Investments, Wills and cars.

[Adrian Norris 1]

Does anyone have any investment and will writing tips/advice?

I'm looking at changing my car (new). I'm not really a fan of German made things, past experiences and think they are generally overrated. My thinking is something assembled here which are the New Nissan Juke ( new electric model nothing like the present one and apparently going on sale early 2025), New Evoque (due 2025, no release date), Jaguar SUV (which will be replaced 2026-27).
My other consideration is a secondhand Porsche Boxster (I know it's German) or a Lotus (Elise etc.) and a new Dacia Duster Hybrid.
Budget would be about 60K. So what are your thoughts?
 

[Robin Colbourne]

2 hours ago, Adrian Norris 1 said:

Does anyone have any investment and will writing tips/advice?

I'm looking at changing my car (new). I'm not really a fan of German made things, past experiences and think they are generally overrated. My thinking is something assembled here which are the New Nissan Duke ( new electric model nothing like the present one and apparently going on sale early 2025), New Evoque (due 2025, no release date), Jaguar SUV (which will be replaced 2026-27).
My other consideration is a secondhand Porsche Boxster (I know it's German) or a Lotus (Elise etc.) and a new Dacia Duster Hybrid.
Budget would be about 60K. So what are your thoughts?
 

My thoughts are that this reads like a hacked account, or at best, you have misread the audience. 

The cars you list are so diverse so few here would have an opinion.  The concern of most modellers that I know is, "Will my wing fit in this car and will glow fuel stain the upholstery?" . 

Try Pistonheads/Car buying  and Pistonheads/finance

 

[Eric Robson]

7 hours ago, Robin Colbourne said:

My thoughts are that this reads like a hacked account, or at best, you have misread the audience. 

The cars you list are so diverse so few here would have an opinion.  The concern of most modellers that I know is, "Will my wing fit in this car and will glow fuel stain the upholstery?" . 

Try Pistonheads/Car buying  and Pistonheads/finance

 

I only bought my current car because my Dennis Bryant Hawker Fury biplane would fit in fully assembled. 

[Learner]

Go for the Dacia Duster non hybrid and blow the rest on wine, women and song.

You're only here once!

[payneib]

I was walking around a garage forecourt just last week with a tape measure, putting the back seats down in cars, measuring up for 72" one piece wings. 😂

[David Davis]

Dacia Dusters are as common as dirt where I live. If my old VW van fails its controlle technique in February, the French equivalent of the MoT, I'll seriously consider one.

[RedBaron]

Investments - Don't believe any advisors unless they can show you they have made millions by their own efforts. Take out a subscription to Investors Chronicle. Practice running a dummy portfolio of your choice on a website such as Hargreaves-Lansdown. Do not follow the masses, have a goodly proportion of foreign investments to defend against falling value of the £. When I started the USD-GBP was about 2.5 now it is 1.1ish?

 

Wills  - Decide what you want to leave and to who, this is the only difficult part. Then there are plenty of "free" will blank forms. But as you will have made lots by following above advice don't underestimate the help of a good solicitor firm, they may well say things you did not think about. In my will, I put a clause to the effect that if anyone challenges my will then they "automatically get nothing"

 

Cars - be very wary of electric or hybrids, we know enough about batteries to understand some the problems. This dive to "net zero" is a very very expensive activity and is in my opinion doomed to be an asymptotic failure. One medium volcano explosion in the year will nullify just about anything we can do. There are just too many people for any of this to work.  Also a lot of people are making a lot of money out of it

[Shaun Walsh]

Jaguar Land Rover are consistently at the bottom of the reliability list and are having awful parts supply issues since they amalgamated their distribution centres.

If you want a reliable vehicle then:
Toyota
Lexus
Kia 

Hyundai

Suzuki

Toyota and Lexus give you an extra years warranty every time you have a dealer service, Kia offer a 7 year warranty and Hyundai 5 years. Suzuki offer up to 7 years warranty when dealer serviced.
 

[Shaun Walsh]

Regarding investments, I use an adviser, a relative of mine does his own investments. My portfolio has gone up, his has gone down. The important thing is to avoid paying too high a fee for the service and to ask people you know for their personal recommendations.

[Don Fry]

3 hours ago, Learner said:

Go for the Dacia Duster non hybrid and blow the rest on wine, women and song.

You're only here once!

Not going to pull with a Duster mate.

[Learner]

4 minutes ago, Don Fry said:

Not going to pull with a Duster mate.

Dunno the £40k saved,  rolled up in his pocket might make the difference.

