As expected the car passed 100k on Saturday - here is the report on the experience so far.
It is a March 04 Executive Tourer with Metallic paint and a space saver spare (the only two extras) - comes with leather , heated seats, CD changer etc. It is a company car so the CO2 figure of 153 was important as was the projected economy of 49mpg.
My daily commute is 30m each way (A51/A38/A446) although I do about 5k a year on business which is generally motorway. I have3 never put opil in it and rarely check it as it stands on a slope at home.
Reliability. It has never refused to start, stopped or left me stranded. Thats two fewer times than the Passat it replaced which did 96k over 4 years).
Failed components: Seat motor (warranty - actually failed when it was in for service). Clutch master cylinder: Changed under warranty (Dealer actually spotted it spotted it when I asked them to check out some squeaking trim about 5 months ago). The tray in the centre armrest that press reveiwers reported to be flimsy is still going strong!
Wear and tear: Front tyres do about 30k and rears about 45k. Came on Pilot Premacies and now on Premacy HPs. At the last service the dealer measured the two fronts as 5mm each. One has been on a year and done 20k ish and the other about six weeks, obviously something wrong with his gauge but they are wearing well. I tend to run it at slightly higher than recommended tyre pressures (36 front and 38 rear) as the fronts look as if they are under pressure at the recommended pressure - as they are now because it was serviced last week and I have not got round to putting some more air in again. One set of discs changed at the 75k service (F&R) - dont recall how many sets of pads it has had. Seats are starting to look tired - must find the time to spend a day cleaning and treating them but rest of the car is doing fine. The cream colour is not ideal as we have some black suitcases which have left dark rub marks in the boot. Dash is as new apart from a scratch which was my fault.
Paintwork - the dark colour was a mistake as it is a pain to keep clean (three weeks ago my son commented on how badly I had polished the car! - I hadn't, I had just washed it (brush on hose) but it looked really streaky in the sun) it also shows chips where a silver one would not - none of them rusting though. Wheels have stood up well though at new I was disappointed in the finish of the inside of the wheel - they also need a day's work to clean them up.
Comfort - Drivers seat is great, have spent a day in it with no problems, also when I had a disc problem and could not sit for more than 10 minutes at home or in the office the car was the one place I could sit for long periods. They should put lumbar support on the passenger seat as well. Have had four adult males of six feet and up in on several occasions and no one has complained (on one occasion the two in the back went to sleep so it must be OK) Only occasionally used for five and would not recommend for five adults for a long journey. Have never fitted Isofix seats so cannot comment on the usability.
Boot space: as an estate it has swallowed everything I have asked it to carry - to the wife's surprise it even took two three seater settees (one at a time) to the tip with the tailgate closed! I have removed the luggage curtain from the back seat as it restricts what you can put into the boot quite severely - why didn't they design one which sits at the bottom of the seat back and leaving a vertical face instead of the chasm which is left under it when you push a box up against it! I only used it once and it was very difficult to secure. As mentioned before the motorised tailgate is very usefull when you are pushing a loaded trolley up to the car.
Economy: at the last fill it had used 9098.8 litres to do 99990 miles, fule and miles recorded on each fill. I make that 50 mpg average with a best of 57.3 and a worst of 42.5 - so you can see it does get hustled along at times. This is a big estate and it puts the Prius to shame.
Driving experience: it is a good relaxed long distance cruiser and is quite happy at or around the autoroute maximum. It is also handles nicely and is way better thant he Passat it replaced (a 2000V 1.8T). It has 10hp less than the Passat it replaced but I would consider it to be as fast (if not faster) and the performance is far more usable. It is also a useful car for single carriageway overtaking.
Lights - headlights are great, never seen anything with such a well defined beam edge on dip! The fog lamp is actually on the wrong side of the car (LHS) but I belive they have corrected this on the later versions. I love the intuitive interior lights - you push the lens to turn the light on/off.
Stereo - marvelous sound quality and you can run it very loud. Would miss this in a lower spec model. Could do with the traffic news memory you get in the VW radios.
H&V - generally good but the not up to the standard of VW - has the habit of steaming up after 400 yards on a cold morning unless it is running on auto. Claims to use the air conditioning system to heat cold air when on Auto and outside temp is lower than 5 - I have felt this working occasionally but with the heated seats was not a big issue to me.
