Here we go again, tour de dealerships

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Boring day tomorrow. Trekking around ALL the local dealerships with the wife so she can find out what cars look like. Yup, her Cooper S is up for replacement by "something with 4 doors". Guess it will need to be shiny too!

So, we will be off, looking at everything, obviously trying my hardest to keep her away from Angela Merkel's samey looking euro ste and finding something that fits the bill, or more accurately has the right number of doors. She was looking at a Kuga until I told her how big it was compared to the hateful little st box she drives today.

Why the hell won't she let me buy her a Lambo as she does so few miles and rent a st box for the few days a year she needs more doors, it would be a reasonable weekend toy for me too (OK, yes the game is up!!!). North of £25k for a heap of boredom like she already has but with 4 doors makes no sense at all, and delays me buying a Gallardo.

Grrrrrrrr.

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poing said:

She'll pick the cutest car she can find in a pretty colour, it also won't have 4 doors because suddenly that won't be important any more.

You could try to save yourself some time and take her to the Audi dealership, point her at an A1 and go have a coffee.

Good luck!

Sorry, I just saw my breakfast again. You seemed to have missed something in my post, probably because of the swear filter.

Is the the overpriced German thing that has the Audi badge on, or the overpriced German thing that has the BMW badge on? I can't tell the difference between them. Also, when I look at what you get for the TCO over 3 or 4'years, it makes me weep.

I definitely will not be an Audi or BMW, hopefully not a Vobbledeedub either. Worryingly, she likes the Golf, which to be fair I have not looked at since I was looking to get her a new GTI in 2002. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind paying for what I get, but she does mind. With a fairly high starting price compared to a pug GTI, I then realised that if she wanted a radio, it would be another £750, if she didn't want those strange things you wind around to open the windows, another wheelbarrow of cash even before we get to leather and a/c. The pug had it all in the price and she liked the look inside compared to the dub.

Maybe it is different now, but somehow I doubt it. Will find out tomorrow no doubt... Hohum.

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itz_baseline said:

Sounds like a good day to me. I like a trip to all the dealers to have a look at what is available. Even if its for something pretty generic and white goods like.

Sure looking at supercars would be better....but it beats shopping for clothes with the wife surely?

Why not take her to the car auctions for the day? True romance.

Waiting for taxis in Cuba a couple of weeks ago was a bit like a Classic American car auction, although they all seemed to be powered by Russian diesels, but at least she liked it.. Thanks, might give the action a go, I think I scored that night . Do they sell NEW cars, may get some suspenders too

Now clothes shopping does have its benefits. When you get home, you get to help her in and out of them as she has another look to make sure they still fit after lunch, which is quite a passion of mine too (well, lunch and helping her out of clothes are anyway).

Just can't seem to get interested in tomorrow. I mean, bloody hell, Kia is on her list too. I wouldn't know one if it bit me in the leg, but apparently it has a 7'year warrantee... and four doors of course

Sigh...

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Fleckers said:

Sounds like range rover evoke time

Been there. Answer was "Too much money" (as usual when anything reasonable is being suggested), and "didn't that beanstalk Beckham have a hand in it"?

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steveeeW said:

Loved the moan! Can you please inform us of how the day went & also what she inevitably picked? ;-)

Well we had sort of a shortlist of two at the moment. She doesn't like Audis or Mercs as she thinks they are 3.14key cars, strange mind she has.

Anyway, we trawled the forecourts and showrooms with the "you can have whatever you want" mode fully on, a bit of pub lunch in the process, and the net result is she wants the new Clio with lots of toys, I think it is called the Clio "Ann Summers" special edition or something .

The other one on her list was a Fiasco Titanium but she is not keen on the new nose on it. There was a new stron C3 with £5k off "this weekend only" which she liked on the outside, but when the doors opened it was poverty spec inside. It had funny things on the rear doors that you wind and the windows lower, if you wind them the other way, they raise - weird idea, so we left without it.

The Kuga titty x was "too big" for her, which was a shame as it seemed to be a nice place to be inside. Might get one myself as a daily when the Rav moves on.

