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New VW T-Roc, Citroen Ireland MD interview and a must watch TV doc!
399 Plays19 days ago
We discuss the newly unveiled Volkswagen T-Roc and explore the futuristic new Hyundai Ioniq 9. Ever wondered what it’s really like to camp with a Tesla? Mark has been testing out the Model Y Long Range and the useful camp mode.
We reflect on the sobering reality of road safety with RTE’s Anatomy of a Car Crash, examining the devastating aftermath of fatal collisions and what it means for drivers today.
To round things off, we’re joined by Colin Sheridan, MD of Citroën Ireland for an exclusive chat about the new affordable eC3 electrification, and what’s next for Irish motorists.
Brought to you by DoneDeal.
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Transcript
Introduction and Sponsorship
00:00:04
Speaker
Welcome to the Drivers Republic podcast brought to you in association with Dundee Motors, Ireland's favourite car buying website. With the widest selection of cars from certified trusted dealerships, most Irish drivers find their next car on Dundeele.
Hosts' Banter and Setting
00:00:17
Speaker
Hello Paddy.
00:00:19
Speaker
Hello. What story? I'm enjoying our location this week. Why is that? Because it's beautiful. And we have a pod dog. We have a pod dog. Where is Penny now actually? yeah she's She's wandered off in the front. She's got bored with us, in fairness.
00:00:34
Speaker
um Hot dog. Casa de Noble, which is is a beautiful residence. So thanks for having me. No problem. No problem. ah Coffee good, is it? Coffee's exceptional. this this part This podcast isn't sponsored by coffee. That's a different podcast. Yeah, it is. Yeah. But ah you you do have beautiful coffee.
Automotive Industry Summer Break
00:00:50
Speaker
do you You strike me as a man who took takes care about these things.
00:00:53
Speaker
The temperature is perfect. The detail yeah looks good. Yeah. brew time yeah and it's all in that machine there's science in that now yeah for sure you do nothing so uh enjoyed the break uh enjoyed the break yeah i was actually saying haven't even been on a press trip since early july so i think august generally is kind of quiet a lot of the factories i know for example in renault they just go home volkswagen too nothing happens in august generally in those factories um and it's it's everyone down tools from from production to
00:01:24
Speaker
to the To the head offices as well. that just ah Everyone takes a ah well-deserved break so you'll see a lots of car executives on Saint-Tropez beaches. i wondered, like does that mean they have to take the same holidays or do they have to keep a certain amount of our their annual leave?
00:01:39
Speaker
You will see, it's just a tradition, I think. ah you mean you will so I remember from working in Volkswagen Ireland where nothing would get done. I mean, you you would we'd be here with nothing in terms of decisions being made or the likes of that because everyone was off in Italy or wherever they decided to go themselves. yeah um Well, yeah, it's like builder's holidays here, isn't it? Yeah, pretty much. Which I think are still a thing.
00:02:05
Speaker
um So yeah, it was it it was a good break.
Camping with Tesla Model Y
00:02:07
Speaker
and I saw that you were you you you're camping as well recently. and that i was i was camping in two vehicles. I've camped since I last spoke to you in the, or no, had spoken to you, sorry, about the California. But I have since been camping again in a tent this time, but I did have a Tesla Model Y.
00:02:22
Speaker
So i I didn't get to use, so in in for people that don't know that Tesla has a camp mode and it has a dog mode. So it leaves the aircon on, has a thing on the screen to tell people looking in who are about to ring the police on you that you're you've left a dog in a car. There's a big thing on the screen to say, I'm okay, my own is back soon. It's 20 degrees inside.
00:02:40
Speaker
ah But they also camp mode. So ah you can sleep in the car if you get a mattress. know someone has slept in a Model Y, shout out to Al, he has a mattress for that car. So the cat mode, you can leave it on overnight. It'll use about 10% battery, but you'll be warm or cold or whatever you
Tesla Model Y Review
00:02:55
Speaker
want. The only thing I don't know about is, um and it's probably a retro thing, you know, there's no blinds for a Model Y. Yeah, you must be able to buy some. I would imagine if it's not a factory accessory, there's bound to be one or two different ones on Amazon. And then there were people telling me, well, you don't actually need camp mode for what I used it for, which was just a power, a 12 volt charger. there's There's an accessory mode as well that also, ah so the the benefit of the camp mode is it uses the large battery, obviously.
00:03:22
Speaker
So you don't want drain your 12 volt battery. Did you notice any improvement in the car itself, Model Y versus the previous one? So, i've yeah, I mean, there are massive differences. The suspension is far better. This is the long range. They some in, you mean?
00:03:33
Speaker
Yeah, they put some in. um they They worked from the tyre upwards into the car. And, yeah, it is a more it's a more refined car. It is. And, you know, like, obviously, there's the world. Some people hate Tesla. Some people love them. And some people just don't really care. They just ah drive whatever is the most affordable car. They're still a great car. Certainly from higher sales over the summer, there was a lot of Teslas registered. Now, were they all necessarily meeting owners? I'm not sure, but and but yeah, there's there's no waning in the popularity of them registration-wise.
EV Charging Costs and Infrastructure
00:04:05
Speaker
There's a lot of low mileage last model-wise on their inventory, as they call it, her inventory.
00:04:11
Speaker
yeah And it's um there's some deals that they're knocking like six, seven grand off cars. Yeah, this like look, I was critical, you've been critical of the suspension in the previous Model why but there's lot of people who wouldn't give a shit or care. No, no. I mean, it was the best-selling car in the world for quite a few years. i think it's the RAV4 now, but... um And it's the solution if you have a dog, you want a Tesla, because that's, you know, it's pretty much why that car was invented, I think. Yeah, the screen in the back versus the all-model Y is brilliant. You know, I love the way, like we were driving somewhere. I had the Meta glasses on. I did i did indulge in Meta glasses since we last spoke. And I love the content, actually. It's great.
00:04:49
Speaker
It's a lovely point of view for car stuff. Yeah. So I was listening to tunes on my metaglasses. My daughter was listening to her ah iPad with headphones on.
00:05:00
Speaker
And my young friend was in the back listening to the Tesla speakers just in the back. And he can control the volume from that screen. So that there was three of us in the car, three of us listening to different audio audio sources.
00:05:12
Speaker
And I was like, this is, I mean, it it probably is quite futuristic if you go back 20 years, but it's the normal and it's so easy to do all that in a Tesla. Yeah. I look tech wise, they're outstanding. Charging wise, outstanding. In terms of of an experience, it's really hard to pass them all It is. And and I was super charging for a while. It's 44 cent a kilowatt hour. That's nearly 20 cheaper than e-cars.
00:05:35
Speaker
And e-cars prices are going up and up and up. I mean, we're not far off now, a situation where people charging in the public network are paying the same price as petrol or diesel, you know, when you're relative to range. Yeah, and I actually, I was trying to compare, you know, costs of of EV charging versus petrol the other day, and I actually thought petrol was dearer than it is. I had to put some petrol in my own car the other day. It's 170 a litre. I thought it 180.
00:05:58
Speaker
Yeah, there's not much talk about petrol pricing because it's just been sort of fine, inverted commas, for ages. And, you know, it's only really when you get closer towards two euro per leader people are paying attention. it's It's not cheap at the moment, but it's not particularly expensive either. It's stable, I suppose.
00:06:13
Speaker
Yeah, and and there shouldn't, you know, from from talking to to various people who work in that industry, there haven't really been any indications of anything crazy about to happen either, so think we're okay for now. Okay.
Hyundai Ioniq 9 Review
00:06:25
Speaker
um So, and the reason I was comparing was because I was using e-cars the other day at Northside Shopping Centre in Dublin and I was driving the new Ioniq 9 and had loads of charge. I used 60% battery in a week in that car. It's like 110 kilowatt hour battery. it's massive.
00:06:40
Speaker
But I just wanted to see what the charging curve would be like. So I went down to this, to Northside, where they have one of the newer e-cars, the split one, where it's 140 or 50 kilowatt.
00:06:51
Speaker
And then they have the old style, but it's quite a new sight, the old style 50 kilowatt with the AC adapter on the other side, if you want plug a Renault Zoe plug an hybrid. ah So I went
Affordable EVs and Market Challenges
00:07:02
Speaker
down and the one one half of the faster charger had a BYD CLU DMI in it, which is a plug-in hybrid. so that and you can you and But they were they were stretching the AC cable across two spaces from the side of the older unit.
00:07:21
Speaker
So, and you can use, if you're, like there's an overstay fee, but it's only on fast charging. If you're using the AC, it's either eight or 12 hours. I think it could be 12. Right. And then you pay for an overstay fee.
00:07:32
Speaker
So that person was, wasn't really, was technically wasn't doing anything wrong, but they were blocking a BEV from charging for maybe 12 hours. Yeah, it's crazy. If you, i've I've, several times I've used the train, so I've parked at maybe Houston Station and maybe go to Cork or but or and back and vice versa and and At Houston Station, there's so many people leave their car there for days.
