But you must remember that like the NHS, it's free at the point of delivery.

To be fair there has always been issues with some of the forum - ads taking up too much space/replying not working properly etc.

On a positive note I think the AskHJ replies have improved in quality. There will no doubt be exceptions that people can dig out but in general they seem more considered and less predictable than when the much-missed HJ was fronting them. VAG don’t get the easy ride some of us feared they might. No longer are the stock answers to many questions Michelin CC tyres, the Jazz, Shell VPower and two footed automatic control.

On the other hand reviews now are more advertorial and the technical and spec data is reduced in new entries to less than HJ used to provide.

However the main thing that has stagnated is the quality of the back room itself. There are now only a few stalwarts and too many threads that border on trolling. We seem to get a lot of stuff where questioners just can’t be bothered to Google basic info but treat us as their own personal Alexa. Maybe it’s a lockdown thing and we are all becoming less interesting, it just here but in our ever reducing social interactions generally.

Finally I used to be able to find site traffic data where HJ was listed as one of the busiest UK sites. I can’t find this info now. Does anyone know how it’s been faring over recent months. Downwards?

<< As for why there are only a few stalwarts here, I think that part of the trouble is that the forum is not smartphone friendly - I read regularly but post little because it's just such an awkward process. >>

I think you may be right, Mike. I'm not smartphone friendly either, so I am happy with this site being unchanged. I've no idea how many millennials bother with HJ, as some seem to believe most of them aren't bothered about the nitty-gritty of cars, but if these pages can't operate with Android etc, then either some mods (=changes) need making or it will remain the province of the older generations - as it appears to be anyway :-)

Those of us who HAD to know how cars worked are a dying breed.

Cars from the 2000s on are basically reliable providing driven suitably and serviced...

Electric cars and hybrids are generally very reliable (I exclude BMWi3s and non Toyota hybrids). That is where the future lies.

And with PCPs so common, it's often cheaper (In the short term) to have a new car. So all work under warranty.

White Goods syndrome.

Couple that with lockdown where few drove much if at all, and the main issues were: do I need a new battery?

Once the economy recovers as us old old OAPs are vaccinated, expect more activity..

(I expect vaccination will take longer than hype says so as I am over 70. June for me...NO Pfizer equipped hospital within 30 miles and I am NOT driving to a Manchester hospital to Q for hours))

We get newcomers fairly regularly: agreed, not all that many and I don't know where they hear about the forum. As always, SLO and others, thank you for the advice you give.

Thread moved to General: they're hardly likely to expect good advice if the first thing they see is a whole lot of people whingeing about how the forum has gone downhill.

Indeed. The forum doesn't earn money directly of course, but the idea is that it draws attention to the rest of the site. Advertising is the main source of income, but as you say we can't expect anyone to throw money at the forum at the moment (e.g. to improve the clunky software).