The Car thread

[Mike Oxlong]

Sounds like you’ll be giving away most of your weekday life and a chunk of weekend life to work. And when you get into the higher tax bracket the question as to who are you giving that up for becomes more blurred as the taxman takes his larger slice of your income. If you don’t need the extra money to have a reasonable life then prioritise a job that gives you time for yourself, your family and friends. That is where the true riches of life are to be found 

[NAKC20]

3 hours ago, Jon the Hat said:

I can tell you 90 mins commute is shit, even on public transport where you can read / work / sleep.  3 hours driving a day is too much.  

Totally agree. Spent 5-6 years driving to Bedford, that was around 77 miles and a minimum of 90 mins each way. Its not to bad in the lighter days but it really drags in the winter. I hate driving now and i put it down to this. Is spending 12-14 hours out the house every working day worth a time in your life you will never get back?

[FoxesDeb]

@tom27111 Would the extra money change your life significantly? Would it give you choices you haven't currently got? Maybe you'd be able to do things with your family in your time off that you can't do now. 

 

Are the hours set in stone, or could you negotiate something to give you back a bit more at the weekend?

 

I'd probably be tempted to at least give it a try, otherwise I'd never know. Nothing has to be permanent, and if it's not for you, then find something else.

[kenny]

15 hours ago, tom27111 said:

For:

More money

Great brand

Know the boss

Better job security (I'm currently self employed, so no sick pay, holiday pay etc at the minute)

Company car

First 3 months on boosted basic to give you the chance to build up commission

 

Against:

3 hour round trip per day, at best

Working weekends and Bank Holidays

Cost of travel

Targets

Getting home around 8pm every week night

 

 

Offer them a 4 day week on an 80% salary?

 

Less days for similar money you are on at the moment would be tempting!

[Tommy G]

15 hours ago, tom27111 said:

 

I'm 43.

 

Feel a bit stuck in a rut career wise since lockdown.

 

I'm siding towards turning it down to be honest. Money isn't everything. 

 

Spending time with my family wins over a job that potentially pays 65k, but means I don't see them.

Plus if it's a company car - I'd steer clear unless its an EV, it just doesn't make sense anymore to have a company car because the tax treatment is so unfavourable. I don't know what you are earning at the min but £65K won't change your life, it's what a £50K salary was a few years ago with inflation. The extra your earn will be trapped in HRT too.

 

Presumably part of the pakage is commission - so you'd want to negotiate on the employer pension cont - push for 10% plus, I always try and negotiate this as at 43 you'll be even more acutely aware of putting money away for the future. If the cmmute is an issue ask the company to commit to a hotel stay once per week aswell. 

 

People are always scared to negotiate a deal - it isnt about greed it's knowing what you are worth.

[tom27111]

Thank you for all the wise words of advise.

 

A reduced week wouldn't be a possibility, especially with weekends off. That's your bread and butter as a car salesman. I've sold 10 cars in 1 weekend before, then you spend Mon to Fri sorting your paperwork and appointments for the weekend.

 

I'm edging towards saying no.

 

The commute will just be too much I reckon. And I don't want to commit and realise a month in that it's too much and let someone down who had faith in me. I'd rather be honest up front.

[FoyleFox]

The commute sounds a lot of time to sacrifice from your family and, if you're doing alright financially now, it might not be a sacrifice that's worth it.

 

Plus, if you want to get back into the car market, you deserve to be more upmarket than Kia 😉😀

[Jattdogg]

1 hour ago, tom27111 said:

Thank you for all the wise words of advise.

 

A reduced week wouldn't be a possibility, especially with weekends off. That's your bread and butter as a car salesman. I've sold 10 cars in 1 weekend before, then you spend Mon to Fri sorting your paperwork and appointments for the weekend.

 

I'm edging towards saying no.

 

The commute will just be too much I reckon. And I don't want to commit and realise a month in that it's too much and let someone down who had faith in me. I'd rather be honest up front.

Salesman loves a good rim job eh.

 

 

[Jon the Hat]

7 hours ago, tom27111 said:

Thank you for all the wise words of advise.

 

A reduced week wouldn't be a possibility, especially with weekends off. That's your bread and butter as a car salesman. I've sold 10 cars in 1 weekend before, then you spend Mon to Fri sorting your paperwork and appointments for the weekend.

 

I'm edging towards saying no.

 

The commute will just be too much I reckon. And I don't want to commit and realise a month in that it's too much and let someone down who had faith in me. I'd rather be honest up front.

Move to Western Australia!  Mon-Fri 8-5 and Saturday 8-12 appears to the be the hours if you want to buy a car.  oh and till 9 on a thursday.  Madness.

[tom27111]

I've just discovered that when I lock my car, if I hold down the lock button, it closes all the windows.

 

Then, get this, if I hold down the unlock button, all the windows open.

 

It's blown my fvcking mind.

 

I've had the car for over 3 years.

[SeCrEt FoX]

1 hour ago, tom27111 said:

I've just discovered that when I lock my car, if I hold down the lock button, it closes all the windows.

 

Then, get this, if I hold down the unlock button, all the windows open.

 

It's blown my fvcking mind.

 

I've had the car for over 3 years.

Global open/closure. It's great in this weather when your cars been sat in direct sunlight all day. I do it when leaving work. Makes a huge difference. 

[tom27111]

I know a lot of cars have it in, but never thought mine did.

 

In fairness, it went back to the manufacturer on Wednesday for a recall, something to do with the software apparently. So maybe that has enabled it.

 

It had an issue where the radio was turning itself off every 30 seconds or so, then turning back on. 

 

We were quoted £500 to fix it. Thankfully, this recall has fixed it.

