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IMHO we sadly appear to be in a period when car design (from an asthetic point-of-view) has gone backwards - I've been thinking of replacing my 2006 Mazda3 saloon (much better looking than the hatch), but just can't get enthused by any car at the moment.
The Ford Focus is a good example of the modern "design" of cars - not bad from the front, OK from the sides, but ugly from the rear (and with [like so many thesedays] a tiny rear window & poor rear visibility).
Similarly with the new Toyota GT86/Subaru BRZ (very odd rear, a bit like the final Celica [without the rear spoiler]), VW Scirocco (rear like a frog or dog squatting to go to the loo), Hyundai Veloster, Honda CR-Z, etc, etc. Many of these (as well as lots of modern cars) have (to me anyway) very odd-looking dashboards/interiors, and are very complicated to use - a shame that some, like VWs are still very boring with no flair at all (the other end of the scale).
Very few non-supercar sports coupes that are "reasonably" affordable that are also good looking from all angles and inside. Audi's TT and A5 and the Mazda RX-8 are very nice indeed, but way too expensive for most of us to run.
What I'm looking for is:
- Reasonably quick (0-60 in about 8sec/top speed 130mph), well-geared (not the daft way many do now to achieve the CO2 figures, or like my Mazda3 [too highly-geared - not smooth enough]) and ok on the jungle-juice;
- Comfortable cruiser (a rear GT car - not on bling-bling 19in wheels and 30 aspect tyres [more like 16/17in max 60 aspect tyres, no front rear skirts 1mm off the ground [i.e. you can ride over speed bumps at more than walking pace] and decent smooth suspension that doesn't go rock hard after 6 months of driving) with a really comfortable seat;
- Looks stylish (coupe/saloon), but slightly understated, enough to carry 4 persons (a bit bigger than a 2+2 - enough for adult rear passengers for journeys up to 1 hour) and a reasonable sized boot (around 350-40 litres and easy access);
- Simple (i.e. not 1000 tiny buttons or an i-do-da takes-50-menus-to-operate-the-radio), easy-to-use but stylish dash/steering wheel layout without cheapo plastic/fake metal or wood/carbon fibre inserts. The manual for for the car should not run to LotR lengths or require a doctorate in Engineering/Computer Science to be able to understand - using all the cars systems should take NO LONGER than 1 hour to become familiar with;
- Safe (not too dificult thesedays), very reliable (I'd rather have less gadgets and gizmos than more) and easy to fix/replace/upgrade items/parts (5 mins to change any bulb without having to take half the front end off) and secure (no crappy alarm that goes off as soon as a gnat sneezes) - all proven technology that WORKS long-term. I only want to have to visit the garage once a year for a service and the occasional consumable parts replacement;
- Excellent dealers (this is what mainly puts me off UK/German cars - they appear to very variable in quality [IMHO, from speaking to colleagues/friends/family], and often are entirely sales-orientated (poor after-sales customer service).
I know, it seems a lot to ask for, but I'd rather pay a bit more for that level of quality and customer service - just a shame that many of the top far eastern makes seem to have dropped the ball at the moment, or don't even make the upper-middle of the market cars.
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