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• Mazda 323 (1998 - 2003) - What to do with our Mazda- advice appreciated` 19 Feb 2008 (Forum)
  If we can't find another 323, what are the alternatives (same size & age, japanese if poss) 3. Would we be mad to use a 15 year old Volvo estate as a baby car? 4. Depending on answer to 3, would it be worth hanging on to the damaged car post payout, using it until MOT & kicking straight what I could to keep it going? Advice gratefully received!!
• Insurance fun and games 25 Apr 2007 (Forum)
  Just bought a 53 plate Volvo S80 2.5 litre Turbo for £7k. I'm 24, had my licence for 3 years, and also 3 years' NCB. Whacked the number plate into one of the comparison sites. Best price after fiddling with the voluntary excess: £700 for fully comp via a broker.
• Saab 9-5 + Hirsch conversion 20 Apr 2007 (Forum)
  Apart from the £900 or so to install the upgrade, am I letting myself in for a huge insurance premium, a car I can't sell, or what? My Volvo has more torque and doesn't shred front tyres, so I'm confident that will be OK, and the flat torque curve (there are some handy graphics on a dealer's website here: http://www.westernsaab.co.uk/htmls/range/hirsch_data9-5.php ) suggests it won't be an undrivable monster.
• 2003 V70 2.4T chip tuning 19 Nov 2004 (Forum)
  (c) The dealer price of a RICA chip that would give near T5 outright performance, and even stronger 2.4T characteristics was nowhere near the cost between an otherwise identically specced 2.4T and T5. Yes, dealer price, because the Dutch Volvo dealer even offered to chip the car ready for collection! In the end, I decided to bed the car in as standard, and research the market properly, especially as the V70 has been purchased new with long term ownership in mind, not a three year chop.
• Audi 80 vs BMW 3-series for £2,000 20 Dec 2003 (Forum)
  My brother, Xmas bonus in hand (alright for some!), is looking for a new car now that he can afford to get out of his decrepit Volvo 440, which has reached the end of his useful life, and has asked me to vet potential purchases. He has a maximum of £2,000 to spend, and whittling through his list of what he wants from a car, he has shortlisted the Audi 80 2.0E, in either 8 valve or 16 valve guise, or a BMW 3-series.
• Volkswagen Golf R - New car advice - Hot Hatch 9 Feb 2025 (Forum)
  For context, I've always driven Diesels (company car) and now that I've started my own business and I'm working from home alot, I don't do half the miles and also want to get the enjoyment back into Driving. Previous cars I've owned include a Leon FR, Volvo V40 D4 & currently I have a Golf GT TDI (Hence the natural look at the VAG offering) Budget wise probably around £16k and I don't really want to go older than 2016. Any advice/opinion would be most welcome!
• BMW X! - Alternative to our BMW X1 2 Oct 2023 (Forum)
  Thanks Kira Sportage    2010-16 Hyundai IX35    2010-15 Ford Kuga         2008-12  Volvo XC90       2002-14  Toyota RAV4     2006-12 Honda CRV      2007-12  
• Return to C-segment saloons? 19 Sep 2018 (Forum)
  This segment of the UK car market went from saloon only, to either/or in the 80s (Belmont/Orion/R19/Golf-Jetta/Volvo 3-4 series/323/ Corolla/Sunny) to hatch-only as the hatchback market "matured", several years ahead of mainland Europe, where booted versions of the Astra, Focus, Megane and C3 and of smaller cars like the Clio, Nova (Corsa Mk.1) always sold well.
• Are all salesman idiots 18 Sep 2016 (Forum)
  It has to be petrol, be a bit bigger than the Leon, be able to accomodate a spare and have a decent roster of kit including climate. No polished/laquered wheels. So the list included Volvo V60 - bit too small, Leon ST - same passenger space as hatch, Ceed GDI-T - too slow, Mazda 6 - great kit, great deals but hardly any bigger than the Leon inside but 2ft longer. So added the Mazda CX5 to our list.
• Mondeoondeo - best family auto estate 18 Aug 2014 (Forum)
    My options so far are : Mondeo estate 163bhp Titanium X auto Insignia estate 163 bhp auto VW Passat estate 177 ps DSG Skoda Superb estate 1.8 TSI DSG Volvo XC60 D4 181 auto (dreaming…)   Most of these are diesel, and whilst petrol is an option new, it seems most fleet cars that appear on the second hand market are diesel.
• ESTATE CAR 2009 ONWARDS - Stuck with decision. 10 Apr 2014 (Forum)
  Hoping to atleast get upto 1.5k knocked off but I am new to this so not holding my breath ;-) dont have a car to Part ex as one have is on its last miles. I have looked at, Ford Mondeo, V50 & V70 Volvo, Mercedes, BMW, Vauxhall Insignia... I now feel when I visit a lot to look at some just baffled as like so many, but it has to last me for around 5+yrs to upgrade. Be really grateful for any input/help.
