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• Buying advice - E220cdi or Saab 9-3 2 Apr 2010 (Forum)
  I'm about to change and am filled with the usual dread - getting ripped off, not knowing how much my car is worth, whether to sell privately or trade it in, blah, blah. My existing car is a BMW 530d SE touring 2002 02. It has done 87K and has lots of nice things like leather, vibrating front seats, 6xCD, park assist front and rear, multi-function steering wheel, 17" alloys. So I'm used to a bit of luxury.
• SAAB 9-3 Convertible - SAAB 9-3 Convertible Offer - Advice Please 25 Mar 2010 (Forum)
  It will have to be built to my spec and delivery is about 10 weeks, I shall keep the Sportwagon, I do not want a used 3yr old BMW or an Audi. I will keep it for at least five years, it will be a private purchase partly funded by a personal loan and will be maintained by a local independant SAAB specialist who charges less than 1/2 the main dealer prices and is warranty compliant.
• Ford Fiesta (2002 - 2008) - 07 1.6 broken shock absorber 18 May 2009 (Forum)
  Could it (as the garage are suggesting) have been caused by original impact? The car that hit me was a big BMW 4X4, but speed was very slow. Also I am concerned that having driven the car for a total of 10 days before diagnosis further damage may have been caused because shock abosrber was broken. Any advice welcome, worried!
• Which used car to buy? 26 Mar 2009 (Forum)
  The only other needs that I have are that it has to be an automatic, I don't want it to any less room in that back for adults or boot space than the Beetle, I don't want an Estate car and we like the idea of a BMW / Mercedes / Audi type car more than a Ford / Toyota / Vauxhall type. We've never driven sports cars before so suspect that things like how well the car handles when you throw it round corners don't matter so much to us.
• Yamaha Fazer v Suzuki SV 650 20 Oct 2008 (Forum)
  Hi all, Some of you may have seen my thread on BMW F650CS v Honda Firestorm. Well, I've ruled out the Firestorm as not commuter friendly, being a real stretch to the bars and a bit big to move about comfortably for me (only 5'5") I saw a 650CS, but it was a shed.
• £10k fun car - M5 or C32 AMG, or other suggestions 28 Jul 2008 (Forum)
  The M5 appears to have some very expensive inherent issues if you buy a lemon, I havent read so much on the Merc, but it appears to loose nothing in perfomance to the BMW. I'm not bothered about Auto or Manual boxes. The 3rd option was the Audi RS4/RS6. I haven driven a moddified RS4 2.7T V6 (circa 480bhp) from a colleague in Germany, it was certianly a very quick car, but again, i dont know about long term relibility.
• Never meet your heroes 19 Jul 2008 (Forum)
  However, like many backroomers I keep a keen eye on the car market and it is no secret that recently prices have softened considerably on premium larger vehicles. I have always coveted the E39 BMW Touring. Never could quite justify the cost but for various reasons including model replacement, fuel prices and so on they are starting to look reasonable at least on purchase price, if less so on running costs.
• Skoda - Skoda - VW's problem child 17 Jan 2008 (Forum)
  This is for the TDi100 engine. The superb TDI V6 (27000 pounds) bombed as folks would rather pay for more for a Merc or BMW and the Accord is better value at 23000 pouns Result - Skoda is regarded as a prestige badge - something like what Volvo and Audi were consideried in the early 80's. Now VW want to come in. They launched the Passat 140tdi (assembled here ) for 33000 pounds.
• Minicab (RR etc) Scam To Avoid Congestion Charge 5 Nov 2007 (Forum)
  which is planned to rise to £25 per day for the highest polluting vehicles in 2008. The investigation found 31 Bentleys,18 BMW X5s, 52 Range Rovers, and eight Rolls- Royce Phantoms, among others, registered as private hire vehicles. "Stop exemptions for minicabs" Jay Nagley, publisher of Clean Green Cars, said it was absurd that a private hire vehicle with a V12 engine does not pay the congestion charge when a family doing the school run with a Renault Espace 2.0T Auto is liable for the full £25 fee.
• Used car Inspection 15 May 2007 (Forum)
  I can offer some limited help to her myself but as I've recently proven to myself, even I am taken in by shiny paint when viewing cars for my own use, the last BMW Ibought had as much filer as it did bodywork but I failed to notice until long after I drove off in her, and I most certainly don't want to repeat the performance when helping a less knowledgeable friend buy one!
