Edited by daveyjp on 27/05/2017 at 20:39

Firstly, the 'general masses' are endeared by diesel cars because the government told them they were better for the environment and offered low road tax to get everyone into them. It aint rocket science!.

I am not really sure what you mean by something with a bit of panache, flair, or indeed pizzazz, because my interpretation of those terms would be about as far away from a mondeo as its possible to get!. You also dont say what age or mileage of car you want, or how much road tax you are willing to pay. You mention the jag XF but a quick autotrader search of cars with up to 50k miles revealed none. Having a look for stuff relatively young and with the above mileage limit, the only thing grabbed my attention is the lexus is250 (£280 per annum road tax). £10k will get you into a 2011, poss 2012 model.

If you want a car with a big petrol engine but (relatively) low tax, you need to go back to cars 1st registered by 23/3/06, in which case the maximum rate is £305 per annum (£320 by instalments).

Look on Cars for Sale on this site and put in BMW 3-series petrol auto up to £11,000. I just have and there are plenty. The auto is a torque converter and should be more reliable than the dual-clutch variety.

That said, the Octavia vRS has a wet-clutch DSG which has a better reputation than the dry-clutch version fitted to smaller VW Group cars.

But you're right - there are more diesels about in your price range as in the years when these cars were new, we were all being encouraged to buy diesels, especially with larger cars.

Like the look of a Skoda petrol VRS but is the auto the same as VWs DSG?

It's the seven speed DSG gearbox that's proved rather unreliable

The six speed box on the more powerful engines such as the VRS are much better

I now drive a petrol car again albeit a manual 1.4tsi Skoda

Edited by Big John on 28/05/2017 at 01:59

Edited by SLO76 on 28/05/2017 at 09:51

What do mean by 'panache'? Nice looking, or nice to drive (handling and/or fast) or a genuine 'prestige' make with a plush interior with lots of goodies?

Unfortunately ten grand doesn't get you a very new car if you want all of the above - the Lexus IS250 is a comfortable barge, but hardly a driver's car and will be, dependent upon mileage, somewhere around the 4-7 yo mark for the lower end (but still nicely kitted out) 250 models, and may have to accept getting the mk2 or a higher mileage mk3.

I'd mostly agree about the lack of pace of the Mazda petrol autos, though the rare CX-3 2.0 auto is about 0.3 - 0.5 sec quicker to 60 at 9.9 sec (I test drove one a few months ago and liked it, though its not really quick) than the 3 and 6, handles very well and rides fine if you don't go for the Sport model (the SE-L Nav is fine). Unfortunately it is still relatively new so (even if you could fine one - these are VERY rare) they are not cheap (I suspect an early model would still be around the £14k mark), and, from what you're saying, the interior may not be quite as plush as you want.

You may find you'll have to make a big compromise on one of my initial car 'features' to fit your budget, and reliability may not be that great either unless its Japanese and proven (bills, not dealer stamps in a book) to be well looked after. All the specific cars you mentioned were larger ones - are you specifically looking for a 'barge'? As others have said, not too many torque converter autos about (in your price range) that fit the bill in terms of performance or luxury appearance, and I certainly wouldn't buy any double clutch auto on a second hand car, let alone one that may be over 5 years old - its a huge bill waiting to happen.

I, when I was looking for a quicker car than my Mazda3 mk1 1.6 petrol (manual) but in an auto form and still reliable, found it almost an impossible task - I wasn't looking for really high end luxury, size or pace, just something around the 9 sec to 60 mark. The CX-3 wasn't too bad on the pace front, a little slower than I would've liked (but still 1.5 sec faster than my car to 60), but nothing else on the market came close to meeting my requirements (including styling).

I decided not not buy (the CX-3s are way over-priced anyway IMO) and keep my 11yo car going for now. You may wish to as well until something new comes along or becomes more affordable as a second-hand car (save a bit more for another year or two). Nothing like buying a car you don't really want and having to put up with it for a few years to justify the expense of buying it...

Best of luck - you're gonna need it!

Why are the general masses endeared by diesel cars? I do about 5-6000 miles a year and irregular journeys of about 15 miles there and back to work place three days a week. A diesel will just not cut it.

I would like a petrol engined car, an automatic, with a bit of pizzazz. There is just nothing out there on the forecourts. I am willing to spend £10kish and no-one is running up to me to take my cash. Been at 5/6 nationwide dealers - Skoda, VW, Ford, Peugeot, Mazda - they all searched their databases and came up with over 700 diesels that fitted the bill and about 10 petrols....a Skoda, a BMW 3 series estate, and I forget the other ones.

Infinity G37 as auto. Can get a 2009 for £9k but this is £500 tax also.

You won't rleasily find petrol auto that isn't, especially if you want something interesting. The is a reason diesels are popular still.

Are you are diesel no good, you will get a lot bigger choice as you have found.

An XF-S would fit the bill, but I'm not knowledgeable on whether 10 grand will get you a good un.

Have a look at a Saab 9-3 Aero 2.0T or 2.8T auto and then get a Maptun st1 tune.

I dearly love my 2.0T Aero Anniversary. Stonking stereo (now I've fitted Hertz speakers), lovely heated leather seats, twin zone ACC, bi-xenons and much much more.

And with a Maptun st1 and cai, max torque is 380Nm from 2800 to 4200, so you can guess it flies!.

Seek out Saab 9-3 Owners UK on Facebook - there's been a few for sale recently (and with Saabs demise they're cheap as chips at the mo so value for money is off the scale - though values are starting to recover). There was a Turbo X for sale, but bound to have been snapped up by now.

Don't fret, diesel's had its day.

Honda Legend?

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20170419455...1

"Had a drive of a BMW 3 series diesel and was impressed and so was the wife. More space that you would think and comfortable. Are BMW diesels prone to DPF failures as salesman said they were not..well he would say that."

I can only repeat my suggestion upthread - look at a petrol 3-series, 320i or 330i. There are plenty of petrol automatics around, although obviously I don't know where you're based.

If you can stand the looks and the lack of rear visibility, a Honda Civic 1.8 could be worth adding to the shortlist.

"Tried a Mazda 6 petrol auto (new and old model) and was frankly unimpressed. Have seen and heard horror stories on Mazda 6 DPF regens and failed DPFs."

I'd have suggested a petrol Mazda 6 if you hadn't said that in your original post. The horror stories about diesel Mazdas are unfortunately true, but remember that petrol engines don't have DPFs.