Recycle I'm already doing it....

Post pictures and we'll tell you..

I know someone who runs an early 70's Merc, his wife has a Mk1 Golf GTi. He has all the service receipts from both cars since new, currently the Merc, which is older, has cost £10000 less to maintain. This is double the difference in purchase prices at the time of buying. Now, I don't know about anyone else, but I always take into account economic factors when looking at the old carbon footprint. Is a modern French car going to last that long anyway? Answers on a postcard please...

Leutenant Gruber's armoured car is still running after all these years...

Air pollution models count on the aging fleet replacement by cleaner running new vehicles. They hate me and my two diesel Ford's, both over 10 years and 200k miles.

I like old,old is a replacement bulb that does not require the removal of the bumper in order to access the fitting.Old means chunky bits for a spanner to go on parts that look as if whoever designed them actually quite wanted to produce something that looked OK as well.

How boring.....

Actual chrome on a bumper.

OOh yea chrome on the bumper.....

My 1986 Plymouth Voyager minivan just passed 500,000 kM. It is running on its second engine, a rebuild costing $2000 including installation. This is a 2- liter engine with a 5-speed manual transmission, no air conditioning and no power anything. It does have chrome bumpers. They look sharp but everything else, well ... the neighbours ask me to put it in the garage when they have company they want to impress. I have had only two new cars in over 40 years of driving. It's a great way to save money; buy them used and maintain them with the help of the wreckers a.k.a. auto recyclers.

Jeez your neighbours sound right stuck up!

Car scrap yard...bliss.

Aged 18 I was 'Differential Repairman' a Superhero on a Lambretta...these days I can only leap tall buildings if I have a run up...

Mmmmmmm....Chrome!

I drive a 1990 Honda Civic Hatchback DX with a 1.5 L engine and 5 speed manual transmission, no power steering and NO air-conditioning. I now have over 371,000 miles on it and a get an average of 47 mpg (20.0 km/l) in the summer and 42 mpg (14.9 km/l) in winter. When pulling a fully loaded Pop-up Camper with a 12 foot aluminum boat on top, I get 40 mpg! I have ample power to pull onto a freeway while towing the camper & boat. Furthermore, this car handles very well due to the relatively wide wheelbase and low profile. This car is also very roomy inside ...front and back seats.

I replaced the engine at 247,000 miles because it started burning oil. The replacement (from Japan) had about 35,000 prior miles, and gets the same gas mileage.

80% of my driving is highway, and I stay between 55 & 60 mph. I am in the habit of dumping the clutch when coming to an exit, or a stop, or going downhill. I do this instinctively.

I am looking for a new car (this one will not last forever), but don't see anything that can get comparable mileage, and have the power and stability to pull a trailer. It seems all the cars these days use engines 2L or larger.

Given this example, it would seem that a good solution to making fuel-efficient cars NOW would be to:

1) Use engines with displacement away below 2 liters.

2) Leave out the air conditioning (surely have is optional).

3) Keep manual transmissions, (use 5 or 6 speeds).

4) Use a low, aerodynamic profile.

5) Small engines allow for smaller drive train parts and smaller wheels, which keeps the weight low.

6) Light weight negates the need for power steering.

Bravo !

Someone who realises you don't need a huge SUV 4WD Behemoth to tow something!

Gold star and one of Hendricks GOOZ cards to you!

Excellent Ray8.

Wish I could pull that kind of mileage off. My truck, 7.3L turbo diesel goes down the road at approx. 10,000 lbs (lots of tools) and with the new chip and K&N air filter gets 18 mpg highway. Pulling the job trailer, 20 ft Wells Cargo or flat bed either one the mileage descends to a disappointing 13 mpg.

Wish I could tell you I don't use the AC but here in Florida, working outdoors I would be lying.

It's clear you spend a lot of time on your rig.

I know we are all busy and it is impossible but has anyone bothered to actually try to work out the real a ball park 'cost' of producing a new say hatchback and the expected shelf life against one of our old 'pigs' and its ongoing costs.

If the new car is 90% recyclable no competition,but i do not see many being offered in the showroom with big stickers saying environmentally friendly bits (OK so it does 30mpg) and their construction still appears heavily dependent on petro chemical bits.

By satisfying our vanity and the need for a new registration plate,we may forget that it could be better to build better quality car and look at replacing parts as we go (he said in a naive and non profit orientated kind of way) rather than filling scrap yards with yet more stuff.

Is this an old f..t sort of comment?

What a novel idea. With the age of my trucks it's already becoming a challenge to get parts.

