It's dead, Jim....

I'm so tempted to go for a Superb next year, I hear good stuff about the dealers and know that B5 based cars are generally utterly reliable, if a little wallowy to drive. But reliability and comfort are more important than bleeding edge handling.

And they look quite good.

Well, it could be the best diesel in the world, but it's not on the list, so it's not a consideration.

'Should have gone to specsavers'

Created by a brit as it happens.

bugger you beat me to the Ivan Hirst reference.

Ding, which is why I have seriously reduced my entertainment value of reading Usenet by blocking SteveH.

Yes it is, but it's not an especially high benchmark to pass.

I don't dislike the Avensis diesel, but sitting back to back in the Saab and the Avensis, I decided, okay so who needs unfailing reliability and a better drive when I can have this soft touch dashboard, where I can sit in it for twenty five hours in a day and not get sore..?

Proportionally, VW's break down nearly twice as much in Germany than Fords. What a sad day!

It doesn't surprise me having driven all manner or recent VWs and Fords.

I really don't know where SteveH gets his delusions from, but I want to know what brand of coffee he uses.

The only problem is, Merc won't let them sell the chairman outside of Asia as part of the license, except in New Zealand.

I think they are allowing the new one out though.

Except they aren't cheap to fix. So they burn vegie oil. I reckon you should just buy some big barge on lpg. You'll be happier.

Fraser

Eh? The stuff they make now might not be up to scratch, but the older stuff is bloody well built. How many MK2 Golfs are still running around compared to the numbers of MK3 Escorts and MK2 Astras? I expect the Astra and Escort sold in far greater numbers too.

It doesn't even matter that build quality has slipped a bit - it's still ahead of the game in so many respects, and, to Joe Public, the VW badge has for a long time, and will continue to have, a more upmarket image than Ford / Vauxhall / PSA group etc.

Mk2 Golf was the last decent VW, so people keep them going. Even when the Mk3 was launched people realised that the Mk2 was better.

Doesn't matter what you drive, there's someone who won't like it. If you drive a VW there'll be people who think "Poor sod", and the same for Fords, Vauxhalls et al. I have no VWs in stock because I don't need the hassle, but I have other stuff I can't be bothered with because it'll be reliable and cause me no grief once its sold. Toyotas, Mazdas, Fords, even Citroens are less problematic.

I recently went with my boss to look at some prospective largish 2nd hand diesel estates. They included a V70 D5, an A6 allroad, a mazda 6 and an Accord 2.2 cdti.

The accord stood out as being the best overall car for the money by quite some margin - the volvo had slightly comfier seats, but a less cossetting ride, the mazda was a slightly sharper drive, but felt cheap and had a harsh ride by comparison. The Audi was just stupid.

The accord was *much* nicer than I expected it to be and had the most refined 4-pot diesel I've ever used. Pretty economical according to the official figures too.

Anyway, the point is, I wouldn't dismiss it as another boring jap family car - it really is much better than you'd expect.

I'd have one, at least when the used prices have dropped a bit.

I don't know of a better four pot diesel. It knocks many five and six pots into a cocked hat too.

Unfortunately, many drivers don't find the Accord 2.2 diesel anywhere near as economical as they'd expect if they're used to a similar sized diesel. Of course, many are not used that unusual whirring / un-diesel like noise too...

Me too. And the diesel too.

*Other than it wasn't comfortable for my injured back, which is why I swapped it for the Saab. So a biggie really heh.