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VW Golf - leaving the dealers this morning at the crack of 8.30am !
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Been driving round west London a fair bit today. Not seen one 61-plate. No BMWs, no Audis. What on earth is going on?
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Grey BMW X1 on ther M62 funnily enough but technically I saw one yesterday too on the M5, also a BMW, although this time a white X5 but it was on a trailer.
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A swarm of Fiestas near the Ford dealer, but that's to be expected around here. The real corker was an STGO2 80 tonne low loader carrying what looked like a medium-sized power station - it belonged to Leicester Heavy Haulage and the reg. ended in LHH.
I saw a transporter last week loaded with 61 plate BT Transit vans, but that doesn't count either ;)
Last edited by: Dave_TDCi on Thu 1 Sep 11 at 18:56
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Mate in the trade (Vauxhall dealership) reckons its the quietest Sept 1st he's ever seen.
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Perhaps the quietest since 1997 anyway.
};---)
(Sorry, it's been a long day.)
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I saw my first 61 plate on Tuesday - it was a VW van being filled up with diesel. On trade plates. And heading for a charity organisation.
My local VW dealer had lots of cars in ready for 1st Sept. They were going to be very busy. I know I've been in the compound where they keep them all to see my car. Mine was on an 11 plate at the time but it will be swapped for the proper 61 plate before it's registered.
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Only one I've seen so far rtj70 was a Passat CC in silver....!
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I still haven't seen a car though. I don't live far from a few dealers either.
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Saw a 61 plate on the A11 just south of Norwich yesterday afternoon.
Will be seeing my own at 12:30 tomorrow; they offered me such a good deal I couldn't resist chopping in 10 months early, they must be struggling...........
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>> Mate in the trade (Vauxhall dealership) reckons its the quietest Sept 1st he's ever seen.
>>
There's a salesman at a Honda dealership posting on PistonHeads who said they had ONE new car going out on the 1st. Gulp!
When we ordered wifey's Jazz a couple of years ago in mid-Aug 09, ours was the 4th new car order that salesman had taken that day!
Last edited by: Bill Payer on Fri 2 Sep 11 at 14:57
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I'd kinda forgotten the new-plate spotting game which I have to admit to having indulged in since childhood, I've now missed 60, 11 and 61. Still not impressed by the twice yearly change even 13 years since its inception.
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Must admit that I'd forgotten about the plate change dates.
It wasn't until after I'd done the deal and the dealer guy said that I could have the car on the 1st if I wanted to be one of the first with the 61 plate that I realised, surprised as they have always seemed busy before and have always tried to put me off the first day but it was a bit late as I'd already got a job for the 1st 130 miles away and had arranged to wait in for a courier all day today; 9-5 and he still hasn't arrived, grrrrrrr!
Judging by the fact I could have had the car on the 1st and the deal that I got along with the lack of 61 sightings then it would pretty much seem to bear up the theory that cars aren't exactly roaring off the forecourts......
Remember the days when they had champagne receptions the night before so people could drive out of the showroom at 00:01 with their shiny new plates? I think those days are long gone......
Last edited by: Cockle on Fri 2 Sep 11 at 15:42
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Agreed, IC. I'm no fan of the new system either. (So much so that I forgot the last of the 1 August changeovers was in 1998, although I collected a Saab 9-3 (with wonky front number plate and upside-down S badges) that day. The year coding, using three codes within a single calendar year, is just silly.
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>> The year coding, using three codes within a single calendar year, is just silly.
At least it should have aligned with the year. So Jan 1st would be MA12 XXX and July 1st MA72 XXX.
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>> >> The year coding, using three codes within a single calendar year, is just silly.
>>
>> At least it should have aligned with the year. So Jan 1st would be MA12
>> XXX and July 1st MA72 XXX.
>>
Agree 100%, calendar year would make far more sense but I imagine that many workers at dealers and their workshops wouldn't be too pleased having to work all through the Xmas break getting all the PDI's done.....
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>> many workers at dealers and their workshops wouldn't be too pleased having to work all through the Xmas break
Which is exactly why it moved from 1 Jan to 1 Aug in 1967 :)
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>> Which is exactly why it moved from 1 Jan to 1 Aug in 1967 :)
>>
I think it should be dropped altogether, although I suppose people would then tend to default to 1st Jan to get the most out their car being new that year. The Americans seem to go by model years more than anything else.
