New dive car

[Manchester Will]

Have a look at Honda Accord Sport on 51/02 plate.

A big car, well built, very reliable, 140bhp, mpg 33 and a huge boot.

Should be able to find a good example for a little bit more than 3k.

[Horndog]

Originally Posted by Bantam

You must have had the only 9-5 on the road that didn't need to go to visit the saab dealers every fortnight.

I must have been lucky, Had it 3 years (02 plate), bought it with 90k it now has 135k and other than a warped rear disk and a slight oil leak from the drive shaft oil seals I have not had to spend anything other than routeen servicing (indipendant saab specialist - not main dealer)

[Woz]

Originally Posted by NotDeadYet

I've got a double cab Isuzu pickup through the company, 4 door, 5 seats and very generous on space inside, a lot bigger than the L200 double cab I had. It's got 1000kg of load space so gets the "van" designation.

Bloody brilliant it is too, 3L turbo diesel engine but it does near enough 40mpg on the motorway, 4wd at the touch of a button and makes you look like a pikey (handy for me).

Am thinking of buying my current car (A6 2.5 TDi Avant- bloody lovely) off the company for the missus to trash and getting a pikey truck myself. Now I hear the only one you can put a hardtop on is the Nissan Navaro (doesn't he play guitar in the Chilli Peppers?) as if you do it to anything else, the payload drops below 1000kg with the weight of the pig hut and the taxman stakes you out and kicks you in the crotch until your pods pop as it's no longer a "commercial" vehicle. The other thing is the seats in the back- they look very "vertical" compared to car seats and not terribly comfortable for long drives to Scapa with 4 divers in it.

So.

Could you give me your opinion on all this waffle? Cos the money I'd save in tax would be stupendous.

[Bantam]

Originally Posted by Woz

Am thinking of buying my current car (A6 2.5 TDi Avant- bloody lovely) off the company for the missus to trash and getting a pikey truck myself. Now I hear the only one you can put a hardtop on is the Nissan Navaro (doesn't he play guitar in the Chilli Peppers?) as if you do it to anything else, the payload drops below 1000kg with the weight of the pig hut and the taxman stakes you out and kicks you in the crotch until your pods pop as it's no longer a "commercial" vehicle. The other thing is the seats in the back- they look very "vertical" compared to car seats and not terribly comfortable for long drives to Scapa with 4 divers in it.

So.

Could you give me your opinion on all this waffle? Cos the money I'd save in tax would be stupendous.

I have a Pathfinder, which is identical inside to the Navara up to the seatbelt pillar. They're both built on the same chassis, in the same factory, with the same engines.

I test drove both the Pathfinder and the Navara, and found the Pathfinder to be a much better drive - mainly because when the Navara hasn't got anything in the back, the 1870's horse and cart suspension seemed to be a little, er, bouncy. Note there's no access to the boot from the car either - so where I've got 7 seats the Navara loses that flexibility. However, the load space is awesome in the Navara, there's no denying it.

But I know you won't want a Pathfinder cos you'll get hosed on tax. I bought mine cos I got it from a bankrupt dealer's clearance stock (£10k off list )

However, if you want to take mine for a spin at some stage to get an idea what it's like let me know. I get about 30-34 mpg with the 2.5l turbo diesel if I drive like an old man. If I drive it like a demon, I get about 28mpg. Mine is the Automatic version though. The newer ones are less powerful and more economical.

Note - DO NOT ever turn off the Traction Control (ESP) in the Nissan trucks if you can help it, unless of course you fancy ending up facing the wrong way as they're rear wheel drive and manage not only the stability, but keep all 180 Bhp 420Nm (well, in mine anyway - the new ones are EuroIV and only 170Bhp 403Nm) of torque hitting the wheels in one go.

I made the mistake of turning it off (don't know why ) and whilst going round a roundabout blipped the throttle and ended up drifting a 4x4 round a roundabout which was actually quite scary when I wasn't expecting it - primarily due to the body roll!

But do I love it? Yes, best car I've ever had

[Woz]

Ooooooo that sounds interesting. Will have to have a play.

[pieater]

Well, if it means anything....I've got a 54 plate Navarra (old shape) that I'll soon be trading in for a new model. The insides are distinctly agricultural; which has been improved on the new one.

I'm not a one for keeping marques (I've only ever done it with Audi's in the past); but I'd certainly have a Navarra again.

If you want to buy a 54 plate navarra (black, blacked windows, back on, leather, tow bar, load liner) PM me.

The back end on all pick ups tends to be a bit "lively"; on the plus side I can now control the odd slide going round good bends / roundabouts. Adds to the adrenaline.

[Sparky750]

I've got the pathfinder too and love it the navara would have been a better buy for tax reasons and i use it as a van but i test drove the pathfinder and loved it so i bought it (i'm impulsive and have the self control of a kid in a sweet shop ) the pathfinder handles slightly better than the navara and turning the traction control off only leads to massive smiles when it's wet and the ROAD IS CLEAR give one a shot i think you'll like it plenty of toys to play with and the heated seats are sent from angels this time of year

[NotDeadYet]

Originally Posted by Woz

Now I hear the only one you can put a hardtop on is the Nissan Navaro (doesn't he play guitar in the Chilli Peppers?) as if you do it to anything else, the payload drops below 1000kg with the weight of the pig hut and the taxman stakes you out and kicks you in the crotch until your pods pop as it's no longer a "commercial" vehicle.

I'm not entirely sure that's right. My Isuzu and L200 both have a rating of 1045kg and the HMRC make a generic allowance of 45kg for a hard-top so the net payload is still 1000kg, so both of them qualify as well. BTW Dave Navaro left the RHCP when John Frusciante re-joined, he went back to Jane's Addiction.

Originally Posted by HM Licensed Robbery

Under this measure, a double cab pick-up that has a payload of 1 tonne (1,000kg) or more is accepted as a van for benefits purposes... Under a separate agreement between Customs and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), a hard top consisting of metal, fibre glass or similar material, with or without windows, is accorded a generic weight of 45kg. Therefore the addition of a hard top to a double cab pick-up with an ex-works payload of 1,010 kg will convert the vehicle into a car (net payload reduced to 965 kg). Under this agreement, the weight of all other optional accessories is disregarded. HMRC has also adopted this treatment.