Sign of the times...

I think you meant to say, "wasn't it Doki who had a Ka, and complained loads" heh.

We didn't have anything fall off our Ka. At all. The worst that happened to it (besides being rolled) was I broke an engine mount at Elvington.

He has a very different idea of pokey to me... I had the diesel DCi 106 for the day when they were replacing my, erm, I want to say track rod end, under warranty and I thought it was well slow. But then, I had literally just stepped out of mine with approaching double the power. It was one of their demos they leant me, as I'd rang to make sure their would be a courtesy car available and there'd been a boob, so I missed out on the Twingo hehe. Anyway, I did about maybe 50 miles in it, back roads from the dealer to my mates, then through down and main road to our other mates. It was however, nice and comfy, and certainly for most users pokey enough I'm sure, but it wasn't for me. The 0-60 is, according to Renault, 11.1 seconds, but I know diesels are much more about mid range once you're going, not traffic light starts. They have 240nm though so they're useful in gear, if not devestating. That's in the Clio, god I'd hate to be lumbered with the 'Co2 special' (tmDervy) Laguna 1.5 DCi, it must be, well, cheap tax if nothing else :-)

Now, if you were still talking diesel and forcing me into a 3 door RenaultSport Megane DCi 175, with both 'Cup' and 'Comfort' packs, then I'd be much happier I'm sure. And if I was allowed to get the 210bhp RS Tuner remap giving me 4 million tonnes of torque, that'd be just lovely :-)

Bingo!

Yes, absolutely. Given the choice between a ~105 bhp petrol and a ~105 bhp turbodiesel, I'd take the turbodiesel as it probably will have slower benchmark times, but be easier to drive at 9/10s than the petrol on the road.

Heh. Or a turbopetrol.

I had a shock replaced under warranty on my Clio, that was broken when I got it as the Honda dealer I bought it from had apparently done their 105 point check, and also changed the front tyres and still not managed to notice it heh! Or, they did, and just ignored it... Anyway, I took it to my local Renault dealer the next day, no appointment needed (I did phone first, and that's what they said) and when I got there they pulled a mechanic away from the motor he was working on and he came out for a test ride with me and clocked it straight away. I let him drive it too, and he refused to boot it heh! I was sat there telling him to give it some along ethe bypass and he was like "I can't, if I damage a customers car it's more than my life's worth" hehe :-). Anyway, they fixed it a couple of days later, and told me that there was slight play in the track rod end, so little I'd never notice for a long time till it got worse, but they'd do it whenever was good for me. I was planning to book it in for a service anyway as it was on like,

I never had anything replaced on the 206 bar brake pads and a pair of chewed rear discs thanks ARUNDALE OF SCARBOROUGH YOU BUNCH OF THEIVES. That car was 100% completely fault free for the whole time I had it. 3 years and 40k miles and when parked up on the dealers forecourt on the day I dropped it off it could have been a brand new car it was that clean and perfect. Not a mark of wear on it, bar a few very small stone chips.

Given that choice, between two 105bhp Lagunas, I'd be finding a new person to give me cars to choose from hehe :-)

I'll ask.

All I know is, they've had enough of it and want to replace it asap.

To be fair - and much as I like the new Panda - if I'd done 110k miles in one, I'd want to change it.

Amen to that!

Meh I suppose. But note that I didn't specify what car. A Smart with 105 bhp could be interesting... ;)

Worst.

Car.

Ever.

Brakes and tyres around every 6k. I suspect that's very driver dependent... Quite a few inside bits came loose over the time I had it - bits of trim on the seats that would get caught by back seat passengers getting in and out and they'd just fall off. They're not too bad, unless you have the doorcards off to put speakers in. Then you'll never get rid of the squeaks...

Suspension bushes are also a 10k job, and oil changes were something daft like every 6k...

"DervMan" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

The 1.6HDi is the mainstay of the C5 range.

As indeed it should be...

It shouldn't matter. I know of an W211 E class that at over 400k and gets serviced once a year. That's about 5 services in 400k miles. Build quality is build quality, and sometimes you get what you pay for.

And yet my merc after 100k miles is remarkably solid. Maybe you should drive something less pikey?

I must admit every mondeo I've driven with more than 60-80k has felt like it needs new dampers. Other than that they've been fine. Mondeos and Vectras are underrated.

Have you driven a 10k mile example *immediately before or after yours*?

That's when you realise how much your car is worn.

Plus, your car is your car, I suspect that, despite all your bravado on here, you don't hammer it in the same way as a fleet car gets hammered - as you'd be paying the bill if you broke something.

And another 10k goes by, and another set of rear tyres.

Fronts lasted of 40k. You think it doesn't get driven enthusiastically?

Enthusiastic != Abused.

HTH.