Harry’s Garage

[PaulJ]

I went out in a mates GT86 back in the day. Recall it feeling quite cheap but was a nice drive.

Worth bearing in mind that you’re all driving much nicer cars than a new £30k car now too.

Like what do we think the average new price for forum cars is now, £70k?

Mine was £70k four years ago.

[ZedLeg]

Even Rich’s van would’ve been £40k+ as a new purchase

[integrale_evo]

Not everyone on here is driving fancy expensive cars

[ZedLeg]

I did think of you as the forum exception

[Rich B]

Even Rich’s van would’ve been £40k+ as a new purchase

What do you mean “even”!!?

[Jobbo]

I would expect the 86 to be much less stress to maintain than the gr yaris. It’s less mechanically complicated.

Subaru are not known for their long service intervals and fuss-free engines.

I had the chance to get one of the second wave of GR86s new (thanks to JonMad of this forum) but turned it down despite not having driven one. I didn't have enought of a want for one. I think it would have been hard to choose a GR86 over a GR Yaris too; they were a similar price in 2022/23 and the GR Yaris feels more like a special piece of engineering.

[Jobbo]

Not everyone on here is driving fancy expensive cars

How much is an X5 these days...?

[integrale_evo]

Apparently £60k in 2005 would be around £105k today

However even the mighty mito would be £24k in todays money

[Matty]

I went out in a mates GT86 back in the day. Recall it feeling quite cheap but was a nice drive.

Worth bearing in mind that you’re all driving much nicer cars than a new £30k car now too.

Like what do we think the average new price for forum cars is now, £70k?

I'm going back a bit....I might have been in my VW Bora and maybe even the Evora. One was old, the other hardly a poster child for interior quality

[Carlos]

I’m sure there are a lot of people with £30k to spend on something fun and rwd who absolutely would have both the gt86 and m2 on their radar.

It’s the classic thing, something newer, maybe more reliable, still under factory warranty, or something a bit older but more refined and miles faster.

Would a 7 year older M2 actually feel much older to sit in and drive? He said the gt86 interior felt pretty ancient.

Its a comparison from a white, wealthy and older gentleman who is unlikely to buy either a 7yr old M2 or a GT/GR86

My daughter is probably a more likely candidate and insurance alone would be a deal breaker at £1600pa v £6000pa, tyres £110 each v £250+ etc

10yr/100k mile warranty on the GT/GR86 is also a big win for Toyota.

As regards interior the M2 feels much more modern than the GT86 although the level of standard kit is very similar. It seems like a sporty design language that Toyota use for the GR products (except the Supra for obvious reasons) as the Yaris, Corolla, 86's all have that plasticky robust feel to them!

[MikeHunt]

10yr/100k mile warranty on the GT/GR86 is also a big win for Toyota.

This

7 years extended warranty with BMW would be a 5 figure sum.

[GG.]

Can't see if there is a separate Harry's farm thread but the renewable energy vid he has just put up is interesting...

... primarily for reasons nothing to do with the main content of the video. Turns out his house which looks like a very old country pile was actually a new build back in the 2000s. I did wonder how he afforded that because an original Grade II farmhouse of that size in that location would be likely >£4m there now (based on recent listings) and presumably still $$$ back in the 2000s.

Plus even with all the heat pumps its £25k a year - so £50k of pre tax earnings to heat / power your property

[Simon]

Is this news? I thought everyone knew he built it. Theres a telegraph article (I think) about it many years ago with an interview with him on it.

Edit to say... Not trying to sound like a dick.

[integrale_evo]

New M5.

I like the wheels. I dislike the 20in front vs 21in rear, looks silly, needs 21s all round.

Dislike pretty much everything else about it.

[GG.]

Is this news? I thought everyone knew he built it. Theres a telegraph article (I think) about it many years ago with an interview with him on it.

Edit to say... Not trying to sound like a dick.

No I had no idea! Maybe everyone else knew but always looked pretty convincing as an old building from the small clips I'd seen.

[V8Granite]

Can't see if there is a separate Harry's farm thread but the renewable energy vid he has just put up is interesting...

... primarily for reasons nothing to do with the main content of the video. Turns out his house which looks like a very old country pile was actually a new build back in the 2000s. I did wonder how he afforded that because an original Grade II farmhouse of that size in that location would be likely >£4m there now (based on recent listings) and presumably still $$$ back in the 2000s.

Plus even with all the heat pumps its £25k a year - so £50k of pre tax earnings to heat / power your property

I thought he said it was about £450 a month ?

We average £30 a month for gas and £100 for electric. We have 2 air smell remover things rubbing and a de-humidifier in the garage 24/7.

That’s for a 115 square metre house so I’d say his figures are not bad.

Dave!

[Jobbo]

I think GG is erroneously using his annual kWh figure as the cost. What I didn’t quite work out was if that was his total usage or just the excess used over what he generates from the solar and wind turbine.

I don’t think £400/month is a particularly mad figure for heating and electricity costs these days. Particularly if yiu run a swimming pool and charge your cars.

Harry’s timing is very apt because our solar install starts tomorrow. I’m getting a battery too because (a) it insulates you from power cuts and (b) you can charge it from the grid at cheap rates so it’ll still cut your bills in winter when you’re not generating much yourself. To get the cheapest overnight rates on Octopus you have to have an EV and prove that to them (not just install a charger) so I think I’ll be ordering an R5 through work - probably end up costing very little indeed with the cheaper tariff we’d qualify for.

[mik]

We have 2 air smell remover things rubbing and a de-humidifier in the garage 24/7.

What you got? I leave my Meaco DDL8 on constantly in the garage - on its lowest setting which is just 330w - but with its target point set to 60% RH it’s sitting on standby as much as it’s on unless we are putting cars away wet.

[IanF]

Okay, all this talk of costs is making me think the 2K pcm I paid up till Dec was not just paying the heating bill!

[Marv]

His explanation of how the ground source heat pump uses the energy from the soil was rather convoluted!

I don't think I'd fit solar panels to a house, without a battery either. Though I can see why Harry hasn't, as he has places to dump any excess energy (swimming pool etc)

Wonder if he went triple glazed, air tight and mechanical ventilation with his build, to go with the extra insulation? I mean, they're not totally necessary, but help a great deal when using a heat pump.

We had an electric Aga at our previous place and it was shit at cooking things £150 Beko electric oven at the place we rented afterwards was better!

Heat pumps are still too expensive if there's gas available, but I don't think I'd go back to oil.