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Freddyfruitba...
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PostPosted: 17:07 - 11 May 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

stevo as b4 wrote:
there's a whole generation of Millenials coming through that never had or saw a manual gearbox

Really? I wasn't aware that autos are any more popular now than they were when I was learning to drive, 40 years ago
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Powderhead
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PostPosted: 00:07 - 12 May 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't necessarily want an auto. It just seems that most of the more "premium" family-type stuff just happens to be auto Thinking
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P.
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PostPosted: 09:44 - 12 May 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

stevo as b4 wrote:
Paddy why no auto's allowed? It's an estate car at end of the day not a two seater sports car. Surely in 2019 you can't have the view that everything on four wheels should be/is better as a manual gearbox?

If so you're a dinosaur, as there's a whole generation of Millenials coming through that never had or saw a manual gearbox, and on the PlayStation they only had or won with trick DSG style autos. And they also know that on the track and spec sheets these dual clutch electronic transmissions are faster. They also have all these auto blipper functions which only facilitates more pops and bangs in their rented premium hatchbacks. Laughing


I'm not a big fan of autos, I want to be able to drive it, not have a stop go option Laughing

It's not better, it's preference. My next car will have to be auto as they don't do them in manual Laughing but that's 500hp.
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Polarbear
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PostPosted: 07:30 - 14 May 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

I like autos Embarassed

The 8 speed box in my Jag is bloody lovely. Plus I have paddles for when I want to show Hamilton how to do it. Thumbs Up
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grr666
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PostPosted: 09:22 - 14 May 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

Had a look at a 19 plate Kuga last night. Boot was too small for our dog plus a potential dog#2 of a similar size.
Going to get over to Mazda at the weekend for a test drive of the CX5.
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Polarbear
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PostPosted: 09:35 - 14 May 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

grr666 wrote:
Had a look at a 19 plate Kuga last night. Boot was too small for our dog plus a potential dog#2 of a similar size.
Going to get over to Mazda at the weekend for a test drive of the CX5.


Haven't things changed.

I just pulled up the CX5 on google to have a nose as I didn't even know what it looked like.

In the old days engine power and 0-60 would be right at the top of the spec sheet. Now it's CO2 and what a lovely place it is to be sat in.

Oh engine size Sir? BHP Sir? 0-60 Sir? you don't need to know that, responsible people are only interested in CO2 emissions.

We'll stick it right at the bottom in the small print for the dinosaurs who think it matters Rolling Eyes

Anyway GRR, the petrol one is sloooooooooooooooooow. Laughing
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A100man
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PostPosted: 10:36 - 14 May 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

Strikes me that conventional estates, while less fashionable, offer more accessible space for less money than the SUV - lower load height also better for bow-wow?
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grr666
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PostPosted: 11:14 - 14 May 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

A100man wrote:
Strikes me that conventional estates, while less fashionable, offer more accessible space for less money than the SUV - lower load height also better for bow-wow?

Strikes me you haven't met my wife who hasn't already point blank REFUSED to be seen driving an estate car. Laughing Laughing Laughing
I had already suggested this, given I know a little more about these things than her. I had a couple of Sierra estates
way back in the day. Crashed one of those into a ditch too. Damn RWD. Laughing However since 90% of the time its her
ride to do work mileage for which she gets a fuel allowance. And for driving her and her dolly bird poledancing mates
to shows and other pole dancing related events which are up and down the country. If I'm honest we will need it for
dog transportation only when we go on holiday but it means we won't have to use the Transit Connect for this anymore
which is the current arrangement. I thought the 2.0 Petrol was driveable, that's all I'm looking for now. I'm not looking
for a fast car. I can scratch that itch on the Spacker.

I want a simple engined, understressed (2.0i n/a) that will last a few years. I don't want one of these modern
1.2 turbo things, I believe a short useful life is designed into modern cars on purpose now. The 2.0 6 speed is the
same as in the MX5 before the current one I believe. I had one of those for a bit and it was an engine that needed
a good old strangling through the revs, then it was fun. Much like the Swift Sport I have now is actually. PLUS (And it's
a big plus) No turbo for my wife to break, no DMF for my wife to abuse to death, nice and quiet. I can suffer that for a
few years, I'll still go everywhere day to day in my van anyway. I'll only get to drive it to Cornwall or Wales and stuff.
If it was my choice entirely, a big Volvo would be my choice too. But there you are, that's marriage for you.
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J4mes
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PostPosted: 11:27 - 14 May 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd have a Skoda Octavia VRS estate or hatch in that price bracket, purely because if we hadn't have bought our superb estate (wanted the biggest boot on the market because of babies and dogs) we would have bought one.

Has to be the VRS though, all the other specs look a bit poverty in comparison.

