New (used) car time - Which one?

Scrubdog

Scrubdog

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I hate this time in my life when I need new wheels. The choice of which make and model is an important one because I hopefully going to be with it for 4 - 5years. I hate having to deal with salesmen especially when I have to trade mine in as well.

I currently have a Ford Focus TDCI that has not been that good, from a reliable point of view, which is surprising because before that I had a petrol version that never gave me any trouble at all. I was thinking of a change and today I test drove a Honda Civic that left me surprisingly underwelmed! They look superb but the ride and the vision wasn't great imo.

I have just been looking on the web at Volkswagon Golfs and then I read a few user reviews that really put me off!

So, what have you got and, importantly, how reliable is it? Any suggestions will be considered, before I go and buy another Focus :|
 
I had a Civic 2.2cdti for 4 years from new and 100% agree that it looks a lot better than it is

I now have a Toyota Avensis 2.2D4D which is ok if a little uneconomical, however if I was spending my own money there is 1 car I would buy with no hesitation

Skoda Octavia probably the VRS but any of the more powerful diesels would be fine (this is not a joke my wife has a Fabia and its great)
 
Anything with 1.9 TDI PD in it will be fairly reliable, but don't expect 60mpg. I'd also suggest avoiding dealers like a plague. Sell yours privately and buy privately after independent and trusty garage inspection. Don't get attracted by so called 'warranties' - they only pay out the first £250 or so, then you're on your own. You can always get a proper one yourself if the car is eligible.
 
For my 2p worth. Bought a new Polo a couple of months ago, its really nice/quick/and goes for days on a tank of petrol. Got a sports gearbox as well, keeps up with most off line at the lights.
 
daugirdas said:
Anything with 1.9 TDI PD in it will be fairly reliable, but don't expect 60mpg. I'd also suggest avoiding dealers like a plague. Sell yours privately and buy privately after independent and trusty garage inspection. Don't get attracted by so called 'warranties' - they only pay out the first £250 or so, then you're on your own. You can always get a proper one yourself if the car is eligible.
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I've only had average 60mpg out of my 1.9 pd (130 + remapped) once and that was while doing 55 to 60 or thereabouts on the motorway.
 
IMO you can't go wrong with German. Current car is VW Tiguan and before that had Audi, BMW and Mercedes. Well built, reliable and solid. Plus, while the may cost a bit more, are often cheaper to run as more reliable and worth more when you sell.
 
I have a Skoda Fabia VRS with a PDi engine and its great! Quick, reliable, and economical. I average 55mpg every week. Great engines those Pdi's
 
I went for a 5 yr old Audi 1.9TDI. Great car and having had a Mondeo and Laguna the build quality is so much better.
Just shutting the door gives a satisfying solid clunk.
 
DaveKing said:
I have a Skoda Fabia VRS with a PDi engine and its great! Quick, reliable, and economical. I average 55mpg every week. Great engines those Pdi's
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Amen. I have the seat Leon fr with the same engine (if it's the 150,albeit remapped with an uprated clutch :-))
 
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Interesting responses, I will have look at the Skoda for sure. Neil, I do about 30 miles a day to work and back on b roads so nothing special apart from a road known as Hoscar Moss where I like to take the racing line ;o)
 
I too like VWs (I have a 2005 Passat, and had a call on Friday that there is a recall to replace the injectors FOC - which I actually had done last year, still free). It is a big car (I am very tall) but I still get 50+mpg on a run.

My son bought a new Skoda Octavia last year when Skoda (part of VW group) were doing VAT free deals, and is delighted with it. 60+ mpg. The VAT free deals are back again, but I think that my son got a better deal still by going via DrivetheDeal.com.

Hope you find something that suits you.

Regards,

White.
 
My '06 Sokda Octaiva 105PD easily gives me 50+mpg. I do a lot of motorway driving. I have the hatch and the boot is huge but I now wished I gone for the estate. It is over 5 yrs old and has high mileage so I am getting odd electrical glitches but this is common on VAG cars.

The new TSi petrol engines are very economial.
 
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Realistically one needs more information. What's your budget, what size of car do you want, any specific requirements..
 
If you read reviews on most cars you'll be put off, most people only write reviews when they've had a problem

I find honest John to be useful because he tells you the likely problems with each model

www.honestjohn.co.uk
 
I moved from an Audi A3 to a Civic 2.2 Dci sport. Big mistake, it spent so much time back at the dealers that they eventually brought it back from me, 6 months of car hell. Then struggling with what to replace it with I brought a mark 5 golf 1.9tdi Match. I had always been anti Golf, as I classed them as boring, bland looking. Since then the styling has grown on me. I now consider it one of the best looking motors, well speced and dare I say it, internally its better finnished than the Audi. It returns an average of 56mpg on a real mix of driving and I do not have the lightest right foot.

