Discussion
Since owning an Elise I have got to know alot about courtesy cars so as an important part of Lotus ownership here is my heavily biased review of the Courtesy cars so far. If by chance you own any of these cars and take offence. Too bad.
Toyota Avencis Diesel Estate.
Faceless, horid, slow, wallowy and nasty in every concievable way. There is only one thing worse.
FIAT Punto. I phoned up the insurance company to insure it for the few days I had it.
Gooby on phone; Unfortunatly, it is my unpleasant duty to have to drive this heap for x days, can you insure this horid crate of bolts?
Insurance bloke ; they arent that bad, I have just baught one new...
Gooby; .. um ... sorry
Didnt get any better from there on.
Nissan Almera.
My wife used to have one so I wasnt dreding it too much. Once used to the lotus (or any other car) it was just dull. I cant complain, it got us from A-B but that was about it.
Alfa 147 2.0 Twinspark
I really liked it. Fantastic interior, great in the corners, it would beat a quattro in the twisties and Just1's Civic (What a race!) The only problem was it needed to drink fuel a little less and it needed about an extra 50 bhp to be truly fun. Great car, want to find one for Mrs Gooby when she gets bored of the poonjero
Landrover Freelander TD4
I was expecting this car to be incredible as it is a new Landrover. It isnt bad, I dont hate it and I actually went for a "pleasure drive" in it. The engine is hateful, no power low down so you either have to scream the guts out of it or stall and no power high up. Mid range is great, it has to be good at something. The gearbox feels a bit too "rover". You stirr it more than change gear, which given the lack of what is commonly called a "power band" you tend to stirr a lot.
The interior is odd. Rover 25 meets Land rover but saying that it isnt bad. You sit "on" the car instead of "in" the car but when you get used to this it gives great visability. Drives well
After all the negatives, I do actually like it. The worst part is when you realise that Mrs Gooby's 8 year old Poonjero with 130k on the clock is just wildly better in evry aspect apart from boot space and economy.
Poonjero
The main Courtesy Car (Courtesy of my darling wife(she reads these!))
Great car, has NEVER let us down. BIG turbo on a big diesel means that in the wet and in 2wd the tail is crazy and damn good fun. It will go anyware at any time. More suspension and transmission settings that you could shake a large stick at. The only problem is I am responsible for maintenance and costs.
I have one main complaint with courtesy cars.
When I step out to the garage to get my courtesy car, I am never offered the ferrari or TVR or Morgan or shaguar that is next to the car I have been lent. To some that may just sound ungrateful but... ok, I am ungrateful.
Toyota Avencis Diesel Estate.
Faceless, horid, slow, wallowy and nasty in every concievable way. There is only one thing worse.
FIAT Punto. I phoned up the insurance company to insure it for the few days I had it.
Gooby on phone; Unfortunatly, it is my unpleasant duty to have to drive this heap for x days, can you insure this horid crate of bolts?
Insurance bloke ; they arent that bad, I have just baught one new...
Gooby; .. um ... sorry
Didnt get any better from there on.
Nissan Almera.
My wife used to have one so I wasnt dreding it too much. Once used to the lotus (or any other car) it was just dull. I cant complain, it got us from A-B but that was about it.
Alfa 147 2.0 Twinspark
I really liked it. Fantastic interior, great in the corners, it would beat a quattro in the twisties and Just1's Civic (What a race!) The only problem was it needed to drink fuel a little less and it needed about an extra 50 bhp to be truly fun. Great car, want to find one for Mrs Gooby when she gets bored of the poonjero
Landrover Freelander TD4
I was expecting this car to be incredible as it is a new Landrover. It isnt bad, I dont hate it and I actually went for a "pleasure drive" in it. The engine is hateful, no power low down so you either have to scream the guts out of it or stall and no power high up. Mid range is great, it has to be good at something. The gearbox feels a bit too "rover". You stirr it more than change gear, which given the lack of what is commonly called a "power band" you tend to stirr a lot.
The interior is odd. Rover 25 meets Land rover but saying that it isnt bad. You sit "on" the car instead of "in" the car but when you get used to this it gives great visability. Drives well
After all the negatives, I do actually like it. The worst part is when you realise that Mrs Gooby's 8 year old Poonjero with 130k on the clock is just wildly better in evry aspect apart from boot space and economy.
Poonjero
The main Courtesy Car (Courtesy of my darling wife(she reads these!))
Great car, has NEVER let us down. BIG turbo on a big diesel means that in the wet and in 2wd the tail is crazy and damn good fun. It will go anyware at any time. More suspension and transmission settings that you could shake a large stick at. The only problem is I am responsible for maintenance and costs.
I have one main complaint with courtesy cars.
When I step out to the garage to get my courtesy car, I am never offered the ferrari or TVR or Morgan or shaguar that is next to the car I have been lent. To some that may just sound ungrateful but... ok, I am ungrateful.
Mmm... got the wife a 147 in Dec '04 after she'd been toying with upgrading her R plate Astra 1.6. Just gave her a helping hand in the right direction you understand 
I've always loved Alfas anyway, had a Sud and a 156, so surprising her on Xmas morining with Bella was just a great moment... for both of us!