Noise - my neighbour has a late 06 reg Passat 2.0 TDI and boy is it noisy, the Honda is still a very quiet car.
Would I recommend one - Yes
Will I be getting another - Probably, but possibly not an Exec to cut down on the tax bill.
Edited by Pugugly on 18/03/2008 at 17:24
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> but possibly not an Exec to cut down on the tax bill.
You may not feel like me. BUT. If I had 1 car at a spec, and got the same but newer car with a lower spec, I might feel less happy with the car second time around. Its ok getting slightly lower spec with a different car, but...Hmmmm
A point to consider.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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i hadnt thought about removing the curtain - i take it you are not talking about the tonneau cover, but the "doggy" curtain? Might have a look later, just assumed it was fixed.
I just find the tailgate a bit slow. Does look cool though and can get astonished looks from some.
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ablandy - Yes the mesh two part curtain - take out the plastic plugs and there are some long bolts which allow its removal - leaves some metal showing on the back of the seat but makes up for that by increasing the stowage space.
TVM - the company is moving the pension scheme from DB to DC so I need to put more money in to that. Changing the car for something cheaper would allow more money into the pension without affecting take home pay. Also from experience of 30 degrees plus I don't think I want another car with leather - its hot on your legs when you get in.
An Octavia would maintain the spec at reduced price but I am being told I cannot have one (by the wife)!
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Well I hope that the petrol 2.4 i automatic version that I took delivery of on Friday lasts as well Ian,only anothe 76 K to go....
It was ironic that after sitting in the garage for a couple of hours on Friday doing the business , checking out that everything worked etc and getting my head around the controls I set off for home eight miles away ready to give the car a good workout and then found a police traffic car on my tail for virtually the whole journey. Never usually see one from one week to the next .
I had a result with the car tax , I was in the local Post Office when purely by chance the salesman came in to buy the tax for the car . He had told me that it was £300 and charged me that . When it went through to the DVLA it was actually only £ 205 so I did a deal in the Post Office to get the Space saver for 'free' with the saved £95. The actual price he quoted for the spacesaver wheel and kit was £135.
When the Civic was valued he also put the remaining four months tax down in his valuation but when I came to pay he said why don't you cash it yourself so another £55 saved.
Interested in your comment about the baggage netting - I could not work out where these nets are supposed to be attached - they do not seem to pull out far enough to reach the hooks in the boot. Any advice appreciated
The only complaint I have at the moment is condensation in the headlamp glasses , perhaps not surprising considering the weather over the weekend but will be interested to see if it clears up when the sun shines.
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The net pulls out vertically and fixes to the plastic clips in the headlining. There are two sets of them - one for seat up and one for seat down. Stops any flying luggage hitting the back of your head.
No problems with the headlamps and mine has never been garaged.
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The net pulls out vertically and fixes to the plastic clips in the headlining. There are two sets of them - one for seat up and one for seat down. Stops any flying luggage hitting the back of your head.
You should use it - you really *do not* want to be whacked on the head by a flying suitcase in the event of an accident.
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It's tempting to put one of these on my shortlist, but at 20,000 miles a year I'm used to an automatic and Honda don't do a diesel auto. Ian - you do a higher mileage than I do - are you happy with a manual?
The advantage of an Octavia is that you can have the DSG transmission with the 2.0 diesel. My wife feels the same as yours about Skodas - but she has her Mini and if I want one I'll have one! She doesn't like the B-class anyway.
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Avant
I have only driven autos intermittently and could get used to one. This is a nice gear change and is very easy to drive. You could almost drive it like an auto - put it in third and (taking care with hill starts) off you go.
There is so much torque when the engine is warm you don't have to change gears much (mine is the 5 speed) and it is a light change. In town it will pull happily from 10mph in third and on the motorway it is rarely out of 5.
Have driven a DSG car (a 3.2 quattro TT) they are good but I would be wary of buying one, they will not be cheap to fix (and you will be tied to main dealer for fixes for a while) and they are still too new to know what all the problems will be - still mine is a company car so the maintenace is an SEP - although the inconvenience of any breakdowns would be mine.
SEP - Someone Else's Problem.
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I have only driven autos intermittently and could get used to one. This is a nice gear change and is very easy to drive. You could almost drive it like an auto - put it in third and (taking care with hill starts) off you go.
