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• All the car you need? 7 Feb 2022 (Forum)
  Ford Mondeo 1.8 LX Mk I 5dr - Perfect in almost every way at the time. Ford Focus 1.6 LX 5dr Mk I - Brilliant handling yet reliable, comfortable and cheap to run. Mazda 3 2.0 Sport - Great fun yet practical. Enough power yet no worse on fuel day to day than the 1.6 models. Honda Civic 2.0 Type S 5dr - All the practicality and reliability of this model of Civic but with Rev happy 158bhp motor and firmed (but not too firm) up handling.
• Japanese versus the rest. 21 Feb 2003 (Forum)
  Everyone knows that they have an excellent reliability record, that they were renowned for copying other peoples designs and principles and making bland but efficient clones and were criticised for lacking that special quality that made the Italians and French special. (Apparently). So why don't the owners of Pug, Citroen and Vauxhall all drive Toyotas, Mazdas and Nissans? (Note I said owners rather than drivers - if your company is paying the bill I can quite see that you'll choose the one *you* want to drive rather than worry about the bills). We have a Yaris AND a Maestro so have a foot in each camp.
• Nippon pong remover 12 Feb 2002 (Forum)
  When the doors are opened a lemon fragrance assails the olfactories. I decided to try this on the Mazda hack, which hasn?t had its aircon touched in 7 years apart from the occasional burst of R-12 to top it up and lives in a tropical climate of high heat and humidity carrying all kinds of humanity on various errands.
• Happy Blue's rental car blog 10 Jul 2016 (Forum)
    With all the luggage and a long journey I wanted a seven seater for space and comfort; so I reserved a Mazda 5 or similar.  I love it when rental companies upgrade you to a car that is less suitable for your needs than the one you ordered.
• Find my daughter an automatic...? 7 Jul 2019 (Forum)
  Suzuki SX4 - Torque Converter (T/C) - although tax is quite high at £280 on the autos Suzuki Swift - T/C from what I can find Kia Rio  / i20 - T/C Yaris CVT / Verso CVT - not MMT version Mazda 2 - T/C Maybe a Meriva / Astra but not with the Easytronic box -I believe if it isn't Easytronic it is T/C? A Fiesta / Focus / Fusion pre Powershift when they used T/C boxes I think a Nissan Note had a T/C box before it got the self destruct CVT from around 2011?
• Civic, Focus, Astra - Advice on car to handle commuting to new job 15 Jan 2014 (Forum)
    Based on autotrader then for around £7k to £8k I think I can get a diesel Civic from 2008 maybe 2009 with 40k to 60k+ on the clock. That seems to be a simillar story for a Focus or Mazda 3 (in each case, petrol of course is younger or less miles, but I think the mileage (maybe 20k a year) satisfies a diesel...) . On the other hand, for the same money, it seems like I could have a much younger Astra or Renault or Peugeot (2010/2011 or even younger with less than 30k on the clock).
• any - another one of those 'which car' questions! 5 Jan 2014 (Forum)
  Facelifted Focus 1.6 petrol (i.e. 2008) Had one before, liked it, great driver, safe, proper car, mpg wasn't great Toyota Yaris (1.33 petrol): seems very sensible, ticks all the boxes, horrible looks and apparently caves in a bit on rear end shunts (but good 5* euroncap). Mazda 2 Seat Ibiza (1.4 petrol) There's a 2010 facelifted Renault Clio (I know, I know!) 1.5 Dci 86 Dynamique for sale locally that looks great, with terrific mpg, great safety, nice spec, but a used Renault diesel, with only 3 months warranty, do I need a good smack on the back of the head with a rolled up newspaper for even considering it?
• Nissan Note (2006 - ) - Nissan Note - just got it 12 Oct 2010 (Forum)
  As we were passing we (she, to be more exact) decided to look in anyway, having almost dismissed the Mazda and Hyundai due to various degrees of unsuitability of their cars for her needs. As soon as she sat in the Note it was declared a definate possibility so we went on our merry way to inspect other hopefuls.
• Volkswagen - Dealer right arm unaware of existance of left arm 23 Nov 2009 (Forum)
  All is sorted, but I really do begin to doubt the ability of a dealer to do a proper servicing job if it can get its admin so badly wrong. Two more free services, and I think the Touran will then be getting swapped for a Mazda 5. And I'll be checking the condition of the oil filter when I pick it up.
• Next car in 18 months time -a blog. 22 Jul 2009 (Forum)
  Of course, that would leave me needing to run the family car which leaves me considering a Legacy Tourer perhaps. Others that I like include the Mazda 6 and the ?. Erm, well I?m not sure. Of course, RTB junior is 17 in 18 months time. I should be considering a visit to the auctions to pick up a suitable learner/first car. (Note to self ? does Joe Dowd bother with £1,000 motors?)
