36, Father, Husband & Car obsessive. High-End Fleet Management & Executive Private Hire. Links shared are products I use and have purchased myself 🇬🇧🇩🇪🇸🇪
Cambridgeshire/Norfolk, UK
Joined August 2018
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This is mad really.
Roman Court has been a point of contention for weeks due to our Government saying they’ll house around 30 women and children with Asylum Seeker status there. The District Council has been fighting it to be fair but they can only do so much.
Protests have forcibly stopped works happening, Police doing sweeps of the area all the time and now seemingly someone has set the building alight to try to render it useless. This is clearly an incredibly stupid thing to do if it is arson as there are many other houses in close proximity, not to mention a Primary School.
I’ve not seen the local population so passionate and active about something for quite a while. Feels like people really have had enough now, even in our little town.
🔥 BREAKING: Fire breaks out at Roman Court near Wisbech.
Fire crews from across West Norfolk and Cambridgeshire rushed to the former sheltered housing complex at Leverington at around 7.40pm.
The site has been earmarked to accommodate 24 asylum mothers and their babies. Police are investigating the blaze, and the full extent of the damage is not yet known.
Read the full story below.
cambsnews.co.uk/fire-at-roma…
ALT 🔥 BREAKING: Fire breaks out at Roman Court near Wisbech. Fire crews from across West Norfolk and Cambridgeshire rushed to the former sheltered housing complex at Leverington at around 7.40pm. The site has been earmarked to accommodate 24 asylum mothers and their babies. Police are investigating the blaze, and the full extent of the damage is not yet known. Read the full story below.
Deposit paid & train booked for Monday to head up North and collect my new-to-me personal car 🚆
This will be my 3rd one of these cars but this one I am really excited about.
2009MY D3 Audi A8L SE 4.2 FSI V8 (345bhp, Naturally Aspirated)
3 owners from new, 138k miles and comprehensive service history.
I don’t usually go for darker seats but with the lighter trim pieces and headlining plus the rare sunroof it looks lovely inside.
From what I can tell it was around £75,000 back in 2008/9 with all of its options so adjusting for inflation that’s £127,587.80 today 😱
One thing that really struck me though was how similar it looks to the one Jason Statham drives in ‘The Transporter 2’ (Final picture).
Fun fact: The ‘6.0 W12’ A8L he has in that film was actually just a rebadged 4.2 V8 like the one I’ve bought 😆
Honestly, I’ll be amazed if I do 200 miles a month in this car but it will have its own Battery tender 🔋🪫 when not in use to keep it happy. My previous two were never very impressed when not used for a week or so here and there.
Agreed to buy a personal car for myself.
Think I’ve got a bit of a bargain as always, guy seems sound but aren’t most Northerners? (I’m from London originally FYI so….🤷♂️)
It’s big at just under 5.2m long, high tax, thirsty ⛽️, a nightmare to work on (if it goes wrong) but I’ve had two of them previously and they are great cars, owned for 3 or so years between the two!
This one is a V8 Petrol not V8 TDI like my two previous ones as I’ll do **maybe** 300 miles per month in it.
Air suspension, sunroof, comfort seats, BOSE sound, keyless entry and start, Bi-Xenon’s, Rear Entertainment, etc etc.
Can you guess what it is? 😂
👀
After 10 hours out today to collect my new to me high mileage daily driver, I’m finally home 😅
2009 Audi A8L SE 4.2 TDI Quattro
Oyster Grey Metallic
Light Grey Valcona leather comfort Seats with Walnut Brown wood inlays
326bhp & 479ft/lbs Torque
Sunroof, Heated front & rear seats, Ice cold A/C, Bi-xenon headlights, Bose sound system, rear blinds, keyless entry & start etc so a nice spec.
Drove absolutely spot on all the way back from deepest darkest Kent which overall was 165 mile trip. Avg’d just under 36mpg including a very busy Dartford Crossing. Filled it up at BP with 126 miles to go and it’s still saying I have 600+ miles of range 👀
Downsides are mainly cosmetic, whole car needs a really good polish, especially the lights. Interior needs a good valet & some switches are looking a bit worn out. Only one key so need to get a 2nd really, service history is really good up until 2021 & then a bit sparse since so ideally I’ll get it serviced ASAP.
