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I bought my first car! Any tips?
(sh.itjust.works)
2008 Peugeot 107 (aka Toyota Aygo/Citreon C1). Around 70.5k miles.
I need to replace the wheel trims because they're peeling a bit but otherwise seems to be in decent condition. I bought a vaccuum, tread depth gauge, some gloves, leather cleaner, cloths, and antifreeze tester.
Anyone have any tips on how best to maintain it/take care of it?
Cheers :)
Replace the cabin filter (10 minute job) with a carbon activated one. I find it makes a big difference on longer drives, otherwise my nose/throat are awful.
Don't worry about the ticking sound the engine makes when it's cold, that's normal.
Check what the tyres are like (age from the DOT code, and tread).
When you're feeling flush, I recommend getting all-season tyres, Goodyear Vector 4 have served me well.
Upgrading the speakers is not difficult, and makes a big difference. (At least under 50mph, lol). The door speakers need to be under a certain depth, or the windows won't go down.
If you want CarPlay/Android auto, the fitting kit for a standard 2-din unit is about £25, and a half-decent unit is about £200 (Sony xav-3250).
Imo, it's well worth getting some good cleaning supplies.
A good shampoo to get it clean (I like megiuars gold class), then a sealant to keep it clean longer (meguiars ultimate ~~sealant~~ wax, comes with applicators too).
Wash with the two bucket method, and a couple of microfibre mitts.
Get a dashcam as soon as you can reasonably afford one, and set it up.
I like the Viofo A129 duo, it's basically invisible behind the mirror.
Halfords have this one on special if you don't want to spend that much:
On the actual driving side, once you've had a bit of time getting used to driving, buy yourself a copy of Roadcraft, and have a good read through of the advanced techniques, particularly IPSGA, the Car Control system, and limit points.
Learn to drive defensively, and you'll avoid a lot of sticky situations entirely, rather than having to suddenly do things.
Sometimes, you just have to let dickhead drivers be dickheads: You may be in the right, but if you crash you're both in an accident.
My multimedia system is shit, and doesn’t have an aux cable for my nice BT adapter. Do you have any non-android recommendations?
I started looking into non-carplay/auto big-screen head units when I bought mine, and kinda hit a wall on it.
They're either really old, and windows CE, or shitty android based ones from alibaba.
As much as I hate putting myself into a system that depends on my phone, I don't hate androidauto/carplay based systems. They just kinda...work.
If you just want a basic head unit (single din), the name brands are, honestly, much of a muchness.
They all use very similar 4x50w (iirc, 22w rms) output amplifiers.
The only real options are number of pre-outs (for connecting subwoofers, or other amplifiers), and whether or not it has a CD drive.
Ahhh, good advice! I don’t mind if it has CarPlay, and my car does have an amp and a sub. I just don’t use Google products or services, which is why I’d prefer to stay away from Android. But I wonder if that’s even possible.