No doubt she will change her mind next week, so better get a Clio ordered quickly. It will be a diseasel...

And Simon, I do not have loads of money, but I do have a budget, or will find a way to make sure that absolutely anything my wife wants she gets. My car will happen from some stock which is vesting. Hope that puts your mind at rest.

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r11co said:

Childish.

Edited by r11co on Sunday 27th July 16:16

It's called a sense of fun. You wouldn't understand.

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bint said:

I don't see the harm in women looking for small 4 door runabouts. Leaves the interesting stuff available for the rest of us and also, if it's what they want/need, then why push for anything else.

I'd suggest if you want quality interior and all mod cons, euro blandness is spot on for her - given she's already got that with a Mini.... Anything like a Kia or Japanese based reliability may not be up to trim level for her.

You are bang on the money there. We looked at so many different manufacturers cars, and you are right, some of it was a bit bland compared to the funkiness of her mini inside. But it isn't just the usual suspects from Korea and the like that suffer. One thing that surprised me was the interior of the Golf and Polo. That dashboard has absolutely no flair at all. One of the poorest designs we saw all day.

She liked the new Nissans, the Note and Juke standing out for her in particular. Despite my attempt to make it sound like a day to dread in my first tongue in cheek post, it was actually a good time. We spoke to a number of decent and helpful dealer staff despite me telling them exactly as it is (building a shortlist) and had a nice lunch too, and she seems to have her mind sorted to some extent now.

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r11co said:

They were a bunch of unoriginal and unfunny clichés, and poor attempts at smut that even Benny Hill wouldn't have stooped to.

You clearly failed to understand that.

I rest my case m'Lud.

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r11co said:

SeeFive said:

I rest my case m'Lud.

You haven't even made your case yet!



I feel sorry for your missus. This entire thread revolves around you demonstrating what a boorish oaf you are taking the piss out of her in front of your internet mates, but God forbid anyone call you out for it.

Edited by r11co on Sunday 27th July 16:43

You made the case perfectly on your own, no need for me to comment further. Incidentally, my wife has seen this thread from the outset and also thinks that you are a narrow minded tedious fool (she doesn't swear) who likes to demonstrate his higher horse pose from behind his keyboard.

I believe the last thing she said was you either need to get a life or a sense of humour, and is so happy not to be shackled with an opinionated bore like you sound. I have always thought she really is a good judge of character.

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jsp56 said:

Hi,

I actually am a wife who has been car shopping all week and I just wanted to say that I also feel your pain. Ghastly experience, and this is me talking as the wife in the situation. Thanks for airing your feelings on the subjectl. I feel a bit of vicarious closure from reading your post. Now if I could only buy an EOS camera instead - that would be so much easier. :-)

Jsp

Heh heh. Happy to share with a bit of (boorish) fun thrown in to upset the terminally narrow minded and amuse the normal folks! Probably like your husband, we would not do it unless your were worth it. My wife deserves everything that she gets out of life, she is pretty much perfect, unlike me, but just like me knows little about the type of cars that she would like next

So,what are you thinking of getting next, or did you already make a purchase?.

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jsp56 said:

That's a lovely reply. I think your wife is a lucky lass.

For me - tbh, I can't seem to get over the idea of losing my 2006 Mondeo. I've found a car I like (Ford Focus 2011), but it feels like base treachery to leave my current car, even in the absence of its turbocharger. It's not only difficult, but I actually can't do it. It's a very odd thing to have to explain to the very kind car salesman who is probably on commission.

Never mind me, you should meet her - I am punching so far above my weight with her it is natural to want to look after her a bit.

The wife liked the focus too, but even that felt a bit big to her. Probably won't coming from a Mondeo though. I know what you mean about not wanting to lose a car - I will not be getting rid of my old tub ever, just adding to its stable to rest its legs occasionally. Coming up 10 years now and she is nearly as important to me as the wife (who may have just lovingly clumped me around the head as I was reading this to her )

A 2006 Mondeo turbo failure? If it is not intergalactic mileage, it may not be too terrible. Do you actually know what has happened to your turbo? Is it in bits inside your engine, or has a pipe split, valve or some other control mechanism stopped it working? That happens quite frequently, and you may be nicely surprised if you get it checked out by someone that knows what they are doing.

