New car opinions

Well, it's better than a C1 on the drive....

Seriously, Carl - I know I post in a deliberately inflamatory manner, but you've done your very best to make the figures look good on this.

But you're still spending the thick end of £7k on half a car. On finance.

You have enough mechanical knowledge and skills to buy a decent car that's a little older, significantly better and will have a much lower net cost to you.

Over 3 years, the C1 is likely to cost you £4k in depreciation, *plus* your £150 / month (or whatever it is). This is the bit you've not really taken into account.

£150 / month put into a slightly older, but still perfectly servicable car, would, over 2 years, get you something at around the £3.5k mark, which will still be worth at least £2k once paid off.

Massive saving over new straight away.

I don't know who has convinced who that spending that kind of money on a new car is a good way to save money, but whoever did it is clearly not thinking straight and is displaying magpie tendancies.

Ummhmm, I'm also happy to drive a range of cars, but the fact is at the moment that the marque most derided by the empty barrels is the one that offers the best driving experience.

I tried a 55 plate Mundano a couple of weeks ago... not a patch on the Passat tbh.

Although at the present time, it's probably a better bet. ;-)

LX, Zetec or Ghia? Zetec has the best handling.

A garage, the place where people put their junk, then leave major investments out in the rain.

snipped-for-privacy@gmail.com gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

I've always found cars to be considerably more waterproof than boxes full of books.

His major investments are Alfas. I think he got it the right way round.

As it goes, a Zetec.

A shame really, as they're that much cheaper, I would have possibly considered one as a replacement for the Passat if that does end up written off.

Hmmm, in what sense? The ST TDCi that I tried was much better than the Passat to drive. Or are you just looking at the nail-on Fablon used inside the Passat?

I picked up a Focus Ghia Automatic from Dublin airport earlier.

It's rubbish.

Heh. I'd love to see the contents of the average British garage out on the drive, with the car in the garage instead....

Only because you'd want to take your pick of it all when no-one else was around, you little tinker.

Like my Passat, it was on just over 80k and was a Zetec model.

It's true, the interior isn't as nice.

Not a crime to decide that given a choice, you'd prefer one option over the other, is it?

The stereo is decidedly shit compared to the one in the Passat... the controls / main dash facia (including the stereo), looks what it is, cheap.

The fuel computer is less comprehensive.

That aside, the ride was more wallowy and it wasn't as sharp out of bends, nor, even though assuming it had all 130bhp it was supposed to have, did it maintain traction as well when pushed, and this was in the dry.

One thing the Passat was excellent at, was wet weather road holding / traction, so I suspect the Mondeo would have shown itself up even more in the wet.

I liked the drivers seat - felt more sofa like than the ones in the Passat.

I liked the low levels of engine noise at motorway speeds.

When I nailed it, it smoked way more than any VAG TDI / Pug HDI I've used.

All in all, it just didn't feel nearly as solid or as well built as the Passat, and I really would like to like it given it's several grand cheaper than the equivalent age / mileage Passat, at £4495.

Bloody good idea if I'm honest... Hopefully someone would nick the spare chest freezer and 7 and 8 shagged bikes (pedal ones) including one that cost about a grand in bits and a summer holiday. Unfortunately I'm sure they would nick the beer... And the wine... And reminding that my dad works at a brewery, this is no small amount of booze.

And I'd have got away with too, if it wasn't for you meddling kids.

Grrr!

Curses... rumbled again

Aye, but for most people it's not practical to be looking for a new motor every few months or to be driving a total shed. I know most cars that I've bought for banger money have needed some work and a bloody good clean - basically a weekend or two's pissing about.

Further report on this one:

You sit so high up, it feels like you're driving an MPV.

The 1.6 petrol engine is a gutless heap of crap.

The auto box is, well, odd. It's a real old-school one - torque converter lets the engine rev like hell and the car doesn't appear to get any faster. Then it decides a lower gear might be an idea and drops it down with all the finesse of a learner on their first lesson.

Seats are too hard and covered in something that wouldn't look out of place on a 200 quid MFI special sofa.

Stereo is utter s**te. No bass, no treble. Has a phone button, but it's really just a mute button - wtf?!

Steering is strangely quite heavy, but yet doesn't let you know what the front wheels are doing.

It actually has fairly decent ride quality, but doesn't appear to have anything that could be remotely called 'handling'.

List price, including auto box: £17895. *snort*

That's more expensive than a Golf 1.4TSI-122 SE with DSG, and without the auto box is only about £20 cheaper than a 147 1.6TS Lusso. Both of which have 20% more power.

Insanity.

Heh, I had to check the Alfa website because I didn't beleive you could still buy the 147 new :-) I thought they'd been dropped a couple of years ago heh.