You'll get a 2016/17 average miles car for your money. But it will depreciate a lot more than the "main 3" premium brands. Luckily it would have taken most of its hit.

Our superb will be worth half what it listed for when new, after 2 years/25K miles.

Thank christ we leased it Laughing
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A100man
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PostPosted: 11:45 - 14 May 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

grr666 wrote:
A100man wrote:
Strikes me that conventional estates, while less fashionable, offer more accessible space for less money than the SUV - lower load height also better for bow-wow?

Strikes me you haven't met my wife who hasn't already point blank REFUSED to be seen driving an estate car. Laughing Laughing Laughing ... But there you are, that's marriage for you.


Ah yes I had one of those - she left when I didn't do precisely what I was told and yes she desired an SUV... Range Rover no less as we needed 5 'proper seats' for us and the 3 kids.
Imagine her dismay when I got a C4 Picasso - in fairness this was a company lease car so there were 'guidelines'. However she's now gone and the C4 is now up for renewal and I'm about to put in for a
Seat Leon ST with a puny 1.0 3 cylinder turbo (115 BHP mind you) which has sufficient green credentials not to crippling in benefit tax.
I also no longer care too much about speed or image.. luckily.
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Polarbear
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PostPosted: 11:45 - 14 May 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

A100man wrote:
Strikes me that conventional estates, while less fashionable, offer more accessible space for less money than the SUV - lower load height also better for bow-wow?


That's a good point, especially when Woofit gets older. Thumbs Up
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A100man
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PostPosted: 11:50 - 14 May 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

It is all fucking nuts though. Pure fashion, form over function. Prior to the popularization of the SUV mine was targeting a 3 series estate!?

She now has an Evoque which her long-legged yellow Labrador struggles to fit in.. ho hum..
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Powderhead
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PostPosted: 13:25 - 14 May 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the replies all.

I think it's down to a V60 or a Focus on paper. Test driving some this weekend...

...including a C-Class estate, which I'm worried the Mrs is going to prefer Laughing
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syl
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PostPosted: 17:52 - 14 May 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'd have said Golf R estate, but you're about £2k short. You could get the hatchback though.
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stevo as b4
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PostPosted: 18:44 - 14 May 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

Of course it's all bollocks!
People are driving these Nissan/Jag/VW and various Korean pedestrian killing heavy hulks of cars, often which are pretend 4wd and have naff all boot space.

Also since crossovers and small SUV's first exploded into popularity 8-10years ago, people have been very happily doing worse 70mph+ fuel economy due to bigger, higher more square frontal areas. And that is apparently progress!

Manufacturers must be laughing at public buyers trends and demands for greener cars that do less mpg.

Its like the 40ton HGV tractors that can emit roses and hot air from 3' square exhaust box's, and do 2-3mpg less to achieve it. But a 500bhp V8 with twin billowing stacks that uses less fuel for the same journey is evil?


Last edited by stevo as b4 on 18:51 - 14 May 2019; edited 1 time in total
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UncleFester
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PostPosted: 18:48 - 14 May 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

Focus RS Estate - practical too Thumbs Up
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sensi5446
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PostPosted: 21:04 - 14 May 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

J4mes wrote:
I'd have a Skoda Octavia VRS estate or hatch in that price bracket, purely because if we hadn't have bought our superb estate (wanted the biggest boot on the market because of babies and dogs) we would have bought one.

Has to be the VRS though, all the other specs look a bit poverty in comparison.

You'll get a 2016/17 average miles car for your money. But it will depreciate a lot more than the "main 3" premium brands. Luckily it would have taken most of its hit.

Our superb will be worth half what it listed for when new, after 2 years/25K miles.

Thank christ we leased it Laughing


+1 on this, I have a 16 reg VRS hatch and its great to drive, its a golf GTI with a huge boot.
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Shaft
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PostPosted: 22:28 - 14 May 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

grr666 wrote:

I want a simple engined, understressed (2.0i n/a) that will last a few years. I don't want one of these modern
1.2 turbo things, I believe a short useful life is designed into modern cars on purpose now.


And you would be right.

I'm a Merc man, as are all my work colleagues and you can see the built in obsolescence a mile off, if you look at them through the years.

The oldest in our group is my daily, a 2001 C240 2.6 (estate too, I like to chuck my fishing gear in the back) which wasn't a highly rated car when new, but it does seem to be better built than the next newest, a 2008 C350 coupe.

That, in turn, is better screwed together than the 2012 C63 AMG in our combined fleet, which compares very well with the nearly new Mercs we look after; we did some body repairs on 2018 C300 hybrid last week and bugger me, they're flimsy.

I have it on very good authority that Merc's idea of service life is now 60 months and, judging by the other stuff we work on, that would appear to be the norm; makes me hanker for the halcyon days of my 1999 E240, a car which most people will tell you is a low point in Merc's history, but seems positively tank like (my example is still going strong, in the entirely unsympathetic and neglectful hands of my next door neighbour) compared to the shit we have in our workshop most days.

