I've been upgraded.....

What puts me off the Jag is that the underpinnings are the MkIII Mondeo, and I really didn't like those.

However..... I'm going to have to blag a test drive in a facelift car.

Yup. New CLC looks very good. I'm waiting to find out if we'll get the new Passat CC added, as they'll have the new common rail TDI lump, as does the A4.

Audi have been giving an SE upgrade FOC on all new shape A4s since launch. Which makes them very attractive.

Well, I have time to make a decision - lease is up in September, orders go in in June, but they're paying me to keep the Passat for now.

Reply to
SteveH
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Hmm while I think on, make sure your pay rise isn't nicked by the extra company car tax you could be paying with one of these things ;)

Reply to
Abo

That is a consideration, 'cos I could just order the same again, but with DSG, and pocket the difference.

Reply to
SteveH

snipped-for-privacy@italiancar.co.uk (SteveH) wrote in news:1id3cb9.vwjzqv16sziozN% snipped-for-privacy@italiancar.co.uk:

Get the Mondeo, it's like having the Jag but with more toys.

Reply to
Tunku

Read it properly now, I'd have the A3 - S-line ones look cool :) Cracking interiors as well.

Reply to
Iridium

Blag a decent length test drive. You need 100 miles or so to appreciate the brilliance of the chassis - it's not immediately apparent.

I find that Passats and things start off feeling nice but glutinous, and with a couple of hundred mile trip they start to irritate me. The Jag starts off feeling average but gets better, and better, and better. It's a shame the diesel isn't 4x4, the 3.0 X type really does handle well.

This thing is obscenely loaded. Full electric heated memory leather seats, nice alloys, xenons, interior lighting upgrades, auto-dip mirror, funky pearlish blue paint, DVD-sat nav etc. The only thing that it hasn't got is the sportline suspension.

Reply to
Pete M

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Pimping comfort :-) Although it would have to be black. And also, that would take me like, a year to wax.

Reply to
Iridium

This isn't German...?

Nor are these...

More of the same...

You ought to drive the Mondeo for comparison purposes. And in Titanium X spec it'll be fully loaded.

Again you should try the BMW. With sunglasses on if necessary.

Of the above, I'd disregard the Audis because of their harsh ride.

Although every other company car driver has a 320d for the wrong reason, they are hard to fault. But people will always sneer at you because it isn't a 5-series / it only has four cylinders / they can't afford one.

I'm unconvinced of the Merc 2.2 diesel, but their auto transmissions are superb.

The X-Type is... if you like that sort of thing, it's nice. I would have one, probably, but people will always sneer at you because it isn't a proper Jag / it only has four cylinders / it's a Mondeo in drag / they can't afford one.

The Volvo is an oddball choice. Worth a look. Bit of an esoteric choice too.

Reply to
DervMan

No, it's not, but we're not *exclusively* German, just *mostly*.

The only non-German (or, to clarify, non-VAG) car on my previous 'class

1' list was the Volvo, but in 1.6 povo spec.

See above.

But with more toys and / or more power.

Not worried about the extra power, but the SEL with DSG is a very, very good car.

I probably will. But I won't be ordering one.

I got the BMW spec. wrong - it's a 318d SE or 320d ES.

ES models, especially, look pikey and under-wheeled.

I don't think I'd have an A3, but the A4 is (allegedly) quite a lot better as an overall package than the 3-series.

The Volvo looks like a Focus wagon with a Volvo nose. Definitely not my thing. I might have been tempted by an S40, but it's not on offer.

Personally, I think they've ruined the Jag with the facelift, and it's still an ageing car. Also, it would never feel right driving a Jag without leather.

My current thinking is the facelifted C-class (it's W203 underpinnings with W204 cosmetics and interior) sports coupe.

Katie prefers the A4.

They're going to be my 2 nominations for extended test drives, anyway.

Reply to
SteveH

Right.

Hmm. I have to disagree here. It's a very good Passat but not a very good car.

Yes they do. One of the "directors" at work* has a 320d SE. Looks better. Unfortunately, picked it for the wrong reason, though. Now understands that it has rear wheel drive therefore is a handful in the snow... or something...

*not sure what exactly he does meh.

Hmm. I remain unconvinced about Audi's offerings. Skoda do most of the same for a lot less.

We have an A5 on order. Watch this space.

Fair enough. I am getting older so Mercs have more of an appeal to me. Much prefer 'em over the VAG stuff.

No Alfa Romeos on the list - bit of a disappointment, though?

Reply to
DervMan

No, Skoda don't.

Skoda do big Golfs and old generation Passats.

When they replace the Superb, they'll do 2 sizes of 'big Golf'.

Of course, the 'wildcard' is that the Passat CC should also hit the list once it's launched. In which case, I'll have one of those.

Bizarrely, the Merc. is likely to be the most 'sporting' choice on the list!

Aye, well, you can lease a C220CDI Coupe for less money than a 159

1.9JTD.
Reply to
SteveH

I thought they were starting to get their act together in that respect?

I know what you mean though; had a go in a TT (225) a week or so ago. Not sure exactly how old it was, probably about 3 years (didn't want to be seen hanging around outside it in case anyone thought it was mine). I have never driven anything so utterly *awful* in my life. It was skittish and you could feel every tiny little bump in the road, and not in a way that told you what was happening down there.

And as for the interior... rather claustrophobic to the extreme. And all the bits of 'bling' looked surprisingly 'cheap' to me as well.

I'd been thinking about an S6 or S8 at some point, but the TT has really put me off Audi for the moment :/

Reply to
Lordy.UK

Really? Wow.

Nothing says "I'm a pikey rep desperate to be in a Merc even if it means this exercise in cynicism" quite like a C Class "Sports" Coupe IMO.

YMOV.

Reply to
Grant

Have you seen the new one? It looks very sharp and they've dropped the 'Sports Coupe' tag, re-naming it CLC.

Needs to be driven, though. If the interior quality and auto-box are up to the standard of the new saloon, then it may well be a winner.

Reply to
SteveH

I'd hope so. The A5 is reckoned to be less firm than the A6 1.9 TDI it's replacing, although it was coughed that a 30-year old Mini is softer than the A6 heh.

You don't think Audi want to make their machines so well put together, do you? It's because they'd fall apart otherwise.

Okay, now, fair dos - every A4 TDI I've tried I've liked from the TDI perspective. But if the only reason why to buy something is because it has a VAG TDI donk, I can think of three other cheaper ways in.

That is the most extreme example of hard riding Audi though.

A buddy described his TT 180 as "like a Mini in most respects" and I thought he meant it was a laugh. He claims to have bought it to see if he could shake his good lady's 36Cs out of their usual home. :-/

Don't forget, though, that it's designed to be close.

The new TT is reckoned to be a world better in most respects. Maybe I'll try the diesel when it's released...

Reply to
DervMan

Hmm. I've seen the spy shots.

Still walks like a duck for me.

Reply to
Grant

The 3.5 year old Audi A4 we bought the other day has every option bar the "sport suspension" - because the guy we bought it off lives up a farm track and the "Sport" one wouldn't make it up there with the sump intact. Unfortunately, the standard suspension means it wallows like a

200k mile Mk3 Golf diesel estate, but still rides badly on smooth roads as well.

Audi eh? They get the A8 spot on so they can't be utterly clueless, but anything smaller either rides like its on bricks or wallows and shudders. I'd have an A8 though.

Reply to
Pete M

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