Any Rennlisters from New Zealand?
Jo hated the Tartan interior and the red trim line on the GTI demonstrator when we were at the dealer in March so we organised a test drive of the TSI/TDI instead. Afterward the sales guy opened her eyes to the fact you can order the GTI with full leather and a moon roof, and $6500 in options later you now have a 62K GTI!
My problem with buying a new Golf GTI is the depreciation. There are tonnes of them out there from ex demo to NZ used and even imports now which make so much better sense fiscally.
I hate loosing money on cars. I simply dont earn enough (well actually right now nothing!) to justify dumping 20K here and 40K there year year. Rather spend it on having fun with them. This is why I work so hard to buy well in the first instance. It costs only time and that's one thing I have surplus.
I think in the last 15 years Ive managed to avoid any major depreciation by being a little bit clever in what and how I purchase cars. many I have even "made" money on at resale. Its become a bit of an obsession. A few here that know my car history well know Im fairly prudent with my car purchases. Of the list in my signature below I personally imported all of them bar the 993 I recently sold (that was by far my worst purchase but it was also my first Porsche and I was green). The Alfa is the only other car I dont feel confident about on the depreciation front (definitely a heart choice not a head choice), hence the need to grey market in the first place to take the edge off of it (well the first 12 months then we will see from there). Even so I get the odd cold feet moment even now!
Another strategy I could consider is give Jo the Alfa and I drive the Focus RS. The Ford was my original DD choice after all. Ive got this red/white/blue thing in my head where the perfect three cars for all our car needs would be the GT3/Alfa/Ford. Ill still get to steal a drive in the Giulia often enough? Nah, maybe another dumb idea...
Its painful thinking this through, must be even worse for folks reading it!
P.S. Pete - what was that Volvo you had? I read a good review on the T6 & T8 VXc90 or something like that when shopping for options today in the UK. No arbitrage arbitrage really but it was well regarded and it looked similar to your one...
Ok I'm convinced (sort of )
XC 60 for Kim. She loves it and that's what matters. The new one based on the XC 90 tech is only a year away but that's only an opportunity for a trade right?!
I'm loving the cayenne diesel. John was spot on, it's such an effortless car to drive every day. Would have loved a Macan but still too early in the depreciation lifecycle.
XC 60 for Kim. She loves it and that's what matters. The new one based on the XC 90 tech is only a year away but that's only an opportunity for a trade right?!
I'm loving the cayenne diesel. John was spot on, it's such an effortless car to drive every day. Would have loved a Macan but still too early in the depreciation lifecycle.
Originally Posted by PHG
Greetings strangers...
If going North, pop in a see us at Orewa.
Jake.. I might need to take you up on your offer, especially now the T has clear lungs..
If going North, pop in a see us at Orewa.
Jake.. I might need to take you up on your offer, especially now the T has clear lungs..
Found my twin.
Seven modern car features that drive us crazy:
http://driving.ca/bmw/auto-news/ente...drive-us-crazy
Seven modern car features that drive us crazy:
http://driving.ca/bmw/auto-news/ente...drive-us-crazy
Last edited by 996tnz; 10-13-2016 at 05:16 AM.
Macca, could you talk Jo into a slightly used Golf? Their depreciation is horrendous, and there's little difference from the MK6~.
Also, what about a BMW 1 series?
Also, what about a BMW 1 series?
Last edited by nzskater; 10-13-2016 at 05:08 AM.
Pete the XC60 with the latest T6/8 tech will be a great package. Not to big but with plenty of performance!
The Cayenne's are great. I should probably look to shop one of them in the UK, but Im not much up with the play on what makes a good seller on the secondary market here (other than price!). The Macan S petrol works ok at retail ex UK and I was interested in it till I found out there are wait lists/or mark up premiums which destroy the viability. More as an addition to the container for a resell. Im not sure how they (Porsches) go down as daily transport in the Central North Island (will be trying hard enough to avoid the "Aucklander Connotations" as it is living there I suspect LOL)!
The Cayenne's are great. I should probably look to shop one of them in the UK, but Im not much up with the play on what makes a good seller on the secondary market here (other than price!). The Macan S petrol works ok at retail ex UK and I was interested in it till I found out there are wait lists/or mark up premiums which destroy the viability. More as an addition to the container for a resell. Im not sure how they (Porsches) go down as daily transport in the Central North Island (will be trying hard enough to avoid the "Aucklander Connotations" as it is living there I suspect LOL)!
Targa Tour (Targa NZ) update for the breathern from Leong just a few minutes ago.
Weather has been great today (dry). Overnight is Ohakune. Some rain (not too heavy) forecast for tommorow but weekend is looking OK.
Stage One saw Mike Dillion roll his nicely modified E36 M3 into a ditch totally the car (he and his navigator are unharmed). Many will remember Mike (pony tail, dark blue M3 with carbon hood), hes done a tonne of work on making that car better and has been doing every targa for a dew years now. His steering wheel came off in his hands hence the accident!
Ron and Patsy pulled out in the GTR due to a transmission related issue (again). Car was driven to Dodsons in Auckland but they say its not the same issue as they had in the South Island (which they were lucky to get fixed and only missed one track day). They grabbed the GT3 and will start with it tomorrow.