You are right ...its the dreaded F word...

Fashion...

Also the...it costs too much to diagnose repair..so we'll design it all to fall apart at the same time...

A chain is only as strong as the weakest link...it's a wonder the whole car doesn't wear out at the same time as the wiper blades....

Yes I'm and old f**t too.

O.K. So we stop all vehicle production today unless the manufacturer can be sure that you will achieve a minimum of 60 MPG (mixed mileage) small passenger vehicles unless they use battery,LPG or are 'green'.

All scrap yards are then re-labeled Vehicle Recycling Depots.

The trucks are designed by someone who understands the difference between the aerodynamics of a brick and a watermelon.

I feel a government think tank job with a salary of £50K a year coming on,maybe even more...... that would be nice.

Changing the subject and whilst I prepare myself to slag of this government has anyone in the U.K. tried /achieved in getting a grant out of any of these SEEDA type set ups.I have just wasted a month trying to get help to develope new products.I am told there 3,800 ways of getting a grant but I am not eligible despite the fact that I tick all the boxes on the criteria for getting one?

Late night and a bit ratty...

Any other ideas

Maybe if you promise to employ a couple of young hoodies?

Did you go to the right school? Maybe someone down at the Gof club could pull a few strings? Don't you know a Lord who could contribute?

You have my sympathies...

I'l bet if you were ON the Quango, or knew someone on the Quango you boxes would get gold stars in them.

It's like all these Grants....I built/installed my own Solar hot water panels, therefore I don't qualify for a grant cos they have to be installed by an 'approved supplier' ...who doubtless just adds the grant value onto the final total bill... so he makes extra profit!

calm calm.

Do I detect a note of I've been There?Maybe someone is listening although I doubt it....

Here's a nice little earner,I'm, going to print some banners and car stickers which I feel may apply for a government grant and be hugely popular I think it ticks all the right boxes.

'Don't nuke the gay whales'

or perhaps I am trying to attract get too broad an audience?

Where did you say you could sign up for the golf club/quango....

Not been there...just a cynical old git!

Our local college is cutting all adult education...probably so it can then target whichever group happens to be the flavour of the month with added funding...So it will be over 60's one year. Young mums next. Language courses. DIY . jump on the funding/target bandwagon... it's all about profit and bums on seats...doesn't matter if they are inappropriate bums on the wrong seats...

Sorry I'm off again...

Be persistent, obnoxious and pursue the buggers with publicity...oh, and scrap yards are actually classed as Vehicle Recycling Depots. Good luck!

Thanks plbMak.I really have tried to chase funding,the problem we have is the lead time required to get further new products under way and thats what holds up and a lot of small business back.The UK government is funding a bunch of self perpetuating 'reps' who do nothing more than sell the idea that you might get a bit of help but ultimately have no intention of releasing any funding at all.The joker who came to my company was trying to sell us the idea that if we worked with a further ed. establishment we could get a grant but tied in an interest rate which would make a store card look attractive.

Further his own company had failed I just hope that the information he had gleaned form the experience was actually passed on but I have a feeling that he may well have just learned to protect and survive!!!!

It would be laughable if it were not so important.

I have yet to find anyone who has received a grant for anything at all,any takers?

Maybe have a crack at your MP...? He might rattle their cage.

My Sis found hers surprisingly helpful/usefull with some local planning matters dawn on the South coast.

Good luck

Del

Again the gov.com makes promises but don't deliver! Chase those MP's!

Thanks team I will certainly try.

Martin

...in the same way as rubbish dumps are now Civic Amenity Sites?

Zigactly!

I have a real problem with those annoying adverts: "Recycle - the possibilities are endless". Some berk comes on talking about recycling all the newspaper so that new newspaper can be made from it. What a load of.... Why not eliminate the problem by making news paperless? Radio? Television? On-line web services? Ah! I know! It would put the paper-makers and the newspaper printers out of business!

The only thing a paper is good for is the crossword - as cryptic as possible, I say.

Yeh...just like our 'paperless office'... falls off chair...

Don't expect the world to go "Paperless" any time soon. The ability to sit back and page through a newspaper or book is just way more comfortable that scrolling down on a computer screen which is either too bulky or too small AND to heavy or wrongly shaped to hold at a good viewing angle. Everybody I know prints themselves a hardcopy of interesting articles for reading.

Computers still have a long way to go in presentation before any "paperless" movement will become significant.

Maybe when the 'desk top' is literally a desktop....

but even then...Nah... (mind by then the OS w i l l b e s o s l o w )

I lived in one once.