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Fri 24 May 2019 19:34
- groaver

All in one: A Skoda Superb 272 HP 4x4 saloon or estate in Sportline trim may fit the bill if he can get over the badge with 0-60 in 5.6 seconds. It's no lower than a M5 and will hold an awful lot more. Fun to drive? Maybe not so much in corners but assured with four wheel drive and will pull caravan if need be.

Edited by groaver on 24/05/2019 at 19:37

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Sat 25 May 2019 09:23
- ACX

"The Girl in the Spider’s Web": surely the comment on the 4-pot running out of puff only applies to the horrid GM 2.2 unit?

As I remember this car was also offered with Alfa's excellent 1750TBi engine that offered 220 bhp and excellent torque, with equivalent performance to the v6. I'd definitely pick the 1750 out of the whole range.

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Sat 25 May 2019 09:36
- doi209
Happy Days.
It is not excellent service from Motorpoint and certainly not an accolade - they lied about the camera and sensors. It was only capitulation by IC and an complaint email that resolved the issue.

Is it a fault of the motoring trade that lies and apologies are better than good original service. I'll take the latter everyday.
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Sat 25 May 2019 09:36
- doi209

Happy Days. It is not excellent service from Motorpoint and certainly not an accolade - they lied about the camera and sensors. It was only capitulation by IC and a complaint email that resolved the issue. Is it a fault of the motoring trade that lies and apologies are better than good original service. I'll take the latter everyday.

Edited by doi209 on 25/05/2019 at 09:36

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Sat 25 May 2019 13:24
Honest John's Motoring Agony Column 25-05-2019 Part 1 - Engineer Andy

To be fair to Motorpoint, and, BTW, this happened to me as well 13 years ago when I bought a pre-regged Mazda3 (del miles only) from them, what can happen (and did with my car) is that they may check the UK manufacturer spec sheet for s specific model/trim combo and state that the car comes with X or Y. In fact, from time to time (mine included), Motorpoint source some of their cars from outside the UK - from RHD European countries like Ireland or (where mine came from) Cyprus.

As such, in addition to needing to change the speedo dials to show them in mph, these cars come with different trim specs than the UK models. Mine had front fog lamps, but not the traction and stability control the UK model had, and only had a radio and no CD player (apparently quite normal in Europe for mid-spec cars at the time). In my case, the website stated that the car had a CD player, but not the front fog lamps.

On discovering this on the day I picked up the car (and PX'ed to them more old car), I told them, and they immediately apologised for the error and offered to discount the car by the cost of fitting a new CD player at a Mazda dealer. Yes, I'd have to pay for the fuel to drive to it for the work, but I was already getting a car for £10.3k that even brokers were selling for £1500 - £2000 more. I accepted their offer and the deal was done in about 15 minutes longer than normal (not that long - I was there well under an hour in total).

I still own the car today.

I think they've learned their lesson to a reasonable degree, as I saw some similar Euro-spec VW Golf 1.4TSi GTs (del miles only) a couple of years ago advertised on their site, correctly showing they had full climate control (Euro spec) rather than the lower manual A/C only for UK cars. Occasionally they get it wrong. They should always have made the offer they finally did - to fit it for free as the car was mis-advertised, even if (possibly) not deliberately.

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Sat 25 May 2019 13:31
- Rob Whitmarsh
For "Girl in the Spider's web", as ACX said, avoid the 2.2 engine which is surprisingly sluggish considering the claimed output. As he said, the 1750 Alfa engine is a lot better, I had one in a 159, but be prepared for its thirst, probably worse than the much more expensive V6. You'll have to search long and hard to find a good Spider with either of these engines though, they're rare, and be warned that the open Alfa is a bit of a "flexi-flyer", they suffer badly from scuttle shake, but with those looks, you might be able to forgive it almost anything.
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Sat 25 May 2019 13:36
Honest John's Motoring Agony Column 25-05-2019 Part 1 - ACX

Shouldn't assume I'm a 'he' :)

As it happens I am (a he), but I know of a few ladies that could have posted the exact same comment.

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Sat 25 May 2019 15:00
- Rob Whitmarsh
On Alfa Spiders, a quick check on the usual website reveals that almost all on offer are powered by the disappointing 2.2 4 cyl, and only two or three are powered by the 3.2 V6, a GM unit which isn't a patch on the original Busso designed V6. Also a few diesels, unfashionable maybe, but the 2.4 is surprisingly good, and well worth a try. I don't think they ever offered the 1750 engine in the Brera or Spider, I thought that one was 159 only. Maybe the lifeless 2.2 would be OK as an open cruiser.
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Sun 26 May 2019 17:34
- jchinuk
Re : Missing gears, I fear your correspondent lacks a basic knowledge of why internal combustion engines require a gearbox. Neither electric (or steam) cars really need a gearbox, though electric cars suffer from HJ's "bête noire" of only having two pedals, increasing the chance of hitting the wrong pedal.
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