Buying a car

SouthpawMark

Just put my car up on autotrader after procrastinating for a week. Really hoping no-one buys it, as I want to keep it. I never liked it that much, but now it’s going I really don’t want it to. Moving from something sporty and practicalish to a super practical diesel bus sucks. 

ICBM

I’ve had five French cars in the last 20 years - one Citroen, four Renault - and none of them have given anything more than trivial trouble. The Grand Scenic I had for 9 years was totally reliable and only got replaced because it was written off by someone else.

randella

Thus is the problem with car advice - the vast majority of it is anecdotal. We've all had a pig of a car, mine was a stopgap Nissan. Dreadful thing, handled like a dog, the driver's seat was one of the worst I've sat in, the interior in general was cheap and prone to shedding bits. The best thing about it by far was the engine which, as far as I could tell, was made by Renault. 

If I avoided any manufacturer based on the negative experiences of family and friends it'd be VAG by a country mile. 

In the end though I'd still drive one, because they're generally decent. All cars go wrong, sooner or later you just have to plump for something based on some research, and enjoy it. 

Octafish

randella said:

Thus is the problem with car advice - the vast majority of it is anecdotal. We've all had a pig of a car, mine was a stopgap Nissan. Dreadful thing, handled like a dog, the driver's seat was one of the worst I've sat in, the interior in general was cheap and prone to shedding bits. The best thing about it by far was the engine which, as far as I could tell, was made by Renault. 

If I avoided any manufacturer based on the negative experiences of family and friends it'd be VAG by a country mile. 

In the end though I'd still drive one, because they're generally decent. All cars go wrong, sooner or later you just have to plump for something based on some research, and enjoy it. 

Exactly, you can bet whatever car/brand is suggested, up will pop someone with tales of catastrophic failures blah, blah, blah. Your mentioning of VAG cars will insure someone will be along to tell you they're all shit and breakdown all the time and I could the counter 'well my Dad has had 3 Golfs since 1997 without any issues than expected wear and tear and the only breakdown ever being a coil pack failure once', it counts for fuck all really.

It seems this Emp Fab chap googles whatever car has been suggested and then discounts it because a couple of people had one break down once  

randella

Octafish said:
well my Dad has had 3 Golfs since 1997 without any issues than expected wear and tear and the only breakdown ever being a coil pack failure once', it counts for fuck all really.

I agree. 

I think in the end people are trying to be helpful, but a sample of my old man's two VWs and two Audis is a piss in the ocean when you think how many are made each year. Interestingly the last one he owned (a mk 1 TT 225 Quattro) gave him no trouble from new to a couple of years old when he got rid. 

Manufacturer's reliability comes and goes, dad bought his first VW when they were poor in the late 90s and the last one when they'd got a lid on the problems. 

French cars were also not so good in the 90s - Citroen were particularly bad for this but they were all at it, the cars were built to a very aggressive price point and it reflected in the quality. 

Fast forward to today and everyone who has a spin in my Peugeot comes away impressed. I have some picky friends too. It might yet live up to the received wisdom and catch fire and give me some nasty disease at the same time, we'll have to wait and see. Honest John was very impressed with his long-termer which, out of all the reading I did, was probably what swung it.  

In the meantime I'm just going to drive it.

Octafish

randella said:

Octafish said:
well my Dad has had 3 Golfs since 1997 without any issues than expected wear and tear and the only breakdown ever being a coil pack failure once', it counts for fuck all really.

I agree. 

I think in the end people are trying to be helpful, but a sample of my old man's two VWs and two Audis is a piss in the ocean when you think how many are made each year. Interestingly the last one he owned (a mk 1 TT 225 Quattro) gave him no trouble from new to a couple of years old when he got rid. 

Manufacturer's reliability comes and goes, dad bought his first VW when they were poor in the late 90s and the last one when they'd got a lid on the problems. 

French cars were also not so good in the 90s - Citroen were particularly bad for this but they were all at it, the cars were built to a very aggressive price point and it reflected in the quality. 

Fast forward to today and everyone who has a spin in my Peugeot comes away impressed. I have some picky friends too. It might yet live up to the received wisdom and catch fire and give me some nasty disease at the same time, we'll have to wait and see. Honest John was very impressed with his long-termer which, out of all the reading I did, was probably what swung it.  

In the meantime I'm just going to drive it.

The Brits do seem to like to hate French cars, not that I've ever owned one. When I was kid my dad had one of those funny foreign Renault 5s for some years (lovely metallic brown, hid the rust  ). It was an uncool car and always being noted for being French whilst several of my mate's dads seem to get a lot of cred for owning a Ford Cortina, Escort and Capri. Thing was the they all rusted just as bad as the Renault and whilst the Renault was very reliable, the Fords seemed to constantly break down and fail to start, but at least they weren't French I guess 

CHRISB50

I have 2 friends who are mechanics. Both have always said avoid French cars.

