Active 1.6 HDi FAP 5dr Estate

Not as good as it looks

I have done 60,000 miles in this car and it is starting to show.
The car was an ex-demonstrator and has all the spec. Nav, head up display, JBL stereo, half leather heated sports seats, glass 'moon' roof.
Most annoying when new, the roller blind load cover keeps falling out of its guides, usually when you are carrying shopping. And yes, the tailgate seems designed to drain all the trapped water into the boot when you open it.
It has not been brilliantly reliable, one total breakdown left me with a 2 hour trip on an AA truck up the A9 to Inverness.
The dealers are clueless, I gave up ages ago on the reverse sensors since no-one seemed to know how to fix them.
Multiple trips to the dealer in the early days for engine management red lights and power loss seem now thankfully to be behind me. The dealers call them "configuration errors" a completely meaningless term.
Then there is the ride, when new it seemed firm, now the car crashes and bangs it's way over anything but the smoothest Tarmac seemingly intent on shaking itself to pieces.
Everything, and I mean everything, rattles or vibrates all the time.
The sat nav randomly reboots itself or fails to come on at start up for up to 10 minutes and when it does come on it doesn't know postcodes.
The seats are quite comfortable but don't go low enough and the electric lumber support is best left off to avoid the feeling it is trying to push you off the seat.
The car is big enough, steers ok, the moon roof is nice, the looks and decor of the inside and outside is well judged and good enough to have attracted compliments from friends.
The engine is probably about the best bit of this car. It is a 1.6 diesel but revs freely and quietly and does a pretty decent job of dragging a big estate car around turning in mpg figures between 45 and 50 mpg with my use of mixed motorways A roads and traffic. The manual gearbox is nice too feeling well weighted and smooth although a longer 6th gear would be good. I believe the 2.0diesel has this but the 1.6 is mounted transversely so there is not room for a 6 speed. It is not quick though.
Wind noise and road noise are the enemy on the motorway meaning cruising at anything above the legal limit is conversation hampering and not recommended.
Generally, the car has been acceptable but I have often wished I had gone with the majority and ordered a Mondeo estate.

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