chrisp65 Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 E Class Estate, a couple of years old. Much awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eames Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Interesting, they seem more reasonably priced that the Audi A4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 and if you get one with top end trim you get that raised bonnet badge and old school wood trim I think Audi have gone for the stiffer 'modern' suspension because these days its apparently all about being 'sporty'. Whereas Merc have gone for a bit more driver choice and tend to put in a few buttons to let you choose the level of british road bumpiness. Mine (C class) is ancient now (200k), but with the suspension set to soft but the gearbox set to standard the drive is just creamy but quick enough (9 seconds to 60 if you really need to floor it). A couple of Audi's I've driven have been a little bit crashy in comparison - but perhaps I just didn't know where the 'gliding smoothly along' setting was. They appear to have been set up for toad of toad hall and try to sell themselves on having 'really posh plastic' on the dashboard. At the end of the day, and Audi is a VW for people who wanted to spend more money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eames Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 and if you get one with top end trim you get that raised bonnet badge and old school wood trim I think Audi have gone for the stiffer 'modern' suspension because these days its apparently all about being 'sporty'. Whereas Merc have gone for a bit more driver choice and tend to put in a few buttons to let you choose the level of british road bumpiness. Mine (C class) is ancient now (200k), but with the suspension set to soft but the gearbox set to standard the drive is just creamy but quick enough (9 seconds to 60 if you really need to floor it). A couple of Audi's I've driven have been a little bit crashy in comparison - but perhaps I just didn't know where the 'gliding smoothly along' setting was. They appear to have been set up for toad of toad hall and try to sell themselves on having 'really posh plastic' on the dashboard. At the end of the day, and Audi is a VW for people who wanted to spend more money. Oh I have to have one with the bonnet badge - absolutely non negotitable. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted October 27, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted October 27, 2014 You could get a fairly decent second hand XF Sportbrake for 25k Never actually driven one so o can't really comment beyond company PR. But its another option to consider. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eames Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 You could get a fairly decent second hand XF Sportbrake for 25k Never actually driven one so o can't really comment beyond company PR. But its another option to consider. Hmmm...interesting. They are very pretty..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tegis Posted October 27, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted October 27, 2014 and if you get one with top end trim you get that raised bonnet badge and old school wood trim I think Audi have gone for the stiffer 'modern' suspension because these days its apparently all about being 'sporty'. Whereas Merc have gone for a bit more driver choice and tend to put in a few buttons to let you choose the level of british road bumpiness. Mine (C class) is ancient now (200k), but with the suspension set to soft but the gearbox set to standard the drive is just creamy but quick enough (9 seconds to 60 if you really need to floor it). A couple of Audi's I've driven have been a little bit crashy in comparison - but perhaps I just didn't know where the 'gliding smoothly along' setting was. They appear to have been set up for toad of toad hall and try to sell themselves on having 'really posh plastic' on the dashboard. At the end of the day, and Audi is a VW for people who wanted to spend more money. I'll echo this. Of all the germans the Audi was the hardest ride, unacceptable levels. Probably fun if you are a yooof but for me, the soft drive of the Merc was the best. It flows over speed-bumps and potholes. BMWs had comfier seats though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted October 27, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted October 27, 2014 Although worth noting that Audi's come with 3 levels of suspension. The sport and s line are quite hard but everything can come with "normal" suspension which is much softer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darrenm Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 I'd probably be looking at a top end Tiguan for that money. I'm just really into crossovers now and they seem to make a lot of sense in the real world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eames Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Although worth noting that Audi's come with 3 levels of suspension. The sport and s line are quite hard but everything can come with "normal" suspension which is much softer. I hadn't noticed anything particularly firm in the SLine A1's suspension. It gives a lovely smooth ride. I'd probably be looking at a top end Tiguan for that money. I'm just really into crossovers now and they seem to make a lot of sense in the real world. Personal preference but the Tiguan is ugly. Crossovers are extremely expensive for what they are and don't really offer a massive improvement in terms of space. For me at the moment an estate car makes much more sense this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted October 27, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted October 27, 2014 I'm not a crossover fan either. Don't like the Jag one