My Mrs unfortunately has a thing for French cars, and I must admit until now we haven't had any problems.

She's on the lookout for a new car at the moment but I think we're going German this time.

gubble

The reliability thing is interesting. As with most things you don't hear about what's gone well, usually what's gone bad. So whilst the internet is littered with tales of cars going bang for every Ford Focus Diesel that lunched it's Turbo at 70k miles there's probably 50+ other identical cars that have never skipped a beat.

For sure some cars do have inherent issues, but i'm positive these will only affect a small % of them rather than the failure rate on say a Marshall JCM200 TSL.

As a bit of an anecdote i have a 2018 Audi A3 e-tron. It's been back under warranty four times now. The most recent problem requires a replacement of the air con system. 
My colleague has an identical car - they're literally one letter different on the reg (company cars). His has a similar mileage and has had zero issues.

Does this meant the Audi A3 e-tron is an unreliable car with lots of problems? Ask me and i'll say yes, ask my colleague and he'll say no.

crunchman

gubble said:

The reliability thing is interesting. As with most things you don't hear about what's gone well, usually what's gone bad. So whilst the internet is littered with tales of cars going bang for every Ford Focus Diesel that lunched it's Turbo at 70k miles there's probably 50+ other identical cars that have never skipped a beat.

For sure some cars do have inherent issues, but i'm positive these will only affect a small % of them rather than the failure rate on say a Marshall JCM200 TSL.

As a bit of an anecdote i have a 2018 Audi A3 e-tron. It's been back under warranty four times now. The most recent problem requires a replacement of the air con system. 
My colleague has an identical car - they're literally one letter different on the reg (company cars). His has a similar mileage and has had zero issues.

Does this meant the Audi A3 e-tron is an unreliable car with lots of problems? Ask me and i'll say yes, ask my colleague and he'll say no.

True, but it's not a big enough sample size.

Take those tumble dryers that have problems.  As far as I know, they have been blamed for around 750 fires.  That's out of millions of them.  The vast majority of owners don't ever experience problems.  Let's say there is a 999 chance in 1000 that you will  be ok, but there is still an issue there, which is leading to a recall.

Getting back to cars, the question is what level of chance of failure are you willing to accept.

The other thing is with new cars.  We don't yet know the design flaws in them, yet buyers will happily buy them in ignorance.

guitartango

There is enough content on here for a full movie script, so which actor should play Emp_Fab ? 

Woody Allen Emp_Fab
Michael Caine RaymondLin 
Robert de Niro Digitalscream 

:):):) 

ICBM

Octafish said:

The Brits do seem to like to hate French cars, not that I've ever owned one. When I was kid my dad had one of those funny foreign Renault 5s for some years (lovely metallic brown, hid the rust  ). It was an uncool car and always being noted for being French whilst several of my mate's dads seem to get a lot of cred for owning a Ford Cortina, Escort and Capri. Thing was the they all rusted just as bad as the Renault and whilst the Renault was very reliable, the Fords seemed to constantly break down and fail to start, but at least they weren't French I guess 

This. People seem to dislike French cars for being French, and possibly for not always being great in the past. The upside of that is that they depreciate very fast - because everyone knows they depreciate very fast... the upside being that you can then buy a better one, with lower mileage and in better condition, than anything at a comparable price from other manufacturers. That's why I drive one - I have no intention of selling it until it falls apart so the depreciation from now on is irrelevant, and I got a car which would have cost £25K new for £4K, admittedly seven years old but in immaculate condition with average to slightly low mileage and FSH.

WiresDreamDisasters

Emp_Fab said:

TTony said:

So.

After xx pages, the answer is 

<insert whatever car Emp buys>

If that’s the answer, WTF, really, WT-fecking-F was the question, because that really doesn’t seem to be the answer to any requirement that I saw posted.

You might want to make this a sticky template, to save everyone from having to type the same thing when I eventually do buy a car.

I sense the reason why this thread has generated so much hostility is that my procrastination is delaying the gratification desired by so many to say "Nyeeeehhhhh - I told you so..... / What did you buy THAT for - that's a bag of crap / OMG, they're death-traps" etc etc etc.....

You were just a little eager on the starting pistol son.

You love the drama and attention. I reckon you've cracked one or two out whilst reading this thread.

Ossyrocks

I just bought a car, just sayin.

Sending back the three year old Skoda bought on finance. No need for that kind of expense in my life these days. 

Got an 07 plate Toyota Yaris for £2k with full service history. Drives great! If it lasts 8 months I’m up financially.

Rob

digitalscream

Ossyrocks said:

I just bought a car, just sayin.

