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1

Omega General Help / Re: x25xe wont start on my 1998 omega b

« on: 13 August 2025, 17:05:39 »

Swap a lead over, does the fault move?

2

General Car Chat / Re: Tesla Self Service Test Drive

« on: 13 August 2025, 17:04:53 »

but with a home charger this is not a problem unless you drive more than 220-240 miles each day.

Assuming you need to use it on consecutive days, you're probably in the realms of a max of 60-80 miles a day, if you want to use cheap rate home charging only.

From my experience, that's possibly a bit pessimistic. My lifetime average according to the app (which is close enough that I CBA to work out the actuals after the first 3 months of ownership) is apparently 3.1 miles per kwh, which means 217 miles per 'tank'. On a miles basis >90% of its work is motorway; either Telford -> Warwick (me), Telford -> Northampton (her) or 3 junctions up the M54 (School run). She drives everywhere on the speed limit, I drive at around 80 leptons when traffic permits, but given we commute, there's a fair bit of stop-start involved along with the poxy variable speed limits around Brummie land. If I have late meetings, speed goes up, range comes down, 1.7 miles per kwh is the worst I've seen iirc. 

Octopus gives me 6hrs per day at 7p (down from 7.5p earlier this year) so that's a theoretical 42kwh per day, although admittedly its probably closer to 35 ish. Even so, the tesla would be more efficient (3.5+ miles per kwh at least) so should be able to maintain 120+ miles per day. Also, in fairness to Octopus, if I plug in when I get home at 7pm, they usually find more than 6hrs of cheap electricity between then and my usual leave time of around 5-5.30am.

That's good to know around the 120 mile per night

3

General Car Chat / Re: Tesla Self Service Test Drive

« on: 13 August 2025, 15:30:22 »

I'm expecting 7.5p at home per kWh, Octopus though offer some interesting deals, with sometimes 50% off if you charge that night, but don't charge the next day! 

Maybe half of it would be motorway, I'm wiggling my way from Camberley to Woking, then to M25. So should be able to get some regen in on that kind of run.

Sky is not bad for charging support. 66 spaces here at the HQ across 3 car parks. You can book them ahead, which has a perk of also booking a parking space

We are with Octopussy but don't use 7.5p electricity because the remainder of electric is charged at a much higher rate.......car will probably cover less than 5000 miles a year.

However, if you do a lot of mileage it may well work out better.

I think we pay 24.12p (inc VAT) a KHh for all electricity.

We take advantage when Octopussy offer free electricity though......usually 2-4 hours each month at present.

Yeah they get you with the day time rate going up!

4

General Car Chat / Re: Tesla Self Service Test Drive

« on: 13 August 2025, 15:29:56 »

Ive heard that Insurance is much more expensive on EV,s. Is this true ?

Won't affect me via the salary deals, but heard they can be more.

5

General Discussion Area / Re: Small Pot Pensions....

« on: 13 August 2025, 15:05:15 »

I've been playing a lot with my pension contributions over the last 3 or 4 years, to actually gauge how much I need to live as I do now.  I was quite surprised how little I need, and I've been taking this very limited income for around 2 years now, so I think its a reasonable figure.  In fact, despite the inflation over the last 2 years, the figure is still working.

Turns out, I'm a really cheap date, LOL.

Downside now, I've been paying so much into my pension (your 31% is small fry!), I now need to find the best way to get it out without donating too much to Rachel from Accounts, because I'm perfectly capable of pissing it up the wall as much as she will.

I'm at a point where (most - I'm always going to put in what I need to get the company contributions to max, and also to stay away from higher tax brackets) future contributions might be better to take in salary, pay the tax now, and invest with less of a tax burden when I take the money out....

...but I prefer to bury my head in the sand

You must be hitting or over the free pension allowance? I've got a spreadsheet working out the previous 3 years of contributions, as you can use a bit from that before you hit the limit overall.

But what nobbled me a bit, is I did not realise is the cap includes company contributions.

