Buying a car

[BillZZR600]

To add to Nigels OP.

Take a friend who knows about cars with you!!

If you havn't got such a friend ,find out if any of your friends have a garage the use for servicing and "buy" a mechanic for the hour you go to look at your choice..
(There are two such young lads at the independant I use who are never averse to a few bob in hand and much cheaper than buying a pig in a poke. Bbecause they tend to see slightly older and a wider range of model cars than an main dealer may they will have a range of experiences to use as reference)

[AdamW]

From your experiences Adam, it sounds like you'd would be happier buying an older car for £2-3000 where any old garage can fix it and you certainly don't need to worry about main dealers?

Either I have mde my feelings very clear, or you've read me very well.
I am sad to say that I now own an 04 S60 which has taken me away from my friendly independent mechanic to the main dealer for warranty etc for at least another year.
However I can report that the Volvo main dealers (Harratts & Riverside) I have had dealings with are far better then Honda and Renault with regard customer service. I know I am paying a touch more for servicing/parts for the Volvo but there are no problems for a change that the dealer has managed to create.

Unfortunately I think all manufacturers can suffer from the "friday afternoon car" and it sounds like you may have had more that your fair share of these.

I understand what you mean regarding the Friday afternoon car, but sadly feel some manuacturers have the friday afternoon effect all week.
Toyota, Honda and Skoda can do it (according to the surveys), so why cant others?
Quite simply the quality control that is in place isn't up to scratch because all the mangers can see is it'll cost more to do a proper job.

[jont]

From your experiences Adam, it sounds like you'd would be happier buying an older car for £2-3000 where any old garage can fix it and you certainly don't need to worry about main dealers?

Either I have mde my feelings very clear, or you've read me very well.

I think I belong to the same school of thought Although over half the cars I've owned have cost under £1k, they've probably cost as much again over the next year in maintenance, even allowing for doing a lot of the work myself. The cheapest car I had to run over a year was a 306 TD. All that needed doing over 10k miles was a set of rear dampers and a set of glow plugs (+ 2 oil changes). Group 5 insurance, 45mpg and you can get a good one for just over £1k these days.

sadly feel some manuacturers have the friday afternoon effect all week.
Toyota, Honda and Skoda can do it (according to the surveys), so why cant others?
Quite simply the quality control that is in place isn't up to scratch because all the mangers can see is it'll cost more to do a proper job.

Well, my brother works for Toyota in the factory, I'm not sure he'd agree *all* their cars are perfect. But I agree that there's a certain complacency in some quaters that the quality doesn't really matter.

As for Skoda - I think it's something of an expectations thing. Why do Audi/VW/Seat do so much worse comparitively than Skoda when fundamentally they are the same cars? Or is it that Skoda drivers are more mechanically sympathetic private buyers who look after their cars rather than sales reps thrashing Audi's to death? (sorry to all those people who don't comform to my stereotypes )

[AdamW]

As for Skoda - I think it's something of an expectations thing. Why do Audi/VW/Seat do so much worse comparitively than Skoda when fundamentally they are the same cars? Or is it that Skoda drivers are more mechanically sympathetic private buyers who look after their cars rather than sales reps thrashing Audi's to death? (sorry to all those people who don't comform to my stereotypes )

I understand your expectations point, but think that with the newly kitted out car plants Skoda use are btter than those currently producing Audi and VW. I think they have got on the QC properly and arent in recession like Germany so arent trying to cut corners and save money.

[Angus]

There is an advantage to Renaults - in the nearly 2 years I've had my Scenic, I 've only needed to wash it 3 or 4 times as the dealership valets it when they have it.

I'd dispute the cheap third party spares though - wiper blades are only currently available through the dealership - £57 for the front pair

[jont]

wiper blades are only currently available through the dealership - £57 for the front pair

Have you tried somewhere like EuroCarParts? I paid £8 for a pair of wipers last time I needed some. Mind you, at £57 a go I can see why dealers might want to restrict their availability!

[Lady Godiva]

Dear Nigel

Tell her to buy one in a pretty colour. My cars a silver car, and it's lovely.

Regards
Sally

[Prelude]

Yes, one of the first considerations is the colour of the car; mine is... or was Diamond White! I supsect though that someone has been secretly spraying some sort of self-tanning spray on it while I sleep, as it's starting to develop some kind of orange (dis)colouration in the most unlikely places!!

[ScoobyChris]

very safe as this is a modern Mini with Servo assisted disk brakes

While the Mini is an excellent and fun car to drive, it's probably the last car I would want to be in if I was involved in an accident!!!

I also would not recommend the Skoda Fabia, based on my own experiences with one - build quality also appears to be declining.

I quite like the new Fiesta and there's always a good deal to be done on one. You also can't go wrong with a Nissan, Honda or Toyota, in my humble experience My brother keeps raving about the Micra 160SR, but I think that could be a bit over budget

Chris

[MiniClubmanEstate]

Mini's are quite ridged compaired with most cars, they don't have crumple zones though so if you hit something you won't be crushed, but it will be a hard impact.
The Mini Clubmans of the 70's have a crumple zone at the front making them much safer, this could have been for regulations in country's they were exported to.
Most Mini owners don't like talking about crashing them, you can't simply replace one, they've got their own unique personalities.

[crr003]

I'd dispute the cheap third party spares though - wiper blades are only currently available through the dealership - £57 for the front pair

£36.60p ex VAT for the VX220.

But you only get one!

Fortunately there are ways round using the OEM part.