[cofe]

Found a Focus on eBay that's spot on: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2009-FORD-FOCUS-AMBULANCE-RESPONSE-CAR-STYLE-TD-115-WHITE-/161908986563?hash=item25b28712c3:g:uFAAAOSw7FRWYt68

[lagerstarfish]

proper Ethics Police crag wagon

[tomtom]

proper Ethics Police crag wagon

They go undercover in Citroen Xsara Picasso's.. The siren plays 'no heels'....

[dave]

What's the sound system like on that? You would hope for "routine blood/organ work" the boot would be rinsed with ICE.

[Fiend]

proper Ethics Police crag wagon

They go undercover in Citroen Xsara Picasso's.. The siren plays 'no heels'....

Yup just keep believing we're in Citroens sonny....

[tomtom]

proper Ethics Police crag wagon

They go undercover in Citroen Xsara Picasso's.. The siren plays 'no heels'....

Yup just keep believing we're in Citroens sonny....

Well at least they start in the morning... :p

[Fiend]

CUNT!!!!!!!!!!

[cofe]

Anyone got/had a pre-2010 C-Max?

[tomtom]

I'd be wary of a car name that sounds like a sanitary product..

What colour is it?

[galpinos]

Anyone got/had a pre-2010 C-Max?

I think Erm, Sam has a C-Max, I'll ask him.

[erm, sam]

mine is a 2008 I think. boot leaks a bit but apart from that its good (i think this is fixable but I have never been arsed/got round to it). petrol.

[Paul B]

UKB - The 320 D (M Sport Touring), now has 12 months MOT but that came at a price and one that means I'm now looking to get rid (trade in), firstly to get my money back and secondly so that I have something to drive around in until I find the right car / to get to work etc. until then.

I do love how it drives and although we didn't get along originally (£££) things have settled down to the usual pothole expenditure.

Given I now have a rather large dog (she fills the three series boot when stood up) an estate car is a must. I don't want to spend a fortune either. I think I'm still leaning towards Tdi engines simply due to the ease of driving and the fact they go forever without me needing to remember to put fuel in them.

So far my list is:
Seat Exeo (pref. 170)
BMW 320d (spitting image of what I have already)
Merc C Class (do I need to buy a flat cap with this?)
Skoda Octavia vRS (a bit showy inside?)
Saab 9-3 Ttid (A Vectra in pretty clothes, but v. pretty clothes they are, excellend value for money and 180Bhp?), is Aero a spec level? As they've gone bust is this a TERRIBLE idea?

Discounted:
Anything French
Anything Italian
Audi A4 Avant - seem over-priced compared to alternatives? I'll struggle to find one with working indicators.
Golf Estate - too expensive for something vaguely interesting
Ford Focus - do they do anything interesting that isn't the ST?
Passat - Starship sized
Mondeo - Larger Starship sized

Ideally it'd be no more than 5 years old and be just over the first major service (~60-70k miles).

Opinions / Omissions / Linked perfect cars - all welcome. Ta.

[tomtom]

whats your budget?

[Paul B]

Tricky one really. 8k as a start?

If that pushes me too high mileage or low spec I can reevaluate.

I'd also like to avoid stupid wheels and tyres if at all possible.

[sxrxg]

There are a couple of Japanese options that seem to potentially be what you are looking for...

Mazda 6

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201601190218401?page=1&onesearchad=used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew&price-to=9000&radius=1501&sort=default&make=mazda&maximum-mileage=up_to_90000_miles&minimum-badge-engine-size=1.8&search-target=usedcars&maximum-age=up_to_5_years_old&postcode=S80%201GN&body-type=estate&logcode=p

Honda Accord

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201601210283406?onesearchad=used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew&radius=1501&body-type=estate&maximum-age=up_to_5_years_old&make=honda&maximum-mileage=up_to_80000_miles&search-target=usedcars&page=1&sort=default&postcode=S80%201GN&logcode=p

[Mike Tyson]

Amen to the Far East motors.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201601230334348?page=1&fuel-type=diesel&sort=atcustom&search-target=usedcars&maximum-mileage=up_to_70000_miles&model=avensis&radius=1500&price-to=9000&price-from=7000&onesearchad=used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew&make=toyota&body-type=estate&postcode=CA12%204SP&logcode=p

[Fiend]

I reckon Octavia VRS for all the obvious reasons.

I still like the Audi ergonomics a lot though.

A friend has a Saab non-estate version, very swish inside and spacious too. I did ask him about the whole "gone bust" issue, he said he had no problem getting services / parts etc. He is very conservative in his tastes though.

