When the Honda was delivered it came from a third party leasing company. The prep and paintwork were poor, lots of marks, some remnants of stickers, etc. I'd done a reasonable job of cleaning up until now, but decided that it should have a proper bit of TLC. Dealers charge £399+ for the Autoglym LifeShine treatment, but the kit can be bought for as little as £15 on eBay. I've had one such kit on the shelf for a few months now, decided that today was the day that the exterior had a full treatment. Rinsed the car, washed it, then used a clay mitt on all surfaces, including the glass. Quite a bit of grit/tar came off at this point, needed another wash and then rinse following this. Dried the car and then set about using the AG treatment. I was surprised how easy it was to apply, followed the instructions, including turning the car around so that I treated the side in shade rather than in full sunlight. The applicator soaks up some of the gel, it then gets spread in straight lines across the panels and the plastic trim. Leave it for 10 mins to "cure" and then buffed off with the supplied microfibre. I've left the glass for the next time I clean the car, wanted to see how the paint work received the treatment first. The kit: And the results, to be fair I am very impressed indeed. The paintwork and trim is like glass to the touch, super smooth. I'm sure there are some swirl marks if looking closely, but for a reasonably quick treatment on the driveway, I'm happy. An invoice for £399 is on it's way to Mrs W......
Be careful with the invoice, she might charge you for things she does for you. Some you might be surprised how expensive it is ;)
Tried a longer drive in the EV yesterday. My mum and Gran live in Wyke, West Yorkshire, 110 miles away from us in Sutton Coldfield. I'd brought the Honda up to 100% charge, it was reading 209 miles without the climate off, 188 with the climate on, therefore there would need to be some charging at some point of the journey. Neither my mum nor my Gran would have the capacity to charge at their house, and the 13amp socket wouldn't have given the speed of charge, we'd have sat there for 6+ hours! I researched the motorway service charging options, which companies ran the outlets, which app I'd need etc. The weather was ok, but slightly chilly, 9 degrees when we set off, so the climate was needed for some of the journey. This resulted in the car dropping from 100% to 81% but the time I'd got to the outskirts of Derby on the A38. Given I still had the rest of the A38 and then the M1/M62 to cover, I realised I'd need a boost charge on the way up. We pulled into Woodall services south of Sheffield to use their Gridserve chargers. The starting charge was 60%, 19 minutes later it was 75%, the cost was £7.82. This gave me enough to get to my mum's and then to my Gran's with more than enough to spare for some of the return. Southbound we stopped back into Woodall again, expecting the chargers to be the same Gridserve, I was sure I'd read this was the case, however, I was wrong. Applegreen were the providers here, as I didn't have the app I used the contactless payment, plugged it in and went for a coffee. The charge was 15% when we pulled in, showing a range of 31 miles. After 28 mins we returned and the car was at 80%, seemingly faster charging than the northbound versions. However, this cost me £22.57. Maybe the contactless approach is more expensive than an app, not sure. We then returned home and the car showed 20%. I can't say I have any idea what the Kwh business is, what the car is returning in the efficiency stakes, there is a display somewhere in the car, but it isn't one I've used a lot, or at all. I'd need to look into this a bit more. Although this was a bit of a faff for a relatively simple journey, normally 2 hours each way on less than one tank of petrol in the M2, it did make me think as to how the EV approach is a different one, an approach that may work in some respects. For example, a non-time pressured journey was fine, pleasure driving with the option to stop for a break etc, it is fine. Could this work if I was using this car for work driving? Not sure. I'd have to reassess the time constraints of the jobs, plan in times to stop and have a break, etc. The Honda is a relatively poor example to be fair, the range is weak, and the charging capacity isn't as good as many of the competition, but it did give an insight into the pros and cons of using an EV for longer journeys. Clearly I'd have to sort the charging app/plans in more detail, this may reduce the cost further. What I did note was that motorway speeds drained the battery at a staggering rate, the car is a relative brick in terms of drag efficiency, and the power required to keep it at 70 (ish) was a battery drain. The power meter was falling at the rate I'd expect a fuel gauge on a V10 to fall..... Positives, the car was very comfortable, a relaxing drive for both of us. Mrs W is absolutely sold on EVs, when the lease on this one is up, I will be leasing another EV for her, I do like the look of the new Renault 5.... The experiment continues!
Since you’ve mentioned Renault 5 I’ll chuck the Alpine version out there. Looks a lot like a more fun version of the 5 and therefore I’m taking to be the spiritual successor to the 5T, unless you’re prepared to go to the 6 figure cost of Renault’s actual Turbo version.