I reckon if the age marker was dropped here then new car sales would be decimated.
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>> I reckon if the age marker was dropped here then new car sales would be decimated.
I've always thought that the method used in some European countries (I think?) would be far more sensible - a panel at the end (say where the EU stars go) with the month and year of registration shown like this:
09
11
Of course, your new car would only appear "new" for 1 month instead of 6, but that might actually increase sales to the "must-have"s.
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>> Of course, your new car would only appear "new" for 1 month instead of 6,
>> but that might actually increase sales to the "must-have"s.
>>
That I think is part of our problem.
UK cars are now only 'new' for 6 months, as opposed to the 12 months in the past.
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Wasn't the twice-yearly plate change (and indeed the change from a Jan 1st to an Aug 1st changeover in the late 1960's) the result of 'pressure' from the motor trade - market manipulation of sorts ?
It seems silly to me that a car registered on Feb 28th is possibly worth arbitrarily less at trade-in than a car registered 24 hours later (48 in a leap year of course) and carries a plate which doesn't reflect the year of registration - all to generate motor trade volumes in a traditionally quiet period.....
IMHO the plate should have a year/month combination or say nothing of the cars age.....
Perhaps with the UK's long term economic outlook and the service lives of cars it's time to think differently ?
On a tangential note - I wonder whether we'll see another scrappage scheme, it will be nice to think of my money subsidising Korean workers once more (I know - there's a strong argument that the tax-take on a new car more than compensates for this).
Last edited by: idle_chatterer on Sun 4 Sep 11 at 08:46
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>> a panel at the end (say where the EU stars go)
>> with the month and year of registration shown like this:
>>
>> 09
>> 11
>>
Isn't that just like road tax and the plate gets renewed every year? Some countries (ie Belgium) have plates that belong to the driver so they get transferred from car to car.
As far as I know only UK and S.Ireland use plates which identify the age of the car.
Last edited by: Bill Payer on Fri 2 Sep 11 at 22:07
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>> The Americans seem to go by model years more than anything else.
The car I am getting is referred to in America as the 2012 model. The revised version will be shown at the Frankfurt motor show later this month. And that is being referred to as the 2013 model. Simple. And makes sense - not! :-)
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>> Been driving round west London a fair bit today. Not seen one 61-plate. No BMWs,
>> no Audis. What on earth is going on?
>>
It's OK, normal service is resumed. Saw 2 61-plate Audis on the M25 last night. And surprise, surprise, they were both black! :-)
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Saw a 61 plate pickup today, well the front was, at least the cheapo sticky pads stuck to the back of the pickup if not to the number plate. That is the only 61 I have seen, scarce this year.
Last edited by: Old Navy on Fri 2 Sep 11 at 19:05
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Earlier spotted a different car going onto a neighbours drive - thought new car. Easy to spot the difference between an Espace and Laguna estate. Seen a 61 plate at last.
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I had a run to Porthmadog this morning to a meeting (yes I still do those :-0 ) went one way came back another ---- something like 60 miles - didn't see one on my travels....a dearth this year it seems.
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Thinking about it - the person I spoke to at the dealer was in fleet sales and they'd sold lots. I suppose that makes sense. There were many cars and vans being made ready for this week.
I've not been far in the last few days (somehow managed 40 miles though).
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We are in Co. Durham in our trundling wee bothy, moored a short distance away is a new 61 plate Swift motorhome.
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>>Earlier spotted a different car going onto a neighbours drive - thought new car. Easy to spot the difference between an Espace and Laguna estate. Seen a 61 plate at last.
Thats another spot - when did you last see a new shape Laguna???
I know there were a lot of Espace knockers (hello Humph) on HJ, but recently Arnold Clark were offering del mileage only models for £15k which was a lot of car for the money.
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>> when did you last see a new shape Laguna?
Reckon i've seen more Peugeot 508s in the last month than current shape Lagunas in the last 2 years.
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Funnily enough I saw a 508 yesterday for the first time in months.
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>> Thats another spot - when did you last see a new shape Laguna???
I did think that when I saw it proper. In fact I am sad enough to have seen it driving onto the driveway of the neighbour a few hundred yards away and thought it was a Laguna. I think that's the first Laguna estate I've seen in years - must have been a good deal.
What caught my attention was a black estate driving onto their driveway instead of a silver Espace reversing.
