Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Mk5 and onwards. The mk5&6 are very similar, same platform, etc. So either of those.

Not sure if £5k is tight on a Mk5 GTI in good nick. Brm would be a better person to ask.

There's negative stuff about the dsg gearbox, but from what I could gather if it hasn't gone by now it should be fine provided it's been serviced as proscribed.

Wasn't there someone on this thread who rated the Volvo v50? I'm tempted on a D3 but found a 1.6d with decent milage and well kitted out. Is that engine made of cheese or good to put in the miles with? 108bhp is a bit worrying considering the amount of motorway miles I'll be doing, but the high MPG and low tax is tempting.

£5k should get you one of the best. The edition30 are a bit more.

The dsg is awesome. I’ve been lucky to not have any issues with mine, but mine is a low mileage car. I remember reading that they go before a certain mileage or not at all.

1.6 is cheese. I used to say low enough miles it'll be OK but have several mates/people I know who have ignored advice and got one anyway and I think I'm right in saying every one of them now has an empty wallet.
2.0 5 cyl is OK or just one of the petrol (Ford 1.6 and 2.0 and they are lack lustre but work fine)

And deflectors ftw, every car now gets them within weeks of purchase.
Having a dog means unless you've got ac set to "nipples that could cut glass", they need more airflow and a lot of car with back windows down enough to let any air in they buffet very badly above even 30 mpg, the deflectors usually sort that as well as enabling you to leave windows open a touch when parked to ventilate the stink of a dog out of the car. My cars get used intensively then parked for weeks, knowing that when I go back to it won't be full of dog moisture is nice.

@kboy I have a 2009 V50 1.8 R Design which I bought nearly 3 years ago. Like it a lot. Looks good, drives nice, although can leave you wanting for more speed on the motorway in some situations, like @BrickMan says. Comfortable heated seats and good stereo. A tank is £40 and does ~28mpg from memory, so not the engine for lots of city driving - and it’s a 5 speed manual, and I really want that 6th gear sometimes on the motorway. I’m mainly driving across town at weekends or M25/3 once or twice a month. Engine is sturdy and not noisy. Fully ULEZ compliant, but not cheap on co2 emissions re tax and for the CPZ I live in.

For a ten year old car, it’s not costing me too much to keep on the road, but have had a rear shock go lately, the rear discs and pads (not sure when they were done before - discs might be from new) and a new battery, which was from new. Nothing unusual really for its age.

I suppose some negatives are the AC condenser is known to go and had to get mine done, so check it’s blowing cold and strong. Seats and some of the upholstery can crack and fray - driver seat on mine looks a bit tired but isn’t going to be worth replacing. Tyres are expensive as they seem relatively wide. The boot is big but not massive. Fine now, but when we had to cart a lot of baby stuff it fills up fast. Toys I wish I had are electric-folding mirrors and rear parking sensors.

@BrickMan @J0nathan - ace, thanks for the advice!

@BrickMan - so the diesels to go for are the D3/4/5? Or the 1.6 or 2.0 petrol? Anything D3 and up costs much more over here, I guess it's because they'll actually work. Plenty around with 180k+ miles over here, it's even hard to find one below 120k miles.

Last car I bought was super low milage for its age and that didn't work out, so I'm thinking about ignoring the miles this time and get something well kept instead.

Last car I bought was super low milage for its age and that didn't work out

What did you go for?

2007 Saab 9-5 tid. Super comfy seats, decent to drive, great MPG on motorways but high tax and the repair bills have been ridicilous. If it hadn't fallen apart so rapidly I'd been really happy with it, but I've had enough of it now.

Not sure an 8 year old Volvo will fare any better though...

Low miles isn't always a good thing. More city stop and start puts a lot of wear into the drive line, suspension from potholes and kerbs etc, doors opening and closing much more, seats from getting in and out more often, and then engine wear from doing so many more cold starts. Salesperson cars that do 100k in 2 to 3 years are often a good shout.

Yeah if I had the monies for it I'd go for exactly that. Can't really justify £15-20k on a car though and want to avoid loans as much as possible

Will 4 adults, their hand luggage and a baby seat* fit in a Qashqai for a 1-3hrs trip?

Cheers.

*no pram needed

Also if anyone has any spare Eurocar discounts they'd be appreciated.

Depends on the size of the adults / baby seat. You should do but if everyone is tall / wide, you might struggle to fit two adults and a big baby seat in the back.

Cheers - good to know for future.

Unfortunately French Xmas train services have ruled it out.

Just to bitch... why the fuck can't people* just crack on and do shit when you all agree to it?!? Now having to rent two cars, all of which are more expensive than they were.

*Tbf I also do this quite often.

I'd say no my wife's kadjar (basically a slightly bigger Qashqai with Renault badges) wouldn't be comfortable at all for that kind of trip.

Another tidy one here (and a few more on this site):

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1055414

At a do with Rich from Project Binky. What a great guy. He genuinely loves the project, he was showing me pics on his phone and all sorts.

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He genuinely loves the project

Given the (10s of) thousands of hours put into that car you would hope so!

I don't think so. The rear seats aren't wife enough add the baby seat takes up 1.2seats

Hello car ppl. I'm looking for a sub-£3,000 estate/MPV, probably no older than 2007. Got a few searches saved on Autotrader and Gumtree, where/what else is good to try? Any used car traders in SE I should bother with?
A couple of Peugeot 207s keep coming up, if anyone has any experience/opinions on those.

Yeah I hadn’t realised that’s their full time vocation, I thought they ran a business preparing customer race cars but other than one long term customer project it’s just the YouTube thing.

I just saw one of those Rolls Royce SUVs pukes on cock ☹️

Interesting- I thought they had a commercial business and Binky was a personal project also

http://www.badobsessionmotorsport.co.uk/
This website suggests the former is true