shadowninja

And I thought Sic was the only pirate here.

Pretty stupid thing to do for a prank... more likely to get yourself run over than anything else. Plus if the recipient of the prank gets YOUR rego details you're in for some trouble. On a tangent though... don't you love the advertisements on TV about how owning a car & driving it is now a crime (I mean wtf with this timebomb at intersections?) ... can't wait to see what comes next. How about "if you buy a car you're a killer." But then see how much resourcing is going into property related crimes (eg- theft, burglary, vandalism). Gets me very angry. :confused:

Would have to be about 150m of hose!And if my car can survive a Famous Wellington Southerly storm it can survive a carwash.

Personally I do use the occaisional auto carwash, because my house (and water) is 80 steps away from my car... and it is a right proper pain in the ass to lug water & materials up & down. (yes I'm lazy)

You better be able to prove the damage is caused by the carwash. There is probably fine print on the carwash terms & conditions that say they aren't resposible for any damage to your car.

That brushless carwash in Jville is truely awful (the Caltex on Broderick Road?). Half of the time it seems to be broken, and even when its working it leaves soapcrud all over the roof or only does a half-baked job. Avoid!! :thumbsdown:

Blair Wright are top notch, though they don't deal with all insurance companies from what I understand (eg- if you're with State you don't have many choices). The questions become: 1. Do you need a courtesty car for the duration of repairs 2. Does it matter what part of Wellington 3. Is cost a factor/insurance a factor

Yeah it needs more yellow on it. :puke:

*gasp* my eyes! I'd hit it ... with a paintball gun. You'd need a full time lacky on staff just to keep it clean.

Technically anything that alters the performance of the car could be classified as a modification, however with this it is unlikely an insurance company would ever know or find out, with the exception of a mechanical warranty kind of cover. EG- if your car were written off, its likely they may not even look under the bonnet to come to a pre-accident valuation for settlement purposes (much less check out what filters you're running). For a mechanical warranty though, if your engine blew up for some reason & they go through the diagnostic process they may discover non-standard parts & use that to decline your claim (and possibly cancel cover).

If it makes you feel any better, NZ new BMWs are assembled in South Africa anyway.

... Austin powers reference, sharks with frickin laser beams.

Speaking of the Basin Reserve... did you guys see the Tui billboard at that very corner?

To my knowledge the SE is virtually all cosmetic upgrades like the interior, parking sensors, leather interior etc. Most NZ new cars I've seen appear to be SE. Speaking of 5ers... there is a brand spanking new 535 with a motorsport kit on it at the local dealer here, and it looks HHHHHOT!

I wondered if you were in the industry Sib, I work for my insurance company too, though I'm more on the financing side of things. Our organisation is a niche market provider, and we don't deal with brokers (all our advisors are salaried, not commissioned including me!) There are a few of us in the financial services industry here if I remember correctly.

The 328i was a nice ride, though at the time it felt underpowered relative to my Silvia. I'd feel differently now comparing it to my 105kw 2.0L. The manual box was very slick (in a good way) & a very nice car all around. I haven't driven the M3 sorry.

No such thing as a free lunch. As with mortgage brokers, most insurance brokers are effectively paid by the insurance companies (by way of commissions). The tendancy can be for a broker to put your cover that pays the best commission rather than the "best" cover. I've known enough brokers to know this happens on a regular basis. There were some major court cases in the USA last year against major insurance broking companies for doing exactly that. Naturally this is not always the case, and if you can find a good AND honest broker... good for you. Be sure to do your own comparison shopping rather than taking their word for it. I had another client on Tuesday who called their insurer direct to make a claim, and found they were paying $150-200 too much for one of their policies.

Sib yes I have clients that deal with brokers on a regular basis. My company doesn't pay brokerage. I can quote multiple examples where clients have gained hundreds of dollars back in premiums by going to the insurer direct. I am not a big fan of insurance brokers in general. Thats not to say they're all rogues, there are some very genuine operators out there. However the method that brokers are remunerated is directly related to the business they place with insurers, and the way this happens incents poor behaviour. For example, brokers are usually paid by either an initial commission (by the insurer) where they get paid a lump sum for starting up a new policy. This can be as much as 30-150% of the first year's premiums (the higher end usually for a product like Life or Disability insurance cover. The second form of commission is a 'Trail' commission, usually a much smaller portion of the annual premium but they continue to receive this (5-10%) for the entire lifetime of the policy. This can be quite attractive for a long-term life insurance cover (30-40yrs!) This often causes 'churn' where the broker will change the insurance provider for the client every couple of years, to maximise the amount of commission. This is often not in the best interest of the client. For starters half the time they never know who they're insured with! ("My broker looks after that for me"). Brokers can sometimes make money by deferring payment of premiums, ie- collecting premiums from the policy holder on the "due date" but not paying the insurance company for another month or two. OK I could rabbit on for ages on this stuff but it stirs me up

Driver magazine earlier this year said BMW was intending to release a 3.0T 3-series to close the gap between the 330 & the M3. Will believe it when I see it.

Not so. Brokers are basically another layer in between you & the insurance company, and in many cases the premium you pay to them is higher than it would be than if you went to the insurance company direct. Think about it, they've gotta get their commissions from somewhere too... Banks are basically brokers. Its legislated in NZ that you can't be a bank & an insurance company at the same time. Perhaps not technically correct, you need to be able to prove an insurable interest. (how about life insurance... I don't own my wife... ) It certainly does matter, insurance companies have different rates for different cities. Eg- Auckland rates are anywhere between 40-100% more expensive than other cities. Dunedin has significantly lower premiums than say Christchurch or Wellington.

Grant say it aint so.Martyn, like the other guys are saying your budget isn't going to put together a proper component system, but I guess that isn't your plan at this stage.

As with most things in life the "best" is rarely the cheapest. I'd strongly recommend against insuring it in your parents name, as the "cheaper" insurers in the market will investigate any serious claim & turn your claim down & cancel cover, which you then must disclose. My E46 2.0L covered for around $55k bundled with House & Contents on Wellington rates is around $800 per year, and I'm over 25. Excess $1K with full No Claims Discount. Top of the line cover with the best insurer in NZ. Search out the other older threads relating to insurance.

Yes and you are also entitled to your desires to try & wind people up And you definitely shouldn't be driving a 525, after all that is a classy car. That would be like Robert De Niro driving a Nissan Micra, its just wrong baby.

Marty I'm definitely with you on this one. While there are some genuine reasons why some families get these full size 4x4s, (eg they need 7 seats AND room in the back to put stuff) the vast majority do not. Ironically the 4x4 has become a status symbol. Interestingly it used to be the Mitsi Pajero LWB & Landcruisers that were the shopping-mobiles (for the urban jungle) but as more & more come in from Japan, the status level has changed up to the X5 or M-class. My reasons for disliking 4x4s: 1. Poor fuel efficiency 2. Poor road handling 3. Poor visibility for other drivers 4. False impression of improved safety There was a motoring journalist not long ago who was advocating shortening parking spaces around Auckland to try & keep the SUVs out. That is until someone pointed out a Camry Wagon is longer than most full size 4x4s! Thankfully its not as bad here as it is in the USA. The volumes of SUVs being sold over there relative to cars is quite horrific.

I definitely found a big increase in the disrespectful driver attitudes around me as soon as I bought my bimmer. I would generally attribute it to jealousy, as it seems to be mainly sh!tbox cars that fail to give way, cut me off, "accidentally" not see you trying to change lanes etc etc. My work mates give me grief for owning a BMW too... but hey it comes with the territory. Most of them knew I was a wanker before I bought the car. JK.