What car do you drive and would you recommend it?

stickyfiddle

RobDavies said:

Currently, as a family we have a 61 plate Corsa and a 55 plate Zafira.  

I know Vauxhall have a dreadful reputation with people on here but both cars have been truly excellent.  We've had both from new and they've never let us down.  The Zafira is an excellent 'van', too - I dan get my entire DJ rig in it, with room to spare. 

Best car I've owned was a 1990 Honda Prelude 2.2vtec. 

My first car was my Mum's old 1998 Corsa 1.4. Absolutely brilliant car - ran like clockwork its entire life and did 140k miles between my Mum, my sister and me until it was finally sent to the scrapheap in the sky early this year. You can get tonnes in the back with the seats down too. The only issue was the red paint faded to pink too quickly. It wasn't worth polishing back up to red often so it did look a bit shit.

Mum's still on the 55-plate Corsa that replaced it, which hasn't been quite as good but still runs well and has only ever had minor problems. 

rlw

CLK55AMG.
 
  Basically, if it has the number 55 in the model designation, it's going to be fun.........

Bucket

stimpsonslostson said:

Bucket said:

Still on my first car - 2005 (54 plate) Honda Civic 1.6 VTEC.

I would definitely recommend it. Nippy enough, economical, reliable, well made and has acres of space inside. I like it a lot.

I do wish it had a six-speed gearbox though, just so it doesn't scream itself half to death on the motorway. And the air conditioning is borked, which is extremely trying in the current temperature conditions.

Mines two years older, but other than that I agree entirely.

Its the car equivalent of a Yamaha Pacifica- does exactly what it's supposed to, with zero fuss. It probably won't set many pulses racing but is utterly reliable. (Not that I do many miles- I've done 15000 miles since I got it 5 years ago. The car has only done 68k). 

Wow, I've done over 6000 in a year  Mine had 120,200 when I got it and is hovering around 126,800 now. Still feels great considering the miles it's done - a sign of a properly-built car if ever there was one.

Apart from the bloody AC.

grungebob

Mercedes C220, very nice to drive quite practical for the family too as rear seats fold downing needed and nice toys. Bit of poke to it when needed and quite economical but not as much as I expected

before that I had an Audi A6, lovely car to drive the uk in extremely comfortable and great economy, only sold it because it lacked poke for a bit of fun when needed and was a very big car that was a struggle to park in a multi-storey. 

Before that hat was a Honda Civic 2.2 diesel, great car that, huge inside and very economical and surprisingly quick, it's lack of Bluetooth or an aux input in the end meant I had to sell it as it wasn't practical with work requirements. 

If the Honda had the merc engine with the audis toys I'd  still be driving it. 

mudslide73

Mk6 Golf Bluemotion 1.6. Well built, tax free, quick enough for me and very good mpg. I do around 25k a year. 

richardhomer

Ford Focus 1.0L Ecoboost.

Bought it new 2 years ago, when a career change involved handing back my company car.

Its quiet, surprisingly good fun on twisty roads, cheap to run and faster than you might think 125bhp would be.

No faults (though the Ford dealerships I've dealt with aren't great). I'd definitely have another and definitely recommend it.

Cirrus

Toyota Avensis 2.3l diesel estate with an auto gearbox.

Yeah, I'd recommend it. It's fast enough to know you've got the power if you need it at any realistic speed, and it's very comfortable on long drives, especially as an auto with cruise control - it's nice going on longer drives and getting out at the other end feeling relaxed. With the boot and fold down seats transporting gear isn't an issue either.

It's also got a sport mode, which doesn't really do much but I think people assume a grey Toyota estate isn't going to beat them off the mark at traffic lights... 

Only downside is the fuel consumption, really - Normal driving is 42mpg, I can get it up to 47 if I'm really careful.

BigMonka

BMW 320D estate (or Touring as they call it). I love it, it's got a decent amount of power, lovely handling, can fit all the family & luggage in for a holiday, and all with impressive mpg.
Living up north I've got winter tyres for it which make it very impressive in all conditions, but I'd only recommend it if you're willing to go to the effort of winter tyres and changing wheels twice a year (or running winters all year round, or living somewhere warm).

joneve

stickyfiddle said:

RobDavies said:

Currently, as a family we have a 61 plate Corsa and a 55 plate Zafira.  

I know Vauxhall have a dreadful reputation with people on here but both cars have been truly excellent.  We've had both from new and they've never let us down.  The Zafira is an excellent 'van', too - I dan get my entire DJ rig in it, with room to spare. 

Best car I've owned was a 1990 Honda Prelude 2.2vtec. 

My first car was my Mum's old 1998 Corsa 1.4. Absolutely brilliant car - ran like clockwork its entire life and did 140k miles between my Mum, my sister and me until it was finally sent to the scrapheap in the sky early this year. You can get tonnes in the back with the seats down too. The only issue was the red paint faded to pink too quickly. It wasn't worth polishing back up to red often so it did look a bit shit.

Mum's still on the 55-plate Corsa that replaced it, which hasn't been quite as good but still runs well and has only ever had minor problems. 

My friend had a similar story with his original shape Corsa...topped 200k before it gave up the ghost. Absolutely indestructable cars....same couldn't be said of the Omega around the same time - one of the passenger doors fell of my dads  

My current car is Lexus NX300h Luxury. Would recommend it in a heartbeat, best car I've owned.

I'd read various reviews and was worried we were making a big mistake when we ordered it, but took the plunge as it was a deal that was too good to refuse...and I'm so glad we did. Unbridled luxury inside with all the toys you need, plenty of passenger space and shifts when and if you need it to. 