[Bubba]

Especially given that the narrow group of German manufacturers, that everyone seems infatuated with, have been outed as lying shits.

VW/Audi aside isn't it only the X3 that's been outed from BMW (yet)?

Unfortunately the Japanese haven't escaped - Mazda are one of the worst offenders, with Honda & Mitsubishi also under the spotlight.

I suspect that eventually it'll be shown that everyone has been at it.

[chris j]

Funny, I was just pondering Paul's apparent blind spot about Japanese cars and weighing up whether to comment. Ignoring Japanese cars seems to be a common feature of this thread. Why? Especially given that the narrow group of German manufacturers, that everyone seems infatuated with, have been outed as lying shits.

Soft touch interior plastics, good marketing and UK brand snobbery wins over actual under-the-skin engineering, boring product and old granny reputation in the UK...

I have an Octavia, which is a fine nondescript cut-price lengthened Golf/A3 that would do the job. It excels at nothing though and given my other car's a Lotus I can't describe the Skoda as in any way an exhilarating drive even with VRs suspension and a remap... Given the choice again I would lean towards wither the BMW or Mazda though the Saab is an inspiring left of field option!

[chris j]

Especially given that the narrow group of German manufacturers, that everyone seems infatuated with, have been outed as lying shits.

VW/Audi aside isn't it only the X3 that's been outed from BMW (yet)?

Unfortunately the Japanese haven't escaped - Mazda are one of the worst offenders, with Honda & Mitsubishi also under the spotlight.

I suspect that eventually it'll be shown that everyone has been at it.

I hadn't heard this about the Japanese - where did you see that? Yes, no-one's real world economy stacks up to the unrealistic tests, but isn't it still only VW group who've been actively cheating?

[tomtom]

They're not cheating the EU tests though - just made something that does the tests really well!

Diesels in private cars are imho (forgive the pun) a burning platform.. Electric/plugin hybrids are very close to being worthwhile to most drivers. Driverless is also now inevitable given the incredible amounts of money being thrown at it by all the car manufacturers - as well as Google and probably Apple too. That will happen.

[Paul B]

Soft touch interior plastics, good marketing and UK brand snobbery wins over actual under-the-skin engineering, boring product and old granny reputation in the UK...

In this case it's simply consideration of the stats where the Honda's don't seem to overly excel? I could be wrong here. Before dog I was looking at Honda Civic Type S / R so I don't have an engrained bias towards German brands. My last VAG car was bombproof and simple to do basic tasks, which I like. Also, parts are comparably dirty cheap.

Fiend - The garage who fixed the 3-series said that engine parts/electrical are fine (a lot of Vectra) for the Saab but they had to source a front bumper from Belgium which took 6 weeks!

I got roughly 4 hours of hassle free driving before the "all driver aids failed" warning light combo appeared on the dash (oil pressure sensor / much wetness being the likely culprits), for anyone asking why I'd now get rid of it!

[Fultonius]

They're not cheating the EU tests though - just made something that does the tests really well!

Diesels in private cars are imho (forgive the pun) a burning platform.. Electric/plugin hybrids are very close to being worthwhile to most drivers. Driverless is also now inevitable given the incredible amounts of money being thrown at it by all the car manufacturers - as well as Google and probably Apple too. That will happen.

This ^^

I do wonder if, in 30 years or so, we will look back and think "why the fuck did we cling non to that old internal combustion technology for so long."

The thing I love most about cars like the Tesla is - full bore acceleration barely uses any more juice than gently getting up to speed. Braaap braaaa (oh, wait a minute - wwwhhhhzzzzzzzzzzzz).   

No gearbox, no clutch, no engine oil changes, preheated with windows defrosted on a cold morning.  I'll be having one....at some point...

[tomtom]

I do wonder if, in 30 years or so, we will look back and think "why the fuck did we cling non to that old internal combustion technology for so long."

Because of the vested interests of the car manufacturers and the oil companies... though I believe the transport and burning of the fuel where needed (ICE) is the most efficient way (though not cleanest) of powering cars.. Hydrogen would work well though.. as one of my colleagues said to me yesterday - he was surprised that none of the gulf states had sunk ££££Bn into developing a commercial solar > hydrogen facility... anyway blah blah.

My money is on Paul getting an Octavia Estate

[Fiend]

Fultonious trying to hasten the current descent of the oil industry with that clap trap

Paul - Volvos - tried a V50, actually got almost the same amount of space in the boot as the old V70, pretty nippy, the dog would love it, BUT you would hate it any time you tried to do anything with the controls inside the car or store anything in the driver's cabin bigger than a roll of fingertape. It's fiddly as fuck.