MC on Pistonheads
- Thread starter DevonPaul
- Start date
Fred Smith said:
I agree on the screens and I've got one. Having to flick through menus to alter things like temperature is a regression in safety. A lot of the screen aren't very well laid out either. It can be multiple swipes and scrolls to get to some basic functions.
Android Auto is very good for a lot of functions to do with navigation and music.
I suppose there isn't enough evidence yet to show that screens are detrimental to safety, even if intuitively this would seem to be the case. Despite how much I personally dislike driver aids and the excess weight that modern cars carry, I can't argue with traffic statistics that overwhelmingly show that cars are becoming safer. Maybe the detrimental impact of screens is masked by the advances made elsewhere.Fred Smith said:
Wheels and tyres aren't just a styling featureFred Smith said:
At the risk of going off on another old-man rant, one thing that narks me even more than screens is the modern trend to 'fill the arches' with zero consideration for ride or handling. Oh, and the tyre companies are taking advantage of your vanity by selling you massively overpriced tyres. It doesn't cost them that much more to make tyres in 19" or 20" above, so why do consumers pay so much more?.
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Fred Smith said:
It should, and long term it quite possibly will. My point is that they’ve been a slow mover for years and years and thinking anything would change drastically in the immediate future was, imo, a gamble too far.
Fred Smith said:
It’s got all the boxes ticked as far as I’m concerned, but reviews of the day have a big impact on future values in the short to medium term at least. If it came out today I’m sure it would be a 5star classic from the off.
You might be right about people’s associations and the brand and it makes me wonder if the Z3M would have become so desirable had they not put the S54 in at the end, thus dragging the S50 models up with it.
beanie said:DevonPaul said:My options were the V6 clio or a Honda NSX for £5k more
Those bloody things have also gone crazy. They were 20k forever. Until they weren’t!
The MC will be the same. I suspect it will take off in value about 6 months after we sell ours. We looked at a huge variety of cars when we ended up with the Big Blue Italian Moneypit (Maserati Gransport - the next big thing, values only going one way, lost 25% in 9 years and cost 50% of the purchase price in running costs). The other options we looked at in the £30-50k bracket are now all out of our price range. Having said that the running costs of some of them would also have been a bit eye watering, but the Morgan aero springs to mind as one we actually trested but Ann found it too snug.
DevonPaul said:beanie said:DevonPaul said:My options were the V6 clio or a Honda NSX for £5k more
Those bloody things have also gone crazy. They were 20k forever. Until they weren’t!
The MC will be the same. I suspect it will take off in value about 6 months after we sell ours. We looked at a huge variety of cars when we ended up with the Big Blue Italian Moneypit (Maserati Gransport - the next big thing, values only going one way, lost 25% in 9 years and cost 50% of the purchase price in running costs). The other options we looked at in the £30-50k bracket are now all out of our price range. Having said that the running costs of some of them would also have been a bit eye watering, but the Morgan aero springs to mind as one we actually trested but Ann found it too snug.
When you do sell, let me know and I’ll make sure to hold on for a little while :lol:
I bought mine 11 years ago with the expectation of it being a fairly safe bet and only losing a couple of K in a few years. In that respect it’s done well.
In Europe and the USA they’re valued much higher, so it would make sense that they eventually follow suit in the UK. It’s anyone’s guess as to when and by how much though.
Getting a result profit-wise with a car is a really slow old game unless the market is in overdrive and you are lucky to hit a trend at the start of the curve. And it all changes as we get older. 50s cars such as MGAs (eg) are no longer desirable unless they are restomods. It’s because the old gits that bought them no longer drive or are dead. Almost the same with MGBs. I mean I am in my early 60s and I have zero interest in buying a car from earlier than the 90s. Taking a diversion for a second, I am having real trouble selling some lovely 20 year old bikes. I wondered why until I realised that every buyer has a new bike on PCP every three years and doesn’t want the hassle. And I foresee the bike market will collapse completely in 20 years time as all the riders die off. Unlike my time guys no longer start their motoring life on bikes…..
