This grumpy middle-aged man concurs.
Between 705 & 1200 SQ/FT New home and 3 car garage in Melbourne, Australia
- Thread starter Geoff289
- Start date
Workspaces between 705 and 1200 squarefeet.
I have a couple of pieces of news.
Firstly, as foreshadowed in posts 871 and 873, this has followed me home.
Those interested can look up the specs. After reading and watching numerous reviews and test driving one at a local dealership, I decided it was what I wanted. While I would obviously have preferred to pay less than I did for it, and it lost value as soon as it left the dealership, I think I got a half reasonable deal. I found it at a country dealer a couple of hours from home. It's a demo model with only a couple of hundred K's on the odo. Reading between the lines, I think it was something of an experiment by the dealer to gauge the interest in the whole electric vehicle thing in the bush. The answer seems to be not much as it has really only been around the block since being registered about four months ago. I think they decided to cut their losses and move it on and priced it to this end. I'll let you know what I think of it once I've had it for a while (and figured out the bewildering array of tech it offers).
On a less cheery note, we lost my Mum a couple of weeks ago. She went quickly and painlessly in the aged care place she'd only moved into about 6 weeks earlier. After spending weeks getting her settled in there and bringing in an endless list of stuff she insisted she needed, we've spent the time since getting it all out. It would have been much more convenient if she'd passed at home before all that but in that scenario she may not have been found for a couple days so that doesn't really bear thinking about.
We had her here at our place in early August to celebrate her 92nd birthday and most of the extended family were there, including all six grandchildren and six great grandchildren. She thoroughly enjoyed that.
We had been working hard getting her house ready for sale to pay for the aged care. We still need to crack on with that but the immediate urgency is no longer there, and in any event, we can't deal with the estate until probate has been obtained.
So there we are, the end of an era
Firstly, as foreshadowed in posts 871 and 873, this has followed me home.
Those interested can look up the specs. After reading and watching numerous reviews and test driving one at a local dealership, I decided it was what I wanted. While I would obviously have preferred to pay less than I did for it, and it lost value as soon as it left the dealership, I think I got a half reasonable deal. I found it at a country dealer a couple of hours from home. It's a demo model with only a couple of hundred K's on the odo. Reading between the lines, I think it was something of an experiment by the dealer to gauge the interest in the whole electric vehicle thing in the bush. The answer seems to be not much as it has really only been around the block since being registered about four months ago. I think they decided to cut their losses and move it on and priced it to this end. I'll let you know what I think of it once I've had it for a while (and figured out the bewildering array of tech it offers).
On a less cheery note, we lost my Mum a couple of weeks ago. She went quickly and painlessly in the aged care place she'd only moved into about 6 weeks earlier. After spending weeks getting her settled in there and bringing in an endless list of stuff she insisted she needed, we've spent the time since getting it all out. It would have been much more convenient if she'd passed at home before all that but in that scenario she may not have been found for a couple days so that doesn't really bear thinking about.
We had her here at our place in early August to celebrate her 92nd birthday and most of the extended family were there, including all six grandchildren and six great grandchildren. She thoroughly enjoyed that.
We had been working hard getting her house ready for sale to pay for the aged care. We still need to crack on with that but the immediate urgency is no longer there, and in any event, we can't deal with the estate until probate has been obtained.
So there we are, the end of an era
Coolabah
Well-known member
Geoff, so sorry about your mum.
ajohno
Well-known member
Sorry about your mum.
Tactile
Well-known member
Sorry for your loss.
Ralf99
Well-known member
Geoff, sorry to hear of your mums passing.
On a cheerier note, the new wheels look schmick.
On a cheerier note, the new wheels look schmick.
Coolabah
Well-known member
Yeh , funny looking Ford badge though
Lyndon
Well-known member
Condolences Geoff. Never easy.
Comments on operating the new wheels will be interesting (though you won't ever get me into an EV - I'm ICE all the way (and by not updating the current car since 2006 - I reckon I've saved a ton a green house gases - but that's another story)!
