Off Topic Two out of three ain't bad

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Off Topic Two out of three ain't bad

Well, after much debate my better half has decided what she wants.
Horay! (er not quite).

She's thought about it long and hard and what she wants is ................... my car!
Not one like it, but mine :cry:

So the swap on offer is:
She gets my well cared for, one owner, low mileage Antarctica 4x4 TA.

I get her one careless owner, low mileage, rubbish filled, never cleaned, bird shiite streaked 1.2 Lounge.

I wasn't at first best pleased with the deal until it was explained I will also still get fed, clean clothes, get to carry on sleeping in the same house/bed and another bed related perk.

So it looks like I'll need to find a new car!
Alfa Giulia?
 
Honda Jazz? Small, sensible and apparently religiously reliable. That's my backup choice from a new Panda :)

I'm not at the correct age for a Jizz, there's some time to go yet.
I've never seen one driven by another under the state pension age!
Though I admit that an auto 'box becomes more tempting with each passing year.

I'm keeping my eye out for something, but she's ruled out my idea (my best so far) of a Merc Sprinter fitted with LazBoy's, bar and plasma screens!

There's no rush at the minute, got a couple of trips to sort out and pay for first and it could be Mrs Goudrons will be changing jobs soon.
This might come with the use of a car, but it will definitely come with the use of more cash!
 
Or, the new Ignis. Top spec gives pretty much everything, and the Automated Manual Transmission is apparently a vast improvement on earlier iterations of this system, according to Indian reports. And although there don't seem to be any on the road yet my Suzuki dealer says it's now their best selling car, with the Vitara now second. If interested I would wait until the infotainment system from the Vitara arrives though, supply problems mean that at the moment they are being delivered with a standby Panasonic system, which isn't as good. And our Ignis is built in Japan too :)

Naughty of me perhaps, but the Ignis is soooooo cute, and sensible too.
 
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Or, the new Ignis. Top spec gives pretty much everything, and the Automated Manual Transmission is apparently a vast improvement on earlier iterations of this system, according to Indian reports. And although there don't seem to be any on the road yet my Suzuki dealer says it's now their best selling car, with the Vitara now second. If interested I would wait until the infotainment system from the Vitara arrives though, supply problems mean that at the moment they are being delivered with a standby Panasonic system, which isn't as good. And our Ignis is built in Japan too :)

Naughty of me perhaps, but the Ignis is soooooo cute, and sensible too.
It's also great value. I think it looks better from the front though - The rear end is, well, odd - not sure what they were trying to do... But quirky Japanese appeals to me so I can see why you'd choose one.
 
I like the look of the Ignis too. It'll definitely be in the frame to replace our Panda when the time comes, alongside the Citygo - and another Panda, of course :)
 
I'm not at the correct age for a Jizz, there's some time to go yet.
I've never seen one driven by another under the state pension age!
Though I admit that an auto 'box becomes more tempting with each passing year.

I'm keeping my eye out for something, but she's ruled out my idea (my best so far) of a Merc Sprinter fitted with LazBoy's, bar and plasma screens!

There's no rush at the minute, got a couple of trips to sort out and pay for first and it could be Mrs Goudrons will be changing jobs soon.
This might come with the use of a car, but it will definitely come with the use of more cash!



Saw a beautiful Jazz yesterday.. remembered what everyone says about being over 65 to own one... walked past it on the way back and an old, senile man approached its drivers door holding a key!!! It's true!!! I thought to myself.

Still, I like em!
 
Well thought I'd update the situation.

Nothing much has happened as we've both been busy, then had a bit of a break away, but some decisions have been made.

First off we looked into Voluntary Termination (VT) of her current PCP deal.

She had just met the figure at which VT could be done without owing any outstanding finance (figure is top right of the first page of the contract), though the car would need a few tickles to the paint on the bumper and alloy wheels first, otherwise we'd (well me really!) be charged for "damage" beyond reasonable wear and tear.

(See BVRLA website for details of expected condition when handing back either on VT or just if you hand it back at the end of the agreement. Trade in for a new car is different)

We got some quotes for these and they weren't as bad as I thought, small SMART repair to a bumper rub that had gone through the paint and three wheels needing attention, you're ok with a bit of rim damage, but spoke scrapes are a no no.

The company that quoted even told us to hang on before having the work done, "get it done as near to handover as possible", which I thought was nice.

There'd be a £70 collection fee from FCA and any "GAP" premiums outstanding would need settling. (that started a row, as she copped for GAP from the salesman without telling me, it's far cheaper elsewhere if anyone is really interested).

When all was worked out, the car has cost us just under £110 a month to effectively lease, not too bad really.

After all this mucking about, it turns out her mother wants our car and her brother wants her mothers, a 10 plate Eco Dymanic, but will get the tickles sorted before we pass it on.

As for a replacement, we've narrowed it down to a medium "crossover" with a petrol engine.
Looked at a few and the Qashqai or Ateca seem to stand out above the rest.

The Duster isn't that far behind and we both like the no nonsense and lack of badge of them, but the amount you pay over a PCP is quite high as they have a lower GFV and a higher interest rate, for the same monthly payments, you can get a car on 0% (Qashqai) that's 6 or 7k dearer!

BTW the 1.4 Ateca really is a hoot to drive, it's not quite up to modern hot hatch performance, but it does feel a bit like it when it's thrown into corners, but it does have too firm a suspension for all our traffic calming though, but I'm still tempted!
 
