ASKMID and the case of the invisible Pulse CDi

[JPB]

Here's a strange thing. ASKMID are under the impression that this:

is a

UNSPECIFIED GROUP 1 MODIFIED VEHICLE

WTF is that all about?

The DVLA didn't acknowledge its existence until two days ago, which almost proved embarrassing, now I find that Askmid too are really quite clueless.

Oh, and in case anyone wonders why it's black on the V5, well that's a whole other story for a different forum! I only wish that the Polis who stopped me earlier today had known that it's supposed to say that. I thought that the cops got their info from Thatcham?

And that's as close to a full-blown confession as you'll get out of me. Yes, I got me a modern car with a Diesel engine.
But they are bloody great to drive, use very little Diesel and come with lots of interesting switches and buttons, some of which I have now learned to use.

[Mrotwoman]

Is this your usual roundabout way of telling us all that you've bought a Smart car John ?

What on earth is askmid ? Is it like ask Aspel ?

[rich.]

is it one of the new applications for the smartarse phones?

[karlsgazelle]

ASKMID is the website you can check whether you are going to be stopped by police and have your car impounded for having no insurance.

Nice car btw, John.

[JPB]

ASKMID, the site you can log into and find out whether your insurance company has actually uploaded details of your insurance to the database that the Police use.
Linky poo pour vous.

Roundabout way of... Hmmph! Me? Darn you man, you know me too well.

Not really, the thing here is that askmid have that odd phrase in the place where a look at their site usually shows the make of the car you're checking out prior to grassing the owner up for being uninsured, the DVLA took ages to list it and, bizarrely, have its date of first registration down as some time after the VED was issued.
Then the fact that the awfully nice young plod who tugged me off the road earlier gave me loads of hassle about the colour entry on the DVLA site; that was kind of the last straw so it was more a spleen-venting session than a "look at me, I sold my soul to a dealer" thing.
But all of that apart; if you get a chance to drive one of these small, GRP panelled things, go for it, it'll make you smile so much you'll have a little "wardrobe accident."

It is Karl, very nice for a modern, 'cos it's as mad as a box of frogs and has GRP bits. Also, if the engine fails, they give you a spare one that lives under the boot floor.

is it one of the new applications for the smartarse phones?

No. But there's a thingummy in the glove hole that connects to the phone and the dial of the car's wireless set can tell you what tunes you have stored on said smartphone and allow you to do something with the tunes from the car wireless. I haven't reached that page in the instruction book yet though. Also, with suitable OBD2 software for the Android phone and something called blue teeth (must give up the Stilton), you can - if you want to invalidate the warranty - remap the engine via the medium of the mobile telephone.

So, anyway; what is an "UNSPECIFIED GROUP 1 MODIFIED VEHICLE" and why does the database think that my car is one?

[Mrotwoman]

John. You're a middle aged chap,driving a new motor .... why on earth would plod pull you off
the road?
Is it cos you is black ?

[rich.]

i thought mr plod tugged him off....

[JPB]

Oi! Less of the "middle-aged", mister. I'm as young as I want to be yet as old as I need to be to get cheap deals on Tena for men.

They tugged, pulled and otherwise inconvenienced me because they were following and their ANPR camera said that my car is black on the V5 but is all blue from the driver's seat of a following Police Astra, but then they got a bit narky about my explanation of why these things are - in 99% of cases - either black or silver on the V5, regardless of the colour of their panels.
I think they must have been having a bad day or something, bless 'em.

i thought mr plod tugged him off....

Note to self; don't sit with typing finger in contact with space bar for such a long time in future.


OK, perhaps middle age is near.

[Mrotwoman]

Does ANPR give that information? All the 'Cop Wars' style programmes I watch only show it actually activating if there is a problem with the car ,such as insurance,tax,MOT,drivers licence etc,I don't think it actually activates if there's no need to but maybe I'm wrong as usual !
Mind you the other day the ANPR screen at Tescos petrol station had my number plate completely wrong on my van,you sometimes see the screens sitting behind the counter.

Can I ask why you chose the diesel Smart John? Would you notice any savings in a car so diddy ?

[JPB]

Ask away bud, OK:
The petrol ones come with a 3 cylinder, 1 litre Mitsubishi engine nowadays and, although they're not too shabby at all on the old MPGs, these engines just didn't seem eccentric enough.

I was intending to go for the 71bhp, non-turbo petrol but, after I tried out the 54bhp, 799cc Diesel, the decision was made for me by that amazing engine and the way it delivers.
Petrol Smarts are said to manage around 55-60mpg. On a good run with the Dolly, I'd have nudged it into the low 40s to the gallon by travelling at 55mph most of the way there and back, but brim-to-brim calculations on the Diesel are showing an average so far of just under 77mpg, which should improve as I learn to use the gearbox more effectively in full auto mode and as the engine loosens up a bit with age and miles.
That little engine is Mercedes' own one, not a Mitsubishi one like the petrols and I figured that they know a bit about oil-burners. Performance is frankly amazing too, it clambers up hills without breaking a sweat and the kick from the turbo when overtaking is pretty much up there with Dad's very much more powerful VW Jetta TDI, which - although remarkably efficient in itself - does use a bit more fuel. Yeah, the Veedub seats five people in comfort but if I need seats, then I'll take the Dolly and charge passengers for the fuel.

I also like how it sounds like a taxi when I start it up at early o' clock, it's a sound I'm growing to like a lot.