The HJ Car by car breakdowns ?
I've not read anything so depressing for ages.
I will have to change my beloved Xantia shortly and researching what's available is enough to scare you to death.
Have you read the stuff on the Ford Focus for example ?
How can they in this age of computers still turn out cars that are almost certain to go wrong .
I really don't fancy a car that can rack up such an appalling list of sloppy and unsatisfactory performance. It's a case of when it breaks down not if it breaks down.
What to do ?
Buy used and hope it's sorted ? Probably get one someone has got shut of in desperation.
Frankly I'm totally fed up thinking of cars and puzzling over what to get. It is the worst thing I have to do -buying a car - so I don't do it often.
Even when I seem to have found a good one I fret that the salesman might have fallen about laughing with his mates as I drove off.
It's not easy to buy Japanese these days with the things being put together in some god forsaken holes miles from the land of the rising sun.
I think I'll get drunk.
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I get the same feeling. Does HJ take some sadistic pleasure from all this?
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"It's not easy to buy Japanese these days with the things being put together in some god forsaken holes miles from the land of the rising sun."
What does this mean? Japanese cars can easily be bought. Try going to a Nissan dealership and ask for a car.
If it's built in Sunderland, rejoice; it's a better built, more productively built car than from any factory in Japan.
V
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I assume you are put off the idea of another Citroen? We have had a Xantia for 10 years and now have a C5 2.2 HDI. They are very well equipped and the engine is superb and, of course, they are excellent value for money. The later models have had most, if not all, of the early teething problems ironed out. A revamp is due out later this year, I think.
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they are excellent value for money
Well secondhand at least.....
Loved the Xantia though - once reached around 135mph on the M50 in one of the V6 versions several years ago.
Would be considered very politically incorrect these days...:-)
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Most of the problems with the Focus, as detailed in the car by car breakdown, were ironed out long ago and Ford have made greater strides in their reliability than most other manufacturers in recent surveys.
To dismiss the Focus without test driving it is to miss out on one of the finest handling small cars ever produced.I have driven a Xantia and a Focus and there is absolutely no comparison. The Citroen has over assisted steering with zero feedback and over assisted brakes and always feature near the bottom of all the J.D. Power reliability surveys along with Peugeots and Renaults.
If you don`t fancy the Focus then I can strongly recommend the new Mazda 3 saloon with the 1.6 chain cam petrol engine, which averages close to 40 mpg and is still built in Japan to their high standards. Mazda came third out of all manufacturers in the latest JD Power reliability survey.
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>The Citroen has over assisted steering with zero feedback and over assisted brakes a
Yeah, the steering is a bit light, but the problem with the brakes is under assitance in all other cars :-) you get used to them, and then nearly run in the back of someone when you drive an 'ordinary' car.... I can't begin to imagine what trouble folk driving a DS in late 50's with power operated discs up front must have had compared to an Anglia say! C5 has conventional brakes as it has no central LHM 'nervous' system (nervous it probably what it makes the owner!).
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RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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Tony,
Vin is spot on.
If you are looking for a reliable, trouble free car the best way to find one is to look for the following easily distinguishable markings:
A badge which says any of the following ;
Toyota
Honda
Subaru (my personal reccommendation !)
Nissan
Mazda
Mitsubishi
See? It really isn't difficult.
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s'funny, my Xantia has very average brakes, and it's had new disks and pads during the time I've owned it, over five years now. It's never let me down, touch wood, but the brakes don't compare with my old BX, which could lock wheels at speed if you hit the pedal hard enough. In fact, my dad's old Toyota Carina E has fiercer brakes. I find the Xantia's steering great, I don't have many cars passing me on tight motorway bends, the front is really planted. I'd look for another low mileage Xantia, they cost nothing compared with other brands.
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Is the braking system accumulator sphere the original?
Found that my brakes worked a lot better once this was replaced on an old BX.
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I find the Xantia's steering great, I don't have many cars passing me on tight motorway bends, the front is really planted. I'd look for another low mileage Xantia, they cost nothing compared with other brands.
Yes there is a lack of feedback in the Xantia's steering, but when you have driven one for a little while, you soon find out how predictable the handling is, and learn to trust it. Also the grip is prodigious. It is a car that has been greatly loved for its driving characteristics, by many owners. This particularly applies to the diesel variants.
My wife actually found the steering too sharp initially.
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"It's not easy to buy Japanese these days with the things being put together in some god forsaken holes miles from the land of the rising sun." What does this mean? Japanese cars can easily be bought. Try going to a Nissan dealership and ask for a car. If it's built in Sunderland, rejoice; it's a better built, more productively built car than from any factory in Japan. V
Vin,
Agreed that Sunderland built Nissans have got a good reputation but I don't know how you deduce that they are better built than any Japanese produced cars.
However there have been problems with other makes produced in Europe - French built Yaris(Yari?) and UK Toyotas for example. Agreed these are often teething problems from early in the production runs.
C
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To re-enforce the above post look at HJ's Car-by-Car breakdown.
Corolla. - British-built Y2K models proving to be less reliable than predecessors with reports of front wheel bearing and ECU failures.
Yaris. - Petrol versions now also built in Valenciennes France and at first quality was not up to original standard but now is.
Honda Civic & Accord. Look at the recalls etc of the UK built models
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I read the stuff on the Ford Focus. The thing that stuck in my mind was the bit that said "Focus range HIGHLY RECOMMENDED"
When a manufacturer is shifting so many cars there are bound to be problems. But don't expect all of them to develop all of the problems. Cars are far more reliable than they used to be. And as for new cars, you get pretty good warranties these days. It's not the danger it used to be. Apparently.
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