00:07:55
Speaker
They're ACs, but there're they leave them there literally for three, four days. Same with the airport. Yeah, it's crazy. So I don't know if there's a
Insurance Challenges for Young Drivers
00:08:02
Speaker
business opportunity, particularly in Dublin Airport, where, I mean, they don't have dont have like 200 EV charging spaces, but...
00:08:08
Speaker
if you you know If you're charging, any electric car will charge overnight, you know pretty much. So what is the point in leaving your car in the airport in the same space for week when someone else could be using that? I've said it for a while and it certainly struck me that for the likes of train stations or airports, there could be a facility of a three pin plug.
00:08:29
Speaker
Yep. literally just trickle charge the thing for a day or two because that's all that's needed it doesn't need to be any more any more power yeah and put them into the we've seen now in germany this this curb charging thing has worked as basically there's a flap on the top of the curb and you plug in your car and it's been so successful that uh in in times of snow and stuff people have complained because they couldn't find them because they're that they're that discreet yeah so how was the ionic Ioniq is great family car. Again, it's it's in some ways reminds me of of Tesla because they have the fast charging boxed off. There's loads of tech. There's only one elegance trim in Ireland, which has everything, head up display, all the safety aids. and
00:09:13
Speaker
You've got the panoramic roof. You've got the 20 inch wheels, air-cooled seats. It has like Now, it is quite a bit dearer than it a Tesla. and There is a seven-seater Model Y coming. It was kind of ah unleashed again in China last week.
00:09:26
Speaker
um And I don't know what, that'll probably be 60 grand. It'll still undercut the Ioniq 9, I'd imagine. um But like it it does feel like a car that's kind of ahead of its time.
00:09:37
Speaker
we don't have still a lot of seven-seater EVs. It's still something that we haven't seen very much of. you know yeah Even seven-seater
Citroën's New Offerings and Recall Issues
00:09:44
Speaker
PHEVs because of the packaging. You know look at Tehran, you look at Kodiak. It's still something that they haven't quite figured out. Those cars don't have seven seats and the ability to have it as a PHEV.
00:09:57
Speaker
Yeah, you've got to compromise one or the third. So it's a bit of a packaging issue still. Obviously it's something that doesn't re occur in the Alec 9 because it's just a massive car. Yeah, it's over five metres long. The wheelbase is 3.1 metres. The middle row has, redit like it would nearly put a Skoda Superb to shame in terms of legroom. It has so much rear legroom.
00:10:18
Speaker
If you're using the rear row occasionally, ah like i i put the the third row up and I still managed to fit two full-size suitcases in that what's usually a squished area when you've got the third row up.
00:10:33
Speaker
I will be testing the EX90 finally
Citroën Market Positioning
00:10:35
Speaker
in a couple of weeks' time. So it'll be interesting to see is that car really worth, you know, 50 grand more than an Ioniq 9? I bumped into someone from Volvo the other day over an automotive team and they said that they are looking at realigning the price EX90 to make it in line with XC90 okay still a hundred grand car but yeah I think there was considerable difference though wasn't there yeah um Yeah, so look, obvious comparison, Kia EV9, Ioniq 9, similar. So what Hyundai Ireland have done is, I think they've deliberately sort of, theyve so the only you only have the one trim. It's all the bells and whistles. Rear-wheel drive, it has everything. Whereas the Kia, you can get an Earth version or you can get the GT Line version. Now, the GT Line has way more power and obviously all-wheel drive, and you can get the six-seater version in the EV9. You can't in Ireland currently.
00:11:27
Speaker
Now, Hyundai Ireland told me they don't have any plans to do a 6, but maybe that will change. um But yeah, for 78 and a bit, you get everything. Whereas, now you don't get all the power compared to the EV9, whereas if you want everything in the EV9, you have to go to this sort of 80, I think it's 83, 5,
00:11:44
Speaker
three five And as someone with kids and dogs and everything, how did you find the usability? Yeah, it was great for that. Like there's 100 watt charging all around the place, so even in the size of the seats, so they can charge their tablets and their headphones. And there was room for the dog box. And even even with the dog box in the booth, there was still room for their scooters and their bikes and. Yeah, it's just it's just a very capable car. It's not a cheap car, but if you are a family of, you know, reasonable means or whatever, you're doing okay.
00:12:11
Speaker
ah As you said, there isn't a huge amount of seven-seater EV options out there right now, but it is a really good one. Depreciation is, of course, a
Road Safety Education and Campaigns
00:12:19
Speaker
question when these in these cars, as any new car is.
00:12:22
Speaker
and People are very, you know, I get an awful lot, particularly on TikTok. It's, oh yeah, that'll be great when it's worth 20 grand next year. um Like, please show me the seven seater EV9 that's 20 grand two years on. They're not out there. In particular Kia, their residuals are really strong on their, especially EV6.
00:12:42
Speaker
EV6, it looks like one of the best cars for holding its value in terms of an EV and they're really strong there's no cheap ones of those at all with good reason good I'm just going on to Dundee right now and I'm going to see what is the cheapest EV9 on Dundee to see what were they new so 78,000 was the entry version what 60 59 58 59
00:13:02
Speaker
about sixty fifty nine fifty eight nine You reckon late 50s? Okay, that's 46 available. um Okay. ah It's coming up to view the certified trusted dealer cars. Oh, hang on.
00:13:14
Speaker
Sorry, it's not Dunedin's fault. Virgin Media's fault. and Okay, so you can get a brand new Earth, 31 miles on the clock in Galway for 80 grand. Right. But the most affordable one, you were saying late 50s, you reckon. Have you checked this now are you just guessing? just guess.
00:13:33
Speaker
Okay.
00:13:37
Speaker
Wow. Okay. No one's selling their EV9 used. They just don't exist? ah No, they don't exist. People are obviously, well, it's still his early days. yeah It would be unusual for people to have shipped one on. So yes, the the cheapest price you can get one is a new one, basically. There are no... Wow.
00:13:57
Speaker
I think there's... Is there... It might be one 2024, but it has zero kilometres. It's still 78. That's awesome. Other end of the EV scale, you recently drove Citroen's new offering. three Yes, which had a green stripe on the number plate.
00:14:15
Speaker
Jesus Christ. Are you one of those people triggered by this green strip? i would say I'm triggered I just don't see the point I mean like I get it in the UK where there's a congestion charge yeah ah what's the point of it here am I missing something is it just to say to your neighbour it is bit showboaty I'm green and you're not Yeah.
00:14:37
Speaker
The other way I suppose of looking at it is the more people see these things on the roads, they'll go, oh yeah, it's quite normal. God, I never knew that. Like we've a Nissan Ariya. I don't think most people even know and this an Nissan Ariya is an electric car. It just looks like a gosh guy. Yeah. i Look, I'm not against it. I just don't, I just don't necessarily see the point. And like anything else, I'm sure these things cost money and You know, was there was there any sense in it really? Well,
Classic Car Ownership Challenges
00:14:59
Speaker
there but yeah, someone, there was probably a, what is it, Zevi? Yeah. Someone probably had spent six months.
00:15:05
Speaker
In a focus group. Yeah. Figuring out, oh, you know, what shade of green. What shade green. What shade green. Should it be on the left it should it be on the right? Because we have the IRL flag with the Europeans. So there was a consultant for seven figures to figure that out. Whereas that money potentially just could have given us a few more grants. Well, let's hope that didn't happen.
00:15:23
Speaker
um But I have seen a few older EVs, like three years old. Someone has obviously gone to the trouble of getting themselves new set of plates. I might give the plate business a boost. Well, also, yeah, I mean, it would be, you know, should I put some on my E up? Should I go back and get some done or just get some scotch tape out of Woody's? I think that might look cheap.
00:15:42
Speaker
But ah I did see a Hyundai dealer actually saying if you have 251, come back to us and we'll give you a set of plates for free with the green strip on it. Very nice. Very nice. So talk to us about the Citroen.
00:15:54
Speaker
Yeah, so look, a very affordable little car. I do, and I stand over, and I first drove it a year and a half ago in Austria, and I thought the petrol was just better. It's it's lighter.
00:16:05
Speaker
Right. You know, in a car that size, the weight really does matter because it's not overly powerful. has a nice little manual gearbox. You can get hybrid version as well. So, I mean, the only version they don't really have is diesel. They have a lot of options for you in that car, ranging. Petrol, electric. Petrol hybrid Petrol hybrid And fully electric And there is a smaller battery version Coming next year Because it's really good value as well It's like 22.5 kicking off for that Yeah Which is Which is good these days It's a lot Again there was You reasonable rear leg room It did make me think What is the point of the Dutchess Spring And actually I have bad news On the Dutchess Spring Breaking hot news Is gone?
00:16:49
Speaker
I think it's It's kind of gone yeah I had heard that from a source a few weeks back who had indicated that it was gone and then said, oh, I don't know if is, but... So we kind of got the spring late, right?
00:17:04
Speaker
Yeah we did You know and But the there Wasn't there an earlier version was this the same version There previous model Yeah Yeah there was And then Like the The EV one had been out And Yeah I don't know what the What the real reason for it is because why do you think it's gone then Sales Figures yeah Like I have seen a few of them. I've seen way to find out isn't there one or two. haves there but So, and that they did, that you know, so since when we we did a video comparison of the Hyundai Insta versus the spring and and then quite soon after that, Dacia contacted me to say, actually, we've we've dropped the price of the car again.
