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• Honda Civic Type R - New Honda Civic Type R 18 Jun 2015 (Forum)
    I remember a few years back even thinking about getting a new mk1, given it was only £2-3k more than the not-very-warm-but-nice 3dr 1.6 Sport (which sort of looked like a Type R without the performance) at a rather expensive (I thought at the time) £14.5k compared to the cheaper Mazda 3 I finally plumped for. The new one is almost twice as much as the mk1 from 9 years ago, and yes, its much faster round the Nurburgring, but how many people buy a Honda just to do that?  The mass-appeal of the original was amazing (a lot of bang for your buck) - they sold shedloads of them in the UK - personally I can't see Honda shifting many with those looks, likely very hard ride and the hefty price-tag, a bit like the Ford Focus RS.
• The impossible quest....! 31 May 2014 (Forum)
  I am not going to give a list of premium brand cars that I can neither quite afford or have the potential to be an expensive mistake. I am no badge snob (I've had 2 Mazdas and a Ford and been happy with all), I just enjoy driving. I am changing jobs in September and will need to carry kit (eg a van der Graaff in a box, crates of trundle wheels, balls, rulers, posters....the list is varied and long!)
• Various - Replacement car advice and opinons 14 Jun 2012 (Forum)
  [endif]--> Hello, after a little advice and input. The missus and I are thinking of replacing my trustworthy but aging Mazda Tribute with something a little smaller.  We always planned on replacing it later in the year, with the tax and MOT due in July; prudence suggests getting rid before then.   We’re looking at an ‘09ish, but would happily go older or newer.
• Nissan Pathfinder - New car choices 30 Dec 2011 (Forum)
  Combinations we've come up with so far are:- a Sharan or a Previa plus an oldish X-trail or CR-V a Nissan Pathfinder or Volvo XC90 plus an oldish Mazda 3 or similar. I like the idea of a 7-seat 4x4. I don't want a Landrover.  The XC90s look nice but I'm worried about problems at the age we'd be buying (60k miles ish).  The Pathfinder looks great but reviews say it's not very refined on the road and is noisy to drive - also lower safety ratings.
• Duplicate thread - someone delete this please! 4 Jan 2011 (Forum)
  All potential buys are approx 4 to 6 years old Ford Mondeo 2.0 TDCi 115 or 130 hp estate (LX, Zetec, Edge, whatever....) Honda Accord 2.2 CDTi estate (difficult to find for my budget) Mazda 6 2.0 121 or 136 hp (TS, TS2, whatever...) Skoda Octavia Estate 1.9 TDi 105 hp (either pre or post facelift) (Classic, Ambience, whatever...) Toyota Avensis D4-D Estate 121hp Vauxhall Vectra CDTi 1.9  120 or 150 hp estate (Club, Elite, whatever.....)
• 4x4 - what is really useful setup? 3 Jan 2011 (Forum)
  [1] Standard FWD with open differential (most cars nowadays) [2] Standard RWD with open differential (Mercedes, BMWs etc, Mazda RX8 probably has a rear diff lock) [3] FWD with viscous coupling to drive RWs if FWs lose traction (many 4x4s like Panda 4x4, Toyota RAV4, BMW X5 etc.) [4] Permanent 4WD with a central lockable differential (Land Rovers, Daihatsu Terios) [5] Part time 4WD - usually RWD but transmission shaft can engage FWs manually.
• Good small cars? 16 Nov 2010 (Forum)
  The Smart car was pretty awful. I didn't like the handling of the C1/107/Aygo. I tried sitting in a Mazda MX5, which was a struggle, and I couldn't get into a position where I would be able to drive the car. The Skoda Fabia (1.2 Turbo) is a possibility, but it's very ugly, very heavy, a bit wider, longer than I would like (I'll need to rearrange my garage), and I'm not sure about the fuel consumption.
• Ford Focus Zetec Climare 05 - head gasket 29 Oct 2010 (Forum)
  I have now discovered the 05 model was the first of the new shape Focus and is fitted with a Mazda engine which does not have an engine cover,  subsequently rain water gets through to the cylinder head and is a well known problem. The main Ford dealer for my area informs me Ford know of this defect but have done nothing about it.
• FIAT Croma (2005 - 2007) - be honest, am I mad? 15 Feb 2010 (Forum)
  The venerable Camry at 13 years old and 150K is going to be put out to pasture and I'm looking for something new. Bizzarely, after test driving 2 year old (new) Mondeos, (new) Mazda 6's and an Insignia (all well and nice, about £11K ) the car which most caught my eye was a Fiat Croma in a local dealership. Had a look online and discovered that you can pick up a 56 plate 20K or thereabouts well-specced example (1.8 petrol) for around 5 grand.
• Time wasters 'selling' cars 27 Jun 2008 (Forum)
  Anything in excess of group 3 insurance is out of the question, otherwise I'd pick up an old Primera or Mazda 626 like mine. What am I doing wrong? Maybe I should chance the auctions. In the meantime I'll take a deep breath and start again next weekend.
