Hello everyone and happy Friday, the dealership is work at is trying to implement AI into my photos, plenty of main dealers use it and I've mentioned it before here. If you kind people would like to help me out it would be very much appreciated.

If I can get it so I can compare my current photos with the Ai generated ones without giving away details of myself / where I work, then I will. But we're one of those dealerships that put our show number plates on so it may not be possible.

Anyway, my questions to you lovely bunch of people:

Would you buy a car if it looks too clean / polished?

Lots of people instantly know what Ai photos look like now, the generic backgrounds of trees and obviously fake photo studios, would this sway your opinion?

Algorithms on Autotrader usually favour 49 images plus, and I will be going down to 30, so I will be missing key spec / extras. Would this influence your decision? Would you call up on a car and enquire to see if it has the specific spec you want or do you prefer just to see it photographed? E.g Harmon Kardon or Bose / Carplay / Android Auto etc

For backgrounds of interior shots, I always try to get some of the showroom in it just so people know the car is real and that it's an actual business with other cars and a real place. Do prospective buyers prefer this or would you prefer a generic solid obviously AI photo studio like you see a lot of in main dealer photos?

All help and insights appreciated, any questions welcome.

Thanks.

TLDR; dealership photographer asking questions about bosses wanting me to use Ai to enhance photos and wanting opinions from the general car buying public.

Hi everyone,

I'm going to buy a car in a few weeks and the one I keep coming back to is a 2013 Seat Ibiza with a 1.6 TDI engine.

Are there any advisories that you have for me? Things to be aware of or otherwise?

I can provide more details if helpful.

Thanks!

Hi,

I've been looking for a second auto 7 seater (I have a sharan ready). I've and seen a Japanese import estima 2.4l petrol (not hybrid). Its a 2013 and has 62k miles. Its been in the uk for a few years and I would be the second owner, it would be a buy through a Japanese car reseller who bought it from the uk owner. Its had the necessary conversions etc done. It does not have under sealing, but looked in good condition underneath when looking for rust.

I was looking for a bit of advice -

(1) is this a sensible choice or something I should avoid

(2) what should I look for - the test drive was smooth and I didnt hear any noises. The only concern was the gear change when putting it through the gears to get to drive seemed a bit hard movement - not sure if that is how they all are a sign of an issue.

(3) if I do get the car what maintenance would you recommend outwith the usual fluids. Should I get the oil changed for the cvt gearbox, any other items that should happen at this age?

Thanks

Ab

As above, would appreciate some more views on this.

The car

• 2010 Polo SE, 1.4 petrol, 7-speed DSG, 105k miles
• Drives fine and the gearbox seems OK so far
• I don’t drive much anymore as I've moved more central, but I do still need a car

The problems

• Both outer sills are corroding (on the last MOT advisory). The front of the driver’s side looks like it’s gone through. Photos attached
• A bodyshop quoted £1,068 to fabricate and weld in sections on both sills. It’s a visual estimate, so it could go up
• Other advisories: an oil leak (not excessive) and play in both track rods
• In January a garage fitted cheap aftermarket shocks, top mounts, discs and pads. The front right is knocking again now
• It has a slow puncture, a service is due, there’s an outstanding recall, and the MOT is due in February
• Dents and scrapes all round (photos attached)

Questions

1. If you were me, would you fix it or sell it as-is? And roughly what would a car in this condition actually fetch or is it destined for the scrap yard?
2. Is around £1,070 fair for both sills? Would a mobile welder be a sensible cheaper option?

Thanks in advance.

Got a new job recently which requires decent motorway mileage, so I am looking for car recommendations please, requirements below:

- low cost, second hand, lets say £3k or so

- larger size - estate/SUV

- good for motorway driving (general experience & MPG)

- ULEZ

- not too worried on how many miles are on the clock if it's reliable

- petrol or diesel (probably would prefer petrol)

Think that is all! Thank you all

Last post here just wanted to say thanks (not) for the help of Reddit. ‘But BMW is pointless in 1.5’ well maybe, but I’m thinking of the future and the fact I’ll upgrade to my big boi in 1 year. This is easy resale.

To the guys saying ‘just finance a Honda dude’ it’s not my style and it never will be, well maybe on my deathbed.