6

General Car Chat / Re: Tesla Self Service Test Drive

« on: 13 August 2025, 14:35:30 »

I'm expecting 7.5p at home per kWh, Octopus though offer some interesting deals, with sometimes 50% off if you charge that night, but don't charge the next day! 

Maybe half of it would be motorway, I'm wiggling my way from Camberley to Woking, then to M25. So should be able to get some regen in on that kind of run.

Sky is not bad for charging support. 66 spaces here at the HQ across 3 car parks. You can book them ahead, which has a perk of also booking a parking space

7

General Discussion Area / Re: Small Pot Pensions....

« on: 13 August 2025, 14:26:09 »

From my research it's actually be advisable not to take the 25% - I'm in a simple world with just a single pension pot.

But from what I can see, the 25% lifetime/entire pot, by not taking it in one big lump, rather take a bit at a time to "top your pension pay up"

eg take say 38k and stay under the 40% threshold. Then each year take a little bit cash from the 25% - say 12k - That £12k is tax free and won't be taxed at 40%

So you end up with a 50k pension, but you only ever pay max 20% on it

8

General Car Chat / Re: Tesla Self Service Test Drive

« on: 13 August 2025, 14:22:09 »

The 60% is in some ways a silver cloud as it's forcing me to put more into the pension. If it was not there, I'm sure we would be spending it on junk we do not need!

9

General Car Chat / Re: Tesla Self Service Test Drive

« on: 13 August 2025, 14:18:41 »

Nope, but then again if my miles rocket to 20k a year, I'd prefer the fact a Tesla would cost me just a fiver to "fill" it. Plus I never have to buy tyres or service or MOT it or do anything really! 

This is exactly where we got to. Between mine and my OH's commutes, school and nursery runs the iX is now sitting on 31250 miles since the end of June last year. In that time I've also had 3 punctures, all sorted without ever having to open my wallet. We are however kicking the cr@p out of our 4yr/80k mile lease though so I can see me buying myself a used EV for commuting and letting SWMBO have the iX as the family bus in the next 12 months or so.

So far I have noticed no degradation in range from when new. The iX has a claimed range of 257 miles and the most I've had out of mine is c240, but I don't consciously drive economically and I've never put it in Eco mode. Winter range seems closer to 210 and if you're on a private road, at night, doing around 100mph, the range will drop to around 100-110 miles - so I've been told   .

The only thing I would say is that with the EV BIK ratcheting up over the next few years, that will have an impact on savings, so something with a lower list price may save you more than you think in yrs 3&4 - especially as it can carry you back into the £100k/60% tax trap, which I am sure you are all too well aware of!

Yeah the BIK is going to be a sneaky bugger, it's ok now and has little affect but they are going to wack that up soon to claim some more lost tax.

Well aware of the 60% trap, hence my combined pension contributions now total 32% of my salary 

10

General Car Chat / Re: Tesla Self Service Test Drive

« on: 13 August 2025, 14:16:06 »

Build quality from the earlier ones remain on the Model 3 and Model Y.  They aren't really put together well, and some of the panel lines out of the factory are appalling.  But at £40k, they need to be considered as a cheap car, not a Bentley.  And at then end of the day, if its a 2/3yr lease, who cares, as long as its comfortable enough and does what you want.  Treat it as an appliance, and its not your problem to sort when bits drop off - hopefully not in the 2/3yr lease mind.

Even you wouldn't be able to get claimed range, and remember they prefer to spend most of their life between about 30% to 90% battery.  Also remember that home charging will likely give you only 5 hours of 7kW charging, so not enough to "fill" it from empty.  Shouldn't be a problem for commuting etc, unless things change, but in some cases you may not be able to fill it up enough to cover daily use, so as the week goes on, you may find yourself getting lower on charge....   ...or suck up peak rate charging and/or public charging, both of which blow the maths clean out of the water.

Addiitonally, I seem to recall you do a lot of the M3 on your commute.  Motorway speeds muller tha range.


Lastly, if your missus has to drive it about, don't underestimate the size of the things.  They don't look big, but compare width and length to that of your car .  Remember, driving back from the pub is definatly women's work.