This will be contentious, but IMHO and experience, If you take it to a main agent, they will probably diagnose a cataclysmic failure, as in the main they just change the parts that the computer suggests irrespective of the cost to you. A good indie proper engineer type like my late dad will properly diagnose your problem, give you a quote which would probably be a lot more palletable than a main agent even if it does require a replacement turbo, and you can have your pride and joy back again in fine fettle.

Seriously, if you love your Mondeo as you seem to say, a turbo problem may not be as bad as you fear and will be significantly less expensive than buying another car which someone else has used since 2011, and may be selling for a reason not covered by an aftermarket warrantee.

I wish you all the best with your Mondeo and hope you are not forced into a decision that you seem not to want to make.

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Qwert1e said:

We already know the answer,

Range Rover Evoque

Heh heh. We've been there, see earlier

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jsp56 said:

Thanks, that's really helpful advice, and kind of what I've been thinking, and what I've heard from others here. I've lined up three garages to get second, third and forth opinions from when they open tomorrow. The Ford main dealer (which I just accidentally spelled "Frod" amusingly) did indeed diagnose a cataclysmic failure, but were unable to tell me anything at all about the error codes or what they saw. They just said "Turbo failure, £100 fee for diagnosis and £2000 to repair". Won't be going back there. For bonus fun they also refused to search their own database to see if they had an auto Focus to sell me. "If you can point to one in the car park I'll get the key." We left after that.

btw, very best of luck to you and your wife in the hunt for her special new car. For me the colour is also weirdly critical, so I'm right with her there.

Yeah, I got quoted over £3k for an electronic fault from a Vette main agent on mine. Diagnosed it myself in the end after swapping a lot of wires around, and finding an error in the codes pointing to a sensor on the wrong wheel! Cost me less than £200 in the end. Loads of similar stories from my dad's business too.

You sound like you would get on very well with my wife over a glass of,wine. She is mulling colours as I type. . She is not a "red" person, but the Clio does have a nice deep metallic red option. Sadly, it doesn't stop there as there are all sorts of "personalisation" options she can spec too on colours

I hope she keeps it to something that someone else will want to buy in a few years time. More a Constable than a Picasso I hope!

Keep your chin up and let us all know the (hopefully) good news after tomorrow.

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jsp56 said:

Yikes! Good that you got that fixed. Looking forward to hearing what your wife chooses. :-) She does indeed sound like my kind of person. If at any point she says "I like that blue, but it might possibly be a bit purple." Then we are squarely on the same page.

You should take a look at a colour that Ford did some years ago called Paris blue mica. I had a car In that, and women used to come up to me in garages asking what colour it was. Basically, it was blue with a red mica on it. In a Mobil garage, with the blue coloured lights of the pumps it looked stellar!

Don't think she will go for blue this time...

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Raize said:

MINI Countryman?

She no likey "the van" model. . Saw the 5 door yesterday on the interweb, haven't seen one I the flesh yet... Not likely to look TBH.

I must admit, after almost 4 years of the S, I don't think she would want another Mini even though they do a 5 door now. I was also a bit disappointed when we bought hers. I was given the go ahead to hillclimb it now and then (gently of course dear), but the handling was so erratic, it could potentially involve some significant rearrangement of the panels...

It would be very expensive to sort the handling, would make it uncomfortable for her daily use, and I would not do that to her. So a different toy is required and there is no room in the garage or on the drive unfortunately. Anyway, we enjoy our Sundays together, so competing doesn't have such an attraction these days.

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jsp56 said:

That's lovely, but I definitely could not pull off something that cool.

Do I sense a whiff of modesty there? I am sure you could.

She is just the same, but her car is more cute to her than cool. When we go out in something exotic and loud, she is hiding under the dash. I even bought the plate (which she wasn't at all keen on at first) about 15 years ago as a joke as I have always called her Babe since I saw the movie with the kids

Sorry, a bit oafish there . Not really, that is my nickname for her.

