I have the opportunity to buy a cheap 1 year old fleet car at a good price and have tempted me for a change and pass my QX to my girlfriend.
My question is, where would I be able to find the noise (in decibel) of a car make at 70mph? This car will be a work car (around 20k p.a.) so low cruising NVH, good handling and safety is key.
The choices are all 2004; Primera 1.8 S 60k for £3,000; Mondeo 2.0 Ghia 70k for £4,500 and a Passat 2.0 SE 75k for £5,000.
I am happy to go for the Primera because of the price but should I consider the Mondeo and Passat if I want a more calm environment?
Many thanks, Gazza
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I would say the Mondeo is noisier than the Primera. Every Mondeo I've driven has wind noise from somewhere behind my right ear!
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I found the Nissan to be noisier than the Mondeo
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Simplest way to find out is to test drive all three, but I suspect that the Passat and Primera in that order are likely to be the quietest because of the build quality.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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I have driven them all but as I live in London, all I have driven are city speeds and upto around 50mph in the 20-30-min test drives and they are all very similar.
I have never driven them on concrete motorways like M11/M4 and it is concrete surfaces which I am concern over NVH.
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>>>it is concrete surfaces which I am concern over NVH.>>>>
If this is your major concern, whichever car you buy, tyre choice will have a major impact. I have recently switched from Pirelli P6000 to Michelin Pilot Primacy and the difference, particularly over ridged concrete road surfaces, is so great that you would never believe it was the same car. The Michelins are absolutely superb in suppressing road noise and I would add that I have no connection with the company whatsoever, but merely a satisfied customer.
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I concur with all the earlier postings. Again, drive these cars at motorway speeds and check them out. Petrol engines are so much quieter now, it's pretty much wind and road noise you hear when cruising.
I had a new Avensis hire car recently. Was unbelievably quiet up to 60mph (I used to drive a LS400). Hit 70mph, and you had lots of wind noise. How crap.
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Reckon the Passat will be marhginally quietest at 70 though in all other respects the Mondeo wins hands down being quicker, more economical, so so so so much more fun to drive, more reliable and cheaper to repair/service, it is also the best equipped and best value at the prices quoted.
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Ford actually used the old Primera as the class benchmark for Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH), when it was designing the original Mondeo for the 1993 launch.
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>>Ford actually used the old Primera as the class benchmark >>
Partially true but the reality was, after the disaster that was the Escort launch in 1990, that Ford set out to discover the secret of the Primera's handling and ride and adopt such qualities for the then pending Mondeo.
The result was a new upper medium car that has always proved an excellent driver's car right from the start and also played a role in the development of the revamped Fiesta in 1995.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Update: Just got confirmation that the Primera is in fact SE spec and not S spec.
I have tried the Primera today and found that you cannot lock the doors from the inside. There is not a separate latch/botton so when you lock the doors, people cannot come in from the outside but passenger can still pull the handle to open from inside. Why such stupid design? What happen if you have a child/teenager with uncontrollable fingers?
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No not stupid - sensible.
If you want to avoid children getting out of the car without your knowledge use the childproof locks on each door.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
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Do you mean when you lock the doors from inside they can be opened from inside? If so - that's not uncommon.
Unless you double lock mine, you do that. Renault's autolock facility will lock the doors on the move but you can open the doors without pressing any buttons. Just pull the handle and it will pop open.
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"Unless you double lock mine, you do that. Renault's autolock facility will lock the doors on the move but you can open the doors without pressing any buttons. Just pull the handle and it will pop open."
But it has a kiddy override button to stop them opening the doors form the inside.
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Ahh. I've pressed that button on the dash but never tried opening the doors when I did.
What if you have a fidgety kid who presses the kiddy override button?
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That was 13 years ago. they were still making escorts then, and needed help big time. Dump trucks has less NVH and better handling than an escort of that era.
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How good was the Cossie then in the handling stakes?
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The Cossie was an Escort only in looks. It was built on the Sierra floorpan.
Can I just ask the original poster where on earth he can buy a 2004 Mondeo and Passat for prices like that? They are utterly mad!
I'd have the Mondeo, at that price, I'd have 4 and sell 3 of them on.
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You learn something new everyday.
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I talked to my friends and they in turn talked to their operations and procurements departments before the cars goes to the dealers. One of my friends got back to me with the above suggestions. I can only assume that he has already filtered most of the bad condition/expensive ones off the list before he told me these cars are worthwhile. He said the Primera is the best one to go for.
Another friend suggested they have a Golf GTi Turbo, 7 months and 3k miles old for £15,000 which he believe is also a reasonable price, though out of my budget.
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Slightly off topic but my friends told me he bought a 6-month & 2k miles Carrera S for £62k off someone selling on Bloomberg so that's another place I have been browsing through during breaks.
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Buy all 3 if you can and sell them on...make some money. Are they still available ? Could be interested.
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In terms of out and out value the Primera is the best choice. That little cash for that new a car is staggering value.
I'd still chose the Mondeo or the Passat over it, though.
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>>That little cash for that new a car is staggering value.>>
It is a fleet car and original purchase prices, as you will appreciate, are substantially lower than for private buyers.
To maximise the return when moved on most are sold at comparatively youthful ages and represent a great buy for secondhand buyers even from retail sellers who've bought them at auction.
HJ often provides examples of just what low prices nearly new cars are sold this way.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Many thanks to everyone for the answer to the question posted. Primera it is then.
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Enjoy it - the purchase cost savings will pay for a lot of insurance cover and fuel...:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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Gazza
Are the Mondeo and Passat still available ? Can you have them also ? Please let me know. Thanks.
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