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>> I think that's the first Laguna estate I've seen in years
The 54 plate one up the road is still there at £1495 after three weeks... It's been joined by a 53 plate Primera diesel for £800. (but I recognise that car as a former local hackney cab)
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www.perrys.co.uk/new-renault-laguna-estate
Seem reasonable on here for the petrol ones....saw a Corsa the other day at a dealer, they wanted 12k for it !
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The local one has a Manchester plate - not sure if Perry's is local? My Mazda6 is from Perry's Leicester if memory serves me... Oct 2007 mind.
Edit... no I think it was Robinson's Leicester Mazda. Perry's were the nearest lease company used... so used Leicester.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Fri 2 Sep 11 at 22:08
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It was only a random google result - guess it shows the state of the market wherever...
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Indeed. My dealer has had my Passat since July and I cannot have it until October. I ordered early because of previous delays. Feeling a bit guilty but I think the lease company pays VW direct. But the dealer won't get their percentage for a bit yet.
But they did mess up the order for a trivial amount but something I wanted. Let it go. Question is should I cheekily ask for something - might get it but not their fault really.
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I saw an 11-reg Laguna coupe a couple of days ago, looks a little like an A5, and just as pointless.
Another static owner on the caravan site had a Megane and traded it in for what I think is a new Megane estate.
He might like Renaults, or he might be stuck with them because the other make dealers will only offer buttons for his trade-in.
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>> I saw an 11-reg Laguna coupe a couple of days ago, looks a little like
>> an A5, and just as pointless.
>>
Care to enlighten me Iffy, on how exactly an A5 is "pointless"?
Or was it a throw-away remark (such as we all make occasionally) which you wouldn't have made in hindsight?
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>> on how exactly an A5 is "pointless"?
I can't see anything pointless about an A5. A good looking, roomy, lively car in my opinion - and I, for one, wouldn't say no.
I remember a poster at the other place making a similar remark about the 1 series BMW. A friend of mine likes BMWs but wanted a smaller car, so buying the 1 certainly wasn't pointless as far as she was concerned.
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The first 61 I saw was a (black) Passat CC coming out of the VW dealer in Reading, but shortly afterwards, I saw my second. This was a (black) Vauxhall Meriva, the new kind with the (what's-the-point-of-that) funny opening rear doors.
It wasn't so much the car that surprised me as the location. Reading tip (OK, "Recycling Centre"), parked up being emptied of its contents, which looked like the remains of an old garden shed.
Obviously not people trying to keep their pride and joy in pristine condition, they must have driven off the dealer's forecourt, headed for home and filled it with shed.
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Maybe the Meriva was a hire car or a car on a test drive :-)
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You cynical swines. I hadn't thought of that!
;-)
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I once had to take an old washing machine to the tip. It had been in the garage for ages. My car was a Mondeo hatchback and it was going to be difficult to get it in and out on my own - easier without a load lip.
Next time my car went in for a service I needed a hire car. I asked for an estate and got a Mazda6 :-)
Trips to the tip won't be done much with my next car with leather seats though! And a saloon too.
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I have a Montego estate based confession. Rover did a 24 hour test drive deal and you also got a free leather Filofax... I needed to collect a large object from a nearby town. So I got (and still have) a lovely leather Filofax and transport all in one package. Handy.
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Many moons ago, (1999 I think) Vauxhall were trying to push more cars into the company car market, so were giving weekend test drives including fuel!
SO I claimed an Omega Estate, 3.0V6 diesel, fully loaded, fully tanked up, and we went away to Devon for the weekend.
Had no intention of ever choosing one for a company car, but hey it was free.
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Joined an elite group today and actually drove a 61 plater. Not mine...A Zafira 7 seater delivered to me by the lease company for me to prep and get settled into it's new home on the mean streets of the city.
I did your trick with a Barclaycard, Pug. They were offering a leather filofax with a card. I got one and cut the card up. Still got the filofax after 30 yrs or so.
Another Zafira coming on Thursday.
Ted
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I see that this thread has not had an update - is this a sign that 61 reg cars are few and far between?
Bearing there is a Mercedes, Jaguar and Ford garage near where I live.... I've seen none on the road on a 61 plate. A little further afield and you can add in most including Lamborghini.
So the sum total of 61 plate cars I've seen in order of seeing them:
- VW van of transit size - no idea of model and seen a few days before 1st Sept in a petrol station
- Renault Laguna Estate
- VW Passat Estate
- VW Passat Saloon
- KIA Picanto
And that's it so far. I've not gone further than Liverpool from Manchester in this time but travelled about 700 miles. I'd assume I'd have seen more.
