Help me pick a car

Big Nelly

Nuttzy wrote:

SBig Nelly, what crap are you talking about. Do you not understand that they use the same engines or do you just not want to admit that a skoda 1.9Tdi is every bit as good an engine as a golf tdi or leon, etc.

Think it was already pointed out in a post here a few back they use a different engine.

Nuttzy wrote:

The Passats are a nice-ish car but nothing special. My uncle bought the 2002 model brand new, the Tdi 130 dspd model, it didnt even come with mudflaps or a cd player as standard in 2002. A car that cost 26000punts if i remember correctly. This was the wifes car. Decent power alright, but boring looking.

Well I dont buy Irish, I buy imports so get, alloys, cd player, climate control, alloys, cruise control, on board computer etc. Your uncle was done

Nuttzy wrote:

You seem to think your Passat is special and superior, Big Nelly. Whats with the badge snobbery? Badge snobbery is usually for people that like to think they have money.(unles its something **** like a skoda fabia) My uncle traded his passat for a Merc Cdi automatic costing the guts of 60grand. Can you afford that Nelly, or does your budget just manage to stretch to over-priced boring Passats. :rolleyes:

No badge snobbery but the Octavia is brutal inside, not comfortable, they are worse than a base line passat as I have already said and I need a comfortable car. Also I just dont like the Skoda, love the way people come on here and spout about how good the Skoda are but how many of you actually own one? or do you all have Toyata/Nissan etc. So you all have badge snobbery!!

Never said I have money, wats that got to do with anything? I want a nice comfortable car and I have test drove loads of car and found the Passat the best in that market place. Easy, if you all want to be childish and start slagging off Passat because you cant afford one thats your problem and not mine.

colm_mcm

Octavia and Leon are Golf rivals, therefore the Passat will be better.

optiplexgx270

So OP have you learned whats available for €12000 or just learned who the fools that can't put an argument together are? :rolleyes:

Anyways the focus posted is nice €12000 is a good pot. Whats styles/sample cars you like?

colm_mcm

Hows about an Avensis D-4D? All are 116bhp and very reliable.

this one seems to be a UK model, presuming VRT is included in price.



http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=434895

zag

I think I'd like a Rover 75 for comfort and value, but I think it's going to be an Octavia 1.9TDi for Zag. It's value for money, reliable, economical, roomy and comfortable and well able for the miles I'll be clocking.

Regarding the arguement, well, it certainly has teased out some facts about the Skoda/Audi/Volks/Seat story that I didn't know about!

Mc-BigE

Good choice Zag, and best of luck, when searching consider the UK also, can get good deals and high spec as Big Nelly said, but watch the mileage.

Make sure you post a pic of your new car AND include all the list of extras you got:D

RIP thread!

Big Nelly

zag wrote:

I think I'd like a Rover 75 for comfort and value, but I think it's going to be an Octavia 1.9TDi for Zag. It's value for money, reliable, economical, roomy and comfortable and well able for the miles I'll be clocking.

Regarding the arguement, well, it certainly has teased out some facts about the Skoda/Audi/Volks/Seat story that I didn't know about!

Good luck with it man, just try and get the comfortline if they have that in the Octavia, the model I was in like I said was terrible, worse than the baseline Passat which I had for a year and on a long drive you would notice it. I drove form Dublin to Cork in it once and hopped out of it into my Brother GF comfortline and you would notice the difference straight away. You can beat a nice comfy seat on a long drive.

As I mentioned before go to the UK for extra's, I got mine with all the extra's for the same price as an Irish model which had none, no alloys or nothing on it and just a base Tape player in a comfortline??? thats not on.

if your doing alot of milage try your best to get cruise control, when Im on N3 or M50 etc I stick it on and you just watch the MPG go up and up. Saves a fortune if you are on a good road most of the time, useless on back road etc because you have to keep knocking it off to pass etc.

Also if buying from UK get from a good garage, had a small problem with mine, went back to garage and they got there mechanic onto it, garage car while it was been fixed, came back and they had fixed everything for free, new bulbs, all new electronic fixtures behind the dash to make sure it wouldnt happen again. Even mechanic said it was prob the on-board computer just giving a warning because the brake lights where not connected right. Was a nice one anyway!!

RiderOnTheStorm

Im not convinced that a diesel is the way to go. I drive 100 miles a day, 5 days a week, and I have a 1.3 petrol. Its comfortable, fuel efficient (45mpg) and its reliable.

