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Recommend me a car • Page 8

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  • eleven63 18 Mar 2012 16:34:29 1,436 posts
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    Finally got round to buying a new car today - after 2 months faffing around, bite the bullet today.

    Went for an Insignia Elite:-

    Pros -

    Will do 50/60 mpg on the motorway (my sons are moving to Wales with their mum this summer - I'm therefore likely to be doing a lot of motorway miles each month...)

    Has every conceivable gadget and gizmo imaginable - auto headlights/wipers, sat nav, xenon adaptive headlights, electric everything, duel climate control, cruise control, even an electronic hand brake (modern technology hey) oh, and front and rear parking sensors, they work surprisingly well

    Its quick

    I think it looks the bollocks, but I'm an old fart

    Only 6k miles on the clock, yet have saved myself over 10 grand on new price

    Life time (100,000 miles) warranty

    Very comfortable, even with the added 19" alloy wheels

    My sons love it!

    Negs -

    Being an 'Elite' model (and that's a naff name) it has 'wood' inserts around the dash, a bit to old fart even for me

    Depreciation is an obvious issue, loosing nearly a 1/3 in just 6 months just wouldn't happen to a BMW/Merc/VW - but then again I would have to spend a lot more to get all the gadgets and stuff with those makes.

    Its a middle aged exec/reps car - its not very 'cool' - but I always have my partners old mini cooper to bob about in if I need my fix of cool!

    Very chuffed, my first proper car in about 20 years!

    Will miss my mums 19 year old Cavalier... (lies)

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  • Rhythm 27 Apr 2012 11:22:48 2,046 posts
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    My previous recommendation for the 207SW is rescinded. Fucking junky PoS.

    Had slight "knocking" in steering, looked up on Pug forums to see what it might be, answer came back as "bearing strut, £16 to replace, plus an hour labour".

    Great, took it down the garage, they called back with "yeah, it's the strut. Plus the one on the other side, plus both coils, plus plus fucking PLUS..." - £550+VAT. Second opinion at another garage confirmed the thing's basically waiting to collapse on us any moment. Might have been nice if they'd have mentioned any of this at the fucking MOT & service 4 months ago, mind.

    We knew we had some other niggles with the car to sort out but this took the biscuit. Decided to sell and to cover us for a while until we can sort out a new car we've taken ownership of an old automatic Honda Accord (grandfather's given us it).

    So, looking for family runaround for school runs, no commuting, £2,000-£2,500 max budget. Needs to be cheap to insure with a bit of boot space (all family hols are camping/self-catering affairs). Prefer under 5 years old. Before I run back to a Mondeo are there any other contenders I should be looking at?
  • kalel 27 Apr 2012 11:26:15 76,470 posts
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    Everyone I know who has a French car has stories like this.
  • Rhythm 27 Apr 2012 11:31:41 2,046 posts
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    Yeah, I'm finding this out :-)

    It's a shame because the actual drive was extremely pleasant and it was super nimble. Bah! Poxy cars :-(
  • eleven63 1 May 2012 11:06:46 1,436 posts
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    @Rhythm Look for an Audi A5 estate - my ex father in-law ran one for 7 odd years, picked it up for about £1,000 - nearly done 200k miles, bullet proof, nothing has gone wrong with it during his time with the car (other than usual service costs, etc).

    Follow me on Twitter @mattwaring

  • Rhythm 1 May 2012 11:55:07 2,046 posts
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    Cheers. The Accord my grandad's given us is, in all fairness, a fucking lovely drive so we're looking out for a slightly newer one of those too. After that short stint with a "supermini" estate we're definitely appreciating the breathing room that a nice sized saloon gives again.
  • nickthegun 1 May 2012 11:59:19 44,533 posts
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    Rhythm wrote:

    So, looking for family runaround for school runs, no commuting, £2,000-£2,500 max budget.
    This is your basic problem. Anything you buy in this price range is going to be a heap of shit and will need at least as much work doing as your 207 at your next MOT.

    You should have just fixed your 207 for 700 quid rather than spend 2.5k on something that may or may not need that much work doing to it in a few months time. Total false economy.

    ---------------------------------------------------------
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  • Rhythm 1 May 2012 13:46:18 2,046 posts
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    Bet your garage loves you :-) Nah, the £700 was in addition to some other stuff we knew would need attention by the next MOT. We bought a duffer, simple as.

    My car prior to the Peugeot was a £1600, 6 year old Mondeo that lasted us 5 years and never cost a penny to get through MOTs and the like. £2000 round here gets a 5-6 year old car with less than 70k on the clock. Hell, for a little more (under £2800) you can grab 3 year old vehicles if you're happy with higher mileages.

    The Accord's bought me and the missus a bit of breathing room. We bought the Peugeot in a hurry - had we done more than the cursory check-up we'd have seen all the problems we encountered whilst we owned it. So, no hurry, just looking out for decent deals now :-)
  • HairyArse Moderator 1 May 2012 14:18:01 8,353 posts
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    I just bought this.
  • billythekid 1 May 2012 14:20:19 10,263 posts
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    Nice motor, looks a bit clean though, get it in the mud!
  • Rusty_M 3 Apr 2013 18:31:23 3,609 posts
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    So I'm looking for a new car at the moment. Thinking of getting either a Kia Cee'd or Renault Clio at the moment. Not really fussed about street cred.

    Thoughts?

    The world is going mad. Me? I'm doing fine.

  • superdelphinus 3 Apr 2013 18:47:45 6,172 posts
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    I got my new car yesterday :)
  • eleven63 3 Apr 2013 18:57:01 1,436 posts
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    superdelphinus wrote:
    I got my new car yesterday :)
    What was it? Needs pics etc...