• Test drives - Availability of lengthy drives. 20 Oct 2007 (Forum)
  Renault offered me a car for a day, subject to signing up to their insurance. I was in it for 4 hours, no problem. Mazda offered me a car for up to 4 hours, as have Volvo, which I'm driving next week. Ford gave me an accompanied test drive for 10 minutes, and said that they won't do any unaccompanied drives. I thought that this might have been because they were a small dealer, but I tried another and got the same response.
• Bumped by lorry 10 Apr 2006 (Forum)
  End result is scratches to the back and front of my car, a small crack in the car in front, and of course, no damage to the truck. I was driving a mazda mx5 at the time. Now, I called the police, who made sure that we exchanged details and provided a translator since the truck driver couldn't speak english. The truck driver produced a form (constat d'amiable accident or something) in french which he wrote all his details on, and asked me to write mine.
• Car buying strategy 29 Apr 2005 (Forum)
  Residue value would be higher due to marque of car, so could pursue 1 if felt taken wrong decision. Option 3. Go for small fun petrol coupe (MR2, Mazda) and when wife's S Reg Fiesta is due to for a replacement, get an MPV style of vehicle to cater for family days out. I think I am between option 1 and 2 at the moment. Car needs to be able to accommodate 2 adults and 2 children (until option 3 is a reality).
• Auction Prices Manheim Bristol 23 Feb 2004 (Forum)
  All the cars had warranted mileage, all with FSH (Printout or Service Book) and all sold as seen direct from the fleet (PHH/Lloyds TSB/Vauxhall/GE Capital): Vauxhall Corsa 1.0 12v Club, 6 went through while I was there, all 2001/2002 51 reg, 13k to 20k miles, met blue/silver £3975 to £4400 1999 V Mazda MX-5 1.8 conv soft-top met blue 47k miles £6850 Ford Mondeos: 2000 V 2.0 LX 5 door h/b in met silver in nice condition 57k miles £3175 1999 V 1.8 TD GLX estate in met blue with a few small parking dents but OK, 75k miles £3600 2001 Y 2.0 TD LX 5 door h/b in met green 80k miles in good order £5400 And several BMW 320d SE 4 door saloons (none with leather): 2001 Y in met blue in nice condition 59k miles £11850 2001 X in dark blue good condition 76k miles £10800 2000 W in met silver excellent condition 41k miles £11700
• Convoluted relationships 11 Feb 2004 (Forum)
  It seems that the car manufacturing world gets more and more convoluted by the day. We have the likes of Ford owning Volvo Cars, Jaguar, and Aston Martin, and with a stake in Mazda, the Fiesta having some engines with Yamaha cylinder heads, and courtesy of parent Ford, the new V8 engines for the Volvo XC90 and S80 also being Yamaha sourced. We also have a legacy agreement between Volvo and Mitsubishi, which effectively also links Ford to Mitsubishi, an X-Type on a Mondeo floor plan and the new S40 and V50 on the as-yet-to-be-released new Focus floor plan.
• Toyota Estates Camry, Carnia or Avensis? 15 Aug 2003 (Forum)
  Having studied this forum it appears to me that either a Mazda estate (rare and hard to get hold of) or a Toyota estate appears to be the most reliable estate cars there is. I have limited knowledge of Toyota's as I have only ever driven a Celica that a friend loaned me for a few months.
• Honda Civic - Honda Civic 1.5 Sport. Uncomfortable. Ideas? 19 Feb 2023 (Forum)
  Boot space would need to match or be higher than the civic (surprisingly large for what it is) but most importantly has a good comfort rating. Before purchasing the civic, the Mazda CX5 was high on my list, but felt if I could get more power and better fuel economy from the civic without adding the weight of an SUV that would be best. I will be sad to see it go, as it's a great car but any longer than 30 minutes in it and I'm dying to have a rest.
• Honda Jazz - Catalytic converter theft 9 Oct 2020 (Forum)
   Also, he wants an automatic and I warned him about the Powershift gearbox, although I’m not sure mk1s had that transmission - did they?  He also mentioned Kia so I told him about the 7 year warranty.  He is open to Mazda too.  He requires a medium hatchback to carry around the paraphernalia associated with a small baby.  Does anybody have any suggestions ?  You can probably deduce the kind of budget from his initial thoughts.
• Cheap small 80s/90s Jap: Starlet, Micra, Sunny...? 25 Jul 2020 (Forum)
  I'm not looking for boy racer hot hatch editions, just super cheap economy. Alternatively there's same era MItsubishi Colt, Daihatsu Charade, Mazda 121/323, Suzuki Swift, but all seem to be hard to find.
• Ford Focus - Car Advice 25 Sep 2017 (Forum)
  Basically im looking on opinions as to what my next car should be, my criteria is below Affordibility low insurance reliability focus size but bigger boot wouldnt go amiss would like the focus but scared of all the negativity surrounding ford at the moment. Have looked at the mazda 3 honda civics like the look of them but scared there will be a big jump in insurance. At 3 n a half grand what would my options be? Thank in advance to all those who take the time to read and for any opinions you might offer