New car opinions

Who cares when you're on holiday and it's your own money then unless it's got a V8 then you might as well just get the cheapest. More money to spend on fun things. I had a Berlingo last time I rented abroad...

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

Sure - but an '04 Vectra's going to be a big chunk below the budget you suggested - and damn near any diesel in that price range - especially by

2006 - will inevitably have a DPF.

Anyway, why's it a big issue? If you're doing the kind of journeys that cause DPFs issues, you might as well just get a petrol, because you won't be getting through much fuel.

The Super V8 is the poshed-up XJR. So that's lambswool carpet, sheepskin rugs, walnut trim including flip up picnic tables for the back seats. Two enormous comfy armchairs up front, same in the back (yes it's a

4-seater) and it does 0-60 in 5.5s and is limited to 155mph by the limiter rather than the engine.

i quite like the astra with the 150bhp they handle ok for a vauxhall, get it in SRI spec with an XP pack :) might be just out of the £6k budget. although you should be able to get an Astra SRI with that, the none XP pack ones look ok still. it's what i almost bought over the mini. xp pack is basically a bit of body kit stuff (subtle though) and 18" versions of the 5 spoke alloys

One of my mates dad has one of those - it's really nice, and if you try be a little deaf, it doesn't really sound that diesely. Can't comment on the oil of course, I've only seen it a couple of times - and this was like 6 months ago. I think for a big saloon they look really cool, his was/is some kind sporty model and has those big anthracite like 5 or 6 spoke alloys. He gave us lifts into town a few times and inside it looks cool and is all really solid feeling. It's stacked with toys as well and the seats are mega comfy, and also when I got out and shut the door it was one of the most satisfying door shut noises ever hehe :-)

When we were in Vegas we almost rented a V8 Mustang rag top for a day or two, planning on taking it out on the big empty desert roads like Top Gear did a few weeks ago. Or, was it, a V8 or a rag top... No, I'm sure it was a V8 ragtop... Probably. But anyway, the rental rates were well cheap, and even though a rag top Mustang is probably a terrible car in most ways - it was to be Vegas, with a rag top, a Mustang and a rumbling V8.

we've had a few come back from leasing and i've never heard of an oil drinking, oil always seemed ok on ones i've checked when they come in. and these are lease cars which probably no one ever checks unless it's in for a service

sure it was a V8? most i looked up when i went to florida were V6's :( so never bothered

I'm just going by the various guides on the net that say this is a known trait of these.

It's only the CTDI models as well, apparently.

Aye, they were also renting like, Harleys and stuff, and they had a 'Vette, but it said "Enquire within" to talk about renting that heh. The place itself was I guess trading on people like us, who wanted to do the whole V8 rumble in the desert thing as they were very much pushing stuff like that. It wasn't a rental chain I've ever heard of, the name was summet to do with Vegas and dreams, but I can't for the life of me remember what...

my boss rented a viper one in vegas and when it rained a guy came and took it away cos they don't let people have them in the rain cos it gets a bit slippery. guess cos it don't rain in the desert much, although he said it snowed there once as well lol weird? he did get a voucher though which let him either get a refund for the remaining days left on the rental he had or to take it back and continue renting it.

Agreed, although some of the ford switches are, it seems, more robust, even if they feel less satisfying to push.

No, but neither is it to express incredulity.. :-)

The B5/B5.5 stereo was, if you got the right kit, one of its best features.

Good. I hate fuel computers - I always set mine to show the least economy-related info I could.

Hmmm. I can only assume from this that something was wrong with the one you drove, or that we have different definitions of 'sharp' and 'wallowy' - one thing the passat isn't and the ford is is 'sharp', and vice versa with 'wallowy'

No. Absolutely not - that is one thing that the passat is almost the worst car I have ever driven for. The suspension was designed to minimise torque steer, for a refined response with the diesel engines, but it does that at the expense of grip and traction.

I don't like the standard seats in the passat at all - the german interpretation of ergonomic seems to be 'hard and unsupportive'. Normally I don't notice seats in the slightest, but VAG seats always strike me as uncomfy.

