The sublime or the ridiculous? Car choice!

Which car??

  • Bmw convertible

    Votes: 12 75.0%

  • Kia Soul

    Votes: 4 25.0%
  • Total voters
    16
  • Poll closed .
Thought I'd found the solution but it seems SLKs have notoriously crashy awful ride quality so they're out. 7g gearbox is also a bit of a ropey one. Shame really as the car I'd seen was the 280 and with reasonable mileage and within an hour's travel.

Driven several fords and found them all dismal to drive.
 
Have you tried an slk or just going by a few reviews?
Quite liked my ex bosses slk 63 black. Decent ride, dropped to 4 cylinders when pooling around.
 
Last edited:
I ignored reviews about the Z3 and they were spot on. Crap harsh ride seems to afflict a lot of modern cars, particularly German ones.
 
How old is the Z3?

Last year I totally replaced all the moving suspension components on mine and the transformation was incredible. I found it used to be skippy over the bumps but with new tyres and new suspension it is like driving a different car.

Still keep looking at MX5's though...
 
RichardtheSane said:
How old is the Z3?

Last year I totally replaced all the moving suspension components on mine and the transformation was incredible. I found it used to be skippy over the bumps but with new tyres and new suspension it is like driving a different car.

Still keep looking at MX5's though...
Click to expand...

It's a 1999. They were criticised for the ride and behaviour when they were new. It was called 'lively' then. It's a cover for skips over bumps like a demented idiot.

I've already renewed all the springs all round and done the front shocks. Made little difference at all. Even if I did renew the entire rear suspension and change all the tyres (they're hardly worn at all) then there is no guarantee I'd like it when I'd finished. It has other failings which just add up to it being no good for me at all.
 
So I ignored all the sage advice and got a kia electric car. The i3 seems to have the faults of the Z3 and the kia was loads cheaper. I will find out next week whether I've made yet another terrible car choice! On contract hire it's not even a third of the list price that you end up actually paying so it seemed like a sensible (for me considering all the other ludicrous cars I could have had! ) option. I've never had a new car ever as they're a waste of money but being so cheap it seems like it was less of a waste than other choices. Plus there is no faffing around with dealers or fleabay at the end of the 3 years. You just give it back.

Should cost about £2 to fill up on home electric so it's about a 10th of the cost per mile as the petrol monsters.
 
100% electric, Suz? Does it have the same plug/socket as Teslas? If so, I think there are plenty of free fast charging points dotted around - both our local big Sainsbury's stores have them. What's the expected range in normal town driving?
 
It's got chademo so it is different to the Teslas. It's the most common one for rapid chargers. Expected range for around town would be 80-90 miles. Depends on how hilly it is and how good the regen is.

I wasn't going to bother charging while out generally. There are a couple of free ones dotted about but with the apps and other faff or high charges then I'd just take a petrol car instead.
 
What about a link so we can have a look at the info on it? (please)
 
Cheers for the answers, Suz. Might pop down to the Kia dealer at some point and see what's available in the way of test drives etc.. I wonder if there are Tesla/Chademo adaptors?! (Me being a cheapskate!) Currently use the s***box (1.2 sort-of-auto Clio) for the sort of thing the Kia would be used for, mainly taking Mrs Nod down to town to her studio and shopping, with the occasional trip out to see her Mum about 20 miles away up a relatively flat road, although we are at the top of the tallest hill in town... Last question, is the battery owned or part of a separate deal like Renaults?
 
Nod said:
Cheers for the answers, Suz. Might pop down to the Kia dealer at some point and see what's available in the way of test drives etc.. I wonder if there are Tesla/Chademo adaptors?! (Me being a cheapskate!) Currently use the s***box (1.2 sort-of-auto Clio) for the sort of thing the Kia would be used for, mainly taking Mrs Nod down to town to her studio and shopping, with the occasional trip out to see her Mum about 20 miles away up a relatively flat road, although we are at the top of the tallest hill in town... Last question, is the battery owned or part of a separate deal like Renaults?
Click to expand...

It's battery owned. Wouldn't touch one with a battery lease as it just opens up a can of worms. Entire car is leased on a contract hire deal including all maintenance and servicing for 3 years.

You can't use the Tesla superchargers with anything other than a tesla unfortunately so that's your cunning plan thwarted :)

For 20 mile round trips it would be absolutely fine. It's a pottering about car basically. That's what I got the Z3 for but it hasn't been that good at it.
 
Ta. Might wait and see what the Tesla III's like. Going to be better looking, for sure!!! Then again, by the time that's available, Soul EVs will be available 2nd hand.
 
Soul EVs are available second hand already. Costs more than double the general PCH costs for 3 years though so I'd argue a new one was better value.
 
I've had the electric smurf for a month and I'm impressed with it. Drives a lot better than expected and is excellent for the traffic light Grand Prix :)

Range thing is accurate. 100 miles a full home charge easily so 80 odd mile round trips are comfortably within what it can do.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top