    Follow me on Twitter @mattwaring

  • eleven63 3 Apr 2013 18:58:10 1,436 posts
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    Rusty_M wrote:
    So I'm looking for a new car at the moment. Thinking of getting either a Kia Cee'd or Renault Clio at the moment. Not really fussed about street cred.

    Thoughts?
    Mini? Or is that too small?

    Follow me on Twitter @mattwaring

  • RobTheBuilder 3 Apr 2013 18:59:01 5,760 posts
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    @Rusty_M the new Cee'ds are meant to be very good. Plus huge warranty.
    Clio's used to be a pain to service as their engines were positioned weirdly.
  • RobTheBuilder 3 Apr 2013 18:59:54 5,760 posts
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    @eleven63 they aren't as small as you think. Lovely to drive too.
  • eleven63 3 Apr 2013 19:04:07 1,436 posts
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    RobTheBuilder wrote:
    @eleven63 they aren't as small as you think. Lovely to drive too.
    Sorry, used to my other halfs original mini :) I would go for it in a flash if I didn't have to carry kids, all their stuff, dogs, etc etc

    Follow me on Twitter @mattwaring

  • RobTheBuilder 3 Apr 2013 19:09:50 5,760 posts
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    @eleven63 haha yeah they were tiny! The newer ones are more chunky!
  • jetsetdemo 3 Apr 2013 19:31:14 27 posts
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    For what it's worth I passed on the A4
  • elstoof 3 Apr 2013 20:30:56 4,435 posts
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    Rusty_M wrote:
    So I'm looking for a new car at the moment. Thinking of getting either a Kia Cee'd or Renault Clio at the moment. Not really fussed about street cred.

    Thoughts?
    Give them both a test drive and see what you can score the best discount on. I'd wager the Kia has more room to negotiate on the price and probably more equipment as standard - but will depreciate quicker than the Renault. If you go for a PCP then compare the finances carefully, that depreciation could affect any equity you'll expect at the end quite a bit.

    Both cars review pretty well, different class of vehicle though. Theres about a 4 grand difference in price for equivalent specs, the Clio is quite a bit smaller.

    Edited by elstoof at 21:48:38 03-04-2013
  • Rusty_M 4 Apr 2013 07:18:07 3,609 posts
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    Thanks guys. Finance is from the Bank of Dad, so credit is interest free. This is the only reason I can afford a new car, as I can pay about £200 a month. Depending on the conditions on the Kia warranty, that would make me happy to borrow for a little longer.

    I will hopefully test drive them both this weekend. The dealers haven't responded to the "book a test drive" thing on their websites, so I'll have to call them. I dislike talking on the phone usually, despite having a job that is largely telephone-based.

    I'm not sure a Mini is the right choice for me. They seem a bit more expensive, although they're pretty cool, they're not really Minis anymore. I'm just really looking for a good balance between reliablility, comfort, space and economy, so I'd hopefully be looking for one of those no-car-tax cars.

    I suppose I'll see what the weekend (or next weekend maybe) brings.

    The world is going mad. Me? I'm doing fine.

  • THFourteen 4 Apr 2013 07:34:00 29,060 posts
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    Can't go wrong with a VW Golf.
  • elstoof 4 Apr 2013 08:39:43 4,435 posts
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    No dealer will chase you up for a test drive, they will figure that if you're keen you'll chase tem so won't waste their time if possible.

    Golfs are pretty pricey if you're buying new, for the same price as a poverty spec Golf you can get a well equipped Cee'd.

    If the size of a Clio is enough for you have a look at the Kia Rio as well, roughly equivalent size but about 2k cheaper than a Clio.
  • boo 4 Apr 2013 09:32:14 10,777 posts
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    Rusty

    If you're buying new, then check out Drive The Deal. We bought our car through them and got as good a discount as I could have got in the dealers if I'd been an uber-haggler, but that was just 'the price'.*

    It might not work out for you, depending on the make & model you're interested in, but they saved us a fortune, and it was totally hassle free!

    /sounds like he's being sponsored by Drive The Deal, which he isn't.



    *This was 3.5 years ago - they may be worse / better / gone by now.

    Just Another Lego Blog

  • nickthegun 4 Apr 2013 09:36:10 44,533 posts
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    Drive the Deal is still one of the best things out there for new cars.

    Also, think about a focus. Its in the same class as the ones you are looking at and you can never go wrong with a ford.

    ---------------------------------------------------------
    AGP.SRPT

  • preacherman69 4 Apr 2013 09:39:52 175 posts
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    Take a look at the new Hyundai i30 as well
  • boo 4 Apr 2013 10:29:39 10,777 posts
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    Thumbs up for Hyundai here too. We bought an i10 under the scrappage scheme as our everyday, economical car. Absolutely great. Loaded with spec for the money, been totally reliable, good economy.
    I'd certainly look at Hyundai again when we buy another car.

    Just Another Lego Blog

  • Deckard1 4 Apr 2013 10:31:45 18,098 posts
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    Get something second hand and really fast. Fuck this new car business.
  • ibenam 4 Apr 2013 11:37:16 840 posts
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    Is autotrader still the best used car portal?
  • elstoof 4 Apr 2013 15:21:40 4,435 posts
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    Autotrader probably is, yeah. Have a look on pistonheads classifieds also.

    Hyundai = Kia in the same way VW = Audi, that i10 is essentially a Picanto and the i30 is the same platform as the Cee'd.

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