I risk being branded a philistine here for this but here goes anyway...
It's coming round to time to find a replacement for my 3 year old Megane 1.9dCi - obviously since it's been so raved about the latest Focus had to be a candidate. However I've had the misfortune lately to hire a 1.6 LX on a few occasions lately and found it very disillusioning. OK, so the handling's sharp and the major controls work nicely. But the positives start to run out after that. Noise, especially tyre roar, was terrible compared with my Megane, making a 120 mile trip on motorways and fast A roads feel very wearing - just as well the stereo was OK as you had to crank it up to hear it! And the seat gave me backache after an hour - I might blame this on it being poverty spec (I read ghostrider's view about LX seats a couple of weeks back). But if that's the best the opposition have to offer, I'd keep my Megane thanks. Yes I want a car that's fun to drive but this seems to come with too many compromises to make it a car you'd want to spend any serious time at the wheel in.
So it really makes me wonder what really would be the best small or medium diesel hatch for me (£12k budget, 1-2 years old), that's quick enough, comfy, plenty of toys, and decent handling. I'm not sure I trust the conventional wisdom of the motoring prsss so much now. Who's going to be the first to tell me to to visit the Which website!?
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Well said felix, I had a new Focus 1.6LX for 4 weeks. As you said razor sharp handling, but a really tiring and unpleasant cruiser.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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I wish I could defend the new Focus but I just can't.
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I don't think you're a philistine (though it sparks a nice thought as to what Goliath would have driven - Chrysler 300C I think): I risk being branded a pedant but I'll give you a free apostrophe for the thread title!
Have a look at a VW Golf - there will be yowls of fury from the VW knockers on this forum, but there are plenty of good ones out there. I had a TDi estate which ran unfalteringly and faultlessly for 36,000 miles.
Or a Skoda Fabia or Octavia, depending on the size you need. You could get a new Fabia for £12k - if it's too small look at a Fabia estate, which I'm sure is more roomy than your Megane.
Perhaps an upmarket Vauxhall Astra - not much image, if that's important to you, but there are lots of them around.
A car supermarket like Fords of Winsford, or Motorpoint (Derby I think but may stand corrected) ot Trade Sales of Slough might be the best place to find a good selection at lower prices than main dealers.
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Thanks, removed the apostrophe becuase I can :-) I'd contemplated the Golf and Octavia myself. I don't really NEED anything bigger than my Megane but I'd pondered going for something from the Mondeo class (maybe even a Mondeo!!!) just because it might give me that extra bit of comfort and refinement for little extra outlay, as they tend to depreciate quicker. No I'm not at all bothered about image. One very leftfield thought I'd had was a Skoda Superb 130Tdi, even though it's huge and not a hatch. On the spur of the moment a while back I called in on a Skoda dealer, and he just threw me the keys for a high mileage one to try out. Though the handling was a little bit on the barge side, it was soooo comfy. And you get a helluva a lot of car for 12k
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Cit C4 any good? Never tried one but some people on this site seem quite keen. You could always try the 48 hour test drive anyway!
www.citroen.co.uk/level3/textpage.asp?pagetype=c4t...e
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Phil
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Very interesting indeed, I like the look of the C4 and I've always had a bit of a thing about Citroens... more manufacturers should do things like this, there's nothing I hate more than having a smarmy salesman sitting in the passenger seat when all I want to do is find out what the car's like for myself.
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Just to add to the Skoda bandwagon - I've had an Octavia 1.9TDI Elegance now for about 15 months. I've done around 25k & it hasn't skipped a beat. It's got all the toys I want as standard & gives me high 40's mpg but more than all that, I find it really comfortable despite back & leg problems (fat & old !!).I've had a number of Mondeos & Pug 406's in recent years & the Octavia beats them all hands down. My local dealer has an '05 reg in this week's free sheet for £12750 so I'm sure you could get one in your budget with a bit of a haggle.
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If you are a true philistine (i.e. with no sense of beauty at all) then you could always consider the Mazda3.
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..... just as well the stereo was OK as you had to crank it up to hear it!
Can't you set it so that the volume automatically increases as the speed increases?
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L\'escargot.
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I have a Megane dCi and a few weeks ago had a Focus Sport for a week. These were my thoughts at the time:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=39528&...e
I would say that the Megane is a better all round car than the Focus, unlesss you really want to go powering through the bends all day. The seats and general refinement of the Megane is far better IMO.
Why not get another Megane? Mine has covered 18K and has given no problems at all apart from a sticking sunroof. It is one of the vedry few cars that I have owned that I will be genuinely sorry to see go.
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Audi A3 may fit the bill. Could get a newish derv one for your budget.
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IanS
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I've been pretty happy with my Megane too for the most part, though the manual aircon is a bit lousy. Perhaps I should have pushed the boat out and got the privilege instead of the dynamique. I've had a few things go wrong (including a sticking sunroof too) but they were all fixed under warranty. Somehow though it feels like a cop-out replacing your old car with a facsimile unless you were hopelessly in love with it.
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I know how you feel, I am in a similar situation with my car. I am looking to change in the autumn and as much as I like the Megane, to replace it with another would seem a bit
boring. However, they do a 2.0 dCi engine now, up to 175bhp... Otherwise Laguna 175 Sport Tourer is high on the list. However from time to time I still have this urge to get a 225 Sport, it's something I just need to own for maybe only 12 months and get it out of my system.
I am surprised that you refer to the aircon as being lousy. People who ride in my car comment on how cool it is inside. Maybe yours needs a re-gas. Or maybe they are just refering to me :-)
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Superbs are, well, superb. I did a non-stop (except for coffee and ferry) haul back from Argentat to Northwest UK last summer in my last motor, a 1.9 TDi 130 Superb, and I could have turned round and done it all again.
48 to the gallon as well.
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