Changing my Car - Suggestions please

[PeteB99]

I am going to have to change my Titanium X Sport 2.5t Mundano (that I have bluefinned up to 260 HP). Our second car is a peugeot 107, and to stop my two lads fighting over it am going to need to downsize to something I can insure them on (and they won't kill someone with)

So Selling the Mondeo - I was thinking privately via AutoTrader, Ebay and PH Classifieds - any suggestions ?

My shortlist for a new car (and hopefully not totally boring) was

Focus Zetec S 182
Astra SRi 1.6T (or maybe a Diesel SRi)
Seat Leon 1.4TSi FR
New Mazda 3 SE 2.0 Petrol (or maybe Diesel)

I was looking for new cars on buyacar.co.uk - and there seemed some good deals - Again any other suggestions

[chris watton]

Deja-Vu!

PeteB99 on Friday 11th March 2011 said:

I would like a family sized car (either Mondeo or Focus size) which is reasonably quick, nice to drive and reasonably economical.

I've got a Mondeo (I know boring) Titanium X Sport at the minute 2.5 Turbo Petrol which I have 'bluefinned' to 260 hp and it is a good fit. The only problem is the fuel economy.

I noticed there is a 2.2 turbo diesel Mondeo which is 200 hp (and I guess that could be chipped to get a bit more power)
http://www.buyacar.co.uk/ford_mondeo_diesel_hatchb... which seems to be about £21k (about £6k off list price)

Or the New Focus http://www.buyacar.co.uk/ford_focus_diesel_hatchba... but its only 2k cheaper, and slower.

Anything else ? - I'd consider petrol as well as long as it is significantly better than the 30mpg claimed combined cycle for my current Mondeo. The Golf GTIs look nice but they are quite a bit more money -

You kept the Mondeo for a good few year's longer, then....

[PeteB99]

chris watton said:

You kept the Mondeo for a good few year's longer, then....

Yep, :-), although I don't think I can delay any longer - my youngest son is picking me up to go and do some test drives at the dealers !

[David87]

I have looked at two of those cars yesterday! My Wife is after a bigger car to replace her R56 MINI: she wants a Countryman, I think they're ste and poor value. I thus went and looked at the SEAT and Mazda.

I discounted the Focus as it's just unforgivably ugly and the Astra is dull.

I was very impressed with the Leon; the FR spec is very generous (especially with the free Technology Pack offer, which gives you full LED headlamps, DAB radio and touch-screen sat nav) and it looks very smart. The interior was pretty nice on the whole, with only the lower half of the dashboard's centre console feeling a bit dodgy. The 1.4 TSI engine is without doubt the smartest choice. The only thing I would add is the Winter Pack, purely to get heated chairs.

For me, the Mazda was the (slightly) better choice - I really was impressed by its interior quality and exterior design. The Sport Nav trim, when combined with the more powerful 2.0-litre petrol, gives you everything you'd ever need. My only concern is its fuel economy as I really can't see it being as good as the SEAT, despite what the claimed figures are.

[ocrx8]

Aren't the Mazda SkyActiv engines meant to be pretty good on fuel?

[David87]

ocrx8 said:

Aren't the Mazda SkyActiv engines meant to be pretty good on fuel?

They are on paper, but compared with the (comparatively) torquey smaller capacity turbo in the Leon, I can see you having to wring the Mazda's neck in the real world, meaning - you guessed it - poor fuel economy. I may be wrong, but I'd love to see some realistic figures.

[PeteB99]

I tried to arrange to see the Mazda today, but they said they can't show it me til Friday (the official launch date)

[David87]

PeteB99 said:

I tried to arrange to see the Mazda today, but they said they can't show it me til Friday (the official launch date)

That's true, but my local dealer didn't really seem to care about the rules.

[PeteB99]

David87 said:

They are on paper, but compared with the (comparatively) torquey smaller capacity turbo in the Leon, I can see you having to wring the Mazda's neck in the real world meaning - you guessed it - poor fuel economy. I may be wrong, but I'd love to see some real-world figures.

Yeah - the marketing blurb from Mazda is the non-turbo bigger capacity engine is going to get better 'real life' mpg than the small turbos, but ..

[FactHunt]

Keep the mondeo (that you obviously like) and buy them both a small car of their own?

[va1o]

New Leon is a very impressive all round package. The latest generation 1.4 TSI is a quality engine and the FR trim with Tech Pack comes loaded to the hill with kit.

[PeteB99]

FactHunt said:

Keep the mondeo (that you obviously like) and buy them both a small car of their own?

Been round looking at Astras, Leons and Focus Zetec Ss. The Leon is very nice, the focus is quite nice to drive, but I prefer the Mondeo to all of them. I thought by going to a 3 car household it would be a lot more expensive, but I'm wondering if it really would be. Certainly, selling the Mondeo for 5-6K seems a bit of a shame.

[telecat]

Looking at the Budget I would say 2 x Ibiza TOCA 1.4's Not ridiculous to insure but enough poke and gadgets to keep them and their Smart Phones happy.