• Dealing with tailgaiters 13 Apr 2007 (Forum)
  The benefits of a debadged RS4 avant in this circumstance are not to be underestimated as even smug gits in their 'high power' BMW's are left floundering (yet to see an M5 driver doing this). Oddly enough it always seems to be drivers of low end underpowered diesel rep cars that are the worst offenders. It's terribly childish I know but it does give me immense satisfaction to 'drop them' as easily if they were riding a bicycle.
• bought off ebay- was the car good or bad 19 Mar 2007 (Forum)
  i was taking a glance at the many threads on ebay here and i was just wondering if anybody fancied writing if they ever bought a gem or a pile of ........ I have purchased 2 cars of ebay, both for personnel use. First being a K reg bmw 316i. it was a great car and to be honest i wish i never sold it. i paid £1500 for it and sold it for £1700 6 months later.i never went to see it and bid "blind". i get to see it at least once a week as the guy who bought it lives round the corner, if he ever puts it up, i will probably buy it.
• Car boredom - curse of itchy feet 17 Dec 2006 (Forum)
  - if it's a humble hatchback then you can understand it being below average or do you think if you own a top of the range BMW or Mercedes the boredom factor can also creep in? Obviously some are stuck - for example company cars for 3 years etc, and it may be a perfectly reasonable car but for some reason you feel the urge to swap.
• Think I'm gonna get a 5 series. Volume 2 18 Sep 2006 (Forum)
  Whilst out and about I've seen two cars I like the look of, the best of the two, and one that my dad has (quite suprisingly) told me that he thinks is much nicer looking than the BMW, is a Jaguar X-Type 2.5 V6 AWD. It's a 2001 51, manual transmission, full leather and it looks FANTASTIC from the outside. £6,500 with full Jag History and 100K on the clock. The only thing to concern me is that AWD sounds like it might sap all of the power from the car and make it extremely thirsty.
• Time for a new car. Please advise. 26 Jul 2006 (Forum)
  I would hope to get £6500 or thereabouts for it. 03 reg 2.0 exclusive. Before the Picasso I had a BMW 320 Touring Automatic that I really liked, and wouldn't mind one of those again. Nothing rattled, no bits fell off and somehow it 'felt' well made. I like the look of the Volvo V50 (in silver) too and am going to have a closer look at these tomorrow.
• New Honda Civic (Diesel) 20 May 2006 (Forum)
  C class estate is quite appealing, but is probably a bit too pretentious for my job (I'm a self employed specialist electronic engineer and work on-site a lot) and the smaller diesels are not over fuel efficient. I do not like the look of the BMW 3 series. The Honda Accord diesel has fantastic reviews, but the estate is REALLY ugly (IMO). So today by chance, I see the new Civic in a Honda showroom and all of a sudden I think "do I need all the space that my current Passat offers"?
• Taiwan top for radar trapping? 17 Apr 2006 (Forum)
  Motorway is mostly 110 kph but drops to 90 or sometimes 70 on bends and bridges. What is noticeable is that sticking to the speed limit doesn't upset anyone and, yes, there are BMWs. Other motoring things noticed: either side overtaking traffic light cameras many motorway cameras mostly around junctions tow trucks in big cities wide scooter lanes in most towns and often in the country signposting mostly English as well as Chinese but it helps to know road numbers the occasional Rover 600 and the odd Freelander Toyotas, Toyotas, Toyotas Don't try drag racing at the lights with a Kia Picanto EuroStar automatic!
• Vauxhall Astra G Petrol (1998 - 2004) - 98 1.4 - sluggish performance and EML. 8 Mar 2006 (Forum)
  Hi, I'm a bit of a newbie. Not really a car expert but know enough to know my Astra isn't running right at the minute. I seem to be allsorts of problems...
• 2005 Defender LWB 25 Oct 2005 (Forum)
  Another LR change its actually smooth at 60 on a Motorway, people keep away "who is this fool in a new Landie ?" Forget your Shoguns, VWs, BMW and Volvo pretenders this is real 4x4 motoring, a very British experience; thanks LR for keeping the faith ! Oh and another thing they changed a speedo that was rock steady at every speed !
• Car buying strategy 29 Apr 2005 (Forum)
  Basically, a reliable motor to do the 84 mile commute, with a 12 month dealer warranty. Option 2. Go for a more presteige brand, again, diesel. I'd love a BMW. Spend more, get a better car. Keep for longer, as would last longer being better built (that's an argument not a statement!)Residue value would be higher due to marque of car, so could pursue 1 if felt taken wrong decision.