Anyway, back to the plot, it is looking a bit like this, or maybe a white one (yuk)



Yes that does have rear doors...

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steveeeW said:

Cheers for the update! A rather fun & interesting read for a change, rather than a 'what car' thread. Lovely Corvette BTW!
Did you look @ any of Honda's range? I.E the Jazz, or civic?

Cheers. As mentioned, lots of cars have come and gone in the 10 years, but that is a keeper.

We did look at the Honda range, but the exterior styling was not quite to her liking. Seemed well put together, but no reaction from the wife on wanting one. She felt the Civic looked quite dated, maybe something to do with the rather risky look being a bit marmite.

We are very lucky as there is a motor plaza a few miles from us with most of the main players al together in a small area, and a few stragglers within a few miles. We got to see pretty much everything apart from BMW, but she is not interested in them anyway.

Sometimes she can be odd about styling. Given what she said about Honda, I had to almost forcibly stop her from throwing her leg over a Dacia Duster in the Renault showroom . Weird indeed...

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jsp56 said:

I also slight coveted the Mini, but then I sat in a neighbour's one and it wasn't nearly as nice as classical looking and sophisticated inside as I was expecting. I have no idea of why that matters, but it did seem to.

Yeah, quite funky which does not appeal to everyone - every person has their own view. Hers is quite well specced, a nice place to be in the daytime but with all sorts of colour changing mood lighting and stuff making it quite cosy at night too. She doesn't hammer it so doesn't really notice the bad handling. It is a bit gimmicky for me too, but as is clear from every what car thread on here, it really is horses for courses.

I recently bought my step daughter an MX5 after she said she liked the look of them. She had the little Streetka for a couple of years and wanted something a bit more modern now her no claims could make insurance affordable. I couldn't really afford a brand new one knowing my wife's car is up for a change soon after.

Once again, the special editions came to my rescue as most MX5s I saw in the classifieds a couple of years old were very poorly specced. The Anniversary model, while being a 2010 car was actually quite nice, and she loved the pearl white colour and special wheels when she saw one.

So a few days later, an immaculate one owner 11000 miler in pearl white was on her drive with a big ribbon round the roof, and a teddy bear in the passenger seat holding a box of chocs . She has had a bit of a tough time lately with her boyfriend getting killed, so it was nice to do something to cheer her up a bit.

[

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AbarthChris said:

I liked the initial rant, very funny

Actually, since you mentioned it, I just went back and had another look at that. We didn't bother with prices too much when looking on Saturday, just got a rough idea from numbers on the display placards. On speccing the Clio up online, she has picked a car that seems to be way under £20k, let alone the £25k she set as a maximum.

[SeeFive]

Time for an update. She drove her shortlist at the weekend and has decided to go for the new Clio Dynamique S 1.5 diesel. Specced up the car with her, and lo and behold it came out exactly the same as the immaculate one sitting In the showroom! So, to avoid the uncertainties of build time slots, I asked it it was for sale, and we bought that on Saturday.

It will be registered in September to benefit from the later reg for resale. With the paint and a few bits of extra carbon effect on the chin, arse and sills, it came to just shy of £18k list, which for French white goods is quite a lot of money, but it actually looks and drives in a way she likes, well the lower spec demo car did anyway. Ended up at £16.5k including 4 years servicing free, shockingly good trade-in price on her Cooper S, 4 years 100,000 mile warrantee, and 4 years all bells and whistles RAC on the car, plus the usual mats, 1st aid kit, warning triangle, hi vis vest etc.

Then the bombshell. Didn't fancy throwing away loads of deposit on pcp and want to own he car on day1, so was going to throw cash at it. But Renault are running a 0% finance for four years at the moment, so I just put 40% in and will do the rest on 0%. Result, and my better half is really chuffed, 4 doors, shiny, lots of toys, economical and a suspension for a change... and we can do some work on the house with the rest of the cash.!

There is also still time for me to go and buy some more ribbon, champers and a teddy bear to be in the car when she collects it! Happy wife = happy me