I think you are right that they don't suit everyone and you do adapt around them. I am back from my regular 300 mile weekend trip (regular means every two or three weeks). Set off on full charge, arrive with somewhere between 70 and 110 miles remaining depending on journey and weather. Bit of running around whilst I am there, need to top up to get back. Sometimes I stick on charge whilst I do my mums shopping, take flowers to graves etc, and its sorted when I get back. Sometimes I make a special trip out on Saturday night and walk the dog whilst the car charges. Rarely do I need to stop on the way back - although the M1 is pretty good now for charging. There was no question that my next car was going to be electric which I guess sums up how much hassle I find it. I will stick it on charge tonight and that will do the two office journeys this week. Total cost of my 400 miles, including a bit of public charging...about 35 quid.
What proportion of the £35 is public charging, I assume if you get an EV too you'll invest in a home charger..?
£7 to charge from empty to full at home and then c £25 for public charging to top up to get home. £7 allows for 10% losses on charging, £25 is a round sum estimate, sometimes slightly more or less, and i don't hunt out cheap charging just whatever is convenient. The Jag isn't an example in efficiency either so the i5 should be slightly cheaper.
Public charging is looking expensive, probably another UK con with providers making massive profits (as they do from fuel and food sales on Motorways) Home charging can be incredibly cheap especially with solar....
Got to recoup the investment somehow and as it stands still limited users of the charging network as charging at home is so cheap...
Using the Honda for a trip to Worcester tomorrow, a reasonable 80 mile to so round trip. Really pleased the the AG Lifeshine product I put on the car recently. It was covered in pollen and dust, so this morning all I had to do was use the jet wash to rinse this off, then give it a dry and it is back to shiny again. Interesting to see how long the product lasts.
I did 220 miles in a day yesterday - which was beyond the limit of the Jag as 85% of those miles were on the M1. Toyed with taking the ice but then remembered that a Mini JCW convertible isnt the ideal car for 200 miles of motorway driving... especially as I wouldnt be home until 1 am! Decided to accept that I'd need to charge the Jag - but what was the best plan... charge on way up (when battery still pretty full and so charging slower, but at least it was daylight, no time pressure and so helped the journey home.. or on way back when it was late, I was tired but chargers would be deserted and I could do a splash and dash (or volt and bolt!).... In the end went for neither and found a convenient car park in Nottingham where I could charge whilst the car was parked for 5 hours (slow charger similar to home charger speeds). Came back to a car with nearly 95% charge and so could make progress on the way home without worrying about range or efficiency. And still cheaper overall than taking the Mini and the Jag is a great refined long distance cruiser. So an EV success story even on a day requiring upwards of 200 miles in a day. (And Bryan Adams was brilliant and great to revisit uni some 40 years since I left whilst I was there!)
We used the Electrolux for a longer journey yesterday, same as previously we went up to West Yorkshire and back. Tried a slightly different approach this time, the car was charged to 100% overnight, drove up the A38 to the M1, then stopped at Woodall services, the car was at 75% at this point. Went in for a cuppa and put the car on a "medium" rate charger. 15 mins and £8.20 later the car was at 90%. For this journey I used the car's adaptive cruise control, it is pretty good to be fair, even has a form of semi-autonomous driving with self-steering. Set the cruise at 70mph and let the car do most of the work. I was reasonably impressed one we got to my Grans house, definitely took some of the tedium out of the journey. Took my mum and gran to the pub for lunch, a good natter later dropped them back home and headed south. Same journey, M62-M1-A38. Some bad traffic around jcn 29 after an accident, but otherwise used the same cruise feature. Got back on the drive with 10% and 30 miles showing! Very comfortable, very quiet, easy to drive, good tech, just ultimately a mode of transport. The car has ticked over the 5K mile mark this weekend. After Xmas I will be starting the research for the next EV, due to change in July 2026.
Not sure my next car will be an EV.... the i5 debacle rumbles on - it appears BMW dont want to honour the prices they agreed in Feb and want to charge upwards of 15% more. Now I am old school and believe when you make an agreement you should stick to it, and the fact the car is being delivered in a different quarter to the one envisaged when ordered is not my fault and therefore I shouldnt pay for the privilege that they got that bit wrong! So if they wont accept the fault and the original price, I will be looking for something else and may just buy outright a retirement car - probably a PHEV, and definitely not a BMW!
Their issue to be honest, having worked in Automotive and having a background in multiple customer service oriented businesses it never ceased to amaze me how they treated their customers with almost total and utter disdain, mind you most of the business were run by engineers who treated everyone the same way, perhaps it's why the are struggling. I would be furious if they let me down and then asked for more money, it would be agreed price or you can keep it.
Yep, put in an official complaint which we know will be whitewashed and walked away. Plenty of cars out there to buy and I am not as fussed as I used to be, in many ways I prefer the older more analogue ones...
@isleaiw sounds like a similar issue with BMW FS in this thread on Pistonheads in this case honouring prices for an i7.. (later comments towards bottom of the thread) BMW i7 / 7 leasing thread, March 2025 offer - Page 2 - BMW General - PistonHeads UK
Thanks for that. Clearly they are happy to have dozens of cars sat in stock ageing that won't have the widest market appeal...