It does seem to think the bonnet is open which just brings up an error message, it’s definitely not but I’ll look into that tomorrow.
Also has the 19” BBS Split Rims which are OEM from factory, I’ve had these on both my previous Audis and they aren’t the best. Also could have better tyres so I need to decide what I’m doing about the alloys.
Oh and if you haven’t seen in the photo already, it’s done 236,000 miles!!! You genuinely wouldn’t know it to drive though, Air Suspension is all lovely and it’s very fast for a Diesel, this is my 3rd 4.2 TDI and I’d forgotten just how good they are 🥰
I paid £2,200 all in which I think is a bargain on the face of things 🤷♂️
Agreed to buy a personal car for myself.
Think I’ve got a bit of a bargain as always, guy seems sound but aren’t most Northerners? (I’m from London originally FYI so….🤷♂️)
It’s big at just under 5.2m long, high tax, thirsty ⛽️, a nightmare to work on (if it goes wrong) but I’ve had two of them previously and they are great cars, owned for 3 or so years between the two!
This one is a V8 Petrol not V8 TDI like my two previous ones as I’ll do **maybe** 300 miles per month in it.
Air suspension, sunroof, comfort seats, BOSE sound, keyless entry and start, Bi-Xenon’s, Rear Entertainment, etc etc.
Can you guess what it is? 😂
I’ve enquired about many a car this last few days, unfortunately at this price point many are total crap or the sellers are clearly bullsh*tying you.
However - I think I may have found one, won’t say just yet what it is but I have experience with them, my first one was probably one of the best cars I’ve ever owned and it’s a good price plus it’s a Petrol V8 👀.
Issue being it’s 200 miles away 🤦♂️
It looks like Grand Central Trains go there directly though from my preferred station and they are very well priced.
Has anyone been on their services for a prolonged amount of time? What are they like? I use LNER and GWR a fair bit but this a new one to me.
I am now in an odd position, I have 4 vehicles within my fleet but 3 of them are business/client only and one is the family car that my Wife mainly drives (2012 Volvo XC90).
I never clicked with the Jag XF-S regardless how pretty it was and I do still need a car just for now and then that I can also put the kids spare car seats in and we can use as a back up family car if needed.
I only want a cheapy, £2-3k max as it will sit around doing very little most of the time. Having had more Mercedes-Benz than hot dinners over the years the thought of buying something with the 3-pointed star on the bonnet is winning, mainly either the W219 CLS, W211 E-Class Estate or the controversial W220 S-Class. I have my eye on a R350L in a lovely spec but the tax is a ridiculous £790.00 per year on them, which just annoys me quite frankly!
Left field choice is the MK3 Ford Mondeo Estate, either in Ghia X or Titanium X spec, powered by the 2.5 V6 Petrol and auto gearbox (Hard to find though).
Needs to be well specc'd, clean, automatic and have a 6 or 8 cylinder engine under the bonnet, I will put one of my private number plates on it to take the age away but what to actually buy is the question 🤔
I’m always happy when I have a positive affect on people’s car choices, this is one of my proudest though 😆
Genuinely love the X7 40d in my fleet and as a family car goes these very few that’ll do the family daily stuff as well. Also probably the best sounding 6 cylinder diesel I’ve ever driven.
@TGE_LDNM
youtu.be/lkXToDOzBUI?is=dwT5…
Finally got to switching the seats round in the V250d today.
Conference style to all forward facing 💺
Maximised Leg room for both rear rows and for luggage in the boot as it’ll be more of a holiday transfer vehicle than for corporate transfers 👔
Much hoovering, Autoglym-ing, profanity and aching limbs later I got them all fitted by myself, I’d forgotten how heavy these seats are 😅
I do have a few mats/carpets in the garage but forgot to put them in when taking the photos.
Crème Brûlée Doughnut from @BreadAhead in Borough Market, London was pretty great.