Sending back the three year old Skoda bought on finance. No need for that kind of expense in my life these days. 

Got an 07 plate Toyota Yaris for £2k with full service history. Drives great! If it lasts 8 months I’m up financially.

Rob

The real question, though, is...when did you start looking for a car?

digitalscream

WiresDreamDisasters said:

Emp_Fab said:

TTony said:

So.

After xx pages, the answer is 

<insert whatever car Emp buys>

If that’s the answer, WTF, really, WT-fecking-F was the question, because that really doesn’t seem to be the answer to any requirement that I saw posted.

You might want to make this a sticky template, to save everyone from having to type the same thing when I eventually do buy a car.

I sense the reason why this thread has generated so much hostility is that my procrastination is delaying the gratification desired by so many to say "Nyeeeehhhhh - I told you so..... / What did you buy THAT for - that's a bag of crap / OMG, they're death-traps" etc etc etc.....

You were just a little eager on the starting pistol son.

You love the drama and attention. I reckon you've cracked one or two out whilst reading this thread.

You should be careful, there. When you start looking for a car, we may end up with a similar megathread where you're agonising over which car, except you'll have bought and sold the same one three times while having another two sitting outside your house that you never want to drive and yet another in a mate's garage...

WiresDreamDisasters

digitalscream said:

WiresDreamDisasters said:

Emp_Fab said:

TTony said:

So.

After xx pages, the answer is 

<insert whatever car Emp buys>

If that’s the answer, WTF, really, WT-fecking-F was the question, because that really doesn’t seem to be the answer to any requirement that I saw posted.

You might want to make this a sticky template, to save everyone from having to type the same thing when I eventually do buy a car.

I sense the reason why this thread has generated so much hostility is that my procrastination is delaying the gratification desired by so many to say "Nyeeeehhhhh - I told you so..... / What did you buy THAT for - that's a bag of crap / OMG, they're death-traps" etc etc etc.....

You were just a little eager on the starting pistol son.

You love the drama and attention. I reckon you've cracked one or two out whilst reading this thread.

You should be careful, there. When you start looking for a car, we may end up with a similar megathread where you're agonising over which car, except you'll have bought and sold the same one three times while having another two sitting outside your house that you never want to drive and yet another in a mate's garage...

Nah. Fiesta. For the first two years. After that, do a rental thing once the market really kicks off. Car ownership will be a thing of the past eventually I reckon.

RaymondLin

Emp_Fab said:

Well - I've just stumbled across an i30 hatchback in my home town....  86K, 2013, £5K, FSH, £0 Tax.



Carbuyer gives it an excellent review....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WDrp-g3bHM

An estate would have been better but this is local....

Imagine had he bought this on April 10th.

digitalscream

WiresDreamDisasters said:

digitalscream said:

WiresDreamDisasters said:

Emp_Fab said:

TTony said:

So.

After xx pages, the answer is 

<insert whatever car Emp buys>

If that’s the answer, WTF, really, WT-fecking-F was the question, because that really doesn’t seem to be the answer to any requirement that I saw posted.

You might want to make this a sticky template, to save everyone from having to type the same thing when I eventually do buy a car.

I sense the reason why this thread has generated so much hostility is that my procrastination is delaying the gratification desired by so many to say "Nyeeeehhhhh - I told you so..... / What did you buy THAT for - that's a bag of crap / OMG, they're death-traps" etc etc etc.....

You were just a little eager on the starting pistol son.

You love the drama and attention. I reckon you've cracked one or two out whilst reading this thread.

You should be careful, there. When you start looking for a car, we may end up with a similar megathread where you're agonising over which car, except you'll have bought and sold the same one three times while having another two sitting outside your house that you never want to drive and yet another in a mate's garage...

Nah. Fiesta. For the first two years. After that, do a rental thing once the market really kicks off. Car ownership will be a thing of the past eventually I reckon.

"Nah, I'm going back to simplicity, I just need three or four pedals..."

joneve

I saw that there was 190 new notifications since I last logged on a day or so ago....I thought "this is it! he's fucking done it!"

7 new pages later...of course there's no change! 

This thread is close to becoming one of the all time greats. 

Ossyrocks

digitalscream said:

Ossyrocks said:

I just bought a car, just sayin.

Sending back the three year old Skoda bought on finance. No need for that kind of expense in my life these days. 

Got an 07 plate Toyota Yaris for £2k with full service history. Drives great! If it lasts 8 months I’m up financially.

Rob

The real question, though, is...when did you start looking for a car?

Ha ha. Checked autotrader a couple times. Found a dealer nearby with a few interesting cars. Went to visit once, agreed sale with a deposit, delivered the following day. Maybe 3 hours effort total.

It’s a decent car.

Rob