Just dropped me 'umble and ageing Focus (great car) in to the local Ford emporium for its annual ‘service’ (whatever that means nowadays - what with opaque ‘Service Plan’ language).
Had a quick look at a row of Pumas (Kuga is far too big) – can I ask, any thoughts about what models might be best? …I have been schooled to avoid anything with a ‘wet belt’.
Am I the only one who wants simple controls, a CD player, and none of this driver-aids nonsense? …but the time may have come 
Have had a few Puma ST line/X……always the 155 hp ones though. Great car to drive, good mpg from the mild hybrid one litre, 3 cyl engine. Make sure you understand what additional extras you want as they come packaged as comfort, winter and driver assistance packs. They will probably be pushing the 125 ps engine depending on their fleet fuel economy situation. My daughter has the Puma ST……not my cup of tea, difficult to get in and out of the car and a-hard ride.
No, you’re not. Too much useless tech i don’t need or want. It really puts me off a lot of new cars.
Thanks – years back I tried a Focus Zetec with optional 18’’ rims and lower-profile tyres. Nearly shook my fillings out. It seems the me the spec variants have increased dramatically.
It‘s a holiday in Germany so friends invited us to join them on a day trip to the Czech Republic to buy e-cigarettes. We came back via Regensburg and got shown round the city. It was nice there but we are now sitting in a traffic jam and my co-passengers are all puffing on their vape-type e-cigs 
I was reading a piece by the Guardian’s consumer champion recently. It was their last piece for the paper and summarised the tips they’d picked up over the years. One was never to bother with legal cover on your house insurance. That was a piece of advice I most certainly didn’t agree with! Our Aviva renewed last month at £42, a big jump from last year’s £35. Still, it seems ok and all insurance seems to have jumped in price. The letter came while we were on holiday and we had two days to decide and in the end I couldn’t be bothered with the hassle to getting other quotes. There was post holiday stuff to do.
The couple next door are renting while their house is being refurbished after a fire last year. They are now buying cheap stuff……they got £65k for contents…….money does not go very far these days. One set of curtains cost £5k………velvet ones (yuk). As they put it……we are buying furniture we would have bought as newly weds…….they had Tesco insurance.
Yes, with our policy we have unlimited buildings and contents cover. It seems the sensible thing to do.
I know it’s October now but I took this photo on the IOW this morning. Feels like the summer is hanging on by its fingertips.
You are not, I went for the bottom of the range Suzuki , because it was easy to get in, I get 60 miles to the gallon and it is not overloaded with Tech
Oh and it is not made by Mini
For those of us who worked in general insurance I am not surprised . I have a reasonable audio system and I am insured via Nationwide (who last I looked used RSA - a quality firm)
Yep, sat in a 22-plate Puma today (a Fiesta on stilts!), and it was like a spaceship (an ST-line/X model, with some options). Loads of buttons, plus those blank plates for even more options, and a small-ish screen. It was a very different internal vista than my 'umble now aged Focus.
As my mechanic mate puts it, far more to go wrong, especially if the plan is to keep the car many years. Simple is good n’est pas?
I think a test drive beckons, but not with bigger rims and lower profile tyres.
Damn vaps are becoming as big of a problem as was smoking. There been banned here, and there’s a huge crackdown on illegal sales, mostly flavoured and to kids.
Yes Pete. I agree they can be just as intrusive as ciggies though to be fair to my co-passengers, i.e. to my wife and friends, they all “smoke” “heets”. The difference is that the tobacco is heated instead of being burnt. Smells a bit like someone farted nearby.
Seeing big increases in discarded vapes locally. An utter annoyance.
Went to Exeter today to visit the University campuses.
What a lovely place.
The users think they have dodged a bullet?
They just don’t know about the other bullets yet.
Yep. We have a generation of people who dropped things on the floor and their parents either did nothing or picked it up for them.
I learnt at a young age not to drop litter thanks to parental guidance.
Till they get popcorn lung.
