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He's going to get it anyway, so it'll be tidier if we keep it all in one place.
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Nice Ford Mondeo then Dave ?
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Or kind of anything but another Vectra really. You've done enough, way beyond anything any call of duty, penance or loyalty could begin to require.
Last edited by: Runfer D'Hills on Thu 5 Feb 15 at 20:55
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It's time for VxFan to forget this cruel place and join the fun over on www.vodc.co.uk/
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In the land of the Cavalier 1.6L, the man with the 1.6GL is king.
};---)
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They take the badges off now, presumably to try to convince people ( or themselves ) that they have an allegedly more exotic Opel. I had a Signum for a few months. Horrible thing, however, thankfully I hadn't got around to selling my old faithful Mondeo while I had it and went back to that which despite its much higher mileage and advanced years was a far superior and more reliable drive.
Each to their own of course.
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I loved my Carlton estate (in 1989). Lovely machine. Just saying.
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I liked my Mk 1 (RWD) Cavalier too. Pretty basic but it handled well and was surprisingly quick for the time which was around 1978.
My Mk 2 Cavalier SRi wasn't nearly as much fun to drive strangely enough. Various Astras and Corsas have passed through our hands over the years along with the Signum but none of them were ever much good. Too many niggly faults and fairly wooden to drive. However, undoubtedly some people like them and fair enough if they do. I'd not rush to have another.
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>> In the land of the Cavalier 1.6L, the man with the 1.6GL is king.
>> };---)
>>
I'm sure it was Ford that started that game... But either way, you were nothing without the i !!
I have to say I am struggling to see why everyones so anti him choosing another vauxhall though. I spent nearly half of last year in hire cars of one sort or another, used for normal sorts of driving. In the mid market nowadays all cars really are much of a muchness, so if he likes them, the price is good and the dealer convenient, why not?
To be fair that extends beyond the mid market as well - the insignia hire car I had at new year was also perfectly OK. Was it as good as the Merc? No, though objectively it felt no less solid. Is it worth spending twice as much on a car; again, no not objectively. But I can, I like it and so I do :)
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You are of course correct in everything you say Peter.
But it is possible to be absolutely correct and still not be right...
;-))
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:)
I also wonder if there's an age thing at play in the vauxhall / ford thing? I was born in the early 70s. As I was growing up Fords always seems to be just a bit rubbish. There was the Cortina, on its last legs and then Sierra, Escort - the first fwd being good, the next few dire. The Capri was already on its deathbed, and the Granada had morphed into the first jelly mould shape.
Sure some of the sportier ones had a better image, but even then a bit 'Essex'. White XR2i anyone? And that comes from someone who had both an XR3i and an RS1600i 'back in the day' !! Should have kept the latter, along with the 205 GTi that followed. Both collectible nowadays ;-)
But certainly in my peer group the Nova SR was cooler than the Fiesta (blistered rear wheel arches like an Audi Quattro!), the Astra GTE then GSi preferable to the Escorts, and the Cavalier SRi / GSI more desirable than the Sierra. The Sierra Cosworths changed that, but late in teh day for the Sierra range as I recall. And by then Audi/BMW were already on the up in terms of volume...
Though I'm sure if I'd been born 10 years earlier the RWD Escorts and Capris were infinitely cooler than the Vauxhall Viva and Opel Manta? Nowadays Audi, BMW, Merc are the equivalent of Ford, Austin Rover and Vauxhall on the company car lists...
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But not ( with a nod to Eric Morecambe) necessarily in that order !
;-)
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No, I didn't put any thought in to the order, though now you mention it...
;-)
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Now there's a thing to toy with, I'll pitch in and say that BMW are the Ford equivalent in today's co car league, the brand you select if you like driving and at least aspire to management. Mercedes might be Rover, solid, traditional and you almost certainly already are management. Audi would be Vauxhall, you sort of like the styling, but you're not really into cars, don't realise it's dynamically flawed and the wife won't complain if you come home with one.
:-)
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I'd agree with that order, they maybe for slightly different reasons...
Ford is definitely BMW; the master of making it obvious when you've got a bottom of the range model ;-) Mercedes is definitely Rover, primarily because of their fondness for grey and beige interiors. Which leaves Vauxhall as Audi, because they look OK and they're not as brash as a Ford or old man as a Rover :-)
Though I do hink it's interesting how the 'premium' brands positioning has moved over the last 15 years or so. They've all moved towards the 'sporty' in terms of ride and looks. That used to be the preserve of BMW, with of course the driver appeal to back it up. Audi is the left of field choice and MB the older managers choice. But now Audi is more overtly sporty and aggressive than BMW, with BMW almost (but not quite...) the thinking persons alternative. Actually, due to low emissions and BIK, which seems to matter to some ;-), I see it as the misers choice. The Merc; well, I didn't want an Audi or a BMW ;-)
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...with BMW almost (but not quite...) the thinking persons alternative.
Blimey, is that me then? I certainly find myself being attracted towards Munich in a way I wouldn't have considered possible 15 years ago; their big hatchback models even tickle some of my understimulated Saab receptors. But I'm not repelled by Audi either; I like the space and style of the A6 estate, and an A3 5 door is on the longlist to replace the S60.
I think the differences are starkest in the middle of each range. Apply what Humph (or was it Peter?) said to the A4, 3 and C and I can see it quite clearly. Less so with A3, 1 and A, and hardly at all with A6, 5 and E. If anything, I'd say the current A and E were brasher than their German rivals.
