Boats and cars

Just got this on messenger. "It’s not a mini, but we are selling our beautiful BMW X 5 sport 40d at the moment for €5,000 below market value. It’s a right hand drive that we imported from the UK, and Croatians are too afraid to drive a RHD here - hence the very low price!" Ive told her I will only be interested if it can be driven up our street easily.She is bringing it over on Tuesday. Your comments ?
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Just got this on messenger. "It’s not a mini, but we are selling our beautiful BMW X 5 sport 40d at the moment for €5,000 below market value. It’s a right hand drive that we imported from the UK, and Croatians are too afraid to drive a RHD here - hence the very low price!" Ive told her I will only be interested if it can be driven up our street easily.She is bringing it over on Tuesday. Your comments ?View attachment 53217View attachment 53218
Technically a very good car. I had 5-series estate with the same engine, and it went very well. Doesn't quite fit the criteria of a small car though, it will still be way over budget, and wouldn't having the steering wheel on the wrong side drive you mad?
 
I don't really have a budget mate, the Saab was right hand drive. In fact most of the driving I have done here is in British cars. The problem for her is driving up our cul de sac then parking. So no matter how good the deal is if she can't do it it's a no no.
 
I don't really have a budget mate, the Saab was right hand drive. In fact most of the driving I have done here is in British cars. The problem for her is driving up our cul de sac then parking. So no matter how good the deal is if she can't do it it's a no no.
Sorry, I misunderstood. I thought you were budgeting based on your insurance payout. Fingers crossed on the cul-de-sac being large enough then.
 
If you're looking for a small car then I would put the X5 somewhere near the bottom of the list :laugh: Whilst I'm sure there are some larger SUVs around, the X5 is definitely towards the upper end size-wise.

The X series has 3 sizes: the X1 and X2 are the "baby" SUVs, then you go up in size to the X3 & X4 which are what I would call "normal SUV size", and finally the X5 & X6.....which are huge (in case you're wondering, the odd numbers are the "standard" shape, and the even numbers are the coupé versions).

We used to have an X4 (so a size smaller than the X5) and I loved it: it was great to drive, had lots of nice gadgets and was plenty big enough to be practical, but not so big that it made country lane driving difficult. We also test drove an X6 but decided that it was far too big.
 
If you're looking for a small car then I would put the X5 somewhere near the bottom of the list :laugh: Whilst I'm sure there are some larger SUVs around, the X5 is definitely towards the upper end size-wise.

The X series has 3 sizes: the X1 and X2 are the "baby" SUVs, then you go up in size to the X3 & X4 which are what I would call "normal SUV size", and finally the X5 & X6.....which are huge (in case you're wondering, the odd numbers are the "standard" shape, and the even numbers are the coupé versions).

We used to have an X4 (so a size smaller than the X5) and I loved it: it was great to drive, had lots of nice gadgets and was plenty big enough to be practical, but not so big that it made country lane driving difficult. We also test drove an X6 but decided that it was far too big.
Mouser mate, the reason we are looking for a smaller car is of the difficulty in driving to our apartment. We are at the end of a narrow road. The Saab's size was not a problem if I drove in and reversed out the 100 metres.
There is a big Ex Pat community site here so I asked a few friends to look out for a recent Mini Cooper, preferably a soft top like the Saab. This lady contacted me, she is due to visit this afternoon. If she can park under the vine covered car port then a deal may be on. If not as we have a "county" lock down here and out of season without Covid most touristy places are closed we are in no rush.
 
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I don't own a truck (I've had several in the past). The truck I mentioned for the drive to Houston was a rental full size pickup. It is better suited for that trip. My MINI is 13 years old, and the CooperS models don't have spare tires (they came with run-flat tires, AKA "run-rocks" because they are very hard). Enthusiasts replace them with good tires, but the tradeoff is hoping you don't get a flat in the middle of nowhere.

CD
You'll probably enjoy this story:

I bought my 500 very early on - the dealership hadn't even been built yet (technically, I bought it from Boyd FIAT, but all the test driving and paperwork was done at Boyd Lincoln-Mercury. :laugh:.

Had it for a bit, and I had to run up to the dealer (over an hour away) to get it checked out, first service maybe, and I was the last appointment of the day, and as soon as I paid, they closed up tight.

I sat in my car for several minutes, looking at my phone, figuring out where I was going to eat, then took off, and just a couple of miles down the road, I got a flat. I don't have run-flats.

That's also when I discovered that I didn't have a spare, just one of those little pumps with a bottle of fix-a-flat attached.

That didn't work, so I called back to the dealer, no answer, so I called FIAT road service, but all they'd do for me was tow it to the nearest dealer, so I called AAA - we have the good service, where they'll tow my car just about anywhere.