Lyndon
Comments on operating the new wheels will be interesting (though you won't ever get me into an EV - I'm ICE all the way (and by not updating the current car since 2006 - I reckon I've saved a ton a green house gases - but that's another story)!
Lyndon
Thanks Lyndon,
We went for a bit of a drive yesterday - to a nursery of course - and so far, very good. Leaving aside the propulsion arrangements, its a really nice car and the driving dynamics are great. Not leaving aside the propulsion arrangements, it has more torque than the Benz with the two powertrains operating in tandem and gets going very satisfactorily when needed.
Bob Heine
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Geoff, sorry to hear your mother died but glad it wasn't a painful and lingering end.
I remember arriving in Sydney and going directly to a BMW dealership to purchase a used 5- or 7-series in 1989 (based on the 8-year-old 733i I left behind costing me $10,000). Salesman said they had a 3-year-old 5-series they would let go for A$100,000. We ended up with a more modest but new A$27,000 Toyota Camry. Based on the $43K base price in the US I suspect the 330e is right around A$100K down under.
I personally would consider an electric but Liane is adamant it has to be ICE or hybrid. Not that it really matters. All of our rarely driven fleet is ICE and only the Corvettes are naturally aspirated. The PT Cruiser's turbo makes it peppy enough for everyday driving and the supercharged Cadillac takes care of my need for speed. The cars are 14-, 21-, 38- and 53-years old and being driven by 80-year-olds.
I remember arriving in Sydney and going directly to a BMW dealership to purchase a used 5- or 7-series in 1989 (based on the 8-year-old 733i I left behind costing me $10,000). Salesman said they had a 3-year-old 5-series they would let go for A$100,000. We ended up with a more modest but new A$27,000 Toyota Camry. Based on the $43K base price in the US I suspect the 330e is right around A$100K down under.
I personally would consider an electric but Liane is adamant it has to be ICE or hybrid. Not that it really matters. All of our rarely driven fleet is ICE and only the Corvettes are naturally aspirated. The PT Cruiser's turbo makes it peppy enough for everyday driving and the supercharged Cadillac takes care of my need for speed. The cars are 14-, 21-, 38- and 53-years old and being driven by 80-year-olds.
Thanks so much Bob. Mum made it to 92 years, 1 month and 3 days. I have said on here before that I plan to beat that with a minimum of 92 years, 2 months and 9 days so that I will have drawn from my superannuation scheme for as long as I paid into it.
Yes, as you found in 1989, cars are expensive here, and we were still making them here then. Your Camry would have been made here in Melbourne. While Toyotas are reliable well built cars, it's a shame you couldn't enjoy our country in something a bit less pedestrian. 5 and 7 series Bimmers are not that common down here.
I outlined my reasoning for going with a hybrid this time, specifically a plug in one, in previous posts. When, as I expect, it's joined by a full EV on the other side of the garage in a few years I think we'll have all the bases covered. As I said to Lyndon in my previous post, it gets up and boogies when both powertrains are deployed in tandem. It also has an "extra boost" button that, when activated in Sport mode, gives you 15 seconds of exactly that and really gets your attention. I don't know exactly what is does, maybe kind of overclocks the electric motor and/or winds up the turbo boost for that brief period.
With the (overpriced) options my car has the RRP (sticker price) would be around $115K AUD. I prefer not to go public with what I paid but it wasn't that and, as I said before, I think I got a half reasonable deal.
Tactile
Well-known member
Welcome to the BMW club. I was forced to go into a BMW during Covid (only thing in stock I could find), I wont be going backwards from here.
kitdoctor
Well-known member
Hi Geoff, sorry to hear of your mum passing away. She had a great, long life. All the best.
hewey
Well-known member
Sorry to hear about your mum Geoff. It's some consolation that it was quick and painless, and that she got in that family celebration at your place as well. All the best in continuing to work through the rest of it.
New wheels look great. Had a quick look at a review and it sounds like a smart approach to the hybrid thing.
New wheels look great. Had a quick look at a review and it sounds like a smart approach to the hybrid thing.
