Most surprisingly nice car to drive?
Discussion
Earlier this year I bought a 180,000 mile 1997 Toyota Paseo with no MOT for £200, it was a dealer trade in that ended up at BCA.
Everyone laughed at me, then it turned up and was completely rust free and they laughed a bit less.
Then it became apparent that despite a total lack of history it had been well looked after - Toyota branded filters, battery, premium tyres - and it flew an MOT with no advisories, the laughter really died down and my reputation as "King of Sheds" looked safe. I regassed it and the AC worked.
Then they drove it, and it's absolutely brilliant, a hugely likeable little thing and very nostalgic. Everyone who has driven it has loved it.
You forget how enjoyable and engaging even dross used to be, OK for a 4 hour trip whatever modern lard arse mini faux SUV former Paseo buyers would have today would be better, but for a 30 minute drive the Paseo is superb.
So that's a car you'd have expected to be a crap steer new, based on the crap journalists still shovelled about Japanese cars in the mid 90s, and to be a shocker in 2024 but it's actually very nice indeed to drive.
Everyone laughed at me, then it turned up and was completely rust free and they laughed a bit less.
Then it became apparent that despite a total lack of history it had been well looked after - Toyota branded filters, battery, premium tyres - and it flew an MOT with no advisories, the laughter really died down and my reputation as "King of Sheds" looked safe. I regassed it and the AC worked.
Then they drove it, and it's absolutely brilliant, a hugely likeable little thing and very nostalgic. Everyone who has driven it has loved it.
You forget how enjoyable and engaging even dross used to be, OK for a 4 hour trip whatever modern lard arse mini faux SUV former Paseo buyers would have today would be better, but for a 30 minute drive the Paseo is superb.
So that's a car you'd have expected to be a crap steer new, based on the crap journalists still shovelled about Japanese cars in the mid 90s, and to be a shocker in 2024 but it's actually very nice indeed to drive.
Edited by GeniusOfLove on Monday 23 September 11:18
I am of the opinion that pretty much every car sold in the last 20 years qualifies as 'surprisingly nice'.
Everything these days as power steering, a decent amount of power, plenty of gears, most have aircon. There's nothing terrible any more.
No base models with manual steering, 4 manual gears, 3 automatic gears, 50bhp in a Sierra sized car, etc.
Everything these days as power steering, a decent amount of power, plenty of gears, most have aircon. There's nothing terrible any more.
No base models with manual steering, 4 manual gears, 3 automatic gears, 50bhp in a Sierra sized car, etc.
Truckosaurus said:
I am of the opinion that pretty much every car sold in the last 20 years qualifies as 'surprisingly nice'.
Everything these days as power steering, a decent amount of power, plenty of gears, most have aircon. There's nothing terrible any more.
No base models with manual steering, 4 manual gears, 3 automatic gears, 50bhp in a Sierra sized car, etc.
Broadly agree, although some cars are still really quite poor.Everything these days as power steering, a decent amount of power, plenty of gears, most have aircon. There's nothing terrible any more.
No base models with manual steering, 4 manual gears, 3 automatic gears, 50bhp in a Sierra sized car, etc.
Mitsubishi Mirage was the last truly poor new car I drove. It was like a sub par 1980s supermini being sold brand new today.
Thinking about the hire cars I've had that really ridiculous tiny Jeep thing that looks like a childs toy, based on a Fiat 500 platform, that's actually very poor too and quite unpleasant to use.
In France in 2005 I was given a Daiwoo Nubria estate hire car of all things. Much to my surprise it was perfectly OK to drive. Helped greatly by the fact that it wasn't a nast unrefined soot chucker. Quite a thing in diesel-obsessed France at the time.
In more recent years I've been impressed by a Focus Ecoboost (the 177bhp one), a Cupra Leon and a Golf Mk 6. And a Fiat 500X I was given in Puglia three or four years ago was was way less s
t to drive than I expected. Although the interior was beginning to disassemble itself around me......
In more recent years I've been impressed by a Focus Ecoboost (the 177bhp one), a Cupra Leon and a Golf Mk 6. And a Fiat 500X I was given in Puglia three or four years ago was was way less s
t to drive than I expected. Although the interior was beginning to disassemble itself around me......
Citroën Xantia.
During the 90s I worked in Rugby for a company that moved there from Newbury. Many of us commuted and the company were pragmatic about loaning the company cars, all Citroëns at the time, to contractors in need. The Xantia was a revelation compared to cars I normally drove. They were even better, in my view, than the guvnor's XM which was occasionally pressed into service.
During the 90s I worked in Rugby for a company that moved there from Newbury. Many of us commuted and the company were pragmatic about loaning the company cars, all Citroëns at the time, to contractors in need. The Xantia was a revelation compared to cars I normally drove. They were even better, in my view, than the guvnor's XM which was occasionally pressed into service.
GeniusOfLove said:
...
Thinking about the hire cars I've had that really ridiculous tiny Jeep thing that looks like a childs toy, based on a Fiat 500 platform, that's actually very poor too and quite unpleasant to use.
I had one of those as a rental too. I thought it was 'surprisingly nice' and quite characterful for a cheap car (although it was the top trim and 4wd diesel).Thinking about the hire cars I've had that really ridiculous tiny Jeep thing that looks like a childs toy, based on a Fiat 500 platform, that's actually very poor too and quite unpleasant to use.
You are right about things like Mirages, and other oddities like that Ka+ made in India, that are the modern equivalent of the Eastern European Skodas, Yugos and Ladas of the 80s.
awooga said:
Most of the Mondeos I've ever driven over the years have always been pretty decent, never horrific. I even owned one briefly as a winter car while I was doing stuff on my MGB.
I had a Mk3 mondeo courtesy car - it was 13 years old, there was some sort of suspension component making a banging noise, but it (somehow) still felt tight and drove beautifully. BMW i3.
Won a weekend in one back in 2018 in a work comp to convert as many driving miles to sustainable over a month.
Loved it so much we bought our first i3 REx in 2019 and then our second , a 94 rex in 2021 which we've still got today (although that's mainly because the arse has fallen out of the EV market and I refuse to book out the £10k loss in 3 years!) Love the chalk and cheese of going from my V8 to a silent (and pre naff audible noise) car that's tardis like inside.
Won a weekend in one back in 2018 in a work comp to convert as many driving miles to sustainable over a month.
Loved it so much we bought our first i3 REx in 2019 and then our second , a 94 rex in 2021 which we've still got today (although that's mainly because the arse has fallen out of the EV market and I refuse to book out the £10k loss in 3 years!) Love the chalk and cheese of going from my V8 to a silent (and pre naff audible noise) car that's tardis like inside.
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