Well, you know how AAA is...slow. It took them over two hours to show up. It was maybe 9PM at that point.

Tow guy took one look at my car, pulled out his little computer tablet, couldn't find any info on 500s, because they were so new (getting it insured was the same story), and refused to load it up on the flatbed, because he had no instructions on how to tie that particular car down: "Every car is different."

He ended up calling his boss, and he told him to use his common sense, tie down as best he could work out, and to tell me that they weren't liable if they damaged it.

Finally, about 10PM, we were off. I had him tow it to a tire shop in my hometown, figuring I'd just call them in the morning and get a new tire slapped on. He dropped me off there, I called MrsT, and I was home by midnight. Longest service appointment of my life.

END PART 1 (bathroom/refreshment break)

The next morning, I called up the tire shop, told them what I needed, they looked it up and said, "We don't have anything on your car in the system, it's too new, and the tires that are on it, we can't get those. You need to contact the dealer."

Called the dealer - "Tires are on backorder, we don't know when they'll arrive." - their lack of concern over my issue meant I never used their service department again.

Then I remembered that they'd just opened a FIAT dealership that week, about 40 minutes in the other direction, so I called them up. Completely different story:

"Tires are on backorder, yes, but if you can get down here, we'll pull a tire off one of our cars on the lot and you can have that one."

Yes!

And here's where it gets heartwarming:

I asked the guy at the tire shop if he'd please take the wheel off, that I'd call my wife, have her leave work early, come get me, we'd go to the dealer, get the new tire mounted, then come back and have them put it on.

"Don't worry about all that...take my car," and he tossed me his keys. Nicest guy in the world, and because of that, to this day, that's where I get my tires.

Drove down, got the tire, and she didn't charge me for it, drove back, the tire shop put everything back together, didn't charge me for it ("Sounds like you've had a bad enough day already."), and that was that.

Funny end of the story - had I chosen to get the spare as an add-on - $90. Since I had to order it as an after-market kit - $300, and that was just for the part, I installed it myself. But now I have a spare...which I've never used since, and that was almost 10 years ago.
 
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The base model Mini Cooper has a spare -- one of those donut spares. Those spares won't work on a CooperS, because the brakes on the CooperS are too big for the donut spare to clear.

CD
 
The base model Mini Cooper has a spare -- one of those donut spares. Those spares won't work on a CooperS, because the brakes on the CooperS are too big for the donut spare to clear.

CD
I always carry a can of Tyreweld. I have no enthusiasm for playing about with jacks and wheel braces at the side of a busy road.
 
Polaris Slingshot.
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2.0 Liter engine and weighs about 1700 lbs. Street legal in most of the USA. Registered usually as a motorcycle.

A good friend owns a Recreation Vehicle dealership that I've been doing business with for several decades. I bought my motorhomes and recreation trailers from him.

He picked up the Polaris off road vehicle line sometime back. His required building signage alone was $36.000.
Polaris was on the verge of bankruptcy until the release of their Rzr off road hunting vehicle.

The Rzr was a sportier, more compact side by side / AKA UTV off road vehicle for cheap. Could fit in the back of a hunters pick up truck.
That year Polaris sold $1.5 billion dollars worth of Rzr's and over the next few years sales topped $5 billion annually and growing. The company soared.
No one saw this coming. People like me bought the Rzr, flashed the computers for more power and set them up for performance off roading. Blindsided Polaris who marketed the Rzr as a narrow trail accessing deer hunting vehicle.

Our Polaris Rzr with Sand Tires at Dumont Dunes near Las Vegas Nevada:
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Polaris enhanced the Rzr over the years and with all the publicity, popularity & showroom foot traffic picked up and their other off road vehicles lines sales picked up too.

Then Polaris released the 3 wheeled street legal Slingshot and required their dealers to sell them. Sales were dismal and dealers got penalized financially for slow sales.
So my friend dropped the franchise. Slingshot is a powerful, 3 wheeled street legal vehicle.

In the meantime Polaris competitor Can Am blindsided the segment and introduced the X3 off road vehicle. Sleeker, more fun to drive with more power. It really cut into Polaris Rzr sales. The Rzr is clunky to drive in comparison.

Our 2 seat Can Am X3 with sand tires at St Anthony Sand Dunes Idaho USA.
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Then the Polaris Rzr started having serious driveline issues and fires year after year. Two problems that still plague the Rzr line today. Most management and world wide sales staff quit the company and it's still trying to recover.

 
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Polaris Slingshot.
View attachment 53748
2.0 Liter engine and weighs about 1700 lbs. Street legal in most of the USA. Registered usually as a motorcycle.

A good friend owns a Recreation Vehicle dealership that I've been doing business with for several decades. I bought my motorhomes and recreation trailers from him.