Can't comment on any of the others on your list though!
I've always loved Alfas anyway, had a Sud and a 156, so surprising her on Xmas morining with Bella was just a great moment... for both of us!
Can't comment on any of the others on your list though!
My local Jag dealer used to offer me a Fiesta when they took 27Ks worth of new X-Type wagon in for servicing. Er thanks but no thanks collect it and bring it back at the end of the day. By contrast the local Audi people offered me their A6 wagon demonstrator for the weekend when they took our A3 in one Friday.
think youve described the freelander to a tee.....mine is 4 months old...i drive it everywhere full tilt....goes ok once wound up....funny thing is i use it to tow an ifor williams horse trailer it really struggled towing the trailer with two ponies in it...rang the dealer to complain...their answer...its only designed to tow a trailer with one pony in it!
saying that i had a 51 plate before and it went really well and would tow anything....
my exige has to go in for its first service on the 13th march......promised an elise as a hire car looking forward to driving one just to find out the differences for myself!
saying that i had a 51 plate before and it went really well and would tow anything....
my exige has to go in for its first service on the 13th march......promised an elise as a hire car looking forward to driving one just to find out the differences for myself!
I'm in a Vectra 1.8 SRI while the elise is in the shop. SRI sounds sporty doesn't it? Hmmmm ...
You need to rev the bejesus out of it for it to go quick and then the power band seems really short, I never seem to be able to get the right entry/exit power coming on and off mways/roundabouts etc. And I'm not even trying hard - just want to be able to join and leave traffic effectivly.
Indicators are weird too, one of the those were the stalk returns to centre rather than staying in the turning position. I guess you get used to it.
Very comfy though
J
You need to rev the bejesus out of it for it to go quick and then the power band seems really short, I never seem to be able to get the right entry/exit power coming on and off mways/roundabouts etc. And I'm not even trying hard - just want to be able to join and leave traffic effectivly.
Indicators are weird too, one of the those were the stalk returns to centre rather than staying in the turning position. I guess you get used to it.
Very comfy though
J
buzybee said:
think youve described the freelander to a tee.....mine is 4 months old...i drive it everywhere full tilt....goes ok once wound up....funny thing is i use it to tow an ifor williams horse trailer it really struggled towing the trailer with two ponies in it...rang the dealer to complain...their answer...its only designed to tow a trailer with one pony in it!
saying that i had a 51 plate before and it went really well and would tow anything....
my exige has to go in for its first service on the 13th march......promised an elise as a hire car looking forward to driving one just to find out the differences for myself!
The stereo get louder the faster you go and quieter when you slow down. Really wierd.
gooby said:
I will see you your Yaris and raise you a Punto.
Does it get worse than that?
Quick - find someone who was lent a chinquento - shudder.
You're lucky, everytime I have had a courtesy car from Westovers its been the Punto, except for once when it went to the body shop, I got the Freelander
beachbum said:
I will see you your Yaris and raise you a Punto.
Does it get worse than that?
Quick - find someone who was lent a chinquento - shudder.
You're lucky, everytime I have had a courtesy car from Westovers its been the Punto, except for once when it went to the body shop, I got the Freelander
I wondered what the smell was
gooby said:
I will see you your Yaris and raise you a Punto.
Does it get worse than that?
Quick - find someone who was lent a chinquento - shudder.
You're lucky, everytime I have had a courtesy car from Westovers its been the Punto, except for once when it went to the body shop, I got the Freelander
I wondered what the smell was
FEAR !!!!
just had the 111r serviced at C Neils, who have dropped TVR for Subaru, not a step in the right direction if you ask me, but they didn't.
Was handed Subaru fobbed keys in return for my Lotus ones, didn't feel too short changed, untill I found it in the carpark, a 2Ltr(or something) estate impreza, not very imprezzed!!!!! Sounded OK, rolled all over the show, and drank fuel like there was no tomorrow, could not wait to get home and swap it for the works van, and leave it parked round the corner, not on the drive.
They could have given me one of their Nobles instead.
Was handed Subaru fobbed keys in return for my Lotus ones, didn't feel too short changed, untill I found it in the carpark, a 2Ltr(or something) estate impreza, not very imprezzed!!!!! Sounded OK, rolled all over the show, and drank fuel like there was no tomorrow, could not wait to get home and swap it for the works van, and leave it parked round the corner, not on the drive.
They could have given me one of their Nobles instead.
before the exige I had an M3 CSL took it in for a minor recal and got a mini diesel and they made me pay for the insurance. Prior to that had a TVR T350 ( lots of warrantee work ) usually got a 1.6 rover 200. both these were bought new from the same main dealers . Its not good enough my CSL was 62k and they give me a 12K mini
The exige is standard and it does not have the power obviously of the csl (over 360 bhp) but the handling is exellent, and I,m sure its not much slower on the road but I must admit I do miss the sound of the CSL. I would recomend a CSL to anyone now the depreciation has taken its toll they are a cheap car but not if you bought new like I did OUCH!!!!
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