I am blessed with a great wife. She says all cars look much the same and doesn't see what is better about a Mercedes than a Toyota. She is driving an 11 year old Hyundai and is perfectly pleased with it as long as it remains reliable. She intends to keep it indefinitely. Mind you if we had to buy another car she would want a new one or one no more than 2 years old.
Same here. She was happy with our nearly 20yr old Focus and she is thrilled with our new Peugeot 2008 which will be kept indefinitely.
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Odd critters aren't we? ( and of course I'm no different ) but when it comes to buying things that have had previous owners and users, we're at peace with buying cars or houses or antiques etc that may have had multiple previous owners, but with many other purchases, we wouldn't consider it, unless times were astonishingly hard.
Second hand wellies anyone? Socks? Light bulbs? Hat?
;-)
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when the government introduced the car scrappage scheme(Was it £2000 ?) 10 or so years ago. The manufacture added £2000 to the list price overnight..... When VAT was reduced, they retained the same list price, when VAT increased back, they further increased the list price....I guess they will add another 10% list price on 1st of Jan 2021 for all German/French car ?
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Odd critters aren't we? ( and of course I'm no different ) but when it comes to buying things that have had previous owners and users, we're at peace with buying cars or houses or antiques etc that may have had multiple previous owners, but with many other purchases, we wouldn't consider it, unless times were astonishingly hard. Second hand wellies anyone? Socks? Light bulbs? Hat? ;-)
In a move that is spectacularly unusual for me I bought a pair of shoes from a charity shop. They are Barker brand, made in England shoes which when new would have easily cost over £100. Polished them as if a sergeant major would be inspecting them and they look as good as new. I paid £3.50. Well chuffed.
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@Dag, may I suggest (shoes, their design and manufacture are my, perhaps sadly, specialist subject) but may I respectfully suggest you re-donate them to the charity shop in short order. Believe me, you really don't want to know what manner of nasty bacteria get trapped in the linings and stitching of previously worn footwear. If you are keen to keep them, then for goodness sake make sure you don't wear them for at least a month after purchase, and ensure they are thoroughly disinfected.
As an aside, for those who don't already know this, it is good practice never to wear the same item of footwear two days running. Even if they "feel" dry inside, they won't be, there will still be residual sweat in the stitching etc, and where there is moisture, bugs thrive. Most of them die off within 24 hours but others are far more robust.
A potentially disgusting fact is that a human adult loses about 2 pints of sweat through their feet every day, most of it evaporates, but some of it gets trapped in the footwear/socks/hosiery they were wearing. Sweat, when kept warm and confined, is a fabulously effective nutrient for bacteria.
Just don't wear second hand shoes. Huge risk of athlete's foot, fungal nail infections and worse.
Very bad idea in short.
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@Dag (are you Swedish?), you indeed have a bargain. Despite alby's doom-mongering you will not encounter any 'nasty' bacteria beyond what might be in your own footwear or bedroom carpet/rug. The advice not to wear the same shoes two days running is only if you have athlete's foot and are trying to get rid of it. Leather soled shoes like Barkers enable sweaty feet to 'breathe', absorbing moisture and drying out overnight.
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Respectfully suggest you are "mistaken" John. I know very little about many things but a lot about this. ;-)
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He really does know his stuff, John. He's the sales director of a respected brand of upmarket shoes.
Mind you, he'd probably not speak to me if we ever met - as being semi-retired and not often having to dress up, I slop around in Vans most of the time (because they're supremely comfortable, not through any failed attempt to be trnedy).
I redeem myself partially perhaps through not wearing the same shoes two days running; and having been taught by my mum at an early age that shoes adapt themselves to your feet, so never to wear shoes that someone else had had.
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He really does know his stuff, John. He's the sales director of a respected brand of upmarket shoes.
Hmmm. I very much doubt the quoted figure about moisture lost through one's feet. One normally drinks only 2-3 litres of water a day, plus some taken in with food. To suggest that a large proportion of that emerges from one's feet, compared to the amount excreted, exhaled and evaporated from better ventilated parts of the body, seems to me rather unlikely.
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Some people sweat more than others, and more when they're hot, or their shoes are too tight, or they're wearing someone else's.