He picked up the Polaris off road vehicle line sometime back. His required building signage alone was $36.000.
Polaris was on the verge of bankruptcy until the release of their Rzr off road hunting vehicle.

The Rzr was a sportier, more compact side by side / AKA UTV off road vehicle for cheap. Could fit in the back of a hunters pick up truck.
That year Polaris sold $1.5 billion dollars worth of Rzr's and over the next few years sales topped $5 billion annually and growing. The company soared.
No one saw this coming. People like me bought the Rzr, flashed the computers for more power and set them up for performance off roading. Blindsided Polaris who marketed the Rzr as a narrow trail accessing deer hunting vehicle.

Our Polaris Rzr with Sand Tires at Dumont Dunes near Las Vegas Nevada:
View attachment 53749

Polaris enhanced the Rzr over the years and with all the publicity, popularity & showroom foot traffic picked up and their other off road vehicles lines sales picked up too.

Then Polaris released the 3 wheeled street legal Slingshot and required their dealers to sell them. Sales were dismal and dealers got penalized financially for slow sales.
So my friend dropped the franchise. Slingshot is a powerful, 3 wheeled street legal vehicle.

In the meantime Polaris competitor Can Am blindsided the segment and introduced the X3 off road vehicle. Sleeker, more fun to drive with more power. It really cut into Polaris Rzr sales. The Rzr is clunky to drive in comparison.

Our 2 seat Can Am X3 with sand tires at St Anthony Sand Dunes Idaho USA.
View attachment 53750

Then the Polaris Rzr started having serious driveline issues and fires year after year. Two problems that still plague the Rzr line today. Most management and world wide sales staff quit the company and it's still trying to recover.

This is my good mate's Monsta. Andy is a massive ex Irish Guard and Yorkshire Police driving instructor who live down the coast.
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He is on the left, on the right is my friend 6ft 4" Brian. Also ex Irish Guard, City of London Police Detective inspector. Brian met his Bosnian Muslim wife whilst serving in the UN peace keeping police force in Bosnia. He lives about 90 mins away across the border.
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This is my good mate's Monsta. Andy is a massive ex Irish Guard and Yorkshire Police driving instructor who live down the coast.View attachment 53792View attachment 53793He is on the left, on the right is my friend 6ft 4" Brian. Also ex Irish Guard, City of London Police Detective inspector. Brian met his Bosnian Muslim wife whilst serving in the UN peace keeping police force in Bosnia. He lives about 90 mins away across the border.View attachment 53794

This is my good mate's Monsta. Andy is a massive ex Irish Guard and Yorkshire Police driving instructor who live down the coast.View attachment 53792View attachment 53793He is on the left, on the right is my friend 6ft 4" Brian. Also ex Irish Guard, City of London Police Detective inspector. Brian met his Bosnian Muslim wife whilst serving in the UN peace keeping police force in Bosnia. He lives about 90 mins away across the border.View attachment 53794
I wanna say, but may have it wrong but I think these guys appeared in the USA on an Off Road enthusiast YouTube site teaching tricks of the trade. I searched it but couldn't find it. They have some handy things to know. Maybe not them.

Below is a 4 seat Side by Side we bought earlier this year. Straight off the showroom floor I hadn't added all the jewelry, lighting and so on.
We took it directly to Duck Creek Utah and that place is amazing.

We came across some Germans that had place orders for new Jeeps from Germany. The program gives them delivery at the USA Jeep factory, a month to tour the USA and shipping back home. They said all that and it works out cheaper than if they bought the Jeeps and took delivery in Germany.
Many of them did the same program a few years earlier with Mustang GT's. Saved wheel barrow's of money.

They spoke no English. I mean none. But the wife is fluent in several strains of German so we communicated and had some fun together.
The Germans went on a few trail rides with us with their new Jeeps:

Strawberry Canyon:
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The Frozen Cave. AKA Refrigerated Cave:
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The Lava Beds:
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No restaurants other than a booked solid Pizza joint for an hour in any direction so we invited the Germans into camp for dinner.
Jambalaya, the former Disneyland recipe, my home recipe corn bread and Dos Equis Green bottle beer:
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I love the Lotus Evora.
But,, my Tesla neighbors swear Musk is preparing it with a 500 mile battery and an insane HP and torque electric motor.
May see it mid next year goes the tale.
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View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmS__G9ig64


I had an electric RAV 4 and never once plugged it into the grid.
100% solar recharged so electrics work for me just fine and for lots more reasons. Endless reasons I'll spare you.
But I did realize that at least a 350 mile range is essential for it to be feasible.
That's come to pass,,,,

Driving to Las Vegas we pulled into get fuel in the truck in Baker Cal.
Next to the pumps is a Tesla super charger station and that's when I realized,, this can work nationwide.

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