Buying a car

steveledzep

Emp_Fab said:

What do you lot drive then ?  You must have had to go through this yourselves ?  ...or are the rest of you not as anal as I am ? :-)

I'm very particular about my cars.  I've trained it all over the country for my last seven cars, 4 Saabs and 3 Lexus.
Your main limiting factor is budget.  For £6k you're always going to get a higher mileage or older car....or both !  Nothing wrong with that.  I was particularly surprised what your budget buys when I looked at the Volvo and Mazda links.  Shame about the problematic Mazda engine.  I flagged up problems with the Lexus diesel earlier in the thread.
Good luck !

boogieman

Emp_Fab said:

What do you lot drive then ?  You must have had to go through this yourselves ?  ...or are the rest of you not as anal as I am ? :-)

Audi Q5. I was after a Volvo V40 too originally but both my wife and I are starting to struggle to get out of cars with low seats, so we decided to get an SUV. We narrowed it down to a petrol Volvo X60 or Audi Q5. My bro in law has the Audi, so that swayed the decision a bit, but we test drove both and thought the Audi was slightly better because the Volvo has everything controlled from a central touchscreen, whereas the Audi has actual buttons for the things you use most. Then I just checked Autotrader regularly till a decent deal came up, the colour didn’t really matter. 

randella

boogieman said:

the Audi was slightly better because the Volvo has everything controlled from a central touchscreen, whereas the Audi has actual buttons for the things you use most.

Actually this is worth mentioning as more manufacturers seem to be going this way.  It's one of the slight niggles I have with the Peugeot - if I want to turn the heating down by one degree it means having to punch around on the touchscreen.  It's not difficult, but a knob is better (careful now!) when you're driving.

RaymondLin

Re Colour - do not be picky about it.  Car - Model - Engine - Mileage/condition - tech etc etc etc then colour.

I wanted a Volvo C30 T5, found one with low mileage and condition.  Deposit paid.  I originally wanted a manual but settled on an Auto.  It's fine, being a hard to find car in the first place it is hard to be picky

ICBM

Likewise... I had to replace my Renault Grand Scenic quickly, and I only really wanted a new Grand Scenic (yes, I know... ). And it had to be petrol - but almost all of them are diesel.

There was exactly one for sale in Scotland that week that was worth considering. It was a little high for mileage given its age but in better than usual condition, and had very little wear in the usual places so I think it's been mostly motorway miles. It was brown... oh well. I bought it. No recent service history but I got a month's warranty with it and then had it thoroughly checked by my trusted mechanic. Fifteen months later and the only problem I've had has been a stuck brake caliper.

joneve

We drive a Nissan X-Trail. It's a piece of shit full of problems, so hopefully chopping it in (after 12 months, and taking the hit on the negative balance we'll have on our PCP) before the 3 year warranty is due in sept.

Hoping to change to a Skoda Kodiaq. Test drove one the other week and the difference is like night and day. And it's got space for days. 

RaymondLin

If you are looking for a Ford Fiesta though, be as picky as you want!

ronnyb

I thought you were originally looking at Hyundai? If it must be a diesel their 1.6 and 1.7 engines are probably the least problematic, they don’t seem to suffer from many dpf issues.

EricTheWeary

Surely the big question here is how has Emp been getting about for the last 4 weeks? 

ICBM

RaymondLin said:

If you are looking for a Ford Fiesta though, be as picky as you want!

There are worse cars...

You'd get a pretty good one for Emp's budget.

celentium

I'd rather have a Fiesta than most of the cars mentioned to be fair.

My ST was great.

Deadman

3 litre diesel BMW. MSport Tourer. It's completely spoilt my future choice though. I couldn't go back to a less specced or less powerful car now. The straight six is a beautiful engine.

Emp_Fab

To answer the questions, I have been using Mrs Fab's Transit Connect, and yes, I was looking at the Hyundai i30 & i40.  I've not written them off yet, but the more I think about it, I don't really have a need for a car as big as the i40 saloon and the i30 doesn't really jump out at you looks-wise.  It's ok but it's not a head-turner.

Now I'm looking at other cars....  and despite everyone telling me to get a Civic, I just can't.  I really dislike the huge bulbous arse on them.  All the reviews rave about the Seat Leon and I've given it some serious thought but..... the interior....  talk about dull.  The dash looks very basic and plain.

SO - in today's episode of "Jesus H Christ, just buy a fucking car will you !" - I bring another two cars for you to vote on !

Both slightly left-field - but........ WHICH is the sexier looking motor ??

Is it A] The VW Scirocco......





OR is it B] The Honda CRZ



Links to more pics of both:

Scirocco: https://tinyurl.com/White-Scirocco

CRZ: https://tinyurl.com/Blue-CRZ

The Honda has done half the miles of the VW, is two years newer and has heated leather seats, as well as being a hybrid with a manual gearbox.

SO - WHICH IS SEXIER CAR ???!!!!

joneve

The Scirocco without a doubt is the sexier car. 

not_the_dj

Scirocco for looks

RaymondLin

Wait, so you don’t need 4 doors really and a big boot? A tiny hatchback is fine?

