cars - recommendation?

Mondeo estate and saloon are same length, only the hatchback is shorter.

One thing i would also take into consideration when looking is dual mass clutches!! The clutch plates don`t go, its the dual mass flywheel. They break down and rattle like a bell if they are on their way out. £360 to buy the parts. They are on alot of cars built over the last 10 years. Any car with them is good for 100k give or take then look out for them going.

[embee]

Check the J.D.Power satisfaction survey here for how the models shape up. It is a measure of overall satisfaction of ownership, so rolls up all aspects of reliability, running costs, likes and dislikes.

It's not the be-all-and-end-all but it gives a very good starting point. Honda Jazz takes some beating if it's big enough for you.

I got q 1.0l C1 group 1 insurance 50-60mpg but obviously gonna be too small

My dad runs a 1.6 megane diesel £90 to tax 105bhp, 50-70mpg returned. Group 5 insurance. He can get a door in his megane at a push.

[Dave20046]

I'll add megane's to my list - cheers.
Auto trader's been the best tool so far, although I'm astounded no website lets you filter search results by insurance group (autotrader for instance holds a database on vehicle stats - wouldn't be hard to query it would it)

My mate has a Megane diesel, fuel pump went, £450- later I told him he shouldn't have bought French.

Ah...French cars are rubbish.

I waited patiently for that one.

We already had German cars are made from pure gold.

So that's ok.

[TSM]

got an Audi A3 TDI 2.0 140 S, seems good enough, i got 59mpg on the way back from oxford today around town abt 35 but if im having fun then 25-30 ish, but you have to be carefull on the throttle as at a push you will see it drop down quickly, fairly quiet, bit hard ride but ive got the Sport with 17" on it
aparently if you want a tdi and do short stints or dont want to be slapped with a high maint bill one day stay away from the 170 models as they have a DPF filter which is expensive to replace, my 140 does not have one but not sure if they are now standard on all models (mine is a 2005)

[Viney]

Originally Posted by Dave20046

Toying with the idea of swapping my car when I've fixed it.
Should have gone with my gut and traded it in a couple of weeks ago, but alas it's broke down at great inconvenience.
Currently got a 1.4l golf but it's irritatingly uneconomical (possibly the fact it takes 4k revs to do 80mph and weighs 2tonnes), it's a bit slow and I'm just generally bored of it which seems to be making me an angry driver!
The plus sides are it's quality interior, and it's very comfy, solid & quite pleasant to drive - it's also pretty quiet & I like the handling (apart from the heavyness).

Main thing I'm after is firstly reliability then comfort, economy and looks. Also needs to be cheap on insurance nothing more than a group 6 I'd say.
Was looking at volvo s40s cause I'm an old man and everythink but they're far too much on insurance. Now looking at 1.6 astras (sxi?, 2004ish) but no idea what they'd be like to drive, considered a focus but I've had a 1.6turbo diesel and wasn't massively fond, also considering just going for a 1.6 golf....just wondering if anyone had any recommendations really?

If its the mk 1 version 96-04 model then stay away. It drink fuel more than your golf as it also weighs more than a small planet. I get somewhere between 19-28mpg and that drops to about 16mpg if i have the air con in the summer. Mines a 2 litre. Dry weight 1765kg.

[Dave20046]

Originally Posted by TSM

got an Audi A3 TDI 2.0 140 S, seems good enough, i got 59mpg on the way back from oxford today around town abt 35 but if im having fun then 25-30 ish, but you have to be carefull on the throttle as at a push you will see it drop down quickly, fairly quiet, bit hard ride but ive got the Sport with 17" on it
aparently if you want a tdi and do short stints or dont want to be slapped with a high maint bill one day stay away from the 170 models as they have a DPF filter which is expensive to replace, my 140 does not have one but not sure if they are now standard on all models (mine is a 2005)

Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be any audi's lower then insurance group 9
Had work's 2l turbo petrol S-line for a bit, lovely cars!