Not the best way to end ones day :/

[ptashek]

Had a bit of a bumpy ride home tonight, and my trusty diesel (the black one) is quite likely all kaputt now. The W116 has been promoted to daily driver for the time being. Nothing happened to anyone, luckily.

[WrightSounds]

Dang 

Very glad to hear everybody is O.K.

[nathan]

Glad there was no damage to the passenger in the Camry or whatever it was!

[Squiggle Dog]

I'm sorry to hear of the crash and am glad that you are okay (as is the W116 since it wasn't on the road at the time). It's neat that you have/had a diesel passenger car that isn't a Mercedes--these are practically non-existent in the US except for Volkswagen.

[ptashek]

I'm sorry to hear of the crash and am glad that you are okay (as is the W116 since it wasn't on the road at the time). It's neat that you have/had a diesel passenger car that isn't a Mercedes--these are practically non-existent in the US except for Volkswagen.

I'm actually happy that I wasn't driving the 450, not because I would be bummed about crashing it, but because that Toyota would probably have no front-end if it got hit by 2250kg of rolling steel rather just over half that of the Opel.

And on the subject of diesel popularity...
Diesels have not been overly popular in Ireland until the global recession started in 2008. They sold at a premium when new, but were cheaper to run in the long term especially if used often enough, so the main client group were businesses. When the boom turned into a bust, suddenly everyone fell in love with diesels and now they sell at an even higher premium, mostly due to the price of diesel (~10% cheaper than petrol) and in most cases much cheaper road tax and insurance,and performance on par with higher capacity, non-charged petrol engines.

This one is a 1248cc turbo-charged model with 90BHP and 200Nm of torque, almost on par with the 1598cc petrol version, and actually not that far in terms of raw performance figures from the OM617 in a W116 300SD. Diesel engines have moved a long way from what they used to be, but many people are still stuck in the slow-coach mindset

[Casey]

I'm sorry to hear of the crash and am glad that you are okay (as is the W116 since it wasn't on the road at the time). It's neat that you have/had a diesel passenger car that isn't a Mercedes--these are practically non-existent in the US except for Volkswagen.

Don't forget BMW! The 335d is an incredible driver!  265hp and 425 ft-lbs of torque. In comparison a euro 6.9 has 286hp and 405 ft-lbs; and the Beemer gets 3-4x the fuel economy.

[oversize]

Yeah but it's a plastic BMW!  And not available in Australia....

I wonder how 'classic' these cars will be in 30+ years?

[mrkozzy]

just out of curiosity......

The Toyota seems a 1995 reg (Dublin?) ..........correct?
seems a bit old to be still on the road, in your part of the world.
One thing I remember about Ireland is your countries  "fleet" isn't too old because of your strict NCT testing on cars over 5 years old. (or was it 10?)

Here In Oz our "fleet" is much older by some world standards, because mostly there is no on going road worthiness testing. (Only in 1 state I think.)
We have many cars 15 to 20 years old still running and I'm not talking classics, just every day bangers.
Most would be taken straight to the scrap yard if we had your yearly testing model.

[ptashek]

just out of curiosity......

The Toyota seems a 1995 reg (Dublin?) ..........correct?
seems a bit old to be still on the road, in your part of the world.
One thing I remember about Ireland is your countries  "fleet" isn't too old because of your strict NCT testing on cars over 5 years old. (or was it 10?)

Here In Oz our "fleet" is much older by some world standards, because mostly there is no on going road worthiness testing. (Only in 1 state I think.)
We have many cars 15 to 20 years old still running and I'm not talking classics, just every day bangers.
Most would be taken straight to the scrap yard if we had your yearly testing model.

In Ireland the rules are quite simple - new privately owned cars are NCT (roadworthiness test) exempt for the first four years, then it's bi-annual up-to 10 years, and then it's annual. All cars manufactured before January 1st, 1981 are NCT exempt by law, but can be booked in for a test (which I'm doing with my 450SE). The test itself is quite comprehensive.

The fleet is indeed relatively new (I'd risk saying 5 years on average, but have no stats on this). There's still plenty of old bangers that barely scraped through their test.

The UK has much stricter rules for it's NCT equivalent - MOT. I think all cars, regardless of age are due a MOT annually. I think one of the most strict, if not the most strict tests in Europe is the German TUV.

[Type17]

Sorry to see that ptashek, but good that no one was hurt. Thank god that you weren't driving the 450 

What happened - did the Avensis driver turn right across you? (don't comment publicly if those matters are still up in the air).

Re the 95 car:

A  car as old as '95 is fairly unusual in Ireland these days, but cars that old will become more common in future.

In times past (the 1980's) the average age of the national fleet was seven years old, but when the Celtic Tiger/boom hit, everyone upgraded, and lots of older cars were scrapped. Now that the economy is in the toilet (again!), the fleet will probably age again. Thankfully, the NCT (which didn't exist in the 80's) might ensure that we don't have to see cars on the road with their fenders/wings held on with duct tape and string (which I do remember!).

Another noticeable trend is that luxury/sports cars are all being sold abroad, as demand/prices are lower in Ireland than in the UK and almost every other RHD market.

[ptashek]

What happened - did the Avensis driver turn right across you? (don't comment publicly if those matters are still up in the air).

That's it. I was heading straight, northbound towards the N3, the other driver was coming from the opposite direction and just made a right turn across my path. A pretty clear cut case, supported by CCTV footage from a nearby off-license. The only thing that's still up in the air is the fate of my car.

[ZCarFan]

A  car as old as '95 is fairly unusual in Ireland these days, but cars that old will become more common in future.

Funny... I alternate between my '94 Caprice and '90 Civic (200,000 and 320,000 miles) for my 60 mile round trip commute.   Both rust-free.   In the Southeast, it's quite normal to still see people driving all sorts of cars including old Datsun 210s, etc

I can put it this way... The newest car I have ever owned is the '94 Caprice .    It seems rather newish to me.   I can't imagine using up a car in just 7 years... or ten or twenty (maybe twenty, ok)

If there were an annual inspection, it would pretty much kick me out of the hobby because at any given time, one or more of the fleet might be laid up and inoperable.  My 260Z for example has been in the garage slowly being made roadworthy over the last 4 years.  Couldn't own it if I had to take it in for inspections.

[ptashek]

If there were an annual inspection, it would pretty much kick me out of the hobby because at any given time, one or more of the fleet might be laid up and inoperable.  My 260Z for example has been in the garage slowly being made roadworthy over the last 4 years.  Couldn't own it if I had to take it in for inspections.

Well, down here you only need to have the car inspected if it is being driven on public roads. For example my parts donor is still registered, with logbook, license plates and the lot. But it is neither taxed, insured nor tested, and there is no requirement for it to be as it's kept off of a public road. Nevermind it's hardly a car anymore