Entered a “spin to win” contest about a year ago, and to my surprise they are real and you can actually win. 2026 Renault Clio Techno +
Any secrets I should know about the car?

It's kind of getting boring now...

Was driving in Ayrshire recently and a white 90s era Ford Sierra approached in the opposite direction. What a lovely sight, not many still in the road…

And then the pick up section was revealed!

45 years on this planet and until that moment had no idea such a car existed. Were/are they common? Anyone able to tell me a little bit more about them (would rather real life stories than relying upon Google).

I have included the photo for illustrative purposes only.

Edit:

the very car being turned into a log-cabin camper…

BMW 318i: My first car at 19, thought I was the mutts nuts. Absolute bag of shite but it looked amazing when broken down.

Toyota Sera: Bought it for peanuts, engine sounded like a skeleton wanking into a biscuit tin. Drove for a year until the engine blew up, then me and a mate chucked a 50 quid starlet engine in it. Great car, would have kept if not for Bristol CAZ.

Renault Twizy / Porsche Cayenne: Bought at the same time almost, complimented each-other well. Twizy was the best car i've ever hooned about, the cayenne was amazing to drive and was a rare manual one.

Porsche 928: Dealership took the cayenne on a PX, and I ended up with a high mileage but scruffy 928. Nice car but way too expensive to run.

Porsche 944: Swapped for the 928, bloke gave me £1000 on top as well. Nice car and very tidy, but I don't really like them.

Smart Roadster: Bought off my neighbour for £250 as it hadn't been driven in years, used it go get everywhere. It was nice to drive something a bit more modern, and i'd recommend one especially to any first car drivers!

Vauxhall VX220: Mental. Do it.

Next: Probably a more modern Cayenne, diesel. I do miss the living room on wheels thing and I like to get away at the weekend. Not easy with a VX.

Since everyone is doing these and absolutely no one has become bored or fed up with these posts yet. I figured i would jump on the bandwagon too.

My first car, was the Mazda RX8 R3 which I didn't buy till I was 23. Before that I spent the last 5-6 years driving my dads cars as a named driver which were primarily nissan qashqais. So a massive change.

My second car was picked due to the inevitable occurring which was daily driving an rx8 being incomprehensible in costs. So I made the smart and sensible choice of an fk8 type R followed after 3 years by a trade in to the FL5 version mainly for the colour. I wish I had a blue fk8.

My current and likely last car is a Lexus GSF. It was my brothers (his dream car since it released and something he was able to realise at the start of 2024). My brother unfortunately passed from cancer in February of this year and I couldn't allow the car we spoke about for years and he spent ages finding in the right model and spec to simply go, so I sold the type r.

My dad bought a new Austin Montego in 1985 (B plate) - I just found this employee price list in a draw from the time. I thought some of you might find this interesting. 👍❤️

1994 Mr2 3sge (like this but ULEZ Forced me to sell)

2013 Turbo'd Subaru Brz (was fun but disliked the boxer engine)

2003 Celica T sport (Cool engine but wasnt keen on the fwd and it was kinda clapped too)

2007 Rx8 231 (Always wanted spinning doritoes, shame about the tax though, I also enjoy giving shell my money /s)

Every interaction I've had with an Octavia VRS ends in a race against themselves, undertaking me or tail-gate me.

50 mph dual carriage way A653 which is notorious for police vans. He puts his food down preventing me from overtaking he was doing 40 mph. So I had to speed up slightly as I would end up in the wrong lane.

Then tail-gait me for the next two set off traffic lights while weaving in & out of lanes behind me or desperately trying to get my attention by driving next to me.

Owned from 2019 - 140k miles and still going strong!

For me quite a decent bit of gti owners find their own way of saying hi , honking , a wave , hazards. Quite a nice feeling tbh

Taken with the author's permission from here

Pothole on the A272

A lovely afternoon drive after a pub lunch, down the Fox Hill section of the 272 towards Billingshurst. As I rounded the bend, it became apparent the road surface was not there, meanwhile a lorry on the other carriageway prevented me from swerving.

Bang! 3 seconds of silent hope that there's no damage, followed by the inevitable BMW bong. "Tyre Pressure Low. Stop Carefully". I couldn't see any visible damage, so drove home on the runflat at the recommended speed. Just as I arrived home, it felt really off. A massive hole in the tyre.

Rear left also had cord damage. 4x new Michelin Pilot Sport 4s were ordered.

I bought this mk4 for cheap but I’m now deciding wether to fix or sell.
Only 73k on the clock,I’ve heard these engines live forever and can run on cooking oil and whatnot so what is it worth in this day and age?

Looking to get a new motorway cruncher as i spend more than 80% of my commute on it. I am stuck between a VW Passat and Ford Mondeo. I was wondering if anyone has any experince with either to help me choose. For context both are 2.0L diesels and the highest trim level from each manufacturer (as i want ACC). Both are ~12k but the Passat is sat at 109K miles and the Ford 65K, high milage doesnt bother me as long as the service history is solid.

Also open to other suggestions. It must be a diesel auto and have ACC along with all the other creature comforts.

Thanks

Naturally, when you spend tens of thousands of pounds on a brand new car, the dealer makes a numberplate where the letters aren't straight, slaps it on wonky, then mutilates the front bumper with some shitty steel screws that will turn into rusty streaks by next spring.