[Grebfromgrebland]

On 11/06/2023 at 18:44, tom27111 said:

For:

More money

Great brand

Know the boss

Better job security (I'm currently self employed, so no sick pay, holiday pay etc at the minute)

Company car

First 3 months on boosted basic to give you the chance to build up commission

 

Against:

3 hour round trip per day, at best

Working weekends and Bank Holidays

Cost of travel

Targets

Getting home around 8pm every week night

 

 

I know people in car sales and it's a very up and down world, if you have young children I'd stay where you are, you don't get that time back with your family and your can't put a price on that.

[The Bear]

44 minutes ago, SeCrEt FoX said:

Global open/closure. It's great in this weather when your cars been sat in direct sunlight all day. I do it when leaving work. Makes a huge difference. 

That's fine if its in a secure place like a work car park. Not if its sat parked in the street though. 

 

Luckily I can turn the climate control on in my Tesla via the app, and cool down/warm up the car 10 mins before I get to it.

 

Switching the AC on just before I tee off on the 18th is a good show off one! 

Edited 17 June 2023 by The Bear

[FOXYTALK]

In addition my old boss had a tesla and his car door just opened on its own. 

[SeCrEt FoX]

9 hours ago, The Bear said:

That's fine if its in a secure place like a work car park. Not if its sat parked in the street though. 

 

Luckily I can turn the climate control on in my Tesla via the app, and cool down/warm up the car 10 mins before I get to it.

 

Switching the AC on just before I tee off on the 18th is a good show off one! 

Mine is parked on a street. I meant I do it as I'm leaving the building and the car is in sight, about 50/60 yards away. 

[Tommy G]

On 18/06/2023 at 00:14, The Bear said:

That's fine if its in a secure place like a work car park. Not if its sat parked in the street though. 

 

Luckily I can turn the climate control on in my Tesla via the app, and cool down/warm up the car 10 mins before I get to it.

 

Switching the AC on just before I tee off on the 18th is a good show off one! 

I discovered this on my car the other day and it's a game changer in this heat

[LcFc_Smiv]

Let me start by saying I know next to nothing about cars, I just drive one and rely on it for work!

 

Yesterday I did a near 400 mile round trip on a leased 2019 Vauxhall Corsa- 32,500 miles on the clock- no longer under warranty. 5 Minutes from home not long after coming off the M1 I went to put it into fourth as I approached a 40mph zone and noticed once in neutral I couldn't physically get the car into gear. I managed to get the car off the road to take a look and noticed the clutch pedal hadn't returned fully. I lifted it up with my foot and sure enough after that it worked with no issues back in gear and got the car home. I've taken a look online and it appears this a common problem with Vauxhalls, but can't actually find anywhere that pinpoints the problem. Unlike others have reported I had no pop or snapping sound, the resistance on the clutch pedal feels the same and there's no burning smell or anything else out of place like I've seen others mention. Alarmingly people say it is an intermittent issue and when they have taken it to garages they've paid hundreds and hundreds of £s for it not to be resolved. Anyone had any experience of this? Any advice on what to do? My initial thought was take it to a local garage but there's not actually a consistent problem to be able to show or demonstrate. Could it just have been a one off effect of a smaller car that has done 400 miles and 6 hours of driving in the hear of a day like yesterday?

[Bellend Sebastian]

Having lived for far too long with a car where the alarm went off randomly in the summer months, especially at night, with no way of deactivating it, guess what the brand new vehicle I'm now driving has started doing?

 

My neighbours are going to love me more than ever

Edited 2 July 2023 by Bellend Sebastian

[tom27111]

5 hours ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

Having lived for far too long with a car where the alarm went off randomly in the summer months, especially at night, with no way of deactivating it, guess what the brand new vehicle I'm now driving has started doing?

 

My neighbours are going to love me more than ever

 

There should be an option to disable the alarm, most cars have this feature now for things like if you leave a dog in the car.

 

I'd imagine it's in your settings menu on the entertainment system.

 

Have a play about and you should find it.

 

Failing that, some cars have a button on the roof, sort of near your rear view mirror.

[Grebfromgrebland]

Sometimes the button is inside the frame of the driver or passenger door. You push it then shut the door but the alarm can still go off if the door is opened etc

[Bellend Sebastian]

1 hour ago, tom27111 said:

 

There should be an option to disable the alarm, most cars have this feature now for things like if you leave a dog in the car.

 

I'd imagine it's in your settings menu on the entertainment system.

 

Have a play about and you should find it.

 

Failing that, some cars have a button on the roof, sort of near your rear view mirror.

 

19 minutes ago, Grebfromgrebland said:

Sometimes the button is inside the frame of the driver or passenger door. You push it then shut the door but the alarm can still go off if the door is opened etc

I'm wondering if there's a spider in there or something daft like that. Seems weird that it's just started doing it

[tom27111]

35 minutes ago, Bellend Sebastian said:

 

I'm wondering if there's a spider in there or something daft like that. Seems weird that it's just started doing it

More than likely

[Izzy]

The wife has a Volvo V40 and the alarm kept going off. 

 

After weeks of trying to figure it out, it turned out to be a faulty bonnet catch sensor. 

 

(the faulty sensor makes the car think the bonnet isn't closed or it's been in a collision so sets off the alarm)

[Bellend Sebastian]

40 minutes ago, Izzy said:

The wife has a Volvo V40 and the alarm kept going off. 

 

After weeks of trying to figure it out, it turned out to be a faulty bonnet catch sensor. 

 

(the faulty sensor makes the car think the bonnet isn't closed or it's been in a collision so sets off the alarm)

The problem on my old car was something very similar - a door "attenuator" or something. Had one replaced under warranty, paid £180 for another to be replaced and lived with the next one that went