Thank you.
The car continues to impress so far. I have figured out maybe a quarter of the tech. I got 47 k's out of it on electric power only this morning with an indicated 12 left. If that was right it would actually exceed the manufacturer's claim of 57 which seems remarkable, but my trip (to my Mum's and back to pay some guys cleaning out the gutters) this morning did include a bit of freeway time.
You guys might find this amusing.
I have been known to say that one of the reasons I like my 58 year old classic car is that I can work on it myself. I have often contrasted this by pointing to the Merc and saying that I could barely figure out how to open the bonnet (hood) on it.
Well I couldn't figure out how to open it on the new Bimmer.
Eventually I had to actually consult the manual. As the waiter in a bistro in rural France observed some years ago when I pointed out that "ma biere est finie", Quelle Horreur!
There is a release lever under the dash and pulling on that pops it up as with any car, then it's held by two secondary latches. No amount of feeling around in the gap under the popped bonnet located another lever like any other car to release those secondary levers. It turns out that you have to operate the internal lever twice to enable it to be opened. Pull and release, then pull and release again. Finally opening it confirmed that there's nothing I can do under there.
The black car is way simpler - no internal release or secondary latches, you just reach under the grille and pull a release lever. I guess no one was concerned about security in those days.
I have been known to say that one of the reasons I like my 58 year old classic car is that I can work on it myself. I have often contrasted this by pointing to the Merc and saying that I could barely figure out how to open the bonnet (hood) on it.
Well I couldn't figure out how to open it on the new Bimmer.
Eventually I had to actually consult the manual. As the waiter in a bistro in rural France observed some years ago when I pointed out that "ma biere est finie", Quelle Horreur!
There is a release lever under the dash and pulling on that pops it up as with any car, then it's held by two secondary latches. No amount of feeling around in the gap under the popped bonnet located another lever like any other car to release those secondary levers. It turns out that you have to operate the internal lever twice to enable it to be opened. Pull and release, then pull and release again. Finally opening it confirmed that there's nothing I can do under there.
The black car is way simpler - no internal release or secondary latches, you just reach under the grille and pull a release lever. I guess no one was concerned about security in those days.
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The Victorian chapter of the Mustang Owners Club of Australia held its big annual show, the Mustang Roundup, last weekend. Perfect weather and around 400 cars. Pics here for those interested.
https://vic.mustang.org.au/moca_gallery/2024-roundup/
https://vic.mustang.org.au/moca_gallery/2024-roundup/
ajohno
Well-known member
Some nice looking cars.
kitdoctor
Well-known member
Hi Geoff, I was reading the early pages of your thread and thought I recognised the aerial photograph, Federal Reserve gave it away.
We sold our two townhouses at 35 Jubilee Street late last year to release the funds for the civil works, shed and garage build.
Oh I wish we could still buy blocks of land for $450k in Mount Waverly!
Cheers
Noel
We sold our two townhouses at 35 Jubilee Street late last year to release the funds for the civil works, shed and garage build.
Oh I wish we could still buy blocks of land for $450k in Mount Waverly!
Cheers
Noel
I know Federal Reserve and Jubilee St. One of the houses we sold to pay for our new home was just around the corner off Cratloe Rd.
Yes, real estate prices ain't what they used to be. I bought my first house in Syndal in 1977 for $39,500. I still shudder at the memory of what we had to pay to secure our present location, but the old lady we bought it from had lived in it from new in 1963 so, while it would have been pounds then, I doubt she and her husband paid AV Jennings more than $10 grand for the house and land package.
I've PM'd you.
Continuing the journey with my new BMW plug in hybrid, with which I am after nearly two months, very pleased, I have to date been charging it from a normal 10 amp socket in the garage which works fine but is slow.
Just to see what it was like I have put the car on a public fast charger that the council provides up at the local library which provides two hours of free charging. The two spots there are nearly always occupied but I lucked out a couple of times and left the car there, just a 7-minute walk home and back to get the car. This charging was demonstrably faster.
