Pabs

Really? That's good! Be interesting to see how you get on!

Totally agree with you there mate - I went up to see Jurgen when my mate picked up his supra from him - very impressed I must say - if I ever decide to import (rather than buy one already in the UK) then either Paul Wiffin or Jurgen WILL be my source! I just want to make sure i do my next car justice - I'm really peeved with myself as I had this lovely SEAT and used it for commuting, it now looks like I haven't looked after it at all - dents, dings, kerbed alloys. Nothing like the way I tried to keep it Still - i hope my next job will be more local - and then the car won't get quite so wrecked!

that's cool mate - opinions is what I wanted - and of course anyone with knowledge is useful too! I'm still looking at it - but I think initial thoughts will prevail - Supra

Currently this is my car: http://www.leoncupra.co.uk SEAT Leon Cupra - 1.8 20VT - modded/remapped etc - pushing about 220bhp. Standard IS200 will be sloooowww

yeh - just seen the supercharger kits at 4k all in - but still only brings the car to 250bhp. Doesn't really seem like much bang for your buck.....

OK people - next question: How much do people think it'd cost to slap a TT engine into the Altezza/IS200?????

well - that Altezza above was one that kinda put the car back into the picture for me - my mate sent me pics of that on MSN and now I don't know if I should get Supra or not.... I think a lot of money would need to be thrown at an Altezza to get the sort of power I want - so I may just stick with a Supra.

Sorry mate, I did read your post also - but the above sentence seemed to contradict your comment about not being bothered about the fine. Agreed, attitude from a copper isn't necessary - but I suppose I'd be narked if I had to pull people over for doing silly things like leaving foglights on.

yeh - cheers mate. I was only referring to them as IS200's as I couldn't be arsed to type Altezza all the time LOL. If I were to get one it'd definately be the rs200 - I've currently got a SEAT Leon with around the 220bhp mark so the IS200 would seem slow in comparison.

Well said that man - annoys me - especially when people seem to switch them on because they've got a (or both) blown dipped beam/sidelight..... I use my foglights so little now that when I removed them a few months ago I didn't bother putting them back in!

yeh - 2.0 - but when you've stuck a turbo on it??? It's around 29mpg standard, but would expect it to be a fair bit less once it's modded?

u recon an Altezza + turbo would have similar economy to a TT supra? I'm still a little worried about using a Supra as a daily driver. It will definately depend on where my next job is though - the redundancy will be here in Jan.

Hey all, I know that most people will say Supra to the question, especially on the supra forums, but really wanted opinions on a few things. Had my heart set on a Supra TT for ages now, but I've always had the Toyota Altezza/IS200 in the back of my mind as an alternative. I know there is no comparison between the Supra TT (320bhp) and a standard Altezza RS200 (210bhp), but slapping a turbo kit on the Altezza would match things up a bit more - and it'd be a sleeper The reason why I'm thinking of the Altezza again is because of physical size/weight of the supra in comparison, the age of the supra (13 ish years vs 7yrs) and possibly the economy of the supra for everyday driving. I wouldn't want immense power - 400-500bhp is more than enough for me. (Upper end not really reachable with the Altezza, prob 380/400bhp max) I know I'd get more info from the lexus forums, but thought I'd try here first. Anyone on here had/got an Altezza and modified it? What's it like on economy? And finally - do people think I'm being silly - and just get a Supra instead? Cheers folks.

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Well, after some discussions this morning between myself and the other potential jobless folk, a couple of us decided to speak to the local CAB and find out where we stand. As suspected, it is perfectly legal, but just a bit unfair/dirty. For those that have served longer than myself, they are losing out on a lot more than myself. I was only about £1k out, and I found out that I actually get a bit more than I thought today..... For some reason there is a small lump sum paid into my final payslip that I wasn't aware of - I can't remember what it is called, but it's small and taxable. However, it all adds up. Only a few questions remain (based on the bonus) as we are likely to achieve 150%+ bonus, but their calcs only work on 100% - so we need to get in writing that they will pay us the extra XX% assuming initial signs are correct.

