Due to a dodgy lower back I have been advised that my next car should be an automatic. I have driven auto hire cars, but never owned one. Although I can't afford brand new, I do fancy something mid size with a bit of go - not necessarily a hot hatch, warm would suffice.
The 150 diesel Leon seems to have a fantastic combination of acceleration and econonmy, but is manual. The 1.8 auto only manages about 30 mpg on paper. Is this the case with most similar autos?
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Thought about a diesel auto? There are more and more around now and you could certainly find a C5 for not too much money. There are reports of problems with jerky gearchanges but we have found ours on the 2.2 HDI to be fine. It has a tiptronic change option too, which produces very quick and smooth gear changes. Fuel economy will obviously be down, compared with a manual, unless you are looking at a DSG or CVT type gearbox, but it will be better than you will get from a petrol engine with a torque converter box. We get around 35 mpg overall from ours and that includes a fair amount of urban driving.
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I forgot to ask, do you have a budget limit, which will obviously make a difference?
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I suppose the budget would just about go to 10 grand, would prefer to spend a bit less. I certainly would consider a diesel auto. We have a petrol Picasso for the family stuff which is fine, but not exciting. It does give nearly 40 mpg though. I suppose I am wanting to have my cake etc by wanting something with some zip but decent mpg as well ( and I know autos generally have reduced mpg). There seems to be quite a range of Meganes with auto options and I was wondering about one of them.
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oooo no you dont want one of them.
Renaults auto boxes are considered weak, and any exciting meganes only come in megane 2 models and probably out of your price range.
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Thanks for the tip off about Meganes. I look out for a Golf, but after the thread about VW dealers I'm not too enthusiastic...
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What about the last incarnation of the Golf, or a Bora? They had an auto box with the 130 bhp TDI engine. I don't know how much you would have to pay for one though.
You would certainly have plenty of choice with C5 HDI autos. Of course the Xsara HDI also had the option of an auto box, but only 110 bhp.
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Which car do you drive at the moment and who advised you to get an auto?
Perhaps your current driving position is the problem and you just need to adjust where the seat is in relation to the pedals/steering wheel/etc. Perhaps you just need a car with a better seat and a better seat/gearlever/pedal alignment?
I think one of the motoring magazines (What Car? perhaps) does a survey of seat comfort/driving position every so often.
Worth considering if you don't actually want an auto and may not need one.
Best of luck!
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Might be worth reading HJ's problem page in the Telegraph today.
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My 'rule of thumb' on autoboxes is that GM and the Japanese make good, relaible, boxes. Therefore any Vauxhall and most Japanese cars, plus the many European cars that now use Jap autoboxes (e.g. some VWs, Volvos etc etc use Jap 'boxes).
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