If you've been along for the ride from the beginning of our new house project you'll recall that we have three phase power. I have to confess I have never really got my head around how this works but I became convinced that as long as we were building from scratch I should get it. Early on the legendary late 1/2 Cup on here, a sparky by trade, enthusiastically endorsed this decision which was more than good enough for me.
So in the garage I have a three-phase socket which was always intended for the advent of an EV in the household. I always expected that when the time came that I would be getting this socket removed and a smart charger thingo hard wired in its place. However ...
With the bank account starting to recover from the car purchase I've now bought one of these
https://www.fronius.com/en-au/austr...pilot/fronius-wattpilot/wattpilot-go-22-j-aus
which as you can see just plugs in to my socket. It is marketed as portable but I don't see much prospect of any holiday accommodation or other circumstances having a conveniently located three-phase socket so doubt it'll be used away from home, but why not save the cost of a sparky to install it? They do offer the same thing in a hard-wired format.
The device is the same brand as my solar inverter and they talk to each other. This means I have the option, which will be my default, of having it only charge the car with surplus solar production that I'm otherwise exporting to the grid for four fifths of stuff all. I just finished mounting it on the garage wall under the socket.
So far the car continues to provide satisfaction. It is largely working out as I expected with most of the use the car gets being on battery power. It was delivered by the dealership about an hour and half away with a bit over half a tank of fossil fuel in it and after two months I'm yet to put any more in. It is getting low and I'll be filling it next week for a few days away that will see the ICE in operation quite a bit. I have indulged myself a few times to put it into Sport mode and activate the Extra Boost function which is very smile inducing but not really what a daily is about for me, the black car is more the smile generator.
I haven't mentioned before that I didn't trade my previous Merc on this new daily driver. Not to my particular surprise the dealership low balled me on a trade in valuation. What was a bit of a surprise was just how low the ball was so I told them to stick that and took the gamble and the tedium of selling it privately, I started with an unrealistically high figure and just trickled the price down until I started to get some interest. A few days ago I took a deposit to sell it for just shy of twice what the dealer offered me. It did take those couple of months but the only holding cost of this strategy was to reduce the refund on the insurance I'll get, no big deal. I left it parked in my late mother's garage during the process and offered enquirers the option of two locations to view it and many chose my place which meant I had to go and retrieve it a few times but again, no big deal.
Anyway, nothing much else to update about life in paradise. Emptying my Mum's house and preparing it for sale remains the major focus of our world at the moment. We are getting there.
Just to see what it was like I have put the car on a public fast charger that the council provides up at the local library which provides two hours of free charging. The two spots there are nearly always occupied but I lucked out a couple of times and left the car there, just a 7-minute walk home and back to get the car. This charging was demonstrably faster.
If you've been along for the ride from the beginning of our new house project you'll recall that we have three phase power. I have to confess I have never really got my head around how this works but I became convinced that as long as we were building from scratch I should get it. Early on the legendary late 1/2 Cup on here, a sparky by trade, enthusiastically endorsed this decision which was more than good enough for me.
So in the garage I have a three-phase socket which was always intended for the advent of an EV in the household. I always expected that when the time came that I would be getting this socket removed and a smart charger thingo hard wired in its place. However ...
With the bank account starting to recover from the car purchase I've now bought one of these
https://www.fronius.com/en-au/austr...pilot/fronius-wattpilot/wattpilot-go-22-j-aus
which as you can see just plugs in to my socket. It is marketed as portable but I don't see much prospect of any holiday accommodation or other circumstances having a conveniently located three-phase socket so doubt it'll be used away from home, but why not save the cost of a sparky to install it? They do offer the same thing in a hard-wired format.
The device is the same brand as my solar inverter and they talk to each other. This means I have the option, which will be my default, of having it only charge the car with surplus solar production that I'm otherwise exporting to the grid for four fifths of stuff all. I just finished mounting it on the garage wall under the socket.
