Which small family hatchback?

[Robby]

Now I know this has been done to death, but I feel like flogging it some more.
Circumstances are changing, I require 4 seats and a boot. Its a toss up between the a 306 and a focus. Going rate on a 97ish 306 is £1500, on a 99 focus about £3k.
I know the focus is better, I've driven one and I liked it, but is it £1500 better?

Would be turbo diesel models of both.

[Bendy]

So who's pregnant then?

[Robby]

No one. Yet.
I hope.

Get worried about them when I start asking about those nice medium size volvo estates and isofix mountings for the baby chair.

Anyone want to buy a smart roadster?

[byke95]

[Icey]

Neither as one of them is french, and well the other I don't even think needs to be said.

Get a Honda.
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Mutley - 1988 Austin Mini City - Blog
Suetonius - 1966 Series Land Rover - Blog
Uma J - 1981 Honda 'Naked' Goldwing GL1100 - Blog

[Robby]

https://www.sniffpetrol.com/AdHondafeels.jpg

No honda, rover, or vauxhall. I am open to other suggestions though.

[Icey]

You don't know whats good for you then


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Mutley - 1988 Austin Mini City - Blog
Suetonius - 1966 Series Land Rover - Blog
Uma J - 1981 Honda 'Naked' Goldwing GL1100 - Blog

[yambabe]

306.

The focus has some horrendous blind spots at the back.
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Sod falling in love, I wanna fall in chocolate.

[Davo]

If you can get an HDI Peugeot 306, you'll be laughing (more power, better fuel economy)

I'd steer clear of the pre-2001 focus diesels, as their TDDI engines are somewhat prehistoric. Their TDCI engines on the other hand were excellent.

[tribal_tiger]

Focus is a hell of a lot bigger on the inside from what I remember!

Go whole hog and go for a Galaxy!
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How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could Chuck Norris?

All of it.

[Adam_P]

Are you specifically looking for a hatchback robby?

VW Golf, or Audi A3 (if that within budget) would be better than the Pug and ride/drive slightly better than the Ford. (And hold their money better)

Skoda Fabia (Don't laugh, its an A3/Golf - exactly the same underneath - with a different bodyshell)
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Colin McRae MBE 1968 - 2007 RIP
Orwell Rolls in his Grave
God is imaginary

[Robby]

I'm looking for something to cheap to buy and own, and i'll be moving inside the M25 and likely have onstreet parking. So no need for anything particularly nice. Might be doing some motorway mileage for a few months too.

Budget is up to 3k, but if a 306 will do the job for £1500 I'll get one of those.

[Barry_M2]

I currently have a 306 Meridian. I wouldn't buy another one.

I was actually thinking of getting a Focus TdCi or Golf TDI next.

Although the 306 is a good car, and in the year and a half we have had it its only needed a new exhaust, I just dont like the engine (1.6 petrol) or the build quality.

Personally, I'd choose a Focus out of the two.

[Irezumi aka Reuben]

How many you importing, and are they mainly male or female?

Dont forget you can squeeze two in the passenger footwell too.
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Pictorgraphicalfantastical

[Ant]

i owned a 306 d turbo for about 3 1/2 years and i cant rate it highly enough, and i didnt quite keep to the service schedule, for the money thats what i'd have, but saying that ive only ever driven a focus estate for 50ish miles so i cant compare
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04 ZX10R ~

[WildGoose]

sack it off.

buy more DeLorean loafers.

be robby again.
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So in other words, he stopped you for being flagrantly in posession of a motorcycle in direct contravention of the Hippies, Darkies and People Whose Face I Don't Like The Look of (Police Powers) Act. 1976

[colin1]

someone on here is selling a 300zx twin turbo for £3k. that also has 4 seats and a boot but unfortunately i think it does 20mpg

it looks pretty tho and i bet its fun to drive
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colin1 is officially faster than god

[John C]

Go for the ford every time

I had to collect 3 German colleagues from Manchester airport on Sunday so I got the receptionist to hire me a car suitable for 4 grown men and luggage.

I got a pug 306 1.6 HDI

As soon as I picked it up from the car park I didn't like it.
It felt cheap and tacky and the general build quality and attention to detail were nowhere near as good as my '96 ford mondeo.

For starters lower steering column cowl was misaligned so that the hole through to the ignition lock was off center. Ho hum you say, but you just don't want that on a new car (55). The whole interior was just cheap and nasty.

Then you get to the outside. I looked at the front grill and thought how it looked ok, but nothing special. When I grabbed hold of the one of the slots in the grill you could push and pull, and generally flex what felt like a loose i'll fitting front end.

Then there's the engine. Obviously my 1.8T has the extra cc, but it's also a 10 year old common rail engine. I'd have expected something new like this to have a little bit more poke, but it was, quite frankly, painful.

On the other hand, my friends focus company car seems to be generally well built. The 1.8TD engine is never going to set the world on fire, but you could quite happily use it as a workhorse for 200000 miles +. I also see them on the motorway doing 110+ as a regular occurrence, perhaps due to the fact that they’re used as company cars and the owners don't care about them.

I would never own a Peugeot, the only ones that I have seen that are any good are the top of the range 407's, all the rest seem to be put together by monkeys.

[Annabella]

[Johnny GSX-R]

Go for the FORD, cheaper to service and run than the Pug, far easier to re-sell should you wish too, handles far better and its not as old in the design.

My 2005 Mondeo TDCI Ghia estate has a 6 speed box and around town sees 45mpg, on a motorway run it regularly hits 66/68 mpg.

Jap diesles are bullet proof but you get more for your money with a FORD.

[Johnny GSX-R]

Also, as stated earlier, make sure its a 'TDCI' and NOT a 'TDDI'..

[John C]

Yeah, you definitely want the TDCI.

Apparently the TDDI had problems with the fuel pump going just as the warrantee ran out - usually costing about a grand to fix (at dealer prices)

[Dom_]

No idea how either of them drive, but my stepdads owned a 2.0 hdi engined 406 from new, now showing 170k on the clock and no problems what so ever, apart from a fuel pump.
In short, the hdi engines are bulletproof and give good mpg.

[plugger147]

[DAF]

Adam_P wrote