Roger Carter/Chris Fluery are out after Rogers engine blew.
Leongs GT4 is running well. He moved up the grid to second place today after Ron & co departed. A brand new 2016 Focus RS running P1. Interesting to see how it goes. I think Leong would have it all over him in the dry...
Big turn out this year with almost 60 Tour Cars registered! Looks like the nice quiet window of 15-25 cars an event after we all dropped out last year has ended and its bigger than ever!
Weather has been great today (dry). Overnight is Ohakune. Some rain (not too heavy) forecast for tommorow but weekend is looking OK.
Stage One saw Mike Dillion roll his nicely modified E36 M3 into a ditch totally the car (he and his navigator are unharmed). Many will remember Mike (pony tail, dark blue M3 with carbon hood), hes done a tonne of work on making that car better and has been doing every targa for a dew years now. His steering wheel came off in his hands hence the accident!
Ron and Patsy pulled out in the GTR due to a transmission related issue (again). Car was driven to Dodsons in Auckland but they say its not the same issue as they had in the South Island (which they were lucky to get fixed and only missed one track day). They grabbed the GT3 and will start with it tomorrow.
Roger Carter/Chris Fluery are out after Rogers engine blew.
Leongs GT4 is running well. He moved up the grid to second place today after Ron & co departed. A brand new 2016 Focus RS running P1. Interesting to see how it goes. I think Leong would have it all over him in the dry...
Big turn out this year with almost 60 Tour Cars registered! Looks like the nice quiet window of 15-25 cars an event after we all dropped out last year has ended and its bigger than ever!
Ok I'm convinced (sort of ) XC 60 for Kim. She loves it and that's what matters. The new one based on the XC 90 tech is only a year away but that's only an opportunity for a trade right?! I'm loving the cayenne diesel. John was spot on, it's such an effortless car to drive every day. Would have loved a Macan but still too early in the depreciation lifecycle.
Thanks for th Targa Tour report Macca. Feel real bad for Mike loosing his car. He loved that car. Weird mechanical failure loosing his steering wheel. I wonder if it was a racing removable one.
Patsy's Datsun will be annoying them with its poor reliability record. Nice that they have options.
Patsy's Datsun will be annoying them with its poor reliability record. Nice that they have options.
Thanks for th Targa Tour report Macca. Feel real bad for Mike loosing his car. He loved that car. Weird mechanical failure loosing his steering wheel. I wonder if it was a racing removable one. Patsy's Datsun will be annoying them with its poor reliability record. Nice that they have options.
Yip, this is third time the GTR transmission has played up and cost an event in as many years, so I suspect that car may be on the block soon!
Yeah mike loved that car and had alot of passion, time and money in it. Would have been like me binning the 993. Poor chap. Not sure what caused the wheel to let go - must have been a remove able one.
There are 2x 964 registered for the Targa Tour. I think maybe days 3&4. Good to see the old timers out there...
Reaction check
From the moment he swerved at 30 odd degrees towards our lane until impact was about a second I'd probably caught a wobble worsening out of the corner of my eye so was more alert than usual but even in race it takes me about 250 ms or so to initiate a steering reaction (done the slow motions to check) and fastest eye-foot reaction time is about 300ms. So about 700 to 800ms of actual physical response before getting hit.
Attachment 1098207
Attachment 1098208
The above was one of the more flattering results though. So redid it half a dozen times just now, with results grouped around 309 - 341ms (so called '19-23 year old' reactions lol), after a first one of 386 (29y).
For anyone that missed it last time:
https://www.justpark.com/creative/reaction-time-test/
That test above is fun but probably a bit laggy as the more boring 'Human Benchmark' site sees repeatable average results in the 220s, of which they state 30ms is typically due to input and output lag on the average laptop/desktop:
That test is here: http://www.humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime/
And FWIW, my left foot clicking a wedged in place wireless mouse averaged 314. Human benchmark seems to be pretty popular reaction test with gamers by the looks...
Last edited by 996tnz; 10-13-2016 at 08:10 AM.
Doug. Thanks for the Cayenne recap. When we had her for a week we really enjoyed it. Big brute and thirsty but ultimately comfortable and plenty of stink - they make them as oil burners these days for keeping the gas bill down!
Yip, this is third time the GTR transmission has played up and cost an event in as many years, so I suspect that car may be on the block soon!
Yeah mike loved that car and had alot of passion, time and money in it. Would have been like me binning the 993. Poor chap. Not sure what caused the wheel to let go - must have been a remove able one.
Yip, this is third time the GTR transmission has played up and cost an event in as many years, so I suspect that car may be on the block soon!
Yeah mike loved that car and had alot of passion, time and money in it. Would have been like me binning the 993. Poor chap. Not sure what caused the wheel to let go - must have been a remove able one.
Appreciate the Cayenne musings too you guys, and looking forward to collecting her in 38 hours time!
Think these tests cache and run locally in the browser, but hey, we're both younger than we look. Lung function tested as that of an average eighteen year old too again this year, but I still just wish the belly would get with the program. My excuse if an alien aces us both on this is that I'm still at work tonight and have about 120 windows open...
Last edited by 996tnz; 10-13-2016 at 10:10 AM.