So far the car continues to provide satisfaction. It is largely working out as I expected with most of the use the car gets being on battery power. It was delivered by the dealership about an hour and half away with a bit over half a tank of fossil fuel in it and after two months I'm yet to put any more in. It is getting low and I'll be filling it next week for a few days away that will see the ICE in operation quite a bit. I have indulged myself a few times to put it into Sport mode and activate the Extra Boost function which is very smile inducing but not really what a daily is about for me, the black car is more the smile generator.
I haven't mentioned before that I didn't trade my previous Merc on this new daily driver. Not to my particular surprise the dealership low balled me on a trade in valuation. What was a bit of a surprise was just how low the ball was so I told them to stick that and took the gamble and the tedium of selling it privately, I started with an unrealistically high figure and just trickled the price down until I started to get some interest. A few days ago I took a deposit to sell it for just shy of twice what the dealer offered me. It did take those couple of months but the only holding cost of this strategy was to reduce the refund on the insurance I'll get, no big deal. I left it parked in my late mother's garage during the process and offered enquirers the option of two locations to view it and many chose my place which meant I had to go and retrieve it a few times but again, no big deal.
Anyway, nothing much else to update about life in paradise. Emptying my Mum's house and preparing it for sale remains the major focus of our world at the moment. We are getting there.
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Ralf99
Well-known member
Ralf99
Well-known member
Ohh, forgot to mention I recently sold a Toyota Camry Hybrid on FB marketplace - the scammers and low-balling cockroaches came out in force. Sold it quickly for an acceptable price, but not something I want to experience again for a long time!
Don't get me started about FB Marketplace. We've been putting a lot of stuff on it from Mum's place. For every genuine prospective buyer there are at least 10 time wasters, no shows, dills that turn up with a completely unsuitable vehicle for the task etc. Only one actual pretty amateurish scam attempt so far though.
hewey
Well-known member
Good to hear the Beemer is working as you expected. That set up for a hybrid sounds great, as does your charging set up. Yeh likewise we got a ridiculous trade in offer from the dealer when we bought our Yaris, so we sold it privately too. It took a few weeks, but the first people to inspect it bought it and it was painless.
I thought I'd just take the opportunity to wish all Gj members the best for Christmas and the New Year.
There's not much to update at this end. The major focus of activity has continued to be in relation to Mum's estate, specifically emptying her house and preparing it for sale. We've pretty much got it empty but still need to organise some patching, painting, gardening and general cosmetic work so it won't be on the market until after the holiday season. In any event, i only got probate a couple of weeks ago and there is a further process now in train to transfer the title to me as executor of the estate.
On another matter, we have a species of fauna unique to down here called kangaroos. Whatever their merits, they have a bad habit of bursting out of the bush onto country roads at dusk. Regular readers may recall my daughter's automotive drama back at post 788. The same daughter has now had one of these roo incidents. Poor (just turned 34) kid can't take a trick. She's OK, roo deceased, car damage mostly plastic parts. Here's a couple of pics. There's also some dashcam footage but I think I'd have to put that on Youtube and put a link to that?
There's not much to update at this end. The major focus of activity has continued to be in relation to Mum's estate, specifically emptying her house and preparing it for sale. We've pretty much got it empty but still need to organise some patching, painting, gardening and general cosmetic work so it won't be on the market until after the holiday season. In any event, i only got probate a couple of weeks ago and there is a further process now in train to transfer the title to me as executor of the estate.
On another matter, we have a species of fauna unique to down here called kangaroos. Whatever their merits, they have a bad habit of bursting out of the bush onto country roads at dusk. Regular readers may recall my daughter's automotive drama back at post 788. The same daughter has now had one of these roo incidents. Poor (just turned 34) kid can't take a trick. She's OK, roo deceased, car damage mostly plastic parts. Here's a couple of pics. There's also some dashcam footage but I think I'd have to put that on Youtube and put a link to that?
ajohno
Well-known member
Merry Christmas to you Geoff. At least the daughter is fine.
l live in Tamworth and the Kangaroos are a pain in the backside.
l live in Tamworth and the Kangaroos are a pain in the backside.