You are also willing to get something up to 100k on the clock and over 9 years old.  Looking at Petrol and Diesel?

Jesus H Christ, that opens up a ton of options.  Perhaps too much….you really have to narrow it down a lot more.

Good that you write off the Civic, for whatever reason, if you don’t like it, you don’t like it.

As for between the VW and the Honda, I quite like the CR-Z…They are more unique and more interesting.

But, the MOT for that VW has expired and failed it's MOT last month.  Granted the things that it has failed are minor like horn, lights and wipers so it wouldn't concern me long term.

The CR-Z has 2 minors (fresh MOT from Feb 19), one being a tyre but the other is below and should be fixed, or ask the garage to fix before purchase.

Repair as soon as possible (minor defects):

• Offside Front Drive shaft joint constant velocity boot severely deteriorated (6.1.7 (g) (i))

steveledzep

CR-Z linky no worky for me.

Being sexy is not one of the criteria I use when selecting a car.  They're both from top manufacturers.  Half the mileage and two years younger does it for me.

ICBM

Honda.

Emp_Fab

steveledzep said:

CR-Z linky no worky for me.

Being sexy is not one of the criteria I use when selecting a car.  They're both from top manufacturers.  Half the mileage and two years younger does it for me.

Try this:- https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201904237239838?sort=distance&model=CR-Z&make=HONDA&radius=1500&postcode=sa43yx&advertising-location=at_cars&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&page=1

As for the individual cars, they are examples rather than specific vehicles to purchase.  There are other Sciroccos and other CRZs in my budget.

@RaymondLin ;  I don't need four doors or a big boot.  There's only two of us and a pug.  I would like the option to take another passenger now and again if we're going out, so a 2+2 (however cramped) is fine.  I've been kinda scared away from diesel now, and think perhaps petrol or a hybrid like the CRZ might be better overall.  Not that I'm buying a 6 grand car with the intention of making anything on selling it later, but a diesel is likely to depreciate faster given the ever tightening environmental rules etc.  Even if I only get £1,000 for it later on, that's better than nobody wanting it because diesels are now taxed at £1000 a mile.

I want something that stands out from the homogenous crowd of Golf / Focus / Astra shapes.  I can't be arsed with vinyl roof convertibles - or convertibles in general to be honest.  It would be different if we lived somewhere sunnier perhaps.  I want sexy car !  I'm 55 and if I can't have a mid-life crisis now then I don't know when I can.

I want reliability - so no Vauxhalls or French cars.  I want to sit in it and feel like I'm in something expensive.  I want other people to look at me in it and think "Oooooh, I'll bet he's amazing in bed.....  " - or - at the very least "What's that car ?  I haven't seen one of those before".  

I want to pay low road tax and get over 45mpg.  Not really fussed about performance, though it would be fun if it had it.  How it looks and what it costs to run takes priority.

RaymondLin

Emp_Fab said:

steveledzep said:

CR-Z linky no worky for me.

Being sexy is not one of the criteria I use when selecting a car.  They're both from top manufacturers.  Half the mileage and two years younger does it for me.

Try this:- https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201904237239838?sort=distance&model=CR-Z&make=HONDA&radius=1500&postcode=sa43yx&advertising-location=at_cars&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&page=1

As for the individual cars, they are examples rather than specific vehicles to purchase.  There are other Sciroccos and other CRZs in my budget.

@RaymondLin ;  I don't need four doors or a big boot.  There's only two of us and a pug.  I would like the option to take another passenger now and again if we're going out, so a 2+2 (however cramped) is fine.  I've been kinda scared away from diesel now, and think perhaps petrol or a hybrid like the CRZ might be better overall.  Not that I'm buying a 6 grand car with the intention of making anything on selling it later, but a diesel is likely to depreciate faster given the ever tightening environmental rules etc.  Even if I only get £1,000 for it later on, that's better than nobody wanting it because diesels are now taxed at £1000 a mile.

I want something that stands out from the homogenous crowd of Golf / Focus / Astra shapes.  I can't be arsed with vinyl roof convertibles - or convertibles in general to be honest.  It would be different if we lived somewhere sunnier perhaps.  I want sexy car !  I'm 55 and if I can't have a mid-life crisis now then I don't know when I can.

I want reliability - so no Vauxhalls or French cars.  I want to sit in it and feel like I'm in something expensive.  I want other people to look at me in it and think "Oooooh, I'll bet he's amazing in bed.....  " - or - at the very least "What's that car ?  I haven't seen one of those before".  

I want to pay low road tax and get over 45mpg.  Not really fussed about performance, though it would be fun if it had it.  How it looks and what it costs to run takes priority.

If you want to stand out from your normal Golf and Focus then get the CR-Z, you can guarantee yours will be the only one in any given car park most days.  Plus it’s half the mileage and newer and actually have a MOT and only 1 thing to fix (ask the garage) and the tire (ask the garage too but no doubt they will out on some ditch finders).

CR-Z gets my vote.