Completely undecided and confused from choice.

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Sun 18 Oct 2015 15:24
Completely undecided and confused from choice. - Jetsam1

I have read this and other motoring websites and now from having a fair idea of what we are going to get I am now totally terrified of buying anything as the litany of problems and issues with almost anything available is very offputting.....

We are going to have to get a new, larger car due to the second baby coming as the Fabia is far to small. We don;t have a lot of time to look for or at anything so there is the risk of ending up with something rubbish simply because we are in a rush.

It does seem that anything around the size we will need is diesel only. Looking towards Focus, Mondeo, Astra, 508 and C5 estates as the most common around our way. Many of them have the 1.6 diesel engines which seems to weak really for the size of cars and a complete dearth of petrol engines available. We can just stretch to a 2012-2013 model but because of this will be running the car for 4-5 years. There is a minimum level of car I am prepared to have my kids in as the quality of driving is appalling where I live and downright dangerous in many cases. Just this week there have been several near misses on my motorway commute to work. I have had diesels before so am aware of the basics of running them with a big hard kicking on the motorway regularly. It would be nice to have something that can cope with the autobahn.

There seems to be a lot of choice, but not a lot of choice if that makes any sense. It's such a big whack of money that I can't afford to end up with a dud or something unreliable. We are keepng the Fabia for the shopping etc so the big car will be kept for longer trips and heavy loads and my 30min commute. It may also be used for our business which will be hauling stuff about. So for that a diesel may cope better. Oh well.

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Sun 18 Oct 2015 17:44
Completely undecided and confused from choice. - oldroverboy.

From your budget, take a look at what motorpoint have to offer, a friend here in Colchester went over to Chingfords and got himself an Astra diesel estate, and is happy with it, Just make sure you get one with the mileage correct to have it serviced in line with GM requirements.

Or Go like me, down the Kia route..

Ceed diesel estate, not spectacular to drive but excellent reputation. (or Hyundai I30.

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Sun 18 Oct 2015 19:09
Completely undecided and confused from choice. - Jetsam1

There are lots and lots of Opel/Vauxhalls about....... Very few Kias though. I would look at Skoda but they are very expensive here (Hungary) and we have had a lot of niggles with our Fabia (2009 1.2 HTP) so not so high on the list.

We need to get some time to actually go and look at some of them to work out our needs, but the Mondeo does seem a good choice as it would be handy for the business too. My job is 6 days a week with no idea which day off I get per week so it's hard to get out to search!! We're p/xing a 2004 Opel Astra Estate that my father-in-law has essentially destroyed and it's held up not too badly.....

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Sun 18 Oct 2015 17:59
Completely undecided and confused from choice. - craig-pd130

The Mondeo 2.0 TDCis are big, comfy and pretty much bulletproof. I had one for 3.5 years and 40K miles from new - not a single problem. My driving is 70% urban trips of 5 miles or so, with an occasional long motorway journey, which is not ideal for a modern diesel but no complaints from the Mondeo. Ford seems to have its DPF implementations well sorted.

It's not the punchiest or quickest diesel engine - 'competent' is the word I'd use - but the ride & handling is very good indeed on normal wheels, and the cabin and boot are huge so they swallow anything you need for the kids, or your business.

Also loads of them around so you shouldn't have to pay through the nose.

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Sun 18 Oct 2015 18:51
Completely undecided and confused from choice. - Jetsam1

I'm inclined to the Mondeo I must admit. I live in Hungary so the market is a bit different than the UK!!!! After 5 years it'll still be worth quite a bit more than an equivalent UK car. Plenty about still. I have driven them in the UK and have been impressed. Had a couple of Astra hire cars in the last couple of years and have been quite surprised by them as well.

There are a few nice Mondeos about with the Powershift auto....... Back in the Uk I had an automatic BMW 320D and a Passat with a DSG and found them fine so an automatic would be ok. I have a relaxed driving style most of the time!! Most of the ones I'll be looking at are around the 70-90000 mile mark which is about right for 3-4 years I think and gets us past the belt change service...........

Really don't see many Kia cars about.

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Sun 18 Oct 2015 21:48
Completely undecided and confused from choice. - Bromptonaut

If you don't mind the van like appearance then the Citroen Berlingo or Peugeot Partner are worth a look. In the UK the car versions are branded Multispace and Teepee respectively. Don't know if they're marketed same way in Hungary!!

Basically a big boxy estate car with three full rear seats and sliding doors - which are great when dealing with kids. My offspring are far too old to need such things but I think it will take two 'Isofix' kiddy seats.

In UK diesels are all 1.6HDi but with differing power outputs. The 115PS has more than enough poke for average UK driving - smooth and quiet on motorway but able to take off quickly for an A road overtake. I'd imagine the 90PS is pretty good too but that the lowest power version might be an 'acquired taste'.

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