that's coming out, but I can see why people do. The BMW crossovers are ugly as ****. Yeah Eames I have sports suspension on my A3 (one between sline and normal) even though I have an s line and its fine. Not really firm at all, certainly softer than my golf was (and this flipping VW up!) But its a fairly common complaint about Audi's so there must be something in it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jim Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Picked up this little beauty on Friday, only intended to have a look but was too good a deal to turn down 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Genie Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 You could get a fairly decent second hand XF Sportbrake for 25k Never actually driven one so o can't really comment beyond company PR. But its another option to consider. Hmmm...interesting. They are very pretty..... Made in Birmingham too (but don't let that put you off) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turnbull Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 Well my old soldier (53 plate Ford Focus Tddi estate, 163k miles) passed another MOT today, it's only failed one, (last year and it only cost £120 to get it through). I honestly can't fault the old girl. Thing is though, I should be in a position (fingers crossed) to replace it next year, but it's going to be such a wrench to let it go. I'd most likely be looking at another Ford, maybe a Mondeo TDCi, but I've heard some real horror stories about failures with clutches, turbos, injectors, alternators, that I'm thinking of going for a late model Focus petrol. Then again I could always wait until 200k........................ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 go for the 200k and spend your money on other stuff you also get right of way at junctions in sticky traffic and right of way at broken traffic lights 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villaajax Posted December 3, 2014 Share Posted December 3, 2014 The new Mondeo looks very nice, I'm quite tempted But I have the same thing with my Focus, it's a great car, it's flown through every MOT since I've owned it, it's reliable, a nice, comfortable drive but with driving the Mustang as well, the Focus fells a bit... boring. I'd like to go for an ST Focus or Mondeo but the Focus has been such a great car, I don't want to part with it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 (edited) I used to have one of these (in black) and to this day it remains my favourite car. Sold my one in 2006 to get a new Mercedes but regret it! Been looking around to see what they sell for now and price has shot up due to the lack of decent examples. Part of me wants another one... Edited December 4, 2014 by Xela 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted December 4, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted December 4, 2014 The new Mondeo looks very nice, I'm quite tempted But I have the same thing with my Focus, it's a great car, it's flown through every MOT since I've owned it, it's reliable, a nice, comfortable drive but with driving the Mustang as well, the Focus fells a bit... boring. I'd like to go for an ST Focus or Mondeo but the Focus has been such a great car, I don't want to part with it. As nice as that Mondeo is, it's a proper family car. If you had a wife and 2 kids then it would be great. But I wouldn't be able to take a single bloke in his 20's seriously if he drove one of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eames Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 The new Mondeo looks very nice, I'm quite tempted But I have the same thing with my Focus, it's a great car, it's flown through every MOT since I've owned it, it's reliable, a nice, comfortable drive but with driving the Mustang as well, the Focus fells a bit... boring. I'd like to go for an ST Focus or Mondeo but the Focus has been such a great car, I don't want to part with it. As nice as that Mondeo is, it's a proper family car. If you had a wife and 2 kids then it would be great. But I wouldn't be able to take a single bloke in his 20's seriously if he drove one of those. Agree. There is no reason to buy one of those unless your name is Keith, you work as a sales rep for a drug company and need to to drive to badminton on a tuesday night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisp65 Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 I don't think it's quite that easy to pre judge why somebody ends up with a particular car. I agree Keith and his kids will often gravitate to a Mondeo in theory, then I think of my street full of Keith's and there isn't a single Mondeo. There are an unusually high number of those Fiesta ST things with the stripes. There was clearly a deal on at some point. But Keith will have some other reason tucked up his sleeve such as: a modern garage that only a Fiat 500 will fit in the need for discreet ski storage for 1 week every other year but it totally dominates his thinking the misplaced belief that a mid sized diesel is the most economic thing he can own work colleagues that judge you on the length of your bonnet dogs a penchant for car boot sales dogging the belief that Hyundai, Kia and Skoda are crap and must be ignored it was on the list of cars his employer gave him to choose from and the others had Citroen or Renault badges on them Personally, I probably wouldn't get a Mondeo but I'm not sure why, I think it's probably that life is too short for the utterly predictable. But saying that, I wouldn't buy an Alfa Romeo either, as life is too short to be constantly re tracing your route picking up bits of trim and light fittings and door handles. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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