• All/all - Winter tyres/wheels and insurance 11 Sep 2013 (Forum)
  This is more of a warning than a question but since the ABI got insurers to agree that there would be no premium increase for fitting winter tyres ( https://www.abi.org.uk/Insurance-and-savings/Products/Motor-insurance/Winter-tyres ) I thought I'd see about getting some fitted to my Volvo S80 this year. The handbook recommends replacing the existing summer 225/50R17 tyres with 205/55R16 winter tyres so I priced up a set of steel wheels and phoned the insurance company to double check.
• £7k for runabout for sister with new baby! 1 May 2011 (Forum)
  Hi all, My sister has just passed her driving test aged 34 & is due to give birth in a few weeks!!  Her hubby has a work car, Volvo estate, and their old motor is a 2002 Golf 1.6 mark 4 which is showing it's age.  I might advise her initially to run around in the Golf untill it packs in (it has a few niggles and on a 10 year old car from VW it won't necessarily be worth spending money & hassle trying to repair) She has a notional budget of £7k for a replacement and requirements are as follows: * A main dealer car - she & hubby have no expertise whatsoever & want the peace of mind of dealing with a dealership * No more than 3 years old, must be reliable, not worth buying an older car they don't want the hassle * Only used for local trips & very occasional longer journeys with hubby I would suggest something like a Focus as they seem to be well thought of, safe, and plenty to choose from.
• Input on my next car please!!!!! 27 Oct 2009 (Forum)
  Audi A4 TDI Avant SE 143 BMW 3 series Touring 320d SE Skoda Superb 2.0 TDI CR 170 Elegance Rav 4 2.2D XT-R (not really sure about this one) Verso T Spirit 2.0 d4d (again not really sure) Passat Diesel estate Highline CR DSG (I do like autos) Tiguan 2.0 TDI SE Volvo V50 2.0d SE Lux (both powershift and non-powershift are available) Your thoughts are most welcome.
• Audi drivers one inch from your rear bumper 25 Aug 2009 (Forum)
  Just driven 300 miles and constantly had one audi after another driving one inch behind me, and no I was not driving too slow, mostly I had a long line of cars in front of myself plus some sensible braking distance, whether I was doing 5 mph or aherm 100 mph there they were an inch behind I let countless of them past since they were being so aggresive, but gave up in the end Really when I get a terminal illness and nothing really matters anymore I'm going to slam the brakes on for one of these people and shoot the pants off him How did the take all the Hobs out of Hobnobs and leave the other stuff as audi drivers The BMW's/Mercs/Volvos are still as bad as usual but what are they doing to Audis to turn anyone who drives one into an instant idiot? What magiv technology do they have to help them survive driving like this? Somewhere there must be a lot of bodyshops fixing up the front end of crashed Audis?
• Volkswagen - VAG 2.0 PD TDI engines - are they trouble? 21 Jul 2008 (Forum)
  The saga with the in-laws car choice continues - they've cooled off on the Volvo V50 for a while, and having rejigged some finances, are now considering a new mkV Golf 2.0TDI estate. I have been rather alarmed by some of the admittedly anecdotal evidence that I've been privy to recently with regard to this engine.
• Shell V-Power diesel: how does it sound to you? 3 Oct 2007 (Forum)
  Last Saturday I inadvertently gave my Volvo its first tankful of V-Power diesel. (My local station has only recently started selling it, and the first I knew was when I rolled up next to a pump offering only that variety.) Anyway, it's an extra 6p a litre, or about £3.30 for a 55-litre fill-up.
• Do all cars drive the same these days?? 4 Jun 2007 (Forum)
  I've had 2 vectra's (the first one was so bad, I thought there was something wrong with it, hence the 2nd Vectra - which was even worse), a new shape Mondeo, a Volvo S40 and a BMW 3 series compact. In my opinion, all of these have been dreadful to drive compared to the cars I used to drive in the 90's, and maybe even the 80's. Can anyone recommend a medium size car that has a supple suspension and a civilised, smooth drive?
• Does 'refurbishing' a car make sense? 31 May 2007 (Forum)
  If the title line was long enough, I'd have included 'financial' too... My Volvo S80 (2.4 petrol) has now reached 135k miles (it's a 1999 reg), and is still - hopefully - running well. When I bother to wash it, it looks practically brand new :-) However, there will no doubt come a time when the engine and/or gearbox will start 'complaining'.
• People Carrier - Budget of £7k max 8 Aug 2006 (Forum)
  Are there any estate cars within his financial reach that have the 'drop down extra seats in the boot' arrangement? I have seen this on older Volvo's and E class Mercs but what others? Can they be retro fitted to other cars for example? The Multipla seems to be a very good compromise (despite its width being a bit of an issue in parking bays) but are they reliable?