I have been considering going back to switzerland, but my Council tax for the town would be about £5000., Think I'll stick with Colchester. Can be there in just over an hour from Heathrow or gatwick. The price difference pays for a lot of flights.

Edited by _ORB_ on 26/03/2023 at 19:38

Council Tax - Are you sitting down?

A son live in Texas, the equivalent to Council Tax is a percentage of the house value in 2010 IIRC.

His Annual Property Tax is just under $30,000 - payable in full in mid February - failure to pay on time results in huge charges on top of the bill - eventually it takes a charge on the house itself and extracts the money + interest when the house is sold!

It's not all bad - Incomes are much higher - top rate of income tax is 30%, no state taxes (most states levy additional income tax). Electricity is around 8 to 10c per KWh, gas is cheap but he uses very little.

What all does he get for that? I assume that the council do more than just roads and rubbish.

No surprise the BMW is dead because even if you ignore the act that they just aren't as reliable as their high quality reputation might suggest, as they get older and cheaper they will often as not end up in the hands of a young driver with no experience of rwd and an overly optimistic view of their skill as a driver.

The Micra's are as likely to be run by an older conscientious driver who looks after it as a youth who neglects it. So unless you know what killed the '05 car, it no longer being on the road isn't representative, it could just as easily have been written off.

You clearly had not read my post.

The tax history of the BMW clearly indicated that it had probably been stolen or written off less than 4 months after a clear MOT. You cannot blame BMW quality for that but the skill level of a younger driver may of course be a factor.

The Micra had a very good MOT history, the one in 2021 was passed after a ball joint and a spring were replaced. There is no mention of corrosion on any test. But since the tax was surrendered mid month its again highly likely it was stolen or written off.

For the record when we sold the Micra on Autotrader it was bought by a driving school so to live out a total of almost 17 years was not a bad life.

Of the 3 Fords, Puma's are getting quite collectable, so owners are more likely to spend money keeping one on the road. The C-Max and Mondeo?, Fords of that age are prone to rust underneath so (unless written off) that is probably what killed them. Which in turn means that with preventative treatment underneath, both could still be providing sterling service (certainly if petrol engined).

As I noted in my post the Puma had rust coming through when we sold it so I think it was a miracle it lived over 23 years (I do wonder if its still being used on the road since the tax is still current).

The other Fords were diesels, the Mondeo the 2.0 TDCi 130 PS and the Focus a 1.6 TDCi 110 PS. No idea what killed either.

The Mondeo had no corrosion issues noted on the MOT history but its interesting to note that during the 11 years after we sold it the car only covered 37,000 miles. No DPF so it was not that.

The Focus like the Mondeo had no corrosion issues noted in its MOT’s but over 6 years after its last MOT expired its still on a SORN, bizarre that one.

The V6 Camry is a great buy.

Happy to be corrected but i believe replacing the rear bank of spark plugson that engine in Camry involves hours of dismantling the intake system, possibly not such a problem on your Estima.

I think you are right in that it is not an easy peasy job..I deliberately had Denso Iridium long life plugs put in when I first bought the Estima...along with new cambelt.

I recall the guys who did it say that the rear bank of plugs were a harder job than than the cambelt.!!..but don't recall any great need for dismantling..just tight space in which to work.

I'd say the Estima enine bay is much tighter than the Camry.?

That was 30k miles ago and everything is still sweet.

Edited by nellyjak on 27/03/2023 at 09:57