For full disclosure, I'm already 'in management' ('Senior Manager' since Monday, if you please) and a couple of years older than Peter, so with many of the same cultural reference points. And, like both Humph and Peter, I have a big Mercedes. Now call me what you like!
Last edited by: WillDeBeest on Sat 7 Feb 15 at 17:08
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Ah well, if you've been promoted you need to upgrade! Stick with an MB estate, but in order to downplay things I'd go for this:
used.mercedes-benz.co.uk/used/2012/mercedes-benz/c63-amg/2012-mercedes-benz-c63-amg-belfast-for-sale-txi20
And de badge it! Seen on PH, but a de badged, brown estate car with a beige interior and a layer of dirt is nice and understated :)
Thank goodness it's in Belfast (and a bit pricey for a 2012 I think) ;-)
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Understated, certainly, but too small for us; would have to be the E63 for the full rocket- sofa effect. Think we'll keep our E for family duties and choose something Golf/A3 sized to replace the Volvo as my everyday transport. To be continued.
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>> I have to say I am struggling to see why everyones so anti him choosing another vauxhall though.
Cheques in the post mate ;)
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So where does that leave Skoda? Perhaps the one for the private buyers who thought they'd like a premium marque but don't want to spend premium money - and then look carefully and find they're not getting all that much less in terms of kit - or quality.
Each time I've bought a new Skoda (three times now) I've talked to friends / colleagues who have paid about the same for a used Mercedes (but it could have been any premium marque). It's horses for courses isn't it - I like the feeling of a new car (plus the warranty and in my case free servicing), they like the genuine, though unquantifiable, feeling of well-being.
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Skoda today is to Volvo of the past I think. As you say, premium quality but not premium prices. The Octavia VRs estatecould even be the equivalent of the touring car Volvo Estate!! 850R wasn't it?
Edited to add, I think I've even seen a Skoda in yellow! Though not the custardy yellow of the Volvo... Graphite wheels though :)
Last edited by: PeterS on Sat 7 Feb 15 at 17:01
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Yeah, I'd go with the Skoda as the modern Saab or Volvo maybe. Anything Korean are the latter day Maestros or Montegos. Worthy, perfectly good things but your wife ( or perhaps your wife's mother ) would be a just little bit ( if secretly ) disappointed if you were given one by your employer. Nissans haven't changed much, you still buy those with your own money. Citroens but only if you are an architect because you can't buy Saabs now.
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I don't quite get the Volvo comparison. Yes, there's the function-over-vanity choice one had to make in the days before Volvo employed stylists, but in those days even a basic Volvo was cosseting and airy, with its superb seats and big windows (and more space than they offer today.) I've been in basic Skodas and found them cheerless, full of reminders of the version (or the Volkswagen) I couldn't afford. Not a problem in the Superb Elegance, which I liked and may consider again if the Beestlings' legs go on getting longer, or probably in Avant's VRS, but you have to go that far up the range to get something that offers anything like that Volvo feelgood factor.
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I suppose my judgement is coloured by my dad having had 4 or 5 consecutive Volvos during the 1970s. All 140s or 240s. He saw them as ever so slightly austerity cars having "only" 4 cylinders and 2.0 litre-ish engines when he had long chosen 3.0 litre 6s and larger. The fuel crisis of the early 70s caused him and a lot of others to look at cars which were more fuel efficient. He liked the Volvos though.
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And then there was the Volvo 340DL auto ;-)
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That had Aston Martin worried for a while.
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...which was still a nice place to sit. Just as well - you'd be sitting there a long time.
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Remember when it was fashionable for manufacturers to stick big matt black spoilers on their cars to make them look sporty? Volvo even did that to their 3 series fairly unconvincingly. It always made me think of a fat bloke in a tracksuit..
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The Jaguar X-type 'Sport' puts the same image in my mind.
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Yeah, why do manufacturers insist on calling some models "sport"? My car is a "sport" and while it might be a comfortable enough means of transport to get to a Motorsport event in, it would utterly rubbish on a race track.
;-)
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Could be worse. Mines an Avantgarde. There's nothing avantgarde about a grey diesel automatic estate car ;-)
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My wife, had when they first came out, an Avantgarde model A class, which at the time, arguably, might have been. It certainly challenged convention I suppose. She didn't keep it long, didn't get on with it at all.
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The gearstick of my silver estate car is avant garde; there's a badge on top to tell me so.
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It doesn't actually say the word "sport" on mine anywhere thank goodness. It does have AMG on chrome plates on the door sills though, which is a tiny bit embarrassing when you have a cylinder deficit.
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'And made Grensons?
Poor me is considering dropping down the greasy pole from a 6 cyl BM to a 4 cyl VW. Make of that what you will.
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I really rate the Merc 2.1 four pot as fitted to my car. In 200 BHP tune it's much more than adequate for any circumstances regulated by speed limits and is astonishingly frugal in such a big car. But, I do love the sound of multi cylinder engines. V8s in particular.
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So if Skoda is the new Volvo, err what's Volvo now?
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Well maybe Volvo is the new Audi. Now that Audi is the new BMW... :)
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Okay, so if BMW is the new Ford and Audi is the new Vauxhall, is Vauxhall the new Austin and Ford the new Hillman?
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Actually....Ford is the new Ford - as ever a car you choose to do a job of work. Vauxhall is the new Vauxhall - a car someone else chooses for you to do the same job.
Before I get struck off from this forum, let me hasten to add that VxFan is an honourable exception to that generalisation!
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Unwanted advice to VF - R.P.