• FIAT Grande Punto (2006 - 2009) - Impressions of 28 Oct 2007 (Forum)
  Same when I wanted to put a bit of small change handy for bridge tolls. The interior looked smart but didn't seem as practical as my Mazda 323. The engine was a 1.2 with a 5 speed manual. Much to my surprise it managed reasonable performance in town provided you revved it hard and used the gears. On the motorways and A roads it could keep up with the traffic and cruised ok at 70mph and even 80 in places however there was no power left for overtaking.
• USA observations and rip off Britain 31 Aug 2007 (Forum)
  I thought the irony of these points was hilarious. By the way they class small cars things like a Mazda 3 or a Honda Civic!!! Even a VW Jetta!!! 9.I ended up with a Hyundai Sonata as a hire car. Utterly bland auto saloon but also perfectly competent transport. I saw loads of them. Yet most of us over here wouldn't touch one with a barge pole. 10.Jeep/Dodge/Chrysler are doing a lifetime warranty on the powertrain of their cars there.
• family car ? 31 Oct 2004 (Forum)
  nice but small in the back a6 (dont like look of, like passat) bmw 525 d se touring (favourite, but 44mpg) volvo v70 (again nice, but low mpg) saab 9-5 estate/hatch/ or is it saloon? (nice but green clocks) mazda 6 ? alfa156 sportwagon ? (reliabile??)(looks great!) not mondao, laguna, vectra, omega. mg zt-t (ok, but i really dont know) peugeot 407? honda ? merc c/e class? rear wheel drive and old man image there are too many cars to choose from now, sometimes wish, i just had a company car again !
• Buying advice - family car for three in rear 30 Oct 2023 (Forum)
  Have looked at a Zafira but don't particularly like the interior layout and boot space does not really seem much better than the Astra Most 7 seater MPVs seem to be too small (Kia Carens, Toyota Verso, C-max, Mazda 5 etc). Conversely the large 7-seaters (Galaxy/Alahambra/Touran) are too big for my partner to park/navigate on the narrow lanes near us. This leaves me pretty much with the S-Max unless I am missing something.
• Small/mid auto SUV - any recs? 10 Aug 2021 (Forum)
  And what do you think about the ones we've considered so far: Mini Countryman (my wife's preference!); Mazda CX3; Renault Captur; Honda H-RV (but only the petrol comes with an auto, and the reviews of the petrol engine performance aren't great); Suzuki Vitara (which rarely if ever have heated seats...). Final off the wall consideration - though it is more expensive, I've also seen online a 2 year old Hyundai Kona EV.
• Ford Focus - Ford TDCI limp mode issues 8 Jul 2021 (Forum)
  Firstly sorry for the long read - I want to give as much info/diagnostics as I can to try and get to the bottom of this...Really hoping someone can give me some advice on this as its driving me mad here! So I have a 2008(58) Mazda 3 1.6d - using the Citroen HDi/Ford TDCI engine all mechanics seem to know and hate. Its Euro 4 so it has the EGR but no DPF. About a month ago it went into limp mode. It still drove but really struggled to get above 3k RPM and was very sluggish to pick up speed when driving.
• n/a - Motability pros/cons & vehicle choice 9 Jan 2017 (Forum)
  Following our disabled son's recent upgraded PIP award we're considering getting a motability vehicle but are aware there are pros and cons. Having checked...
• Ford Maverick - Which to buy? CRV mk1 or Maverick mk2 15 May 2012 (Forum)
  I like the mk1 Honda CRV, but I've seen a few Ford Mavericks  that look good value too. I'm looking at the 2.0 Zetec Maverick, the same car as the Mazda Tribute, not the Nissan Terrano version. There are more Hondas to choose from, as the Maverick was only on sale for a couple of years and wasn't popular, but the Maverick is shorter (which is important to me as I have to park on the street and my current 190E is long enough!)
• Nissan Almera (2000 - 2006) - - time to replace, but with what? 2 Jan 2010 (Forum)
  Optional: Heated front screen Leather seats Have considered so far: Yaris (TR or T-Spirit model) i20 (Comfort / Style) Jazz (don't think I can afford the new model yet) Mazda 2 Budget probably around 8-9k, depending on what I can get saved up. I'm a big fan of Jap cars, having driven a '96 Civic prior to the Almera (and loved it to bits), not so keen on the VAG group (despite liking the newest Seat Ibiza) due to reliability issues, and certainly nothing French unless someone can convince me that their reliability has improved over the last few years.
• Are small cars impractical for tall people? 16 Aug 2008 (Forum)
  I have begun, for green reasons and economic reasons, to think about a Yaris but, heck, it is a push to fit in one and I expect, apart from being easier to park and cheap to run, there would be serious downsides in being to transport anything 'big' if I ever needed to... oh, and in such cars I have to push the seat so far back that no one could sit behind me anyhow... but this is the same for Focus, Golf, Asta, Mazda 3 and so on. Or maybe car makers just don't think of tall people when they design and build cars? I can understand why so many people opt for easy to get in and out MPVs - if you are tall low seats in a great many cars are a strain on back, thighs and knees when you get in and out... an osteopath friend tells me that a great many people have cars that are too small for them and get in and out of such a car everyday when they would have no intention of walking around in shoes that were too small.