[Christopher Wolfe]

10 minutes ago, Don Fry said:

Not going to pull with a Duster mate.

One issue that I have with many new cars is that the manufacturers like to spy on their customers as recently revealed by an Australian consumer magazine Is your car tracking you?

 

Settled my next car as a Subaru 😉

 

* Chris *

[Adrian Norris 1]

17 minutes ago, Don Fry said:

Not going to pull with a Duster mate.

That's what the Porsche or Lotus would be for.😉

[Adrian Norris 1]

11 hours ago, Robin Colbourne said:

My thoughts are that this reads like a hacked account, or at best, you have misread the audience. 

The cars you list are so diverse so few here would have an opinion.  The concern of most modellers that I know is, "Will my wing fit in this car and will glow fuel stain the upholstery?" . 

Try Pistonheads/Car buying  and Pistonheads/finance

 

Hopefully not misread the audience. There are intelligent wealthy people involved in this hobby.

[Don Fry]

I’ve got money coming out of my ears. Honest.  One piece of advice, don’t spend it on cars. Buy secondhand, a tidy one, keep it for ever. Don’t worry about scratches.

[Brian Cooper]

I change my car every three years. 

When looking for a new one, I take a certain Ultimate biplane with me. . . 14 bolts need to negotiated to fit/remove the wings, so the model stays in one piece. 

 

If the model will not fit into a car, I look for a different vehicle. . It's a tight fit sometimes. 

This is the main criteria before I even look at the "office" in the driver's seat. 

The salesmen are always very nervous. . . Lol. 

 

[Ron Gray]

And this is what Brian drives now

 

 

[Don Fry]

I’ve got the Mrs a Vw transporter. Converted to a camper. She loves it. Brownie points. Got a big fridge, solar charging, second battery, 120 Ah. You might, if cynical see other uses, othe that pulling ladies.

[David Holland 2]

Don, that is borderline devious!

[payneib]

1 hour ago, Don Fry said:

One piece of advice, don’t spend it on cars. Buy secondhand, a tidy one, keep it for ever. Don’t worry about scratches.

Our last car purchase, when my Mrs finished university after maternity leave, we bought a Kuga and essentially had a free Fiesta thrown in for the price we were looking at spending on a new Kuga. Both less than two years old, barely run in. The Fiesta is ready to go - 90,000 miles on a 1ltr 3 pot means it needs money spending on it which I'd rather spend on something more practical, but the Kuga will stay until it's dead. 

[Engine Doctor]

Re the will. Always mention any family member who you dont want to leave money or property to. Mention them and possibly leave them 5p then they cannot challenge a will saying they have been forgotten.

Re the cars buy what makes you happy and what you planes fit in. Spend loads on wine , whiskey and women then waste the rest 😉

[Murat Kece 1]

Buy German....😁

[RICHARD WILLS]

7 hours ago, David Davis said:

Dacia Dusters are as common as dirt where I live. If my old VW van fails its controlle technique in February, the French equivalent of the MoT, I'll seriously consider one.

They're cleaning up round here too 😕

[leccyflyer]

7 hours ago, David Davis said:

Dacia Dusters are as common as dirt where I live. If my old VW van fails its controlle technique in February, the French equivalent of the MoT, I'll seriously consider one.

Have never understood their popularity in the Aberdeen area, but there are loads of them and I suppose that they are relatively cheap in comparison with other vehicles of that general type. The word Duster ought to be a hindrance in Europe's Oil Capital as it's the term used for an unsuccessful well.

 

Unless you are getting a sought after classic car then cars are most definitely not a good investment - most of them are losing money the instant they leave the forecourt and certainly over the first year they are mostly losing serious money. Have never bought a new on in forty years, always have a used one and generally run it until it doesn't work anymore or is not economically repairable. For me it's a tool for getting from A to B and back again, whilst model carrying capabilities are the #1 criteria for purchase, followed by a heated windscreen

[Paul De Tourtoulon]

45 minutes ago, Murat Kece 1 said:

Buy German....😁

No thanks, my last Mercedes wouldn't start on cold days, the last straw on the ferry to Holland, the British driving off of the ferry in their Dagenham Dustbins laughing all the way to the 'red' district 🤢 I will stick with my Peugeots, 5 so far, all bought new, only one had fiddly problems my 307sw, the first of the series, dangling plugs it the door posts, some idiot had a glass too many of 'rouge' and didn't connect them !.

 

Ps The only thing I like about the Germans are their Planes,,,🥰