[Solved] Career or Family - Do I have to choose?

Hi ACTD,

I get the distinct feeling that if I were on a bike, I'd kill myself pretty quickly 😉

Yeah, that's one of the reasons why I gave up - if I didn't kill myself, someone else was likely to do it 🙁

Exactly, so instead I'm going to spend my money on an Alfa Romeo GT and test the "italian reliability" claims! Lol.

BD

Do the Italians have any claim to reliability?

I used to microlight - the earlier microlights had Rotax 2 stroke engines - good Austrian engineering. The ignition coils were made by Ducati - guess which bit was prone to sudden failure? 😮 😮

Hi,

I think that an Alpha is something you should own and drive at least once, if you buy new or nearly new at least you would have warranty,

I think people have such bad oppinions on so many makes of cars but when it comes down to it that oppinion comes from hearing the horror stories that people tell, I sell lots of Renaults and have very few issues with them, but a lot of people wouldn't touch them as they are labelled as a "problem car" due to the electronics.

It's a bit like this forum, many people visit and from reading all the stories would make the assumption that every relationship break up turns nasty, but that's just what is written here, there are so many stories that don't get told where things work out well after a break up, and they don't get written about becuase there is no need, same with cars and car forums.

GTTS

I suppose that's a problem with my age - I still remember the Alfasud, not the most reliable of cars. I would imagine things have moved on quite a lot since then. 🙂

It's something i've decided to try out at the very least 🙂

I've had renaults before which, as GTTS has said, i found to be pretty good overall - in the same breath my friend had one which the cambelt failed on, so i guess it's just a case of the individual cars, servicing, and who happened to put it together.

Going to have the GT for some fun and then the diesel 7 seater in reserve.
Part of me is being reasonable and looking at the economical 1.9 diesel - but there's another part of me that is sorely tempted by the 3.2 litre v6 😛

Hi,

When it comes down to a cambelt snapping that can happen on any car as you know, it's just down to maintenance (or lack of)

With the mileage you do I would personally go for the diesel 2 reasons firstly MPG but more importantly would be with the larger engine its all too easy to go well over the speed limit and not realise, the diesel will be quick enough and hopefully will save you money and your licence Lol

GTTS

I personally love diesels for the torque, though have been put off modern diesels as I just had a DPF block - a very expensive repair!

Hi all,

Kinda off topic - but linked to GTTS comments

I wanted to say thank you. It gave me a real lift reading this thread which I really needed. A slice of normality against the pain we are all going through. What is more normal then blokes talking about cars 🙂

BD - go for it you deserve it. Let us know if you get the petrol or diesel?

MH

I personally love diesels for the torque, though have been put off modern diesels as I just had a DPF block - a very expensive repair!

DPF's are a pain, they would be fine if you could re generate them yourself if you aren't a higher mileage user, too many dealerships sell diesel cars without checking firstly that they are suitable, it's a few questions about useage and mileage that would take a few mins to ask, then if the customer doesn't do long enough journeys then the diesel engine isn't suitable, firstly becuase of the DPF and secondly if they only do short journeys the petrol engine is more efficient and will deliver better MPG.

GTTS

Hi all,

Kinda off topic - but linked to GTTS comments

I wanted to say thank you. It gave me a real lift reading this thread which I really needed. A slice of normality against the pain we are all going through. What is more normal then blokes talking about cars 🙂

BD - go for it you deserve it. Let us know if you get the petrol or diesel?

MH

It is good to come here and talk about cars, it's a shame there aren't more topics that are just general chat, rather than issues over seperation, thanks for the comments.

GTTS

I personally love diesels for the torque, though have been put off modern diesels as I just had a DPF block - a very expensive repair!

DPF's are a pain, they would be fine if you could re generate them yourself if you aren't a higher mileage user, too many dealerships sell diesel cars without checking firstly that they are suitable, it's a few questions about useage and mileage that would take a few mins to ask, then if the customer doesn't do long enough journeys then the diesel engine isn't suitable, firstly becuase of the DPF and secondly if they only do short journeys the petrol engine is more efficient and will deliver better MPG.

GTTS

Yep - I though my mileage would be fine - about 15k miles per year, but it's the journeys that matter more - mostly a 5 mile blast round country lanes, followed by a 10 mile A road run - never enough to give it a good run on a regular basis despite the decent overall mileage - and it's not covered under warranty (dealer did manage to get the blown turbo pipe replaced under warranty and replaced DPF at greatly reduced cost - "only" cost me about £550 - probably should have been about 2 to 3 times that at full cost/no warranty. Decided I didn't want the risk again so swapped it for a petrol equivalent a month later - miss the torque and the decent fuel consumption, but getting used to keeping the revs up keep the turbo spinning so it's still as quick - just different.

I know with Audi, the DPF unit alone was around £1500 and then 2-3 hours labour to replace it, but that is Audi's over inflated prices for you.

It seems you didn't get too bad a deal at £550 to be fair, I drive petrol and diesel and I can't really say I have any preference, my diesel is a 2.5 pick up so it's very thirsty and I only get around 22MPG so that's now being sold Lol

GTTS