And you're also right in your observation of the much vaunted hi-po small engine, which has been brought on us by the zealots in the green movement.

Sure, a 1.0 three pot will be very economical on a test bench, especially when it's clothed by a body that weighs the same as a training shoe, but in the real world, you'll be spinning the turbo to within an inch of it's life and caning the cojones off it, just to try and keep up with traffic.

Add that to extended service intervals and you've got a recipe for disaster, which is coming to light with the not well publicised failure rate of the Ford super tiny powerhouse.

I'm going backwards now, thinking a Cortina of some sort might be a better bet - virtually nothing to go wrong (and what there is can be fixed with a hammer and a set of combination spanners) well serviced by the aftermarket and going up in value.
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mentalboy
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PostPosted: 01:37 - 15 May 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

Shaft wrote:


I'm going backwards now, thinking a Cortina of some sort might be a better bet - virtually nothing to go wrong (and what there is can be fixed with a hammer and a set of combination spanners) well serviced by the aftermarket and going up in value.


Great if you like rot boxes.
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BTTD
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PostPosted: 09:05 - 15 May 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

grr666 wrote:
Strikes me you haven't met my wife who hasn't already point blank REFUSED to be seen driving an estate car. Laughing Laughing Laughing
.......driving her and her dolly bird poledancing mates
to shows and other pole dancing related events which are up and down the country...... Im not looking
for a fast car. I can scratch that itch on the Spacker.

I want a simple engined, understressed (2.0i n/a) that will last a few years............

If it was my choice entirely, a big Volvo would be my choice too. But there you are, that's marriage for you.


If you can meet midway the more recent Subaru Outback with 2.5 normally aspirated petrol might be of interest to you.
Recently drove a 2 year old one with 15k miles on it (costing £24k second hand):
0-60 is around 9 seconds so not a slug but not going to win many drag races (it is sprightly off the line though when pulling out of a junction with the auto linear box).
Rear seat space is better than my E class merc, so plenty of room for dolly birds. Boot is a decent size, but a bit smaller than the merc. You should be able to fit big dags in it.
It doesn't get great write ups in the auto press, but I found it to be comfortable and very easy to drive about in. The auto press always do on about driving dynamics and other stuff that you don't care about when you're carting people /stuff / dags around.
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ThunderGuts
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PostPosted: 09:17 - 15 May 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

jnw010 wrote:

If you can meet midway the more recent Subaru Outback with 2.5 normally aspirated petrol might be of interest to you.
Recently drove a 2 year old one with 15k miles on it (costing £24k second hand):
0-60 is around 9 seconds so not a slug but not going to win many drag races (it is sprightly off the line though when pulling out of a junction with the auto linear box).
Rear seat space is better than my E class merc, so plenty of room for dolly birds. Boot is a decent size, but a bit smaller than the merc. You should be able to fit big dags in it.
It doesn't get great write ups in the auto press, but I found it to be comfortable and very easy to drive about in. The auto press always do on about driving dynamics and other stuff that you don't care about when you're carting people /stuff / dags around.


Doesn't meet the OP's requirements, but I bloody love my 11 year old Forester. 2.5 litre turbo boxer engine (about 230 bhp with oodles of torque), proper AWD system that even embarrasses Defenders in the snow (yes really!) and it's a proper, practical estate car that'll tow 2 tonnes should you need it to. It's great fun and because of all the positives, I stomach the nearly £600 VED.

Not so sure about the more recent Subarus, I think they went a bit "soft" - the Foresters after the generation I have I believe weren't anything like as much fun and were turning into "urban SUVs" rather than the traditional countryside hooning machine
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grr666
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PostPosted: 09:31 - 15 May 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had a deposit down on a 2014 Subaru Forester XT last year. But that rubber band gearbox and single figure mpg was the
reason I ultimately had it refunded. True case of buyers remorse.
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ThunderGuts
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PostPosted: 10:19 - 15 May 2019    Post subject: Reply with quote

grr666 wrote:
I had a deposit down on a 2014 Subaru Forester XT last year. But that rubber band gearbox and single figure mpg was the
reason I ultimately had it refunded. True case of buyers remorse.


Mine has a proper auto box; it's a bit lazy but it does the job and when I want to just eat the miles in the least stressful way possible it does it very well. Mpg isn't actually that ridiculous for what it is; it's got permanent (and proper) AWD, it's quite tall and does 60 in under 7 seconds . . . mine averages around 27mpg (can get low 30s on a run), although it does much prefer V-Power / Tesco 99 over normal fuel. Given that the 2.5 Focus STs had similar performance and had a similar thirst, despite being 2WD, I don't think the Foz is too bad really.
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