00:17:46
Speaker
So, I mean, I was only talking to someone who's trying to get their kid a first car and I was explaining, as I said, this car is, you know, they're 0% deposit, they're doing, I think at the time it was 200 month.
00:17:57
Speaker
It's from 99 a month now. That must be with a deposit. Yeah, it was 299, zero deposit. Or was it 199? It was 199. and So i I didn't get the official reason, but I did hear reliably only yesterday that, yeah, the spring. Look, you can probably get one, but I just don't think it'll be around for much longer. HP offer 36 monthly payments of 403 it's changed I think 14 490 yeah that is not an expensive new car zero 14 grand zero percent finance 36 um but the EC3 just seem it's a more substantial car it's it's a bit bigger it's you know it's quite tall it's 60 mils up the last C3 it's a C3 has been one of the biggest selling cars for Citroen globally
00:18:44
Speaker
um It is probably one of those cars that for a lot of people it was doing one of their first cars that learned how to drive in it. um I actually tried to, I was trying to point my niece who's 19 is looking for her first car at the moment and I found a gorgeous blue 06 C3 with like 40,000 kilometers something on the clock. It had been owned by a school teacher.
00:19:05
Speaker
i was in contact with the guy I knew who was selling on the teacher's behalf and it was all going great and we were all planning to go out and have a look at it and I was like that would be a great little car for your first car. yeah Couldn't get insurance on it. Wow. Because it's too old.
00:19:16
Speaker
What? Okay. 2000, yeah. Over 10 years gets a bit funny. It does get funny. But when we all grew up, unless you had very wealthy parents, you got some sort of a jalopy and that was your first car.
00:19:27
Speaker
Now, not saying the insurance was cheap, but you could get a quote. ah Now, the but because of cars being safe or whatever, they're asking young people to have more money, to still pay a lot for insurance, but you need a kind of a new-ish car to get covered. And...
00:19:43
Speaker
Yeah, it's the same as someone who just recently worked for an insurance company. um the It was happy. I won't mention them. But the, ah yeah, there is that issue because, and especially as well with used Japanese imports, lots of people are buying those now because they're the most affordable things coming in. These Toyota, Vitz, Aquas. Audis, loads of Audis coming in. Got GTIs. Audis are fine. The German stuff is fine.
00:20:09
Speaker
But a lot of the Japanese domestic cars don't have engine immobilizers. Yes. And that's the real no-no for the insurance companies because they can be stolen with a spoon or a screwdriver. Yeah. I remember my last house, um my neighbors, I got a knock on the door one night from the guards and they were like, ah you know, you never want to see the guards at your door at nine o'clock, ten o'clock at night. and i was like, everything okay? And they were like, yeah, your neighbor's car's after being taken. We just see you have CCTV. Can we have a look? i was like, oh yeah, no problem. but And that was it. It was a mirage of some sort. And yeah, But it was so easy steal. The girl next door, she was a single mother. She had a young boy and she was stranded then because she had no car and, you know, how do you get him to whatever school the next day and all that stuff. So was there a year where they started to put in mobile? It was pre-09, I think, was it? Yeah. No, sometimes just don't at all. Still don't. It's, you know, for the Japanese domestic market, they just, you know. Is that because there's no scrotes in Japan? No one's going steal your car there.
00:21:02
Speaker
Yeah. Because I don't know what happens, but it's probably, obviously, either A, they don't do it, or B, they execute you or something. Yeah. Proper order. m Fairness. sport But no, it's it's not m it's not a it doesn't seem to be as big an issue there.
00:21:15
Speaker
and So look, of those small EVs, like look, Insta's the best. I still think, yeah, I still have a really soft spot for the Insta. The Citroen, again, does feel a little bigger than the Insta.
00:21:29
Speaker
It is slightly more expensive, in fairness. and Although the Insta's had, I think, two price increases since the the start of the year, but modest ones. Yeah. I'm starting to see a lot of those in the wild now, especially around where I live. I've seen several Insta's. Three of them in this estate. Yeah. look good you know they really look good that green colour is lovely as well which I haven't yeah haven't seen it it's the first I've seen it the other day in Saniford and it's a lovely looking car and having driven it it's something it's a car i would certainly to happily drive every day it's really really good the only thing I can say about it is and it's not really an issue for me but possibly for you so taller passengers if you have to push your seat back the B pillar is really right against the side of your head yeah because it's it's a less than four metres long car
00:22:10
Speaker
And obviously we've got Leap motor coming on with a T03. Yes. um Again, ah that will... I feel that's going to be more in the sort of lower end.
00:22:22
Speaker
Loads of kit, loads spec. Yeah. It does remind me of a Morris Minor. That's the only thing. Right. Okay. Okay. I think the bigger SUV thing that with the range extender. C3, yeah. I like that. Lovely looking and thing. like that. I and only sent that to a neighbour who's, she bought a Tucson and doesn't like it. And I was like, how can you not like a Tucson? best selling car.
00:22:45
Speaker
So I said. What she doesn't like. I don't know. And they charge it all the time. And they they did have a Kodiak before that. A first gen Kodiak. And it was a sport line. So maybe you're kind of spoilt there and then.
00:22:58
Speaker
So yeah, look, it's sit the Citroen, come back to the Citroen, it looks good. The price is pretty decent. While you're at the launch though, you did speak to says someone from Citroen, right? I did. Colin Sheridan, who's the MD of Citroen, a man who's worked at Gann Motors for quite a long time, but he also worked at Skoda when they were part of MDL.
00:23:17
Speaker
And he will tell us a little bit more about this new car. And also ah he has ah a message for anyone who's driving an older Citroen in Ireland. There is a recall and he'll tell you all about it and just a second. can one So I'm sitting in Gown Motors, which is home of Citroen in Ireland, with a man who has been mentioned on the podcast already, um most notably probably by our first guest ever, which was Ray Leddy.
00:23:40
Speaker
ah Hello to Colin Sheridan, first of all. Colin, you're very welcome to the podcast. Thank you very much. You are a managing director of Citroen, but you also are a past pupil of SCOTA. I spent quite a long number of years within the Motor Distributors Limited, who were the original importer Skoda in Ireland, before moving to Volkswagen Group Ireland, before migrating across to Gowns, which have been in various roles here for the last 12 14 years.
00:24:07
Speaker
And ah Ray and certainly other people have have mentioned you ah always in very positive ways, but you seem to have been maybe a mentor or they were also past pupils of you. I don't know what it is, but people have learned from you and underneath you and and probably continue to do so.
00:24:22
Speaker
Look, and you're in the modern industry, it's a very small select number that are are involved with in in the business on a daily basis. And over those years you get to meet people and great people over over many different brands and you know we meet at various SMI meetings and so on. It's great to add value to the process, absolutely. And I've had the good fortune of being with many good brands over those years.
00:24:47
Speaker
and delighted to to work with everybody that's involved and share anything that I can share it to make it all a better place to work in. And was Motor Distributors, was that your first foray into motoring? and i don't think, was there something else before that as well or what got you in?
00:25:03
Speaker
Yeah well motorsport is my personal interest and still today we were in the McKillie rally yesterday in in Cork, we were at Ravens Rock the week before so that would be my personal interest so in in terms of distributor distributor level and motor distributors was my first fourway foray and into that end of it prior to that I did various technical roles service receptionists in the forward dealership and so on back but you're going back way way way way way back now for those ah to bring up back those memories for sure yeah
00:25:37
Speaker
One of the team today said about you, one thing I'll say about Colin is he'll never ask you to do a job that he wouldn't do himself. Now, as I was coming in today, you were a parking warden.
00:25:49
Speaker
You were making sure everyone had enough water on their tables. You obviously gave the overview of the the new EC3 as a managing director. ah You're kind of a roll up the sleeves and get stuck in kind guy. It's a team effort and if if if anyone on the team has a job to do, there shouldn't be anything and that they would or could or need to do that I wouldn't do myself.
00:26:08
Speaker
you know and that That's, I suppose, did the the whole ethos of how we try to run the Citroen brand here in gowns. and If if it's there's any job to be done, there's no job that's too big or too small, everybody will put their shoulder to the wheel and get the job done.
00:26:24
Speaker
So we're at the launch today of the C3, EC3. So there's a couple of petrol options and in the sense of there's a hybrid, a 48-volt hybrid, just a straight-up petrol turbo engine. And then you've got a battery electric vehicle, which the i suppose the thing that catches you today is it's the same price as the entry version of the car, which is just a straight-up petrol.
00:26:46
Speaker
and So quite a mix of, you know, there's there's really no excuse for people to say there isn't a powertrain there for me. And went it's 23,400. So you have a a six speed 100 horsepower petrol, which obviously there's little or no you know concerns in terms of it's its ability to get you where you want to go.
00:27:07
Speaker
And then you have after SEA, Grant and VRT Relief, the same equivalent car, same spec in ah an EC3, the electric version, 320 kilometer range.