To be honest, at my age (25) I am not too worried about redundancy as I do think I'll find something else (probably better too ) quite quickly. Well, here's hoping anyway. The package I am being offered is what they call a "compensation package" - they totally ignore the legal amount they have to give, and they come up with a figure themselves. This figure for me is quite a lot more than the legal minimum, but that's not the problem here. We're all basically fed up of being messed around, promised one thing with one hand, and then it's taken away with the other before we get it. And they are now discriminating (to some respect) against us in favour of those who currently are not in their consultation period. (... But are 80% likely to be in theirs in a matter of weeks/months anyway.. not like they need the old payroll team once everyone is on the new contracts etc...) I am rambling here (getting thoughts together) but I think if I threaten seeking legal advice that they have to pay for anyway, they may be more willing to negociate.... I think, for me, comparing the current contract and the new offer that we are not getting, I'm going to be worse off by around £1k. It's not a big deal, but hey - I'll fight my corner anyway and I may get a few hundred quid more. If you don't ask/try, you don't get....

u are right mate, but the reason for legal advise is different. I'll explain briefly: We are on our company contracts, which are due to be replaced by the contracts from the new company in the next week. (Signed and sealed, and working on new contracts from 1/1/08) Now, because we are "at risk" they are refusing to let us sign the new contracts - in fact they are not giving one to us at all. This we feel is unfair as we are only "at risk" at the moment, and not officially redundant. Therefore, we should be receiving new contracts. The reason we are argueing this case is because the T's & C's on the new contract actually offer all of us more money (in some cases in excess of £10k redundancy package) They have told us that our current contracts would give us a bigger payout - however - we have proved that this is not the case, and that they are discriminating against us because we are at risk. Technically, until they tell us, we are all still fully employed, and so should be entitled to the new contracts, especially as we are working well past the contract switchover date. That's the short story - it goes into much more depth but I don't really want to disclose too much at this point in time.

does anyone have any recommendations for solicitors to get some legal advice? Looks like they are trying to play "hard-ball" and are trying to do us out of a fair chunk of redundancy money, and we need to know where we stand. The company will pay £250 towards solicitor fee's, but I have no idea if this is enough or not. Cheers

I'm still finding it hard to beat the Samsung - looking at specs, reviews, and the quality of it. Hopefully it'll be cheaper after xmas! (Not knowing my luck recently though...)

Well depressed as got my payslip yesterday only to find my 1.5 day overtime is only worth £10 apparently - so now got to fight to get them to correct my o/t payment ASAP as well..... Gah - it never ends.

yes - I won't go walking until I know when the money is coming. A little p*ssed at the amount they are offering me - it's a little smaller than expected, but I've got a meeting to discuss the amount and fight my cause!

I loved her in the Road Rage video, and always had a bit of a thing for her. But since then, I've found much better women are out there

no union that i'm aware of to be honest! Anyway - I've found out that I'm on my 4 week "consultation period" which is basically the period where they will sit on there a*ses and do nothing - although they're supposed to be looking for internal jobs to redeploy me and my skill-set. However, with all the redundancies that we've seen over the last 4 or 5 months, none have ever had another position found. After that 4 week period (to 14th Dec), if they haven't found me anything - they then give me my month notice of redundancy. This takes me to 14th of Jan. This is good in a couple of ways - mainly the fact that they HAVE to give me the bonus, which is gonna be a big one, and also as I'm supposed to be on the new contract of employment, meaning that my severance pay is much better. However - I need to find out if they will actually put me on the new contract. Overall, expected results, but no real definitive answers yet - other than I'm officially "at risk".

I really do appreciate all the kind words! Thanks to everyone. They are now trying to play hardball - they can't be a*sed to come into the office today as a couple of the IT folk aren't here, so they want to reschule the meeting for next week. I've refused point blank and asked to get it done today, as I don't think it is fair to keep us hanging on by a thread. However - some positive news is that the rest of the people that have been laid off all had some really good payoffs.... I also have several people demanding that if we do get made redundant that we are needed here until January at least, to deal with office move (and we need to be kept happy so that we can do the overtime etc) Also - the phone has been off the hook all day with new opportunites, all on same or better money, so in general I'm a bit happier about the situation - but only these meetings will confirm exactly what will happen.

yeh - thats the plan, but it's not really the one I want to take We'll see. I have to wait until 4pm to find out!