WDB
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Post by WDB on Feb 17, 2023 12:59:47 GMT
The latest Duster is a fine looking car. I can see them slowly moving up in the same way Kia and Hyundai did. ...except that it can't move up far without encroaching on Renault territory. Might have to cultivate some sort of 'canny buyer' brand identity, the way VW has for Škoda. ...Onto, the car leasing company where you can rent on a month by month basis. Not the cheapest way but probably very practical. The problem - if it is a problem - with car clubs and the like is that they tend to be tied to newish cars. If you only need a car for a few weeks a year, a ten-year-old Golf is just fine: cheap and perfectly reliable, but the only way to have access to one is to own it full time. Short-term hires mean sub-3 year-old cars, depreciating at £300 a month or more, which defines the minimum cost of use. Perhaps some bold entrepreneur will prove me wrong on this! |
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Post by Alanović on Feb 17, 2023 13:11:07 GMT
The latest Duster is a fine looking car. I can see them slowly moving up in the same way Kia and Hyundai did. ...except that it can't move up far without encroaching on Renault territory. Might have to cultivate some sort of 'canny buyer' brand identity, the way VW has for Škoda. Problem with that is, in the UK at least, Renault is a bit of a rung down from VW on the prestige scale. So there's not as much space for Dacia to move in to, not many folks would say "I'm too canny to buy one of them there posho Renaults". Maybe it'd be wiser to emulate SEAT and go for sporty/roughty-toughty type image? Maybe. Unless Renault are planning to up-market their image a bit, or maybe do a DS type re-brand. Or maybe I'm overthinking it. |
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bpg
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Post by bpg on Feb 17, 2023 13:56:22 GMT
Would she be allowed to practice/learn in that in Chermany with it being RHD? She won't be learning in it, you can't take your offspring for extra training on the public roads here. There are private tracks can be hired with all the usual obstructions marked out on a route for extra tuition. Once she's got her licence RHD, LHD makes no difference she can drive or she can't. Getting a licence here is more difficult than the UK, certain disciplines require an amount of time similar to a pilots licence, driving at night, driving on an autobahn, wet/wintry weather or a skid pan is still covered by the training. I have not checked yet, believe it's of the order 1,500€ - 2,000€ including the necessary first aid certification, provisional license, training, test and full licence. If she passes before her 18th birthday she's not allowed in the car on her own and must be supervised by someone who has held a full licence for 5+ years. That's a condition of insurance. |
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Post by Alanović on Feb 17, 2023 13:59:02 GMT
And they still all drive like fecking lunatics.
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Post by Humph on Feb 17, 2023 14:05:07 GMT
Might have this wrong, but I’m sure an Italian colleague told me a couple of years ago, that it’s either illegal or prohibitively expensive or something anyway now in Italy for an under 25 year old to drive a vehicle with an engine larger than 1000cc. Hence some quite big vehicles offered there with small engines.
But I might have imagined that whole conversation, there was wine involved.
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bpg
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Post by bpg on Feb 17, 2023 14:09:28 GMT
It's funny how other's view any countries driving.
Germany probably has some of the strictest rules which are vigorously enforced. Dangerous driving, if proven, can result in up to five years in prison, no £200 fine, a few hours community service and £85 victim fee.
Undertaking is an absolute no. Drive a UK motorway this afternoon and it will be like the wacky-racers away from the south east passing all sides US style but with added cutting up and brake testing.
Edit: That's always been the case with Italy, Humph. It's why you see some older sportier cars with two-litre V6s. I've seen a few Alfa 75s for sale in Europe with two-litre turbos we didn't see in the UK because we had 2.5 and 3.0 V6s.
Their tax system is linked to capacity, there could also be an element of power in that calculation.
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Post by Humph on Feb 17, 2023 14:12:37 GMT
Seem to remember that the Polizei takes a very dim view of tailgating?
So do I actually.
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Post by Alanović on Feb 17, 2023 14:14:39 GMT
As I found out last summer, the German Autobahnen are chock full of warp-speed maniacs and inveterate tail-gaters. I make no comment about UK driving standards when I say this, but if you want me to then yes, standards here are atrocious too, but in a different way. Apart from the tail-gaters, that's a universal sin.
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Post by Alanović on Feb 17, 2023 14:17:24 GMT
Seem to remember that the Polizei takes a very dim view of tailgating? So do I actually. The Cherman fuzz must all have been down the Bierkeller last summer. |
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bpg
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Post by bpg on Feb 17, 2023 14:20:00 GMT
Tailgating is an issue here so much so they actually have cameras in the central reservation specifically for this.
You sometimes see them on the Maut* gantries watching the outside lane.
*Maut being the German tax system for HGVs that have to display a sticker in the windscreen showing they've paid to use the roads should anyone not know. Usually a grey gantry full of cameras over the carriageway.
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bpg
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Post by bpg on Feb 17, 2023 14:23:04 GMT
Seem to remember that the Polizei takes a very dim view of tailgating? So do I actually. The Cherman fuzz must all have been down the Bierkeller last summer. Was that the A8 between Munich and Stuttgart, Al ? That road is very wide and very quick. The willy-waving highway for BMW, Mercedes and Porsche pilots. |
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Post by Humph on Feb 17, 2023 14:27:46 GMT
I’m glad they don’t let the Audis join in. My Merc has a relatively small willy, it’s adequate of course, but not worth waving.
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Post by Alanović on Feb 17, 2023 14:28:35 GMT
I did on the way home, in order to get to Strasbourg and off the Autobahnen and onto the civilised peages of France ASAP. I went Koln-Frankfurt-Nuremberg-Munchen on the way out, which is where I had the worst of it. IIRC.
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bpg
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Post by bpg on Feb 17, 2023 14:30:57 GMT
That's the A9 Rennstrecke between Munich and Ingolstadt for BMW and Audi pilots.
You passed within 10 minutes of chez moi on your way out between Aachen and Köln.
Last time I did Köln to Frankfurt was two years ago just after the floods closed the A61 forcing all long distance traffic onto the A3. Five hours to cover what should have been less than two. I have not been down the A3 from Frankfurt to Nuremberg and onto the A9 for years. It used to be pure misery from Frankfurt to Wurzburg due to roadworks.
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bpg
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Post by bpg on Feb 17, 2023 19:48:27 GMT
I have not checked yet, believe it's of the order 1,500€ - 2,000€ including the necessary first aid certification, provisional license, training, test and full licence. Looks like I was being a little optimistic there, something in the region of 2,600 - 3,500€ is the norm apparently. |
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