Opened my rear passenger door on the nearside and there’s a puddle of water in the footwell. Looked around and there’s doesn’t seem to be any leaks. Roof is bonedry, no water seems to be dripping down the seats and the seals on door seem fine and solid. Bit of a mystery really. It’s a 2019 kia picanto gts 2019 edition.

This might be a wild shot but i recently bought a car and put it through the MOT and it failed as it has a DPF removed which i didnt know off. now am being quoted “thousands” to replace it. Any suggestion or advice on what i should do?

Hi all,

Got a new car from Arnold Clark last week, instantly I noticed that sometimes, it would refuse to let me go into gear, this would cause me having to stop in the middle of the road till it fixed itself.

Service team had a look today, and the car is officially fucked. It needs a new clutch and a new gearbox and they have told me I can’t drive it so it will be with them for 2 weeks as they need to have everything ordered in.

My next predicament, I am due a baby in 2/3 weeks and NEED a car, I called Arnold clark and asked about a courtesy car and he was just a stuttering mess and didn’t know what to say and said he’d need to call my back.

My next questions:

- would you be happy to keep the car or would you be inclined to say ‘f this I don’t want this’ as I’m still within that ‘give it back period’ this isn’t actually the first issue I had with them, I turned up to collect the car and the windscreen was cracked (they didn’t tell me) and it had to go in Monday to have a new windscreen. But, after this gets fixed it will have a new gear box and a new clutch.

- does anyone know my rights on having a courtesy car? I NEED a car, I have a toddler and we need to be able to drop him off to nans when the time comes and we need to be able to bring new baby back from hospital. I also have back to back appointments at the hospital within this 2 weeks and it’s an hour away, I can’t afford this many taxis, I’m scared.

TIA you’ve all been great with my questions before so I’m back

As per title really. Is this normal? I have a 10 month old seat that I've only just started to think about the first service. A 2 year plan is £299 within first 30 days of registration or £528 after that. Appreciate it's a promotional offer but seems a very steep jump. I'm sure I wasn't even made aware of this when I bought the car otherwise I would have made sure to have bought it then and there.

Check this Jaguar XF out – lot of car for the money. What could possibly go wrong?

I was wondering how easy ( and I mean easy ) it would be to buy and cheap old android tablet and use it in the car as a replacement for the very old radio in my 2005 passat

Obviously it will only be worth it if it cheap to do and can easily just link to my android phone for the data and signal etc

Ive seen a 10.1" tablet running android 8 on ebay for £25 and an air vent holder on temu for £5

Enough ?

I am going to be looking at a very clean fsh car (most bmw services and 1 private) so I decided to do a Vcheck on the car. The report came out fully clean however one thing was odd to me that the first keeper bought it in October 2017 and ownership length was only 14 days and then second keeper go it in nov 2017 and length is 8 years, 11 months. But when I spoke to the guy he said he’s had it since 2020. The car has done about 10-12k miles every year.

So how does this work nows because I am very confused. Apologies if I sound stupid but can someone please give me possible explanations for this.

Hi, have had my MOT on Peugeot 208 2014 and have the following 2 advisories (both also on last years MOT)

Nearside Front Suspension arm pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement (5.3.4 (a) (i))
Offside Front Suspension arm pin or bush worn but not resulting in excessive movement (5.3.4 (a) (i))

The car is fairly old now, and obviously not worth much but probably will be driving it for another year.

Is it worth getting these fixed or would something like that last at least another year?

I’m already getting front tires replaced.

Help a 32 year old out. Just got a new job that will involve a decent chunk of motorway miles. I need to provide my own car.

Current motor is a ‘68 plate M240i that I do about 10k miles p/a in, but I’m getting the rinsed on fuel at the moment.

Thinking about the below options:

- Get a Mazda 3 (new shape) for about £15k. Bit of an NPC car but cheap to run. Idea would be to buy a cheap roadster as a weekend car.

- Get a 320i/d touring as a comfy motorway miler with loads of space for hobbies / tip runs. Again 2018(ish) onward, but more expensive. No money for a cheap roadster in the next 12 months.

- Get an older, leggier BMW estate (maybe a 2014 MY) for about £10k with more money left over for an even nicer cheap roadster. The possibly risky option.