00:27:18
Speaker
in the I suppose when you look and you stand back and you look at the two cars, with the price of the C3, you're getting automatic because ultimately electrics are automatic, so you don't have the need to change the six speeds as you would have on the petrol.
00:27:33
Speaker
In terms of cost of ownership, the electric car, particularly if you're set up to charge at home at night and you have nitrate electricity, just wins hands down. The cost of running an electric car with nitrate electricity is by far and away the cheapest way to be able to do your commute on ah on a daily basis.
00:27:50
Speaker
And now we've taken the ah the obstacle of a premium. So you're you're sitting down in front of your Citroen sales guy, or lady for that matter, in in the Citroen showroom.
00:28:02
Speaker
There's no obstacle in terms of premium to be paid to consider an electric. One price, same car, same spec. You just choose which powertrain suits your needs and your demands.
00:28:15
Speaker
And it is, having driven it at the international launch, which was quite a while ago, um it's it's just a very comfortable car. like the You maybe don't expect a a segment like that, even with the damping that's involved.
00:28:28
Speaker
Tell us a little bit about that. Why is it more comfortable than your typical BSUV? the One of the key ingredients of Citroen always is with a kind comfort focus and through all of their car range it's hugely and has been over many many decades always associated with a comfort, of a strong comfort presence.
00:28:49
Speaker
With the new B segment c three we're bringing that to the to the market again with our special suspensions and with our, for example, 10 millimetres of foam and in the in the in the seating.
00:29:03
Speaker
And all of those attributes all lend itself to a very comfortable experience. And that's really one of the key cornerstones of the Citroen brand. Not only with C3, but with C4, C5 Aircross and so on.
00:29:16
Speaker
It's a huge emphasis for the brand indeed. and As part of your presentation today, and it's it's an obvious thing to mention, the Ford Fiesta is no longer with us, or at least currently is is no longer with us yet.
00:29:28
Speaker
Here you guys are launching this car. It's been a really big year for the smaller types of cars, the Renault 5, the Hyundai Insta. um Do you think we're coming into now a new kind of wave of this size of vehicle and and will we see more, do you think, arriving?
00:29:45
Speaker
The challenge for all manufacturers is to bring to the market a competitor product ah you know something that competes in the segment where they're they're being represented at a competitive price and with our new c3 we've done it but with an suv attitude or styling cues so that getting in and getting out ah of because it sits a little bit higher than most of the competitors in the segment it's easy to get in it's easy to get out and that will be synonymous with with as i say suv type looks we have roof rails as standard on them
00:30:19
Speaker
But what they've tried to do with them, even though we have multiple power trains, we have the petrol, we have the hybrid, we have the full electric. We've tried to do all of that at an affordable price. Why Ford exited the segment, I don't know.
00:30:32
Speaker
Whether they'll come back to the segment, I can't say. i don't I'm not privy to that information. and But what they've tried to do and in the C3 is bring it to to to the market at a competitive price without trying to compromise on other areas of the car design and build.
00:30:47
Speaker
So the car is quite large for comparable sized segment B car. It has room room and seating for five. It is lots of elbow room, lots of rear seat leg room compared to the best in the class.
00:31:02
Speaker
It's quite tall, you have good feeling of space because you have lots of headroom as well. Decent sized boot, 60-40 split seats, all of the things that make the car very practical and comfortable.
00:31:14
Speaker
And yet, in spite of all of those features, it's still at an affordable price. And that's the key. The TV ad that people will not have been, will have seen by now as is a very rebellious ad, um a kind of a revolution style set into Definitely made me laugh. There's kind of, there's there's nothing in the ad that holds the car back, no matter how much they do it.
00:31:36
Speaker
And it kind of, it struck me, and then someone in the ad joins They're like, take me away, you know, bring me with you, because it looks like fun. Are Citroen one of the best placed brands, you think, to attract people?
00:31:49
Speaker
This younger audience, I mean, look at the Ami as well. You go on, you you know, you go on TikTok and you'll find a Citroen Ami. There's lots of brands that would probably love that exposure. They don't have it. What is it about Citroen that has that younger edge?
00:32:02
Speaker
They, you know, I think they their overall drive where we spoke about comfort, we we talked about affordability, the The C3 is a hugely important model to the brand and equates for probably as much as one in three of their overall sales throughout Europe. So it's it's a car that's made in Europe, so they're extremely proud of it being a European vehicle built and and ah sold in Europe.
00:32:27
Speaker
And when you you take all of those attributes, they're not a brand that's afraid to make a change. If you look at previous generations of of the C3, for example, at the time, MPVs were more in vogue and earlier adaptations of the the the older C3 models were epitomized what was an MPV.
00:32:47
Speaker
Now today most of the market is heavily swayed towards SUVs and here they brought something to the market that ticks box for those customers. And usually so in the B segment because there aren't many competitors that give that same SUV attitude, that same SUV codes, the height we mentioned again, the ease of access and exit and all that kind of stuff. so So that's their approach, that's their brand, that's their model, that's their belief and that's their passion.
00:33:15
Speaker
And they do passion really well as a brand as well. yeah And speaking of passion, that you know, on on the AMI specifically, it is a car or whatever you want to call it, a quadricycle or just a mobility solution that garners attention. and I think in France, you have to be 16 to drive one and you can buy them in the shopping centres. Yeah, and and the, you know, the to how common the AMI is, just particularly as you go to the warmer times, southern France, into Spain, into Italy, they're everywhere, you know, and the The beauty of AMI, you can actually drive it at a very young age.
00:33:49
Speaker
The licensing here in the Republic of Ireland is that you have to have a Category B license, so it's 17 years of age. But on the continent, it's much younger. I think it's even less than 16, where they can and they're allowed to drive on the public road because it's a quadricycle.
00:34:05
Speaker
So ah the ads as they ran at the time would be that their parents don't have to get up all in the morning because Junior has his own way home or even the opposite of that, that Junior can go and collect that. I'm ready to go now. Yeah, yeah. And ring up, come and collect me. I'm ready to go home now. you know So you have all of that kind of a thing. But the continent and the...
00:34:27
Speaker
They like to roam and so on where the streets are so narrow, it lends itself to it. The mobility solution as it is in Ireland, <unk> we're still into our big cars. We're trying to cram these massive big cars down down our very heavily congested city streets.
00:34:44
Speaker
I think it will start to turn that in time through government intervention. However, it will change and smaller cars will become more and more popular as we go forward.
00:34:55
Speaker
Where AMI, as a mobility solution for all, provides an answer. C3 being a hatchback, small hatchback style car, even if it is and more of an SUV to look at.
00:35:06
Speaker
Again, they're smaller, they're easier turning circles, easier to park, all of which... you know, where spaces that premium makes a difference. and I get the sense, and you know, the weather is is a very strong reason as to why you you mightn't quite want an AMI, but for you I get the sense the AMI is ah marketing tool nearly as much as a a product.
00:35:25
Speaker
If you want to be noticed, we've had huge experience. We are the brand, car brand represented in Bloom, which is a big garden festival in the Phoenix Park every year, and it is...
00:35:39
Speaker
the singular most studied, you know experienced magnet, if you like, on the stand every year bar none. Because no matter who or what age you are, it's if the kids just, to just you know, there's there' a wow to be got just by sitting into it and and and and you know experiencing it, that the parents, the grandparents, everybody will spend time at AMI because it's iconic insofar as it will turn heads.
00:36:08
Speaker
And if there's any company out there that wants create a storyline or market their brand, This is a vehicle that can be moved from one end of the town to the other very quickly and it can represent the message you want it to represent and then bring it back home that evening and go to another corner the next day. So that kind of thing is, AMI does it better than anything else that's out there. It's a moving, like a...
00:36:38
Speaker
the A little roadshow. Yeah, yeah it it is, for sure. for sure and and And some of them are very successfully branded. we have We have them used and and in Centre Park, for example. you know So it's really simply done, very effective, hugely suitable for those conditions and works.
00:36:55
Speaker
see them a lot of airport aprons onto the continent as well and you can just plug them in, which is which is very simple. What kind of things do Irish people ask about the AMI when they see it? So, charging.
00:37:06
Speaker
So it'll work on a three-pin plug. we We have an adapter standard. for a wall socket as well. um It'll charge in, I think it's three hours. You're asking me exact technical details, which I might can just have fully accurate now, but it's in and around the three hour mark.
00:37:21
Speaker
It'll do around 75 kilometers in the charge. And I think the maximum speed is 48 kilometers an hour. So it's it's a last mile journey car. It's a car that...
00:37:32
Speaker
ah You know, you just want to go and get your paper. you want to go to mass every day. You're in college. You want some independence or or but you don't need a car as such. You know, it ticks lots of boxes for lots of people's needs.
00:37:45
Speaker
I've driven one twice in Irish roads actually and it's a lot of fun. It's a little bit maybe for the not so faint-hearted when you're beside trucks and things but you know as you say and in the right environment. Citroen are part of a a wider recall with airbags ah that kind of is probably but maybe a month old at this stage the story.