Back to cars and their values. Some do go crazy quickly. But most don’t. It’s a slow process. I sold a s54 Z3MC for a NSX as a straight swap in 2005. The NSX stuck at around 20-25k for about ten years. In 2015 or so they began to be remembered and lusted after - and not now just by the Gran Turismo “modifier” generation. Luckily I kept mine very nice, unmodded, and well maintained. At 14,000 miles (yes I know I should get out more) it is now a six figure sum vehicle. I didn’t buy it for that (it is my third NSX) but even if it was an investment it’s taken me 20 years……
Back to cars and their values. Some do go crazy quickly. But most don’t. It’s a slow process. I sold a s54 Z3MC for a NSX as a straight swap in 2005. The NSX stuck at around 20-25k for about ten years. In 2015 or so they began to be remembered and lusted after - and not now just by the Gran Turismo “modifier” generation. Luckily I kept mine very nice, unmodded, and well maintained. At 14,000 miles (yes I know I should get out more) it is now a six figure sum vehicle. I didn’t buy it for that (it is my third NSX) but even if it was an investment it’s taken me 20 years……
In that vein, buying an Z4MC was a nice thing to do but as an investment - not at all and any increase will be much more offset by running costs.
But I also have a i8 Roadster which is fairly rare, fairly odd, dauntingly complex, very niche and not really bought at the time. But well regarded by those who know. A bit like my NSX. I really do think the i8 Roadster will have its day - it’s less common than a Z8 for example - the question is will I be dead before it happens. Yea probably…..
But I also have a i8 Roadster which is fairly rare, fairly odd, dauntingly complex, very niche and not really bought at the time. But well regarded by those who know. A bit like my NSX. I really do think the i8 Roadster will have its day - it’s less common than a Z8 for example - the question is will I be dead before it happens. Yea probably…..
pvr said:
Why would you want to connect via a cable. It's a pain and not very sightly especially if you need to charge it too. Non of the audio systems are good enough to notice a quality difference of a cable vs bluetooth anyway.
All this chat about not touching anything in the car, so how are you navigating? Set your phone and off you go right... Apple CarPlay/android auto is designed to do exactly the same thing the difference is you can have the apps you want to use not the rubbish built in nav systems. On top its designed to use your steering wheel buttons for changing tracks etc
All this stuff is strictly overseen and meets CE standards so honestly I don't really know what all the BS is about honestly. Sounds like half of these people have opinions but havent actually used it...
The newer built in systems where you have to navigate through menus to change the HVAC etc are a much bigger risk than that, but guess what that's all allowed too under the same governance.
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Fred Smith said:
Your ambition is not to spend time messing with technology but you would go to that level to get direction that's irony if ive ever seen it!
You really go to that effort instead of just using google maps or something of that nature...
I think this is probably the end of this convo as I think your an isolated niche case. The whole point of technology is to make your life easier if I had the time to do that... I still wouldn't as using google maps is click and go.
It's not just about you know where you are going, it will tell you there is traffic, accidents to be able to avoid and not sit in traffic for hours. I do a lot of long journeys and honestly couldnt imagine not having these simple pieces of tech to aid a journey.
BTW like I said apple carplay is built in to your system you press go and leave it... the difference is it mirrors a small select set of apps from your phone to your car aid your journey. There is very little you can do with it outside basic things that mean you don't play with it while driving. I have applecar play and don't spend my journey messing around with the screen, I press and go if I want to change a track I use the steering wheel.
So if you kill someone while you're messing with HVAC or looking at your speedo... that's different?
I don't really know what else to say to you, I have a feeling you have never used it.
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Fwiw I like the fact that my Z4MC has no nav and the hifi is crap. I use my wife and her google maps/waze on her iPhone for the former and my ears are so buggered by constant loud music and motorcycle helmets that a good system would now be wasted on me. In any case the eventuri would drown it out. No parking sensors either - agsin use the wife. I have tech including car play on my i8 but I still use my wife and her phone…..sometimes I might be bothered to talk to the car with an address.