My Wife brought it home for me and I didn’t ask how much it was but I’m certainly not complaining 🍮🍩
Gave in and ordered some oil 😟
This time last year it was literally half this price, best overall price taking into account delivery times I could find 🛢️
I am now in an odd position, I have 4 vehicles within my fleet but 3 of them are business/client only and one is the family car that my Wife mainly drives (2012 Volvo XC90).
I never clicked with the Jag XF-S regardless how pretty it was and I do still need a car just for now and then that I can also put the kids spare car seats in and we can use as a back up family car if needed.
I only want a cheapy, £2-3k max as it will sit around doing very little most of the time. Having had more Mercedes-Benz than hot dinners over the years the thought of buying something with the 3-pointed star on the bonnet is winning, mainly either the W219 CLS, W211 E-Class Estate or the controversial W220 S-Class. I have my eye on a R350L in a lovely spec but the tax is a ridiculous £790.00 per year on them, which just annoys me quite frankly!
Left field choice is the MK3 Ford Mondeo Estate, either in Ghia X or Titanium X spec, powered by the 2.5 V6 Petrol and auto gearbox (Hard to find though).
Needs to be well specc'd, clean, automatic and have a 6 or 8 cylinder engine under the bonnet, I will put one of my private number plates on it to take the age away but what to actually buy is the question 🤔
Just had a call from the new owners of my Jaguar XF-S to say they had very pleasant journey home in their new car.
Suspect they were Jag fans as they turned up in a 2014 5.0 V8 XFR 😮💨
Lovely looking cars but 3 Jags in two years has taken its toll on me 😆
Another little job done on the Family XC90 this evening, ever since we’ve owned it the central folding plastic cover for the split tailgate had been missing.
(Please excuse the messy boot, it’s a well used family car and we have two children under 6 🚲🛴)
Had been keeping an eye out for a used one but they were few and far between to say the least.
Huge shoutout and thanks to @yetiayrshore who sent me one out he had going spare and wouldn’t take anything for it either.
Admittedly I’d completely forgotten we’d spoken about it and was incredibly confused when a massive Valvoline box turned up just after I got home from London 😆
Turns out the previous owners had managed to snap the old off of its rivets as they are supposed to be connected to the silver strip circled on the first photo, that is connected with no less than 6 8/13mm bolts 😬
Gave me a reason to have a bit of a tidy up whilst I was under there but it’s so much better now 😁
The VIP V300d needed to go down for some warranty work at @clivesutton lovely new premises on the Edgware Road, NW2.
Set eyes on the new Hummer EV for the 1st time in person, absolutely massive when you consider that is either a Suburban or Escalade next to it 😳
Lovely Latte whilst I waited ☕️, given the tour by one of the Directors, saw some amazing cars and then dropped at Brent Cross West to head home for a few days before I come back next week.
Much X7ing done today.
240 mile round trip to Heathrow and back, 20cm clearance in car park 1A but managed to get in and out with the very minimum £8 charge.
£138 of Shell Diesel to fill it up and a realistic range of 700 miles then Tyre pressures checked & rectified amongst other things with my brillant NOCO AL5 mini compressor 🛞 Link below if you are wondering.
link.amazon/B0i2j0Tq4
Ready for another very busy day tomorrow and then Friday…….but I actually have this weekend off amazingly 😅
The big XC90’s insurance is due end of October, we’ve been with Hastings for a few years but do not want a multi car policy anymore and they always come up quite expensive.
Anyone you guys use in the UK for personal car insurance you’d really rate?
I’ve been through all of the normal comparison sites etc, wondering if there’s someone to approach I’m not thinking of? 🤔
I think I’ve found the reason my ‘Microsoft One Drive’ is so full - because I have a million videos of cold starts of my previous cars saved on my phone 😆
1. 2018 BMW M760Li 6.6 Twin Turbo V12 601bhp. BMW wouldn’t allow the valves to open on a cold start from standard of which my car is in the video.
2. 2011 Mercedes-Benz S500L 4.7 Bi-Turbo V8 CGI 435bhp. Totally stock, the noise difference when inside the car with the double glazed windows was insane.
The 7 series eventually replaced the S-Class, I owned both cars an accumulative 5.5 years and done 101,000 miles between them.