00:38:03
Speaker
and Can you talk to us a little bit about that and what your message is to any Irish consumers who are in Citroëns that are affected and suppose what cars are affected at the moment? So there are 65 million vehicles involved and there are probably 35 car manufacturers involved worldwide.
00:38:21
Speaker
So this isn't a Citroen story, it's a Takata story. And Takata are an airbag manufacturer. They've since gone, by the way, i think it was in 2017, they ceased trading.
00:38:33
Speaker
But the manufacturers all the way along the chain, as I said, there are 64 5 million vehicles. The manufacturers along the way have... have determined that these airbags need to be replaced.
00:38:45
Speaker
So we're actively engaged with our customers. where We've written them registered letters, invited them to attend their their their local Citroen dealer. The Citroen dealer can make it as easy as possible so that you're not inconvenienced or in um inconvenienced as little as possible.
00:39:02
Speaker
Whilst this repair is underway, A little over an hour will get the job done. And we're just looking for that engagement from those customers. There are C3s and DS3s.
00:39:13
Speaker
If you go into citron.ie with your VIN number, you can actually do a recall check and tell you if your car is affected. That just takes you a couple of minutes. If you haven't, ah well you should have received the the registered mail. And then it's just to pick up the phone and get your appointment and organize it.
00:39:30
Speaker
And are you aware, in Ireland at least, has there been any incidents to do with it? No incidents that we're aware of. ah That said, the ah you know in terms of where we are at, we're obviously benchmarked amongst all of the importers.
00:39:45
Speaker
And where we're at versus where the factory would like us to be this number of weeks into the campaign, we're going quite well. you know So there is engagement, which we appreciate.
00:39:57
Speaker
ah we're we're We're making inroads. wherere we're We're getting a lot of this work done. And all we're asking and and appealing for is any of those customers who have not actioned this job yet to please make contact with their their local Citroen dealer.
00:40:12
Speaker
We can turn it around very, very quickly now. We're well experienced in in in the changing of them and they'll have you back on the road very, very quickly. And as I say, it's safer for you and for all of your passengers in the vehicle as well.
00:40:26
Speaker
um So the C3, again, that we're looking at today, again, very interesting price. that there is The final question, that there is a smaller battery version coming in 2026. It's about 30 kilowatt hours, if I'm right.
00:40:39
Speaker
um I know you're going to tell me I can't give you a price, but is that going to be a car that might and start with a two, do you think? I doubt it will get it.
00:40:50
Speaker
to that level. I think it will start with a 2 but obviously if the the higher range battery is 23,400 the lower range battery is going to be less but not just there yet in terms of firming that price point.
00:41:03
Speaker
So this would be a solution for somebody who is very clear on their commuting needs and ah doesn't need or have a requirement for the longer range, just does the short journey every day into work, back out or whatever it is.
00:41:19
Speaker
And as I say, with nighttime electricity, it's a lower cost point, so a lower lower purchase price point, just makes it a little bit more affordable again. And I know you're going to tell me, but I'll say it for you. It has five seats.
00:41:32
Speaker
It does have five seats, for sure. And it has all of the features because the spec that you've seen in test-driven today ah with touchscreens Bluetooth and Apple CarPlay and Android, art all that kind stuff, air conditioning, you'll have all of that. It's no difference. It's just a range.
00:41:47
Speaker
It's the only change. The range in the price. Very interesting. Well, look, exciting times for Citroen. The best luck with the the new launch of the EC3 and C3. And thank you very much for talking to us. Thank you very much. ah want Welcome back to the Drivers Public Podcast brought to you in association with Dundeele Motors with Ireland's widest selection of cars for sale from certified trusted dealers. The right car for you is on dundeele.ie. Great to hear from Colin Sheridan. Colin was really early days in Skoda as well. He's one of the men who was really responsible for getting that brand.
00:42:17
Speaker
moving in Ireland so you know you see the success they've had now but he was he was there really early on when their lineup wasn't the wasn't the sexiest yes and I wasn't joking by the way he did he was directing traffic on the way in i did actually joke and some of us his colleagues were having lunch at the same table as me and and they were saying oh is there dessert and I said oh yeah Colin's going to be coming around a second with a menu because he's that kind of oh yeah he likes to his hands on yeah for sure very hands on Yeah, a couple of interesting Volkswagen stories this week, and or the last couple of weeks anyway. One I saw you posting about was Volkswagen are going to offer more horsepower for some of their EVs, but it comes at a price.
00:42:59
Speaker
Yes. So basically ID3 will have, ah depending on the version, it's the pro, I think, i basically for for a fee, a yearly subscription, or you can buy it outright, I think. Yeah, €629 per month. I've read our €80.90 per month.
00:43:18
Speaker
Now, I don't know whether you can get to turn that on or off. Sorry, it's €600 for life. Sorry, €629, yeah, very per for life. just free For life. Okay. But is that the life of the car or the life of your ownership of the car? Or so did they charge the second owner another €600? I would say it's one and done, but and for yeah, 18, 19 a month. Now, I don't think the horsepower leaps are massive, are they?
00:43:39
Speaker
No, it's an extra 30 or something. Like, what is the point? But are they that hard for cash? It's just a strange one. I mean, it's... ah ah yeah you know, obviously some owners will. There has been a bit of poor reaction to this because you think, right, okay, the hardware is there. It's in the car.
00:43:57
Speaker
You're buying the car. it's It's like Tesla. Every Tesla you buy has all the full autopilot. It just has to be unleashed. Now, maybe in some ways, if it was making the car cheaper, if it thought, right, someone doesn't need that, but I don't know. I don't know what the take of this is going to be. I think if it was... Are they testing the water?
00:44:15
Speaker
Yeah, for sure. and Sorry, testing the water, testing the processes, testing and the technology. Does it work? What's the you know what's the uptake? Does it work well? what's the profile, who the people, where do they live, what are their ages. Right.
00:44:29
Speaker
And then from there after that they'll be able to refine the product a more. I mean I think this it just just doesn't look like an extraordinary enough product. If you were talking about it an ID.3 GTX for example and you could turn on another 100 or yeah you know or you can activate a second battery or something like or second you know electric motor but I think that would be crazy expensive but and yeah i think it's just a case of as you say testing the water seeing as the technology works and seeing who the people are that take it up now not to say that the the group itself don't like an audi you can pay for a sat nav uh i know a guy who bought an audi s3 it's only a year old he went back to the dealer to say the uh adaptive cruise control wasn't working properly and your man said to him oh no that's a subscription
00:45:17
Speaker
In an S3. Because that was an expensive car. Yeah. 80 grand or something. I'd say more than probably 90 now or whatever. Yeah, so. Gotcha. Like, I just thought, wow, even an S3. But I have been in like an And that literally is turning it on because everything is there.
00:45:34
Speaker
It's not like they have to fit anything. And I know you'll leave you'll use your your nav, your car play, whatever, but. Again, look at, you know, jump into ah an XPang or whatever and has everything for mid-40s and someone's asking to pay for adaptive cruise control. It's a bit rich. Yeah, it is It is.
00:45:51
Speaker
and Also sticking with Volkswagen, we saw a new T-Roc this week. Yes. Unfortunately, no one from Ireland was was able to go. It's a big car for them. It is a big car. They sold 2 million T-Rocs around the world, obviously. um for I would have thought it was a way it was around longer. it only came out in 2017.
00:46:09
Speaker
Yeah. um And look, essentially it's a Golf SUV. Yeah. They didn't call it that, but that's what it is. and it's um The front is quite ID.4. Yeah. It's come to it into a little Tiguan really, hasn't it They've lots of the styling elements from the Tiguan. think it is a little bit bigger, so there's little bit more space.
00:46:27
Speaker
um Not massive changes in the powertrains, you know, petrol, mild hybrid, plug-in hybrid. um Good looking car. I think, is it an accident? I said that text to you of the other day. Is it They did make it look a lot like a Renault 5 in the press peaks. Well, yes, it's very yellow.
00:46:43
Speaker
With the black roof. very with With the black roof. It also now has the red Volkswagen badge on the back, which is illuminated. And ah yeah, look, it doesn't look like a drastically different car, but it's still quite nice. And obviously people are still into these these types of cars. And it's to see colourful cars again.
00:47:01
Speaker
Oh yeah. Bring back yellows and that was it. Like the Ionic Nine had last week was the Ionosphere Green, it's called. I saw the picture. Lovely looking And there was a few times where i was I was in a building once where it was parked downstairs and I i was looking down on people stopping and looking at it. I parked it town and again, it was people were really giving it the once over.
00:47:23
Speaker
Yeah, i haveve like I think there's some colours that age better than others. Yeah. Like dark greens with cream interiors, I think always looks classy and will age well, be it in... Particularly BMW or Merc. Yeah, I saw, I was in Sandy from Industria yesterday, saw, was like a 06 Mercedes C-Class, you know, no worth nothing.
00:47:43
Speaker
But it was green. So it looks good. It was green with cream. Avant-garde, no? Yeah, it was a decent spec, but you could tell the owner had had it forever. and And it just looked good because the colour combination was right.