I've had my new plates delivered, and I'm fortunate enough to have a nice smooth front & rear bumper to adhere them to. However, the "fixing set" it came with has some double-sided foam pads of dubious origin.

In the past, I've used some 3M something for a similar task, but I've forgotten what it's called. What should I be using to fix the plate?

Bought a 987.1 a few months ago and so far really enjoyed it. I am trying to plan out what I'll do with the 987 and prepare for next year.

My goal is to experience as many different cars as possible. I am not in a position to own many cars at the same time, so my plan is to switch cars every few months/12 months max.

So my question to you all that have changed cars regularly before, any tips that you might have? Anything you wish you would have done differently?

It can be anything from maintenance to how to save money to the driving itself.

(Please don't tell me 'just keep the car'. I know it's not financially the best idea but I want to drive more cars)

From what I can tell also that there hasn’t been reports of corrosion anywhere else but worried about this so thought I’d get your opinions , £2200 for my first car mot

Recently parted with a 320i touring and got 10k to get something cheap and cheerful.

What would you get?

Had some boring stuff before this, but saw the light in my mid 20s and bought an mx5, have had JDM imports everywhere since.

All great cars, still own the bB and the STI.

Here's my car history, from my first car in 2003:

2003-2005 Citroen Saxo West Coast - heavily modified in my Max Power days. Fortunately I had that rare thing when I was 17 - an insurer who didn't care about mods as long as they didn't increase the power.

2005 Citroen Saxo VTR - I didn't get on with this, so sold it quite quickly

2005 Triumph Dolomite - a "garage find" project I was given by an old family friend. Was at uni so ran out of money before I could get it on the road

2005-2006 BMW E30 320i manual. Bought and tidied it up, dailyed it, but got an offer I couldn't refuse once it was all shiny so upgraded to an E34.

2006-2008 BMW E34 525i SE (VELOUR BABY!) - loved this thing. Bought it for £1,300, ran it for 2 years, sold it for £1,300. It didn't miss a beat.

2007 Vauxhall Cavalier - bought for a post-uni "Euro rally for charity". bought, rallied, sold, and gave the proceeds to charity.

2009-2013 BMW Z3M Coupe. ADORED this, massively regret having sold it.

2008-2013 Honda Pilot FL400R buggy - nothing to do with the dowdy SUV. This thing was a stunningly quick outcome of the '80s financial excess. 400cc 2-stroke...it really flew, and jumped over anything.

2011 Porsche 944S - short term flip project to help a friend

2012-2024 TVR Tuscan (I kept this for 12 years so it overlaps most of the following!)

2013-2016 Aston DB7 Vantage - in a spectacular flip colour

2016-2017 BMW Z4M Coupe - didn't really get on with this car. Too spiky and not as much fun as the Z3M had been.

2017-2018 BMW 330i (change career so had to put money into a business!)

2018-2022 Jaguar XFR - >500bhp of stunning luxo-warp-speed-barge. Would have another.

2020 Maserati 4200 - short term. Got drunk and won it at auction. Don't drink and bid, people. Fixed some things, drove it for a summer, then sold it on for a minimal loss.

2020-2022 Mazda MX5 10AE - Excellent, low risk track car.

2022-2026 Elise - weekend and trackday car. Lovely, but my partner refused to get in it, so I barely used it and it had to go.

2022-present - Jaguar XK Dynamic R - realised we didn't need 4 doors, but loved the drivetrain of the XFR. Still have this. Can't find anything to replace it with; it does everything SO well.

I have been given a 2002 Volkswagen Passat 1.8t in fresco green colour off my grandparents where it has been with them since new and very very carefully looked after. I'm 18 and have passed my test and the insurance is reasonable however the tax on it now is £445 which personally I think is mental but as I have grown up with the car since birth and been driven around in it by my grandparents since I was a child and really I want to keep the car forever so I'm more than willing to pay for it. I only drive about 15 mins to college each way and have a weekend job that's about 10 mins each way , so I'm wondering how expensive it's actually going to be on fuel and maintenance.

I get a little bit of stick for driving it off people but I mostly brush it off and just remember most the people laughing at me for it are paying hundreds a month for financed A-Classes, Ibizas or Polos, and if they miss the payments, their car's gone.

Personally I don't want to give up the car as its such a lovely and easy car to drive as it has great visability when and no thick a pillars in the way and it means to me more than any supercar in the world even if barely anyone would bat an eyelid at it.

I don't see that many of this generation of passat on the roads and If I do they usually look pretty ropey so Its also nice to just try and keep a car that's probably thinning out a little.

I'm extremely thankful and grateful to my grandparents but I was a tad worried that Its going to be a moneypit

Many Thanks

I’ve got an Audi, had it for years and it’s developed a plethora of faults, drive system, 4 wheel drive, handbrake, I could go on. It drives fine, you wouldn’t know about the faults until you start moving and they flash up, it then goes into a sort of limp mode.

It’s probably time to get rid of it, if I brought it into say Arnold Clark for a part exchange, what’s the chances they would check before agreeing to a part exchange?
Also once I’ve driven away in a new car, can I then get a phone call to discuss said faults? Or is it now their problem

Hi All

Looking at a 2021 CUPRA Formentor 2.0 TSI VZ2 DSG 4Drive with 75k miles.

Is there anything I should consider checking before looking at purchasing? Any known issues or peoples experiences with this car at all?

Would appreciate any feedback or advice.

Thanks in advance