just 1000 miles. I have never seen anything like the state of that oil, this Im glad is not as bad, but its not right. I was going to leave the oil for another 6 months to space the cars servicing across the year. This may be just me noticing cross contamination from that batch which was clearly duff in some way, I suspect it may have been counterfeit oil! Its not very bad but its certainly much worse than it should be after just a few thousand miles. Maybe I should flush it before changing the oil. I must recheck teh sump carefully but it was near perfect when I did the oil las year so not expecting that to be an issue.
 
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All oh so true chaps. Get real Jock, you're not going to spend that amount of money on an electric vehicle of doubtful quality when you can buy a really nice panda for a lot less. It was just a silly dream - but I'll get over it. Oh, and I just thought, the money I save can be used to buy a nicer AV Receiver. Looks like the Spring will soon be a distant memory!
PANDA PANDA PANDA PANDA PANDA PANDA PANDA.

Now thats better!!!
 
Chance would be nice. I have a 2/nearly 3 year old, if there was any thought I might be dead I would get "WAKE UP DADDY" followed by a whack round the head with a toy.

At least if you are laying under a car (even if you are dead) daddy in busy, leave him a lone...... Bliss.
A tale from a few years ago..

A guy had car trouble and got his knowledgeable friend to pop over and help sort it, the wife joined them, but stayed indoors

The Visitor lent some of his overalls to the guy and the investigation ensued

The knowledgeable one had returned to his car boot to grab more tools

The guy was laid half under the car, when the visiting other half came out to say a tray of tea and biscuits was waiting

As was customary, she gave the overalls a playful squeeze at the top of the legs,

Guy promptly attempted
to sit bolt-upright

Smacking his head in the process

Hearing the commotion the visiting expert reappeared from behind their car.. Red faces all round 😁
 
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