I can't see the virtue in keeping hold of a 5-plus year old car, especially when a major component failures have started (even if the alt. one is fixed)
If she can afford a new(er) car she fancies, it would probably stop a few anxious parents (..and uncles) worrying about that trip to friends in London/Bristol/Brighton she might take. In the great scheme of things - she's 19 & would be vulnerable if stranded - leave the high-interest accounts, plenty of time for those in the future.
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Reliable small car for not much money?
Aforementioned Colt, plus Aygo/C1/107 (although she may have a problem with C1 after her experience with the C2), Swift, Picanto, Getz (big warranty on these count for a lot, not to mention well-proven mechanicals), Fiat Panda, Fiesta.
I'd probably stick with the C2 (only one catastrophic problem by the sound of things, and although very offputting it's the sort of thing that is unlikely to fail again, or have any effect on the rest of the car), but that's just me.
Any car can break down, unfortunately that's a fact of life, but I sympathise.
Perhaps get her down to look at the Hyundai, if nothing else to gauge how genuine she really is about all this (rather than just being sick of the Citroen and wanting something new). A 2 year old Getz is probably the most sensible used car purchase out there if bought at the right price with FHSH, but it ain't sexy.
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Update:
I spoke to my niece tonight and e mailed her a link to this thread.
It seems that she has decided to keep her C2. She's getting it serviced on Monday by a friendly independent. She'll probably be in a better position to reconsider in around 2 years time if she wants to.
Thanks for all your suggestions and contributions.
We may gain a new member in the guise of my niece - C2 Girl???
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Good for her. I hope the C2 behaves from now on, or it will have all of us to answer to!
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Clearly a very sensible girl who realises that she should listen to her wise uncle!
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Not very wise imho. I wouldn't drive around in a car of proven fragility, esp. not on motorways. I wouldn't advise a family member either if they asked (which I have done in fact) & they were still a teenager. Just my personal ordering of priorities you understand.
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Very wise woman. It shows she has the intelligence to over ride the emotional response induced by the breakdowns. ( and the best way to further response habituation is to enjoy herself using the car that generated the negative emotional response in the first place)
Full deck AA card and a mobile phone, with an in car power lead to the cig lighter socket and she can relax, knowing that all cars can potentially break down at any time anyway, even new ones.
Regards to you both
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Woodbines wrote:
>>especially when a major component failures have started
>>car of proven fragility
Oh what nonsense. Utter, utter nonsense. Any component can go at any time, and the failure of the alternator has NO bearing whatsoever on the failure of, e.g. the head gasket.
Just imvho, of course ;)
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Why not a second hand, old-style Civic?
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Oh what nonsense. Utter, utter nonsense..
Although I detect some measure of divergence in opinion here, I'm sure you'll agree that if the dog has bitten once, it's better not to take the chance again. For me, if the C2 broken down in that way it wouldn't be a casus belli - but for a teenage family member, making longish journeys in it (& with an option or opportunity to change), it would be the tipping point.
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"C2 broken down in that way"
Two failures of electrical components that are common to every car, and that have now been replaced. Hardly a blanket condemnation of the C2 - the parts wouldn't even have been made by Citroen!
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We are talking cars here, not dogs.
I've had an alternator failure in a car. The car was fine after the repair was done. It didn't affect anything else. I didn't take it as a sign that the car was flawed. With dogs that bite, however . . .
By the day, I'm impressed with the way you chaps use words. It's good to see a bit of Latin in the backroom in these unlettered days. And as for "Oh what nonsense. Utter, utter nonsense," well, what can I say - other than that Mapmaker does have a way with the English language. Brilliant. ;-)
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It?s amazing how people?s outlook on life varies ? I helped both my daughters buy brand-new cars after they left Uni at 21. I was thinking about modern safety aids, ABS, airbags (paid extra on one car for side airbags), crash protection, 3 yr w?tee etc. Also, I really *did not* want to be traipsing around looking at second-hand cars and then having to spend every weekend rolling around underneath them. I?ve been there, done that, and still bear some of the scars.
On the other hand, a (considerably richer) friend of mine is quite happy to see his daughter drive clong distances in a beaten up Punto. He thinks she?s had a good run if it only breaks down a couple of times.