00:47:55
Speaker
and Also, the thing that will make everyone sick is the prices for the new T-Roc in Germany start at €30,845. Right. Now, an R-line here will probably be €45. Yeah, I guess it's going to be probably €5,000 more starting off.
00:48:11
Speaker
and But it is it's it's it is doing well for them. It's a decent-looking car. And I think now that they've made it a little bit more Tiguan-esque, certainly around the back as well. Yeah. I think that's going to appeal to a lot of people. There's a bit of kind of ah evolution, which there should be. um And yeah, there's it's kind of nice to have a bit of vehicle symmetry, model symmetry going on.
00:48:33
Speaker
But from speaking to Martin Cardiff, who who's been on our show before, I've spoken to him just before chris before the summer break, sorry, and he was saying that the Golf is really flying for them still. There's real interest in the Golf again and that there's a lots of people now, even though it's it's not a cheap car anymore.
00:48:49
Speaker
but No, and they are doing 75 years in Ireland versions this year as well, as with which have a bit more spec. But it's, yeah, I wonder, because like I couldn't tell you last time saw an ad for a Golf, heard an ad for a Golf.
00:49:01
Speaker
It's car that maybe just sells itself. Yeah, it is. And I think this i think there's a question mark. And like, I've read various pits in autocar, et cetera, about what they think is going to happen to Golf. It's supposed to be turning into an EV. Will it be ID Golf?
00:49:16
Speaker
Will it, you know, there's been various theories floating around about what would happen to it It's certainly not going anywhere. and And we could have, you know, potentially see ID.3 and Golf sold alongside each other still with two EV versions, which would be unusual. Well, ah like and looking at the T-Roc as well, and, you know, that's one benefit of our, it wasn't the Golf was haptics for a while because the T-Roc has the physical buttons back as well, which they've said, you know.
00:49:41
Speaker
ah the days of us trying to be cars with tablets are over. or it's not it's not ah It's not a smartphone, basically. I was in a Tehran, the PHEV one last week, which think you've had.
00:49:52
Speaker
um It's kind of purpley-blue. Yeah. Lovely colour. Yeah. Ultraviolet, metallic. and But that car really impressed me. I mean, 60,000, 60,000, and just over sixty thousand and fully loaded with kit or line 75 edition absolutely dripping with kit dripping with kit and lovely lovely lovely thing yeah um physical buttons back in the steering wheel yes and nice the the nice interior and you know if you're looking at it in comparison like look 60 grand is a lot of money but if you're looking at it in comparison to some other things that are out there or even a tour egg for 100 grand which they've now killed
00:50:27
Speaker
Yeah, which is heading into sunset. But it struck me as something that you wouldn't feel shabby comparing to a high-end Audi SUV, Merc SUV. It's really gone yeah we jumped up a notch in quality. Yeah, the interior is very nice. The ambient lighting in the Tehran is very nice. um the i just the the The one that you obviously mentioned, the five-seater only in the plug-in hybrid, you could just buy a T1.
00:50:51
Speaker
Yeah, ah I've seen, there were some of the comments on my channel there on that. I mean, there's not much money between PHEV Edition 75, Aureline, Tiguan and a Tehran. It's nothing. very little.
00:51:05
Speaker
So wonder will people just go for the bigger boot, slightly bigger rear leg room, or will they just stick to the Tiguan? I mean, it's a few hundred euros. Yeah, I think the Tiguan has been such a success and it's it's probably a better known model because Tyron is quite new. and But I do like, so you know, again, if you want to really refine but the Tyron, you can put sound acoustic glass and stuff like that. I'm calling it the wrong thing, am I? Tyron? Is it Tyron? I think you're right. I think I've been, i could always call it Tyron because I'm a teller. Tyron, it's like Taycan.
00:51:36
Speaker
Right, okay, okay. have the diesel one outside, you know, morementive because more because it's more CO2. Massively more expensive, yeah. Massively more expensive, but it has seven seats. You'd really wouldn't need a seven seater or you'd buy a Kodiak.
00:51:48
Speaker
Yeah, um but I much preferred the PHEV one. It was like, for me, I found the fuel economy was pretty decent heading down. i i plugged it in all week and drove it as it should, just yeah around locally. And, you know, for me, I just thought I wouldn't need the seven seats. Just ah but the spec, the color, everything was was really lovely. So that's that's the one I'd have.
00:52:11
Speaker
A very good range. they're Very reliable now. the you know People quite often ask, you what sort of what sort of range did you see in that car? And it will obviously do it to a 130, but you're guaranteed you're going to get 100. the same size battery as the first gen Nissan Leaf. yeah Think of that way. Yeah.
00:52:25
Speaker
Which I'll be driving the new Leaf in a few weeks time, actually, and Copenhagen, I think. Next week, you you and I are both heading to Munich. um Yes. You were going a bit earlier and going later for the Munich Motor Show.
00:52:40
Speaker
Aye. How can we expect of that? um lots of new models bmw nioe classe which again two years on it's like okay just can we have the car now uh some more volkswagen stuff i think the new t-rock will be there so hopefully get a video with that i do too we should see more of as well yeah uh hyundai i'm actually going to get some hyundai content next thursday the uh doing scola content as well Yes, it will basically be the... Octavia. Electric Octavia, yeah. It's going to interesting one. I'm going to look at the new Xpang G6, the facelift version, and also their other kind of sextier-looking sedan car. um and ah But like this is... So the G6 is the one that... And I don't think MDL brought a huge amount of them in for this reason. They knew when they launched this car in February this year, there was a facelift version, which will be the one at IAA.
00:53:32
Speaker
It's obviously... It's already been out in China. um So i'd I'd imagine they'll get more now because they'll know where they stand at least for a while. I don't know i don't know how often they refresh cars in China. It can be quite quickly. minutes Every 10 minutes.
00:53:45
Speaker
So I how long this second gen facelift will last. But a yeah, looking forward to that. um I'm a little bit out of the loop. Why did Frankfurt Motor Show turn into Motor Show? Munich basically paid a huge amount of money mid-COVID to try and get it to switch right okay cities.
00:54:03
Speaker
I don't know if that's, you know, the entire reason, but it was Frankfurt forever. We will be there at the same time, so we will bring you some audio. Yes, yes. We'll probably get to do it a kind of an IEA special.
00:54:17
Speaker
um I don't want to jinx anything. I want ah once said we had Brandon Flairs on the radio show I was doing at the time because we were pretty guaranteed to get Brandon Flairs. And then I said, next week on the show, we're Brandon Flairs with the killers.
00:54:30
Speaker
And it never happened. Right. Well, unless the show doesn't happen or we don't go. no I think we should be OK. I think we we'll be OK. We'll be OK. Coming up in just a second, ah a harrowing ah piece of television that is still on the RT player. And for anyone who drives at all and certainly has maybe young people coming into driving, it is a must watch, in my opinion. I'll tell you a bit about it in just a second.
00:54:52
Speaker
Welcome back to the Drivers Republic podcast brought to you in association with Dundeele Motors with Ireland's widest selection of cars for sale from certified trusted dealers. The right car for you is on dundeele.ie.
00:55:03
Speaker
So Anatomy of a Car Crash is a TV show that was shown live on RT back in the end of July, but it's still on the RT player. And I'd been meaning to watch it and people some people had told me about it and and I went on and thankfully it was still there.
00:55:15
Speaker
um So I had a look in and basically it is the story of a crash in 2016 just inside Dungarvan and County Waterford. You had two cars essentially, you had Citroen Picasso which is a a family and people carrier and you had a Volkswagen Golf.
00:55:34
Speaker
And the family in the Citroen were driving to a Santa experience from Cork and they met a Volkswagen Golf with three men in it ah coming in the opposite direction.
00:55:48
Speaker
And if... it Kind of hard to, these roads don't really exist in Dublin, but certainly outside, i remember in Longford, they lots of roads like this into Longford Town. Where there's dip. Where there's a dip. And there's another dip.
00:56:00
Speaker
And this was part of the problem that, i mean, there was it was a chain of events like so many accidents are. Unfortunately, and regretfully, the the three gentlemen in the Gulf had, they were, they'd taken a mixture of drugs and alcohol and they all had various quantities. Some very little, but um Nonetheless, we're we're all you know over the limit to being in a car. And that was part of the problem. The reaction times, obviously, when you when you're under the influence or slower and because you it was, I think they did two seconds before impact when they first saw each other come towards them.
00:56:35
Speaker
And they were both, I think it was an 80 limit road and obviously there's a combined impact there of 160. So they the coroner in this um documentary, they had kind of forensic experts and engineers who look after fatalities. They had the fire crew, they had the police who have to go and tell you unfortunately, you know, a member of your family has has passed away in a road accident.
00:56:57
Speaker
what What was really, i mean, there's so harrowing aspects of it and and it was, you know, just twist of fate where the the family going to Dungarvan had actually stopped twice or sorry, stopped once to adjust the child's wheelchair in the back the car, was slightly loose.
00:57:11
Speaker
And then Gary, who was Gary Fenton was the driver of of the Citroen, he was most seriously injured. um he actually said to his partner will I stop and get diesel and she said no look let's just keep going we'll get it later and again if he had stopped for diesel this wouldn't have happened yeah now they may have hit somebody else That's it. These things are all split seconds. They're random choices. and but it was was those split second random events that he's punishing himself over.