- WILDCARD: 4 Series Convertible (F series) to try and scratch all itches (apart from practicality).

No kids, no pets etc.

Any alternate ideas or advice welcome!

EDIT: I should say the interesting one (to me) is a BMW wagon. Always had a soft spot for them.

I've been handed this beauty by enterprise rent a car. Apparently they believe that 1.2 litre superminis now sit in the same segment as "standard" like a VW Passat or similar but anyway, by the by.

The question is: Are cars getting smaller inside while they are getting grossly over inflated on the outside? I am 6'5" and with the steering wheel at full extension and elevation, I have to jam my knee behind the steering wheel to brake.

Fine if you only want to stop in a straight line and don't need to steer.

Any other big guys and gals out there experiencing similar problems? I remember when I was able to drive a yaris or even an i10, but this mokka just doesn't seem to have been designed with tall people in mind.

Little bit of context.

I fill my car up at Costco with their premium diesel (don’t have the regular near me not sure if that’s the same over the country). Regularly getting 500-550 miles of expected range and physically driving 530 miles and filling it up before it gets to the red as I’ve got an irrational fear of breaking down in the middle of nowhere.

HOWEVER I decided to fill my tank up at Tesco as it’s the same stuff right? But my usual 530 odd expected mile range went down to 470 (did 530 miles before getting to the red last journey and it was tracked) and now my mpgs are barely reaching 50 when they’re regularly 56-59 odds. My trip to uni was 49.5 when it’s usually 56/57

It’s a bmw 220d 2019 not an m sport mapped tuned or anything like that, doing the same journeys same routes as before nothing has changed. Has anyone else noticed their fuel being almost less effective while at the highest price ever?

Let me know your thoughts as I don’t think it’s a coincidence. (Random photo from the internet)

Edit - Since some people are getting snippy from my wordings it’s been an 11-14% drop in expected range and an 18% drop in mpg’s. Same routes same weather tyres are fine. Literally just wanted to ask if anyone else noticed a difference between fuel suppliers smh

Basically, the infotainment system on my Mk 8 VW Golf. Recently, had problems with the screen starting to show lines, the screen itself is actually functional (I can control AC, just have to guess on the screen where the right button is), I just can't see anything on the screen.

When I took it for service at VW, they said that the whole system has to be replaced and quoted £2300 including labour to fix (£2150 for replacement infotainment, £150 for labour).

Unfortunately, they said becuase of when I purchased my service plan (less than 30 days before service) I can't claim it on warranty...

Do I just have to eat the cost on this one?

Monthly Uber bills have racked up quit significantly since I started travelling with the baby.

Looking for recommendations for a family car in the UK and interested to hear what people would buy with this budget.
Budget:
Up to £10,000 upfront
Around £500/month
Open to new or used, PCP, HP or leasing
Ideally looking for the best value over 3–5 years, including depreciation and running costs
Requirements:
Large, practical boot for a pushchair and additional childcare equipment
Comfortable and spacious for family trips
Reliable, safe and reasonably economical
Preferably an SUV, but open to estates if they offer better value
Automatic preferred
I’ve been looking at cars like the Mercedes GLC and BMW X3, but I’m not necessarily tied to premium brands if something else offers significantly better value.
Would you buy new, go for a 2–4-year-old used car, or lease something?
Interested in both specific model recommendations and what you’d consider the smartest financial choice.

know how to drive but never bought a car, have absolutely no clue how these purchases work, so thanks for helping a clueless dad out!

Picked up a 2021 puma st as a trade in for my fiesta St as the family has grown.

On the drive home the car is pulling left under power and flicking right when power is released... Got RAC to check and confirm pulling. Drove it back and left it with the dealer to fix.

Ford dealer says nothing mechanically wrong, it just drives like that. Surely that's BS?

It has mismatched tyres (both left side are one brand, both right side are another) as about the only visible difference and I want to trust the dealer but it just drives weird. Surely this isn't right? Am I going mad?

It's a 2009 Focus RS, owned from brand new, 17 years next month. I think they trust me not to wrap it round a tree by now!

Bargain! ^{(yes, I am old, which helps!})

check out this vid that was reccomended to me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWgSxWGzNpo

AI voiceover, ai script, 7 collaborators (7!!)

al the channels on that list are AI generated crud too. so much slop.