Sounds like it's all working out nicely (y)

I tried to get my wife interested in an Ateca to replace her horrid V50, but she turned her nose up at the build quality (she's an engineer, so I bow to her considerable expertise on that score) and the interior (which is admittedly very bland and bargain-basement-feeling). Pity, as she loved the two Leon Mk1s that she had. SEAT also make you pay £££ for a 4wd Ateca, which she's keen on having. The 4wd versions take you into a different price category altogether. She's now looking at X1s and GLAs - gulp - but she works damned hard for her money, so I reckon she can have what she wants. Just grateful that I managed to persuade her that Evoques are overpriced, and largely driven by the kinds of women she doesn't wish to be associated with!
 
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Thanks for the update. Maybe get money off your mother in law and pay finance off. Then just update the V5 doc. Is it worth having bumper and alloys done, I haven't but I own mine. Look forward to Italian Panda pics if you have any. I'd ask if anyone at Seat head office running around in an Ateca with a few miles on. Still get PCP with cheap finance. Hope you get something nice.(y)
 
I don't mind a bit of thriftiness here and there inside, as long as it's hard wearing trim, it makes it the more tolerable to my size 9 boots caked in mud and can take a bit of gentle mistreatment!

If the PCP deal on a Duster didn't work out so expensive, I'd be onto that in a shot.
It's the sort of car you don't have to worry about as it has no prestige, yet it has all the bits and pieces you need, all wrapped up in hard plastic, it's dreamy!
The added bonus is, not matter what you do to it in contract, it's almost worthless at the end, so you might as well use the bumpers as parking sensors (like my feckin' neighbours do)

I gather the build quality of Seats have improved quite a bit over the years and almost all of the greasy gubbins are VW.

All Seats engines appear in all VAG products, from Skoda's to Audi's and I reckon build quality will be better than the Qashqais, who seem to have an major issue with the unquenched thirst for oil in their 1.2 Dig-T, the engine we'd be interested in and seem to suffer a host of other issues am now starting to read about.

Qashqais are built in Britain and that's starting to worry me!
Though it's sister car, the Kadjar is French built and I can get nearly 4k off one via Bluelight card, the looks don't float my boat and some of the kit is unlikely to last.

I've only ever had one Asian car, a 5 door 1998 Rav4 and that was truely awful.
A Space hopper would have been more comfy and the famed reliability wasn't what I expected at all, so I'm edging towards European, once bitten and all that.

All these sorts of cars hike their prices to eye watering levels for 4x4 versions and most only offer them with diesels and/or top trim level.
They also don't really offer the mud plugging ability one might expect, think more grassy verges outside of schools sort of thing rather that waist deep in cow ****.

We're keeping our 4x4 Panda a while longer, it does what I need it to do and is looking/working fine, even after it's off road excursions, but the first sign of issue and it's going, I'm just not into messing about with vehicles any more.
 
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Thanks for the update. Maybe get money off your mother in law and pay finance off. Then just update the V5 doc. Is it worth having bumper and alloys done, I haven't but I own mine. Look forward to Italian Panda pics if you have any. I'd ask if anyone at Seat head office running around in an Ateca with a few miles on. Still get PCP with cheap finance. Hope you get something nice.(y)

That's the plan, no mother in law jokes please, she's a lovely woman!

We'll still get the odds and sods sorted, after all she's getting a new (to her) car and we want it to look the part before the 30 second warranty ends!
I also ordered a few bits to smarten her's up for the brother in law. new set of wheel trims (what is it with the women of this family and kerbs??).


I didn't get many vehicle pics this time, just a couple of a rather neat looking classic 500, I'll post that when I get more time.

To be honest, I was getting weary of Panda spotting over there.
The running joke of the white Pop that someone kept overtaking and parking futher up the road worn thin, even on me!

Though there were a few models we don't see here, the natual gas ones (with my IBS I could run one for free!) and the stripped out, base spec 4x4s with no centre bumper or side moulding were dotted around.
 
Hi.
The Dacia Sandero was one of the cars I put on my short list prior to purchasing the Panda. I had a £6000 budget and could have bought a base model, or so I thought. As this car could well be my last car purchase I wanted one that I liked but body-wise would last the pace. So off I went and looked at the earliest of the models I had on my list.
Panda
Sandero
Kia Picanto
Hyundai I10.

For the money the Sandero was the biggest but on two 63 plates I looked at there was rust under the bonnet on the seams, on the seams around the front struts and on the folds under the doors. On a car that was to be a "keeper" it didn't fare well. The Duster has had more serious complaints with rust and although they moved production from India to Romania who knows if the problems have been addressed.
The Kia has a legendary warranty but one 61 plate (new shape) at 70.000 odd mules had rust on the lower part of the front wings so that was off the list.
The Hyundai's I looked at seemed OK but I didn't like the vibration from the 3 cylinder unit, to be fair the Kia was the same as they share their engines. The 1.2 four cylinder engined cars were over priced too.
This left the Fiat's I looked at one 62 plate pop at 97,000 miles in Arnold Clark and left highly impressed, for it's mileage there wasn't a spot of rust and I was thorough, only a couple of paint chips and this was on a white car.
Mechanicals dont bother me too much as they can always be fixed but rust can be a pain. I also looked at a 500 but although it would have been great for us both it is not practical to get an ageing person in the back.
I eventually settled on the Panda I have and got it less than budget.
So far I have added a spacesaver wheel, Sill protectors, LED lights here and there and have ordered a rear bumper protector.
So these are my findings, also be wary of any resale value with Dacia as the talk in the trade is they depreciate quicker than similar sized cars.
 
After all this time with three Pandas, this is the first time we've had all three parked up next to each other, facing the same way.

The axe hangs over the red Lounge, it's days are numbered.
It's off to the mother in laws on Thursday, but we'll be allowed to visit it!
 

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