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>> Bearing there is a Mercedes, Jaguar and Ford garage near where I live.... I've seen
>> none on the road on a 61 plate. A little further afield and you can
>> add in most including Lamborghini.
Sales are down.
Most cars we now sell are through the corporate department, ie company cars.
I think this recession is beginning to bite, it will start to really hurt soon.
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>> I think this recession is beginning to bite, it will start to really hurt soon.
>>
You are right, except that it isn't a recession in the classical sense of a downturn in the trade cycle.
What's going on is a fundamental rebalancing of the world trade system to the disadvantage of the West. It was inevitable the moment that China embraced a pragamatic economic policy instead of a purely Socialist one.
We only delayed the inevitable with the credit bubble.
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>> I saw my second. This was a (black) Vauxhall
>> Meriva, the new kind with the (what's-the-point-of-that) funny opening rear doors.
Obviously you're not a parent who has had to extract small children from the rear of a car, particularly out of a child seat!
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My 61 count also stands at two, both Audis - a Q7 and an A4 - and both black, but you already knew that last bit. I saw the first one only last week.
I've not seen any sales figures, but I take my own (self-evidently accurate and representative) sample to mean that companies are extending replacement cycles (my former employer once announced a pay freeze with the phrase 'extending the merit increase cycle') while private buyers are more concerned about next winter's gas bill than with buying a new car.
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My pal and I used to play the new car game with a difference. First one to see a new registration car with a dent was the winner.
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We used to do this in the office when I worked (remember work?).
I mentioned it in the other place years ago and got accused of being a sad so and so.
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Saw my first two in the last few days.
An Audi while I was on my way to the caravan, and a Nissan Juke parked outside one of the other statics.
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I played that too (replying to Slidingpillar).
Best ever was a Toyota (many years ago) which looked to be a total write-off. If my memory serves me right, it was before noon on 1 August (new reg date at the time).
Never come close since.
Last edited by: hjd on Mon 19 Sep 11 at 12:17
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Saw two more this morning:
- VW Golf
- VW Passat CC
Both near Warrington.
So VW had a good September if my sightings are representative.
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Not looking all the time but didn't notice even one yesterday (Northampton to Sheffield and return).
A few other interesting vehicles though as noted in the Unusual Sightings thread.
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I'm always surprised by these threads as I seem to see lots of the new registrations!
This afternoon, on the short drive from Moreton in Marsh to Stratford upon Avon (less than 20 miles) I saw 6 - Audi A4, Audi A1, VW Golf, VW Polo, Vauxhall Astra & Ford Focus ........
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Do you count lorries too?....might see more.
Pat
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>> Do you count lorries too?....might see more.
The first 61 plate I saw was a lorry. Seen half a dozen more since, including one at the place I've been working this last week. They won't let me drive it though :(
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My youngest son's next door neighbour had a 61 Reg Audi AllRoad.
Notice the tense.
A young lad in a Civic came out a side rid and whacked it, both are a write-off.
The neighbour was hospitalised for 2/3 days and is now home - the 2 young lads were cuts and bruises.
He is now looking @ a Q5.
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>> I played that too (replying to Slidingpillar).
>> Best ever was a Toyota (many years ago) which looked to be a total write-off... before noon on 1 August
In years gone by, the 2nd August edition of The Sun could be counted on to contain half a dozen photos of significantly damaged brand new cars from the day before.
I was returning from a Lake District holiday in the first week of August 1989 when I saw a G-reg Peugeot 309 at the motorway services with the whole back end stoved in. When asked, the driver told me it had been rear-ended at a pedestrian crossing shortly after he'd picked it up from the dealer on August 1st - he hadn't even got it home to show the wife :(
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I'd forgotten I'd seen a Vx Insignia at work. And today on the way home:
- VW Golf estate
- Vx Astra
- Ford Focus
- VW Scirocco (near to home)
Still far more VWs for me than anything else. Is any other manufacturer selling? :-)
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My impressions are the same as for most of you. Despite a 300-mile round trip on 2-4 Sept, the first 61-reg I saw was on Sunday last week (11th) - the churchwarden's new XF, with which he was about to tow a caravan.
No more until today - a 250-mile round trip - and I saw just one, a Kia Picanto on the M25 with some very bright foglights which someone hadn't yet discovered how to turn off.