Fair enough - I find it difficult to empathise with you, but then we clearly see the driving experience very differently; My experience of the 5 passats I have had direct experience of is that they are economical family wagons but THE most unexciting way of moving about that you can buy, even though the TDi engines are very good.

It just seems quite cheaply built.

Indeed.

I rate the one that was in mine.

Oh I dunno... they're a good indicator, even if inaccurate, of how good / bad, the economy is at any one time.

Having driven that Highline, I can confirm they're a bit boaty.

My Sport, wasn't.

*shrug*

I found mine to be excellent compared to other stuff I've driven, wet or dry.

The 306 is meant to be a good handler, but this current one is way inferior to the Passat, especially in the wet.

I've found that VW seats take a while to get 'just right' position wise, but once I've got them about right they've been comfy enough to not complaining after a straight run from Kent to Cornwall / Kent to Cumbria.

Like I say, I'd love to like the Mondeo given how much cheaper they are... but they just don't, having tried two now just to be sure, do it for me.

And besides, it would be bloody boring if we all liked the same things. ;-)

Tim, you say that like it's a bad thing.

Yep, agreed, but it takes the joy out of a 'wahey' driving moment if you have a little box there telling you how much that bit of silliness just cost you. An average economy trip which I could switch off would be acceptable, if I had to have something. Otherwise brim-to-brim calculations are fine for me.

My SE was, my dads early god-knows-what-spec was, my mum's highline was, my dad's first sport was less rolly but more bouncy, as was his second sport. On balance, I think the *handling* of the sport was actually worse than the others - whilst they did roll a lot less, the bounciness made them lurch inchoately round corners with any sort of undulation. Grip was ok up to that point, but not as good as better designed things with less rubber, IMO. The only handling option in any of them was understeer.

*boggle* But...but...but... the 306 is a fantastic handler. It comes alive when you push it. You can have oversteer and glorious lift-off drifts. Understeer only happens if you have s**te or underinflated tyres. It is simply *leagues* ahead of the passat in both ride and handling. I don't know what tyres you have on your 306, but the aging 14" 185s on my gf's cheapo 306 give better grip than the 16" 215's on either of my dad's sports!

To be fair, the ones I had in my SE were ok - I never had aches or pains, but I was always aware of them. The ones in my gf's previous mk5 golf were *awful*, so consider this bit of my vitriol to be directed primarily at them :-)

Fair enough. But you are, of course, completely wrong whilst holding your utterly valid viewpoint... hehe.

That's more a reflection on you than the car. ;-)

I sadly do both.

A Highline is basically an SE with heated leather.

Neither have the six speed box, unfortunately.

Humm... I managed to give my mates 106 GTi a good run for its money on all bar the bumpiest of back roads, in the Sport, and he's not exactly a wallflower when it comes to pushing on hard in a car.

It's not all that compared to my Sport.

I wish it was... :-)

In the dry it's quite accomplished.

To be fair, it appears to have been lowered slightly on the front as well.

But in the wet, it's good... but it doesn't grip anywhere near as well as the Passat.

I wouldn't have a Mk5 Golf... they're decidedly cheap looking inside compared to the earlier incarnations.

And that's with them and the B6 Passat now both decidedly within budget for the Sports replacement - I'd rather have another B5.5 or a Mk4 Golf.

Indeed... as are you.

LOL

I've got to say, it handled alright, but the next time I got in my Xantia (Activa, but with one side's height not seeming completely right and thus not handling anything like it should, and indeed did when I first got it), I did think "this feels a lot more nimble than the Passat".

Tell you what were possibly the best seats I've ever had, in terms of taking a while to fiddle and fine-tune, but were *bloody* comfy once you had it all sorted.......

The ones in the Daewoo Leganza I had. Loads of different adjustments, and once tweaked to perfection, could have been sat in for hours and still been dead comfy.

Heh, I get that feeling when I drive the Rangie...

Ladles and Jellyspoons, welcome to uk.rec.cars.passat-bashing :-)