Anyway let's not have a dispute about it, particularly as this thread is supposed to be about list prices. I'm still curious to know why Mrs SLO wants to move from a Polo to an XC60, and whether her husband has suggested that she looks at a RAV-4.
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“ Anyway let's not have a dispute about it, particularly as this thread is supposed to be about list prices. I'm still curious to know why Mrs SLO wants to move from a Polo to an XC60, and whether her husband has suggested that she looks at a RAV-4.“
Snob appeal, pure and simple. It’s the poshest of the options I listed when she expressed and interest in upgrading. I have taken her round a few dealers and she’s kinda relaxed a bit about it all and now opened up to the possibility of a CRV or a CX5 but to date I’ve found everything I’ve looked at is suffering from PCP/Contract leaseitis, the service history is usually missing or incomplete and/or there’s been some horrific cheap paintwork done to cover over damage before returning the vehicle. It’s sadly a real problem when one is looking for a good used car these days. As the first keeper will never own it they care not a jot about it. Neglect is sadly all too common.
We went to view a 16 plate CRV 1.6 Twin turbo SE with leather and 30k at the local main dealer but it had never seen spanners, apparently the last keeper was a local engineering firm who “serviced it themselves” but a quick look under the bonnet revealed no evidence of any such thing. It clearly still had the oil it had from new in it.
Next a 17 plate CRV 1.6 DTec SE 2wd with 13,000 miles and a perfect full history of 3 stamps despite this tiny mileage but sadly one of the rear doors had seen a terrible repair using what looks like a rattle can and some of the trim had been glued back in place.
So much for main dealer approved used. In my day they had to be next to perfect with a full main dealer history to qualify. Seems not at Honda.
We looked at a few XC60’s but the prices were getting too close to the cost of a new one with only £4000 separating the 68 plate with the new one I priced up. The 3yr old previous gen was overpriced too at £21k.
The RAV 4 has been ruled out on account of its styling and seat comfort. It’s lucky we’re in no hurry as Polo and Avensis are both running fine so I’ll drag my feet until something right lands on my lap.
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Responding to the above, I have indeed left the shoes unworn for a few weeks to ‘air’.
I confess to also having bought a pair of Cherry Blossom charcoal infused inner soles which cost me exactly £1 so in truth I suppose my lovely Barker shoes have actually cost me £4.50.
But I’m still chuffed to bits !
On a more serious note, I have long been an advocate of having many pairs of shoes at any one time and wearing them in rotation. Thus they do get to be aired and consequently each pair gives many years of service. How strange that a throwaway remark regarding second hand items has led to such an interesting thread, on a motoring forum no less !
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I lived and worked in a Northants shoe town for nearly forty years, was shown round one of the factories by the owner, and worn Loake shoes for much of my medical professional life - which involved acquiring an extensive knowledge of bacterial and fungal disease. I rest my case.
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He really does know his stuff, John. He's the sales director of a respected brand of upmarket shoes.
Hmmm. I very much doubt the quoted figure about moisture lost through one's feet. One normally drinks only 2-3 litres of water a day, plus some taken in with food. To suggest that a large proportion of that emerges from one's feet, compared to the amount excreted, exhaled and evaporated from better ventilated parts of the body, seems to me rather unlikely.
Not only unlikely......nonsense.
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Does anyone remember when Bowling Alleys first opened in the early 60's? You hired a pair of bowling shoes with your match lane. God knows how many pairs of feet had been into those! I wasn't so bad being a size 10 at the time mine were not as popular as the 7's and 8's. Still I don't recall anyone coming down with a severe case of Trenchfoot or worse.!!!!
Cheers Concrete
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Does anyone remember when Bowling Alleys first opened in the early 60's? You hired a pair of bowling shoes with your match lane. God knows how many pairs of feet had been into those!
Indeed I do. And those feet were only there for an hour or two. Hired ski boots have feet in them all day with no facility for ventilation, and certainly no drain holes for the cupfuls of sweat allegedly exuded! (apologies to Avant for another off topic reply).
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From an NHS pamhlet:
"There are more sweat glands per inch in our feet than anywhere else in the body, and their function is to keep the skin moist and therefore supple. They secrete all the time, not just in response to heat or exercise as elsewhere in the body."
www.rdash.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Sweaty...f
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