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Not seen one yet, there seems to be a hell of a lot more Eddie trucks than 61 plates! Not even seen any 61 plate buses, which is unusual but now Stagecoach have operations in London again I guess the they are spending all their money there.
I guess the 61 plate might be quite rare, rather like the J plate was back in the early 90's, 1991-1992 must have been a very bad year for car sales but again it was in a bad recession.
Last edited by: RattleandSmoke on Mon 19 Sep 11 at 18:25
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I don't think I've really noticed fewer new plates than previous years. I am surprised I've seen more VWs than anything else more than anything. If I linger a bit near the nearby garages I am sure I will see a few.
Locally to me home wise, there's the Laguna and Scirroco.
I thought the Chrysler Delta parked opposite me at the moment was going to be another 61 plate and rare. But it's an 11 plate. Covered in stickers from the garage telling me it's available from £16695. It really does look like a Lancia styling wise (which it is) and has little Chrysler DNA.
What is odd it's outside the house of someone who works for a Ford dealer. Surely not him?
Last edited by: rtj70 on Mon 19 Sep 11 at 18:56
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Based on the cars I've seen recently, the 61 plate is doing well. Last two days I've seen:
- Infiniti M35h hybrid
- Audi A1
- VW Golf
- VW Passat CC (another one - common they are)
- Kia Carens
- Vx Astra
- Ford Fiesta
- Volvo C30
- Volvo S40
And all of these in addition to the ones seen already. And I'm not even trying
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Out and about again today for a family funeral in Worcestershire.
Saw just two, both on commercials, the first a signwritten Citroen Nemo and the second an HGV tractor unit.
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Also saw a SEAT Ibiza this morning. So out of the 21 cars I've seen on a 61 plate, eleven have been VAG cars/vans.
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Actually I think I've seen 22 in total. So 50% have been VAG.
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>> Actually I think I've seen 22 in total. So 50% have been VAG.
>>
Remind us - what is your next car?
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The figures I have given have nothing to do with my next car being a VW. I could have included my car I suppose but haven't even though I've seen it and know it's reg already.
I have seen 21 cars and one van on 61 plates. And half of those have been VAG cars/vans (mostly VW). And for the last few days I have been actively looking at the reg of current/new model cars because I was curious about how good/bad sales have been.
Going back to some of the original points... I think I've seen more 61 plates in the first few weeks than I saw of 11 or 60 plates for similar periods. And when I went to check over my car a few weeks ago I knew my local VW and Audi dealers were going to have a good Sept 1st because of the cars in the compound.
I am still a little surprised to have seen more VAG than anything else... and not too far from me the dealers include:
- Ford
- Jaguar
- Mercedes Benz
- Chrysler
- Mazda
- Lexus
- Suzuki
- VW
- Audi
- Citroen
- Nissan
- Infiniti
- Honda
- BMW
- Mini
- SEAT
- Skoda
- Land Rover
- Toyota
- FIAT
- Renault
- Lamborghini
- Ferrari
- Maserati
Oh I saw a Mazda6 today too. So that's 23 cars/vans with 11 being VAG.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Wed 21 Sep 11 at 22:42
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>> The figures I have given have nothing to do with my next car being a
>> VW. I could have included my car I suppose but haven't even though I've seen
>> it and know it's reg already.
>>
Ah, so you sussed the point I was going to make - if your mind is on something, then you see that something everywhere.....
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I see your point. Shortly after ordering the Passat CC - I saw loads of them! Statistically they aren't so common according to the site howmanyleft. I think the Passat CC has about 10,000 licensed. The Qashqai by comparison has over 118,000.
A few times when driving to work on the M60/M62 I've even dropped into lane 2 to let a car pass that's a little further back to see the reg. Sad I know.
More worrying is why so many dealers are near to home! I need to move to Greece.
Last edited by: rtj70 on Wed 21 Sep 11 at 22:58
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Bit of a tipping point today - saw at least 1/2 a dozen over 20 miles - mix of VWs (Passat Coupe - a bigger car than expected - my neighbour's father turned up in one the other day as well - filled the street !) a convert. A3, another big Audi, a Pug van and a truck of some make or other...
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There's someone on here getting Passat coupe soon I seem to remember. Well I think so anyway, he might have mentioned it once...
:-)
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First 61 reg (just to keep the tradition going..) - Boxsterboy