Yes, noted on build, it felt ok to me on the one I test drove. I certainly would never buy second hand. But for me it would be new and not my problem to fix/service/maintain and if my miles rocket, then it's a no brainer.

I would be doing ~80 miles a day, if she does not get the bus. So enough to top-up via home charger overnight. As you say if I do a long road trip at the weekend, I would not be able to fill it in via a home charger, but maybe enough to do the work run.

Work EV charging is no longer free, but 20p kWH so about as cheap as you can get away from home.

On the test drive I thought I could live with it, it's not much to look at, but it's comfy enough, fast enough (AWD), quiet enough. I did not find the drive assistance to intrusive but it was very easy to disable. Autopilot appeared to be ok, used it on the M3 for a couple of junctions, could get used to having that.

What I would be spending on fuel alone in the BWW (assuming 30mpg) would be my 'net' loss for the entire car cost per month.

Also because the car comes out of my "sacrificed monies" I won't actually see that loss, in-fact because I'm not fuelling or running the BMW my "felt" income would actually increase.

11

General Car Chat / Re: Tesla Self Service Test Drive

« on: 13 August 2025, 13:30:41 »

Exactly. your never going to get that from a posh milk float. 

Nope, but then again if my miles rocket to 20k a year, I'd prefer the fact a Tesla would cost me just a fiver to "fill" it. Plus I never have to buy tyres or service or MOT it or do anything really! 

Little MissT starts big school thats 15 miles away, if I end up driving her, I might as well carry onto the office.....

There are other options, we are waiting to see if she gets on the private run bus to the state school, but it's £145/m 

Public bus is an option, but given where I'd have to drive so she can pick it up, I might as well just drive to the school. So that plus tax savings are pushing me to the EV's.

Shame as I really loving the 435i, smooth power, the sound, no complaints.

12

General Car Chat / Re: Tesla Self Service Test Drive

« on: 13 August 2025, 12:54:42 »

No that dual ram straight 6 was something else!

13

General Car Chat / Re: Tesla Self Service Test Drive

« on: 13 August 2025, 12:37:51 »

https://youtu.be/VD9gxUSD6K8?feature=shared

Have you considered a British Tesla from the land of the slitty eye.

742BHP...
7 year warranty.
£48,000.

Available next month.

The reviews say the ride is horrific.

Also, list price for salary sacrifice least deals appear to have little impact.

A £70k car can be cheaper for me to lease than a £40k car! I think the re-sale values and other things impact it

14

General Car Chat / Tesla Self Service Test Drive

« on: 13 August 2025, 10:39:06 »

Used this at the weekend, as a Model Y is on my list for a milk float. Quite impressed really, I registered for a test drive on their website. Downloaded the app and logged in. Had to take a photo of my license and a selfie and it processed it all in under 10seconds.

At Blackbush airport they had parked a Model 3 and Model Y, just on their own, no service bods or Tesla folk around. At the time of my test drive the app had a "Locate Car" button in the app, which then prompted me to unlock it. Few seconds of waiting and the car unlocked itself and I had a Model Y for the hour.

I wanted to hate it, but I took the drive as they are for me at least incredibly temping on value. Sad to say I actually quite liked it, it was the Launch Edition, so it had a dual motor and "Acceleration Boost" - More than enough power and no hanging around with 4.6s to 60.

I think early Tesla's did suffer from build/quality feeling, but this felt decent enough. It was very, very quiet. The ride has improved quite a bit from the old Model Y which I've been in a few times. Quite quickly was used to the regen brakes, voice commands actually worked rather well.

Very little to complain about really.

15

General Discussion Area / Re: Small Pot Pensions....

« on: 13 August 2025, 10:25:02 »

I'm quite dull with my pension, it all goes into the independent company one. I'm told it's separate from the main business and rotated employees are the trustees. I could apply if I wanted to but it's not something I'm interested in.

This thread reminded me to check, not sure if it feels right by my fund value is 51% more than what I have contributed over time. Sounds to high really, but that's what the dedicated site is telling me