C'est la vie :-)
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Ah, Woodbines, we have common ground at last. Albeit that it is not a dog, but a car, it is, as you say, important to ensure that one is not caught by the same trap twice.
And so, the corollary is that it is essential that Hugo's niece does not suffer failure of either alternator or wiper motor. So it is essential that the car she drives has brand new alternator and wiper motor.
Does anybody know of such a car?
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And so, the corollary is that it is essential that Hugo's niece does not suffer failure of either alternator or wiper motor. So it is essential that the car she drives has brand new alternator and wiper motor.
Ah yes! We do agree MM.
Does anybody know of such a car?
A new car? Should be good for say, 5 years at least...
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"I can't see the virtue in keeping hold of a 5-plus year old car"
What happens then, then? Our two Mazdas have a combined age of 32!
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What happens then, then? Our two Mazdas have a combined age of 32!
Why not treat yourself to a nice 'new' 5 year old one? Barely run-in I would have thought ;-)
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chop it in for a Perodua myvi
thats what i would do
but then i wouldnt have bought a french car and expected it to be reliable :)
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IMO Hugo's neice has made the right decision. She has done nothing.
If anything serious goes wrong in the next 6 months (which will reinforce her worries), she can always change her mind.
I have left my sons to buy secondhand cars. That way they will appreciate it when they can afford to buy a new one or a better sh one.
madf
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"Why not treat yourself to a nice 'new' 5 year old one?"
I thought you said they fall apart then? :-)
My point, oft expressed in bangernomics threads, is that a well cared for old car can be just as reliable as a new one. Sometimes more so, as any incipient faults will have revealed themselves. My colleagues are regularly fooled into thinking my Xedos to be almost new (aided and abetted by the registration, which looks like an '05'), and since it drives like it looks, I'm not tempted to spend 10x the money on something similar, even if I had it. Age and condition are not the same thing.
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"Albeit that it is not a dog, but a car,"
I dont know... There`s a lot lot of `gnawing at the bone` going on :):)
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Of course JBJ - but I'm seeing this from the POV of a 19 year old girl (if you see what I mean..) - bangernomics might be alright for you or me, but teenage girls will be at a distinct disadvantage when faced with any downside from that choice. My comment re 'why not treat yourself..' was tongue-in-cheek humour really, the humour(!) being that a 5 year old would seem 'new' to someone used to cars that have attained their 'majority'.
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"a 5 year old would seem new"
Indeed it would! But I'm not a great fan of new cars, and I would think that Hugo's niece would be better served by her C2 (now with new alternator and wiper motor) and get-you-home cover, than by a new car and a warranty that doesn't.
I have a daughter, who drove my old GS for some time. It was quirky, had bizarre controls and required a knack to start when warm, but she managed. Surprisingly resourceful creatures, women...
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"Surprisingly resourceful creatures, women"
They are, especially one who has a C2 which " is a 52 reg ". My son has one - an '04 reg which I thought he bought very shortly after they were introduced. Is there such a thing as a 52 reg C2?
Incidentally his has done about the same mileage and has been totally reliable - nothing but normal servicing. Keep it.
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Phil
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According to the drop down menu things introduced Sept 03. Hugo's made a typo I would suggest.
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Just being pedantic! ;-)
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Phil
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Just being defensive of an ex-mod and all round good egg ! :-)
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Agreed, and quite right too!
I'd still stick with the C2!
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Phil
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Just being defensive of an ex-mod and all round good egg ! :-)
PU, I'm touched;)
Thanks for all your comments. I don't know if she has seen this thead yet. I was hoping that she'd join, it seems that if she had, she may have chipped into this thread. She's a good laugh, and I think she would get on well.
I feel really old - I now have two nieces that drive, her little sister drives a Fox.
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two nieces? hugo(P) i would settle for one. jag.
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I saw a stretched 740 estate - had been in use with a funeral director, but was bog standard apart from the extra row of seats. Would have made a superb alternative to the people movers that have zero boot space when seven-up, though I guess tight corners and supermarket car parks would have been a challenge.
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