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A little background since I am new. Born and raised in the US, my family now lives in Germany on Military orders. I am a diesel fanatic and owned a nice F-350 back home, and a Jetta TDI at one time. So when we moved here I knew immediately that we'd sell *nearly* all our vehicles state side and buy DIESEL. We did. First we bought my wife's '05 Opel Signum 1.9l Automatic (Vauxhall for you?). Next we found my '05 Ford Mondeo Ghia 2.2L manual 6spd. A couple months after owning the Signum, my wife was complaining about the wipers not working. I didn't know what she was talking about until I experienced it myself. Just a few days after that, the battery light on the dash illuminated. So we made a rushed decision to get it into the local dealer. We also complained about the harsh shifting of the auto transmission. 1,000 Euro later, we have a new alternator, wiper motor, wiper control, and an "oil change" for the tranny. They said you could not flush this transmission, so the change is the best they could do. Aside from the tranny, the car was doing well. But the transmission is still giving us problems. I will go into detail about the tranny here, but in reality, this car is slated to be replaced (and thus the reason for this post), so if you don't want to know specifics, please skip to next paragraph. First problem we noticed with the tranny is when fall started to bring cooler temps. From park or reverse, the tranny would take anywhere from 2-5 seconds to engage into drive and does so with a THUD. Then shortly after that, we noticed that when the car downshifts on decelerating (likely from 3 to 2) it also shifts in with a jolt, nearly barking the tires. Upshifts seem to be ok, and most of the other gears are fine, but it sounds like a common problem based on some internet searching. When driving on very wet roads, we also get some electrical faults for the side lights when turning and something else to do with the electric power steering. And now I discovered the Signum needs front brakes. I really hate putting money into the car at this point. I am already into the car 8,500 Euro including purchase.
So here we are, trying to decide what to do. My initial thought is try to get rid of it before the tranny self-destructs. But replace it with what? All I know is I need a similarly sized Estate Diesel car that is reliable, not overly expensive and does good on fuel. Might consider a small SUV as well (Yeti/Duster). I’d like features like SatNav, Xenon headlights, heated Leather seats, and I am sure my wife would really like another Automatic, but they seem to be prone to more problems than a standard. I wouldn’t mind another Mondeo, but would like something different than what I already own. I have looked at Skoda Octavia, Volvo, Peugeot, BMW, VW and after watching an old episode of the Top Gear’s race to Blackpool, a Jag X-type.
I am seeking your advice. What left-hand drive cars should I be pursing that will fit my needs?
The Mondeo has been working great. I have a minor issue now of the emergency brake sticking a little. Have yet to crawl under and look since I don’t have the proper tools, but at worse case, I am hoping it’s only a cable or two.
Thanks for any and all help. I am just trying to narrow down my choices as I do not know much about European cars. Nearly every internet search for cars I inquire receieves a link to this site so it seems like it is a great one to get good advice.
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