WDB
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Post by WDB on May 26, 2021 9:26:15 GMT
Other things that have changed, probably irrevocably, since 1980: - Women in the workforce. Clearly a good thing in itself, but as always, you can't change one part of a system without affecting others.
- GDP per head in 1981 was about £14,000 in today's money. Now it's nearly double that, around £26,000. (Source: ONS) More money for everyone? Well, up to a point because...
- House prices In 1980, an average UK home cost about £19,000. Now it's £225,000 (Source: Land Registry)
- Meanwhile car prices, like those of most manufactured goods, have gone the other way. (Unlike land and housing stock, it's been possible to treat manufacturing resources as infinite, so supply has kept pace with demand.) £3,000 (£12,000 today) bought a new small car in 1980. My first Escort was £6,500 new in 1989 (£14,500 today.) You can still buy a new Dacia Sandero Access for £8,000. So your 1980 household can now have two 2021 cars for barely the price of one - and has twice the income to pay for it.
- Employers have contributed to hollowing out towns by closing local offices and 'consolidating' in major centres, forcing people into longer commutes or relocations into overpressed urban and suburban housing markets.
Part of the cause of this is the Thatcher doctrine that independence and personal success were synonymous with car use. (Remember her comments about an adult using a bus?) There's been an assumption that it was always OK to expect people to drive anywhere and to anything, and there's a whole post-1945 generation that still regards this as its right. People generally don't change their views; they're just gradually replaced by other people with different views. |
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Post by dixinormus on May 27, 2021 8:04:50 GMT
Valid points. But the biggest change since 1980? The planet’s population has grown from around 4 billion to around 7... Some very tough choices ahead. And motoring is too cheap 😬.
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bpg
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Post by bpg on May 27, 2021 20:28:04 GMT
Or we need to stick the brakes on politicians.
Catalytic converters fail
DPF fail
GPF give it time fail
Packaging fail
Rates replaced by council tax fail
Senior police replaced by elected politicians fail
Take the humans out and the planet will be fine.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on May 28, 2021 6:45:54 GMT
Now Birmingham is getting one too, starting on Tuesday. It’s not a ULEZ but a Class D Clean Air Zone, but the implications for car drivers are much the same, as it excludes (or charges) any diesel below Euro 6. Somehow I’d not heard about this till this morning. It doesn’t directly affect our Test match trip but it does limit the routes we can use — admittedly not by much, as everywhere we need to go (Cannon Hill Park at the bottom of the map) is south of the southern perimeter of the CAZ.  Bath has a CAZ too, but (for now) only for commercial vehicles. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2021 7:55:30 GMT
Definitely time to get shot of a Euro 5 or earlier diseasel. Do it, Dubya.
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Post by Humph on May 28, 2021 8:05:51 GMT
A friend who has a business in central Birmingham has just replaced his rather lovely and well kept Alfa 159 Sportwagon diesel with a Volvo V60 petrol. He's ok with the Volvo but doesn't like it as much as his old car. Trips to ferry offspring to and from university are costing significantly more in fuel he says.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on May 28, 2021 8:11:08 GMT
Definitely time to get shot of a Euro 5 or earlier [diesel]. Do it, Dubya. Not on economic grounds. Yes, a 630i GT would be CAZ and ULEZ compliant but the occasional £8 charge is negligible next to the cost of a car change. In any case, the occasion to drive a large vehicle into a major city occurs so seldom that it’s scarcely relevant to me. And I already have a smaller vehicle that’s more than up to the task. The case for a GT rests on passenger space and family demand alone; in the unlikely event of that being strong enough, then the 630i is the obvious version to choose. But there are 300-mile family-sized EVs now too, so I’m not sure any large fossil vehicle will look like a good buy for long. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2021 8:11:54 GMT
Should have got an MG5...
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WDB
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Post by WDB on May 28, 2021 8:14:21 GMT
Who should? When? Instead of what? And what is it anyway?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2021 8:17:55 GMT
Who should? When? Instead of what? And what is it anyway? Wow, calm down, it's Friday. Your post popped in, between Humph's post about his friend and mine, whilst I was typing, speel chucking, and pressing send... Humph's friend should have got an MG5, instead of a petrol Volvo V60, and it is a fine electric automobile in the shape of a proper estate car. |
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WDB
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Post by WDB on May 28, 2021 8:27:54 GMT
Yes, I looked it up. ‘In the shape of...’ seems about right. It can match the CLS for 4-seat luggage space by loading to the roof instead of the window line. And this bit really tickled me:
MG5 EV is not permitted for use with roof bars. The rails fitted to MG5 EV Exclusive models are for decorative purposes only. Roof bars should not be fitted to this vehicle.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2021 8:48:43 GMT
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WDB
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Post by WDB on May 28, 2021 9:10:19 GMT
Yes, all right. The Škoda Enyaq that my new friend Fernando in Slough is keen to show me can take a towbar, which is one reason I’m keen to try it.
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Post by EspadaIII on May 28, 2021 9:41:58 GMT
The Enyaq has had good reviews and I'm getting slowly tempted to change. What's the Hyundai Ionic 5 like?
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bpg
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Post by bpg on May 28, 2021 9:45:55 GMT
This is funny, laughing at MG for putting roof bars on a car that can or can't be used but no one laughs at indicators on a BMW or Audi.
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