I really wanted an auto (eventually bought an MB C270CDi Estate auto) but I had an Accord on loan for a few days and I reckon I could have lived with it. I felt exactly the same as you - 3rd gear could cope with everthing around town. And a very slick and smooth drive train.
However they've now (I guess) bowed to marketing pressure and changed the perfectly adequate 5 speed box for a 6 speeder, so I would imagine the range of each gear may well have been reduced. Or perhaps they just tacked on an extra long gear?
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Stop it - it's making me fancy a diesel again!
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Well life with the Honda is starting to get interesting . . . .
Headlamp bulb failed in France - luckily the passenger side so I could change it, I guess only God and Honda know how you are supposed to change the drivers side bulb, and what Honda put in the book does not help much!
Has just been in for its 112.5k service and they report the exhause manifold is blowing. Two bits breaking in a month just won't do! This may be the last service I see as it gets changed at the beginning of March and I am not doing 2.5k a month at the moment.
They have also replaced the brake pads (they need to be sure they will go for another 12.5k as it is a lease car and I'm not allowed to change things like that).
Meanwhile if the garage is to be believed both front tyres have 3mm of tread - amazing since one has done 20k more than the other. In reality they have about 3 and 5 respectively. The first fitted at 71k when we had a puncture coming back from France, the other three changed at 90k so one of the front tyres has now done 41k. These Primacy HPs last!
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BTW due to a computer problem I have a new user name - was IanJohnson
Thanks for that
Edited by Pugugly {P} on 30/10/2007 at 17:54
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Has just been in for its 112.5k service and they report the exhause manifold is blowing.
Not sure who is paying your bills, so this might not matter, but did you see the recent thread that this is known problem with high mileage Accord diesels and Honda may be replace at their cost even out of warranty?
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It is a lease car so I am not paying the bills - dealer is to seek approval from the lease company.
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Thanks for reviving this interesting thread Ian. Following on from my contribution to it, I had a good look at the Accord Tourer but as the kids are grown up we don't need anything quite so big (so long in particular). While in the Honda garage I arranged a test drive of a Civic 2.2 diesel - lovely to drive but I think the appalling rear visibility is positively dangerous. If there had been a Civic Tourer it would have been on the short-list.
I very nearly had the Octavia but the Golf estate came out just in time at £2,000 less than I was expecting - i.e. the same price as an Octavia estate with similar specification. No regrets at all so far after 3,000 miles.
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I have started thinking about the replacement and despite its reliability, economy, comfort and handling I don't think I can justify another, 24k for a direct replacement which now has the awful controls which come with the sat nav system means too much tax.
Octavia estate is high on the list but had not realised that there was a Golf Estate as well.
What I save on the car allowance and tax will go into my pension since our final salary scheme has just closed.
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"While in the Honda garage I arranged a test drive of a Civic 2.2 diesel - lovely to drive but I think the appalling rear visibility is positively dangerous. "
Slightly O/T, but this is not the first time I have heard this which is why I was very surprised to see a new Civic being used by a driving instructor yesterday. We were behind it at some lights and it was my wife who said she wouldn't like to try and reverse it - we had an A2 with spoiler across the rear screen and no rear wiper and she was never confident reversing that - and I agreed.
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Update on the car, it passed 121k last week. Should go back before it reaches the next service at 125k.
Also let me down yesterday, but Honda in Shirley were marvellous.
Got into car and turned the key, it cranked but did not fire, tried again, same thing (several times over 5 minutes, key out wait a minute key in try again etc.) Rang the lease company to arrange recovery. Then realising I was in a limited waiting bay I got out to check the sign automatically locking the car. When I got back in I tried it again and it started. Parked with engine running (Illegal but I was not going to turn it off until either I was back at work or at the dealer!) called in to cancel the recovery and rang Honda to ask if they could look at it if I took it straight in - they said yes.
Got to the dealer and turned it off, it again refused to start (Yes!)
Car went straight into the workshop and two hours later and a new imobiliser connection module (??) fitted (taken from one of their new car stock) and immobiliser software re-loaded it is going again.
And just for Gordon - You don't run with roof bars/rails on all the time do you? Last tank was 52mpg. Run up to Edinburgh at 65-75 (accommodating the guy who hit the lampost on the M6 very hard last Tuesday, and back at 65 on Wednesday hoping they would open Thelwall Viaduct before I got there (they did not and Manchester was busy!). Average over the 120k is now just under 50mpg.
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