00:57:37
Speaker
Yeah. I watched the documentary. I remember posting it at the time on LinkedIn and and saying, look, that this is essential viewing. And it's something that to every school child in Ireland, certainly if they're old enough to watch it. because I think it's probably a sixth year yeah thing. Yeah. I mean, it has to be compulsive viewing.
00:57:56
Speaker
I actually, because I shared it on Instagram as well, I said, like, this should be shown in schools. And I had a few teachers said, I'm going show it to my class in September. Good, because it's it's an extraordinary watch. and But what I thought was really good about it, look, obviously, there was the minute detail of of the step by step of what happened.
00:58:14
Speaker
But it was also the other elements. and So it brought in everyone. It brought in the paramedics, the undertakers, the doctors, the you know the surgeons who were working on these people and showed the impact on the collision to all of those people and the rehabilitation, the years and years of rehabilitation that takes place. And even to this day,
00:58:38
Speaker
the effects of that even you know everyone who was involved in that collision that's still with us yeah has been greatly affected by massively flashbacks at night time still 10 years on um some of the children involved were so young at the time you'll you'll see chloe who's uh in her early 20s now and she's still traumatized from it um and obviously it's desperately sad for the the three individuals in the golf you you will naturally feel less sympathy for them because of But there are three lives lost. What happened three lives lost, the three families um and the golf burst into flames. and
00:59:10
Speaker
So even identifying the three guys, their families, because it was Waterford, you know, it's it's it's not it's not a small place, but the likelihood of more people knowing people is higher.
00:59:22
Speaker
And one of their families went to bed knowing there had been a crash that day, but didn't know was their child in the car. Yeah, but I was really struck by, you know, we wrongly assume that the guards are, you know, sort of impervious to dealing with these things that they're so used to it, but just how much it affects everyone involved. Like imagine the, you know, they they described the scene as, you know, absolute carnage, just like something from a horror film, yeah the injuries, the the scenes and that they would come across. And that just has to affect the people who are involved in that.
00:59:54
Speaker
Yeah, and ah the guy, so one of the guys in the back of the golf, was relatively old. He was like, I think 38. The guy driving was was quite a bit younger, and you might say you' you'd expect that kind of behavior, but it's not you can't expect, it's not accepted for anyone to be driving with that level of But is there, Mark, is there a situation, you know, we talk about it being shown in schools, that there is a level of horror that you should show people?
01:00:26
Speaker
that we're yeah In a way that we're hiding, you know, these things are, a crash is rightly cordoned off. it's We don't publish pictures of the scene. We don't publish pictures of the injuries.
01:00:39
Speaker
You know, it's it's rightly shielded, but is there a case that we should show people more the actual hires so that they can understand? Because it's that decision, as you said, right, if they pulled in for diesel and pulled out of the forecourt, there's a chance they just would have passed that golf on the road and never been aware of what could have happened.
01:00:58
Speaker
No, you know, and and their lives wouldn't have been affected and perhaps three guys would have had a chance to grow up and and not ever think they'd do this again. Look, I don't know, but I think there was enough in that documentary.
01:01:12
Speaker
They kind of went there without going there. You know, I never knew what a ah halo brace is until I saw that. and And for those who don't know, it's basically if you ever see these these like It's called a halo because it looks like a halo and they they screw it into your skull. stop your head moving. To stop your head moving. That's what Gary, the driver of of this of the Citroen, was in. And the you you see his partner, Mary, been and she's devastated by it still.
01:01:38
Speaker
And the orthopedic surgeon saying to her that his his neck is basically hanging on by a thread. He should be paralyzed. But, you know, one... I don't expect the answer, but what's the solution in terms of, say the Road Safety Authority, every year they have to come and rinse and repeat the same message in different ways.
01:01:57
Speaker
People hear them, they get impervious to them because they're hearing them too much. or in a lot of cases even visually if you have ads on tv they skip them or they yeah they they do try them like to me that that is a documentary that should probably and tyrone productions made it forward to it should be something that lives on social media in in chopped up edited format you know it should be on tiktok it should be on snapchat where you can't skip it i'm sure there are paid campaigns where you you can't skip an ad you have to sit through we've all seen them Because I think it's because it's so gritty. It's so real life. It's it's a real story. It would probably be hard to tell it in in a short format. That's the only thing.
01:02:35
Speaker
But like, you know, the people who need to see that documentary, they're probably not watching RT. They're probably not looking at the RT player, really. So, you know, we it's it's like someone said to me before, it the only people in society who are afraid of going to prison are the people that will never end up going to prison.
01:02:52
Speaker
that's what That is a lot of my issue with some of the stuff, the road safety they already do in particular. You know, they'll have huge campaigns on RT Radio 1 and other stations and that's not... Targeting the wrong. That's not the audience. And it's just the same message. It's slow down with the bank holiday, don't drink and drive, don't do drugs. But they're also not using these people's own peers.
01:03:09
Speaker
So, yeah if you you know, if you are those three people in the gulf and, you know, God rest their souls, etc., but... would they be listening to someone older from the Road Safety Authority or elsewhere telling them to slow down? the the ra The message has to resonate from someone that they'll actually have respect for or are interested in. Not that they shouldn't have respect for someone else, but yeah, I don't know if if it's GAA players, is ah influencers, ah don't know, but...
01:03:38
Speaker
but What strikes me when ah every time I read the Road Safety Authority crash reports and and, you know, statistics, is some of the things that still keep cropping up. So seatbelt use. so still a problem okay who It seems like the weirdest thing in the world not to drive around with seatbelt. it's so natural, you know, and...
01:03:55
Speaker
I think schools is the one place because it's a captive audience. You can't shut off. If someone, if the teacher wheels out the screen or the projector, you know, you're you're there. and But would we be now in a situation where, you know, parents are so are objecting to little Johnny or Mary being shown this? Showing that kind of show. Yeah.
01:04:14
Speaker
They came home and they were very upset by what they saw. Yeah, well, it is traumatic. Like, I was bit shook after watching it myself just to see the devastation of the family who were left. That's what we need in this. It's not as simple as saying to people, slow down. They're like, oh, yeah, okay, fine. Yeah.
01:04:30
Speaker
And also, like, it only really shows one of the deceased family and his parents are devastated. I'm sure there was judgment from their peers in society because their son had traces of drugs and drink in his body and, ah like, they're broken, like. um So I do think, I think we should probably, you know, let's maybe do less religion lessons. I'm not saying scrap it, but let's do a little bit of road safety in schools as part of the syllabus. and Yeah, and I would love to see driver training happen as yeah as part of the syllabus as well. I know we have issues with waiting lists, etc. And there's probably nowhere more to teach people driver's ed. But the more, the sooner that they get the feel for a car and and not be sort of...
01:05:16
Speaker
You know, like there's so many elements to this where people are, we talked about earlier on, people are trying to get into older cars to try and get insurance yeah and they don't have as many safety features or they're, you know, in some cases taking shortcuts in order to get into these vehicles.
01:05:32
Speaker
and yeah so So, yeah, there's theres there's a real issue there. Should the drink drive an MP0? Yeah. clear like it kind of effectively is yeah um and obviously the guardian of way more ways of of testing you know for uh for drug use and i was actually because i know quite a few serving members and and it was only last week asking if you refuse to give because you know you can you can get your alcohol limit ah tested by giving blood station yeah but a doctor has to come and blah blah yeah And I was wondering, you know, because people can obviously buy themselves time doing that.
01:06:04
Speaker
and that If you're borderline, I wonder what that is. Yeah, but... different And it is what happens in the station is the definitive, okay, this is... If you're going to be done, you'll be done based on that, not the roadside. it But you can... If you refuse to do a roadside, you can be arrested.
01:06:18
Speaker
I didn't realise that. I thought you could say, okay, that's grand, but I want able to... press sorry to sample yeah Yeah, so... um Because, ah you know, that that could be a deterrent in itself, but... Yeah, I do think school is part of it. And anyone teaching or if you know someone who's a teacher, just, and you know, ah I presume teachers have discretion with these things. you know, if they want to show something they think is worthwhile, the anatomy of a car crash on the RT player.
01:06:43
Speaker
um And yeah, just... And what we would love to speak to on Garda Sheikhan, hopefully in the next few weeks, to talk to them about road safety, about this...
01:06:53
Speaker
issue about what they see on the road so hopefully we can organise that in the next weeks I think it's been quite clever what the guards did last year with the Golf GTIs that they got and then they have ah some Scope Octavio RSs as well and you know they're kind of more interesting cars young lads are a bit more interested in them you'll see it at the even the national ploughing championships last year I was at and the guards had a stand and they had a Golf 4 down there and all the young flas that were were there were crawling all over it Yeah, and and look, in a lot of cases, you know, some of the younger drivers with the souped up, I mean, doing an inverted commas cars are targeted, but in a lot cases, they're the guys who are who really mind their cars and are very careful about them.
