Huge choice of 4 seater estate or hatchbacks, but which principle to follow: higher mileage prestige (C Class, 40,000; Jag X type etc) or plentiful (Mondeo Ghias with 10,000) or big depreciations like Signums? Or Mr Reliables like Honda Accords/Avensis.
Current Passat TDI Auto has been great, cheap to service and run to current 57,000.
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"Current Passat TDI Auto has been great, cheap to service and run to current 57,000."
If so, why change at all?
Or do you fancy a change?
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Someone is bound to tell you to get a Mondeo.
For what it is worth, you would get a new, or nearly new C5 HDI for around £12000 (or less).
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Predictably - get a Mondeo, plenty of choice for that money.
PP
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Predictably - get a Mondeo, plenty of choice for that money. PP
I didn't think it would take long.
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Treat the Passat to a nice big service, change the cambelt and have a damn good holiday on what's left!
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If it's your money and you'll keep it for a few years then japanese evry time. I you like a driver's car, then try a Subaru Legacy.
Mare has the cheapest suggestion though.
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I say go for an avensis but then i'm biased!
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Motorpoint had new model Skoda Octavia (delivery milage) 2.0 Ambiente (140bhp) diesel for 11,999. Looked like a bargain to me....hope they have some in stock when I am looking to change cars in a month's time. Liked the Avensis too, but struggling to find a T3-X (T2 seems a little under-specced) for £12k.
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I swapped my 3 year old Passat for a 7 year old Mondeo 15 months ago and I'm a convert. 30,000 miles later, worth £500, I've now passed it on to my son and am looking for another one. I was at Blackbushe for the Ford Open Sale on Tuesday and an immaculate 53 reg Mondeo TDCi (130) Ghia X Estate with Xenons went for £11,050. £8,100 bought the same engine in a September 03, 53 LX Hatch. £6,450 for an 11 month old 1.8 Zetec petrol (130 bhp?) seemed pretty keen. A younger car, better spec, 10,000 less miles and £1650 saved which more than covers the less than 10 mpg difference.
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Skoda Fabia vRS?
Vroooom :)
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Blue, I'm also looking for a car for about this money to replace my Passat. We had a look at an Avensis recently and quite liked it. Didn't like the price of 1yr old examples though - typically £14,000. What sort of Avensis could we get for between 10 and 12, 000?
Sales guy in our local Toyota dealer was odd: just left us alone whilst we sat in the car, opened the boot etc etc. He did answer a question we had but soon scuttled off to watch the tennis on the TV (Sunday afternoon, more sales guys than customers). He did tell us that Toyota don't publish the capacity of the boots in any of the ranges. Is this true?
Cheers
Robin
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Up to 12k and you'll be struggling for a diesel - that sort of money is mainly petrol's, any cheap diesels don't normally hang around for long.
Go through a broker and you can get a new T2 D4D for less than £14k or a T3 for a little over £15k.
Unless you ask to speak to a salesman it is Toyota's policy not to harrass you in the showroom - and he was probably more interested in the 18 year old female tennis players bottom!
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I don't do the miles to warrant a diesel so am looking for a petrol. Also, I'm not looking for a new car and will be quite happy with something upto 18 months old. All the one year old Avensises (Avensii?) that we saw were about 14K. I think they were mainly T3s. Interesting though that its possible to buy a new T2 for less than our dealer wanted for a 1 yr old one. I suppose I should not be so put off by the ticket price and haggle a bit but its hard to know how much they would accept when you're only comparing what you get for your budget.
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The Mondeo is a great driver's car and excellent all-rounder; the one problem is the ease, despite all the security measures, which toe rags can break in and take the in-demand Ford 6000 ICE unit.
They do it without setting off the alarm; have a look on e-bay for just how many of these particular ICE models are being offered at a fraction of their true value.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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I would suggest your dealer has got a BIG margin in those vehicles - £12k should get you into an '04' plate T3 1.8 Avensis without too much haggling.
If you really want to see the dealer go purple and have a coronary ask him for 11% discount on a new avensis!
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Unless you ask to speak to a salesman it is Toyota's policy not to harrass you in the showroom - and he was probably more interested in the 18 year old female tennis players bottom!
>>
My experience is that they are not that bothered if you do speak to them. I tried to arrange a test drive in an auto Yaris once and I have never received an offer to this day. Needless to say, it has not engendered any further interest from me.
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I tried to arrange a test drive in an auto Yaris once and I have never received an offer to this day. Needless to say, it has not engendered any further interest from me.
The vast majority of dealers won't have an Auto Yaris in stock to testdrive so i guess the salesman didn't want the hassle of bringing a car in for you as the margin on a Yaris is so small he felt it's not worth his time/effort
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It's difficult to get a test in an auto anything that has a manual alternative. The plea, regardless of the marque, is that "so few are made we can't get hold of one". I've no idea how true that is.
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Thats about right badger - if the car is mainly sold as manual such as the Yaris getting hold of an auto is difficult. Something like an Avensis or Mondeo where there is a mix of manual and auto's you should be able to get hold of one fairly easily. Try going down your local merc dealer and asking for a test drive in a manual E class!
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I bought a newish car for about £12000 at the end of November. I quite fancied a diesel Avensis but the Toyota dealer I called in Northampton wouldn't answer the phone. The local Ford dealer spent some time talking about what I wanted, and later showed me the closed to Ford sales catalogue, and I bought an almost one year old you know what a week later. A TDC 130 Zetec, immaculate and a superb car. The Vauxhall dealership in Kettering completely ignored me and my wife, although another local Vauxhall dealer spent some time showing me an ex-demo top of the range Vectra diesel which I nearly went for. The car supermarket made an appointment for a Sunday afternoon test drive but kept me waiting half an hour after which time I gave up on them.
There is something to be said for service from a local firm with a good reputation to keep.
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Hamblins at Rushden are very good Vauxhall dealers.
Drove a Toyota Avensis (petrol) as a hire car around Lagos (yes Lagos Nigeria) last month. Beautiful car and coped with the HUGE potholes remarkably well.
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