The boot is slightly smaller than some cars of the same size (but it's sacrificed for bigger cabin space, so I'm not upset) - but it's plenty big enough to fit the dog crate in, which is the most important thing. 

Economy is not class leading by any means but 38-40mpg for a chunky 4x4 is more than respectable in my eyes....and what it loses in a few MPG is completely made up by the luxury and pleasure of driving. 

It's the first of 5 cars I've owned that doesn't give me lower back pain when on long journeys. 

Plus, the Lexus after sales service has been exceptional. 

It's not the most fun car I've ever owned (that title goes to the Seat Toledo with Turbo Charged 150bhp engine in it), but it's the best one by a country mile. 

guitarfishbay

2009 Skoda Fabia Diesel. Slow, not an 'exciting drive'. I love it. It has been reliable and returned good MPG, and can fit loads of gear in the back with the seats down.  The stereo is a bit limp though, no sub bass whatsoever.  I don't really want to spend any money sorting that out though.

All I care about are running costs, driver comfort (of which this is passable) and that I can fit a good amount of gear in it.

BahHumbug

2004 Audi A3 2 litre diesel.  Bought it in 2005, as an ex demonstrator with 9k on the clock.  It now has 216k and I still can't imagine getting rid of it.  I'm not much of a car guy, but this car has been excellent.  It ain't particularly pretty on the outside, but the inside (the bit I see the most of) is quite nice.  I like the character of the engine.  But most importantly it has been reliable (given the standard servicing regime)

Flanging_Fred

Nissan Leaf  (electric car)

Would I recommend it?  NO.  But I have to qualify that.

For me the car has been perfect over the last 18 months.  Given the government grants, low cost/free fuel, no tax, no mot, free parking in town etc it has been very cheap for a new car (it's on a PCP deal).  However it is a second car and I only use it for local commuting, running the kids about, doing the shopping etc.  It's very comfy, easy to drive, great tech in it, fun accelleration and a whole host of other good things.  The whole 'eco' thing has been a pretty unimportant side issue as far as I'm concerned. i can fit all my gig kit in it but without too much room to spare. Overall it has been very good for ME and my pretty limited set of driving requirements.

However I think the 'golden' age of the early adopter investment into incentivising electric cars is over. The free electric recharges are now disapparing (which was inevitable). So when my PCP deal runs out next year, I'll be returning it and having a jolly good think about my driving needs moving forward (which have changed a bit now my kids are 2 years older).

Bidley

stimpsonslostson said:

Bucket said:

Still on my first car - 2005 (54 plate) Honda Civic 1.6 VTEC.

I would definitely recommend it. Nippy enough, economical, reliable, well made and has acres of space inside. I like it a lot.

I do wish it had a six-speed gearbox though, just so it doesn't scream itself half to death on the motorway. And the air conditioning is borked, which is extremely trying in the current temperature conditions.

Mines two years older, but other than that I agree entirely.

Its the car equivalent of a Yamaha Pacifica- does exactly what it's supposed to, with zero fuss. It probably won't set many pulses racing but is utterly reliable. (Not that I do many miles- I've done 15000 miles since I got it 5 years ago. The car has only done 68k). 

Mine is an 03. I got it at 55k, it's now done 107k, and I've had it 5 and a half years. I'm chopping it in for a Toyota Auris soon, and I'll be sad to see it go! Never had trouble with MOT or anything that wasn't wear and tear.

Budgie

Land Rover Discovery D3. It's about 10 years old now and has been relatively trouble free but quite expensive to fix when problems arise... Having said that, no more expensive than anything else I've owned. So, yes, I'd recommend. It'll tow anything and has a cavernous load space.

Panama_Jack666

55 Ford Focus 1.6 lx

Proper average. Basic focus. Doesn't even have alloys.

It was described as a "paedo's car" when I bought it.

I'll stick to me Suzuki GSXR 750 for performance.

welshboyo

2013 Merc C250 CDI Estate AMG Sport Plus.

Best Car I've had, effortless to drive, plenty of grunt when I need it, handles like a hot hatch when it needs to, plenty of room for gear, totally reliable, never misses a beat.

Drove to south of France in it this year - did a constant 130KPH for nearly 7 hours non-stop and used just over 1/4 tank of fuel to do it!! 

impmann

Golf Mk4 TDi - yep, would totally recommend.

I've been slogging a 60mile commute *each way* since February and its been superb. I've done 14,000miles since buying this car in March - commute plus business trips, pleasure trips, running around etc - and its been faultless.

Budgie

I also have a Transit van. It's totally shit and unreliable.

joneve

impmann said:

Golf Mk4 TDi - yep, would totally recommend.

I've been slogging a 60mile commute *each way* since February and its been superb. I've done 14,000miles since buying this car in March - commute plus business trips, pleasure trips, running around etc - and its been faultless.

I hired a golf for a day 3 or 4 years ago to drive up to North Yorkshire (from Gloucester) and it was REALLY nice. 

stickyfiddle

joneve said:

impmann said:

Golf Mk4 TDi - yep, would totally recommend.

I've been slogging a 60mile commute *each way* since February and its been superb. I've done 14,000miles since buying this car in March - commute plus business trips, pleasure trips, running around etc - and its been faultless.

I hired a golf for a day 3 or 4 years ago to drive up to North Yorkshire (from Gloucester) and it was REALLY nice. 

I hire something most times i'm in the UK. Every time lately it's been an Astra GTD or CDI or some other sporty diesel Vauxhall coupe thing and every time it's been signficantly less nice to drive than my Golf. Presumably the rental guys get big discounts on them in bulk because I can't comprehend why you'd choose one over a Golf or Focus at the retail price.