01:07:31
Speaker
And, you know, it can be someone else who's driving something that's a little more shabby that there could be more at risk. so and But look, there's no easy solution to this. We're not going to solve it overnight, but I think awareness is a key point, and and I think this documentary is incredibly important for people to watch.
01:07:48
Speaker
and So yeah, go check it out, essentially. am ah Finally, this week on this episode, and and welcome back and thanks for joining us and give us a subscribe and share it and like and all that stuff. um This week i dropped my old little car in for a ah once over.
01:08:06
Speaker
Well, you've had a couple of classic cars over the years. Mazda MX-5 was a nice run around and yet um I would imagine reasonably pain-free, right? ah Totally pain-free. Yeah, I don't think there was nothing.
01:08:19
Speaker
Oh, ah did I have a... No, I got put tires on it. That was it. But look, rightly so, and if you can, you should. You you bought yourself a Porsche 911. I What year? 2006. So it's 997.1. Now, buying car...
01:08:30
Speaker
two thousand and six so it's a nine nine seven dot one now buying a car classic car it does come with a little bit of terms and conditions there are some things you have to factor in so tell us your pain so far did a sharp inhalation of breath there and so basically I've so far apart from petrol and the disgusting road tax two grand 1809 I think it is I've had to pay for a brake switch module thing it was 130 quid including labor high so so far so good so in ireland i'm predicting the east coast i think you've got three options you have a guy called i don't know what his second name is um ken his name is in chapel is it he's a porsche specialist um he's been there for donkey's years yeah he's meant to be amazing uh there is a guy called philip wright who i don't really know too much about but again he can look after
01:09:24
Speaker
think of I think Fahey Motors and Galway will look after this kind of stuff. And then you have David Bryant Sports Cars, which is a guy in Ballymount. And he has, you know, a team of mechanics there as well. And um somebody actually recommended me to Dave. and And it was just, it was easy to get to him. And um off I went, got that brake switch thing sort But it had started with big flashing red or yellow ABS light. So I thought, God, what could this be? But anyway, so um the other, about two weeks ago, I noticed a little bit of oil on the driveway.
01:09:54
Speaker
And obviously oil just catches your attention. You go, oh God, what's what the hell is that?
Maintaining Classic Cars
01:10:00
Speaker
So I got the car booked in and the other morning i brought it out and he put it up on the ramp and we had a little look over of the things that might be causing that.
01:10:10
Speaker
ah So essentially it's not like it's not your typical engine leak. It's from a thing called a tandem oil pump, right which is a porous box basically. And over time it degrades and it drips oil.
01:10:24
Speaker
and And like a lot of things, there's it's like it's like a human body, you know, to get to a certain part, you might have to take something else out or try not to hit off that thing because it keeps you alive.
01:10:38
Speaker
So, at basically, that tandem oil pump has has turned into a... about €600, which is... my thing is not too bad. But then... So, there's parts of the exhaust that have to be removed to get to this thing and blah, blah, blah.
01:10:54
Speaker
So... and let me Let me just interject for sec, because this is a good car. Yeah. This is not, you know, you found it in side of the road and it was a bit shabby. No, no, it's, you know, it's in it's a good nick. There's 140,000 kilometers on it.
01:11:08
Speaker
It's got a very extensive service history. There's bills in the service book for like 4,000 euro. um And ah those figures always scared me when I saw them. But I thought, look, it's had all the major stuff done the IMS, all the stuff that you need to watch out for in these cars.
01:11:25
Speaker
So everything that was basically threw up on the ramp was, you know, it's wear and tear stuff, brake lines, things that just perish. And that's normal. um So everything included, so like even like, and I'm sure the people are going, did you not know all this one you before you bought this car?
01:11:42
Speaker
So like a set of genuine front pads and discs on a 911 are a thousand euro. And then the rears are another thousand euro. So, um,
01:11:54
Speaker
And how often will that have to happen? Well, it depends how often. How you drive it, et cetera, et cetera. Yeah. And loads people will tell you, and I've been warned by lots of our friends in this business, the worst thing you can now is not drive that car.
01:12:08
Speaker
So yeah, there's theres there's loads of meat still on the discs and pads, but it's just, yeah, it's just not being driven. It's a car that I probably drive once or twice a week and ah because I'm trying to drive. Sunday morning. Yeah. Yeah. like you're trying to drive press cars and actually evaluate them. So, you know, I can't, there's point burning around a 911 all day going, this is great. And it'll also cost you a fortune of petrol.
01:12:28
Speaker
um so yeah, as suppose it's just a word to the wise. If you are going down the classic route, buy an MX-5 because it'll be much cheaper. Yeah, because what's the, I mean, if you're, this is a good car, to get it absolutely right, what do you what are you looking So bearing in mind, um there's there's nothing major, it's standing with this car, the last service was a major service, this is just genuinely wear and tear stuff, um you know, coffin arms, um front brakes and rear brakes, flexi hoses and brake lines, wheel alignments, the whole the whole shebang is 9,000 euro.
01:13:04
Speaker
is nine thousand euro Right, which, now very so quick look and done deal is 2006 Mazda MX-5. Well, that's more than i that's more than the MX-5 cost me, considerably more.
01:13:18
Speaker
Now, I will say this about Dave. um When I first met him, I straight away got the impression he was not a guy who sees dollar signs when he sees Porsches rolling up.
01:13:29
Speaker
And he's got, you know, i suppose what but you see when you when you arrive out there, he has pretty fresh nine eleven s yeah so not Yeah, there's no indication that this is steep at all. This is just quite reasonable. Yeah, there were people who are bringing their cars, with their car's still under Porsche and he's he's a certified Porsche network specialist and stuff like that. So and there were people who are bringing their brand new cars to him rather than the dealer they bought the car from.
01:13:53
Speaker
So moral the story is, if you're looking at an old car, an old classic, and yeah especially something that started life very expensive. Go somewhere like him and get on a ramp before you buy it.
01:14:04
Speaker
Yeah, because look, you would need to factor in, if you're scraping together the money to buy it, you need to factor in another, what, third of the cost again for over the for over two, three years. A third might be, yeah, a lot. I suppose buy one with loads of history and and, you know, loads of stuff done.
01:14:20
Speaker
But what I like about someone like his dealer is, or his his garage is that they're like, listen, This is like, think of these cars as a work in progress. yeah What needs, like i remember saying to him last time I met him, me I said, oh, there's a kind of a, there's a rattle out of the back of the car when the climate control is on. He goes, but does the climate control work? I was like, yeah.
01:14:39
Speaker
And he goes, grand, forget about that for the moment. So it was like, you know, even he, like most people go, oh, well, here's an opportunity for a business to make nine grand. Even he said, look, he said, look, I wouldn't get this, this and this done until next year.
01:14:52
Speaker
Seriously. Yeah, well, you would have to imagine that for businesses like that, they are getting people who are coming in with a menu of things that they might want to get fixed rather than a full list. Well, we can all look at the menu, but you have to have the money to pay for this Because realistically, the people who don't care about the pricing have gone to the main dealer and haven't even looked at at the bill.
01:15:11
Speaker
Yeah, that's true. And actually, i know someone who who is like that. There's two doors up there from you and ah they have a Targa, a 232 Targa.
Classic Car Ownership Stories and Community
01:15:20
Speaker
And because one of their kids, their youngest child is the only one who now fits in the back, it's being replaced for an M5.
01:15:27
Speaker
Right. Life is good. Life is good. Life is good. But ah I was like, what do you mean? youre like Because it's 18 months. was like, that's not a car you sell after 18 months. You need to hang on to that. So that's that's yet another ah new Irish M5 being registered as a road. Yeah, we're into ridiculous three digits at this stage, must be. Yeah. um So, yeah, as I was actually going to ask Dave, would he be interested in coming on the podcast? Because I think, like, he's...
01:15:52
Speaker
he He seemed like... He was just showing me stuff under the car. I was like, good couldn't he remember the names of half the things? Yeah, no, good to get an idea of what the benefits and pitfalls of yeah owning a prestige sports car. And this this is obviously to make it, you know, really, really right.
01:16:08
Speaker
Because I knew myself the brakes weren't quite what they should be doing. You just, you get a feel for it. But, um yeah, that was... ah It's an expensive morning. If you do have any stories about Porsche or other classic car ownership, do drop us a line, driversrepublicpodcast at gmail.com. I'd love to be one of those people that can work on their own cars.
01:16:27
Speaker
Yeah, take lot of money. I can do a good job washing cars. Yeah, you strike me as a guy who would wash a car well. Fastidious. So, ah yeah, that's my week. So ah hopefully Dundee will continue to support us on the podcast for many years to come.
Episode Conclusion and Future Preview
01:16:44
Speaker
Right. Thank you very much for listening to our first episode of season three. We'll be, is it next week we'll be catching up at IA or no it'll be the week after. Yeah, we will we will be gone the week after. We'll give you a vibe of what it's like basically to be at of what is a modern motor show because it's the closest thing that happens with motor shows these days anyway. so Everything's revealed in advance.
01:17:06
Speaker
Yes. and We appreciate you listening and we will talk to you soon. Bye for now. i