If it fits your budget and suits your needs, take one out its a good drive, far better all rounder than the Civic.
 
:thumbs:I have an Octavia vRS tdi pd, here's the bad stuff;

the engine doesn't like being laboured or short stop/start journeys, this can cause the DPF to clog - usually a 10 min medium rev trip fixes this,
sliding the N/S seat forward to sharply can break the connection to the airbag - the fix is to take out a connector & hardwire,
mine wore it's last tyres on the inside edge,
some have leaky O/S door seal.

Now the good stuff;

it's great fun to drive, serious turn of speed, plenty of torque, decent handling
relatively cheap to run - £145 tax, 50mpg average
comfy & plenty space - huge boot + seats fold
well equipped & relatively cheap.

All things considered, I'd reccomend it
 
and the DPF problem is the same on most new VAG engined Diesel cars
 
Have to put a biased 2p in for the qashqai 1.5dci, great residuals, good drive and decent spec :)
 
if buying a newish car i would go german. on the basis you want something similar sized to your focus, you can't go wrong with a Golf even a mk5.

the package and blend/mix of what it offers is good.

i personally think the a3 doesn't have as good rear leg space in comparison if that's important and even more so with the 1 series.

if on the basis you want something similar in size, go look at golf, a3, 1 series. depreciation would be less if buying something like this on say a 2007 plate.
 
I'm on my third skoda, 1st was a fabia vrs which was a wicked motor but then needed something bigger so went for an octy 140 tdi not as much fun as the fabia but a good solid car then I wanted a bit of luxury/comfort so I brought a superb mk 2 elegance and this is an absolutely brilliant car its so roomy its nearly a limo and its very well put together. Only car I regretted selling though was the fabia it was remaped and ridiculously fast and still economical.
 
TheNissanMan said:
Have to put a biased 2p in for the qashqai 1.5dci, great residuals, good drive and decent spec :)
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I really would agree, I have had mine for approx 9 months covered 27k and has been great.
 
p1tse said:
if buying a newish car i would go german. on the basis you want something similar sized to your focus, you can't go wrong with a Golf even a mk5.

the package and blend/mix of what it offers is good.

i personally think the a3 doesn't have as good rear leg space in comparison if that's important and even more so with the 1 series.

if on the basis you want something similar in size, go look at golf, a3, 1 series. depreciation would be less if buying something like this on say a 2007 plate.
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I fairly dislike all these cars here on the ground they are too small in all ways. Octavia/Superb/Passat are OK, but even better you can get something bigger like VW Tiguan, Golf Plus, touran, Seat Altea XL and so on. Sorry I can't see the point of BMW 1-3 series (except convertible) - great engineering in a horribly low package designed to kill your back.
 
Comfortably Numb said:
:thumbs:I have an Octavia vRS tdi pd, here's the bad stuff;

the engine doesn't like being laboured or short stop/start journeys, this can cause the DPF to clog - usually a 10 min medium rev trip fixes this,
sliding the N/S seat forward to sharply can break the connection to the airbag - the fix is to take out a connector & hardwire,
mine wore it's last tyres on the inside edge,
some have leaky O/S door seal.

Now the good stuff;

it's great fun to drive, serious turn of speed, plenty of torque, decent handling
relatively cheap to run - £145 tax, 50mpg average
comfy & plenty space - huge boot + seats fold
well equipped & relatively cheap.

All things considered, I'd reccomend it
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Friends VRs Saloon suffered from excessive tyre wear and poor handling. He kept pushing and eventually someone spotted that the whole suspension was wrongly aligned from the factory. All fixed and new tyres fitted. Problem was finding a dealership willing to look into the problem and not just say that's what all VRs are like.
 
Davec223 said:
I really would agree, I have had mine for approx 9 months covered 27k and has been great.
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Wow that's some mileage...

Have a look at the new 1.6dCi, feels as powerful as the old 2.0dCi but can get 68mpg officially althoughough I've had ours upto 83 :)
 
TheNissanMan said:
Wow that's some mileage...

Have a look at the new 1.6dCi, feels as powerful as the old 2.0dCi but can get 68mpg officially althoughough I've had ours upto 83 :)
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I took it over at work so it had 8k on it when I picked it up, registered november 2010, it has 35k on it in total still on its original tyres and brakes got it for a another 3 years and I can't wait
 
If you can avoid any diesel with a DPF

If going petrol avoid Audi 2.0 TFSI engine, a mate is currently stripping 1 a week and replacing engines with as little as 40k on.
 
Davec223 said:
I took it over at work so it had 8k on it when I picked it up, registered november 2010, it has 35k on it in total still on its original tyres and brakes got it for a another 3 years and I can't wait
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Glad you like it :) they're also awesome in the snow :)
 
Update, just sat waiting to sign for another focus. Nice tidy 1.8 zetec coming my way. Thanks for all the suggestions.

See you on the road.
 
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