Diesel (fuel) is cheaper, but you will pay €1k / 2k / 3k more (depending on year) for the diesel model of same petrol car. Then servicing a diesel is more expensive (but on pluss side you do it less often). The engine size of diesel is usually larger than equivelent petrol model, but road tax does not take this into account, and a 2l engine costs >500e (not sure of exact price). If you are getting 60mpg with a diesel, and diesel fuel prices do not pass out petrol for 5 years, then it will be worth it ..... from a finance point of view.

Dont get me wrong, I am not anti-diesel. My next car prob will be diesel, but that is so I can convert to veg-oil!

Just dont auto think that if you do 120 miles a day you HAVE to get a diesel.

Big Nelly

RiderOnTheStorm wrote:

Im not convinced that a diesel is the way to go. I drive 100 miles a day, 5 days a week, and I have a 1.3 petrol. Its comfortable, fuel efficient (45mpg) and its reliable.........
Just dont auto think that if you do 120 miles a day you HAVE to get a diesel.

My own point of view a 1.3 is far too slow. Would drive me nuts, the lowest engine I have ever drove was the 1.6 and I found that sluggish. That my own point of view but I am used to drive large engine cars/jeeps.

Diesel may cost 1k or so more but when you sell it you get that 1k more back on them, also a diesel engine only really starts to work after 100k, at that stage petrol will have alot of wear and tear already.On my 1.6 after 100k the gear box, clutch, brake pads, brake bits(cant think of name) etc started to go on it.

Not sure why everyone goes on about service costs, I bought the part for my last service and a 10 gallon drum of oil which will do a number of services, cost about 80 quid for all the parts and 50 quid for my mate to do service. Thats aint expensive.

There is plus and minus to petrol and diesel but I know myself I will never go back to a petrol car, again a personal preference but I know my whole family are the same, there is about 25 of us living in the Dublin/Meath area and only 2 have petrol and thats because they are learner on 1.1 engines.

bazz26

zag wrote:

I think I'd like a Rover 75 for comfort and value, but I think it's going to be an Octavia 1.9TDi for Zag. It's value for money, reliable, economical, roomy and comfortable and well able for the miles I'll be clocking.

Regarding the arguement, well, it certainly has teased out some facts about the Skoda/Audi/Volks/Seat story that I didn't know about!

Make sure you try and get the more powerful 110bhp of the VAG 1.9 TDi in the Octavia or if you are going to the UK try and find the 130bhp version.

zag

Just on buying from the UK, I'm sure there's loads of threads on this, but I'll ask here anyway.
What taxes do you pay? VRT and VAT?
What about registration, insurance and tax etc.?
Any other implications?

Is it really worth it, like do you save, or do you get a better car for the same price?

RiderOnTheStorm

Big Nelly wrote:

My own point of view a 1.3 is far too slow. Would drive me nuts, the lowest engine I have ever drove was the 1.6 and I found that sluggish. That my own point of view but I am used to drive large engine cars/jeeps.

I think that any 1.3 / 1.4 can do max speed limit easily. But your point of sluggishness on ovetaking is quite valid. It is a consideration all right, but it would be same on 1.6 diesel. On 2l or turbo it would not be a problem, of course.

I agree that petrol / diesel is a personal choice, and there are adv and dis-adv to both.

Big Nelly

zag wrote:

Just on buying from the UK, I'm sure there's loads of threads on this, but I'll ask here anyway.
What taxes do you pay? VRT and VAT?
What about registration, insurance and tax etc.?
Any other implications?

Is it really worth it, like do you save, or do you get a better car for the same price?

I got a garage in Dublin to bring in mine, pay VRT etc and this was all included in the price. Insurance, tax etc is no difference and when the car place pays the VRT they get number plate etc. You just need to register the car for tax which is just a form you fill in and post off. No big deal. Of course if you bring in yourself then you will have to pay VRT etc yourself which could mean a day or so off work sorting it out because office for VRT are not open in evenings. I hadnt the time to get time off work or go to UK so got car off garage.

Big Nelly

RiderOnTheStorm wrote:

I think that any 1.3 / 1.4 can do max speed limit easily. But your point of sluggishness on ovetaking is quite valid. It is a consideration all right, but it would be same on 1.6 diesel. On 2l or turbo it would not be a problem, of course.

I agree that petrol / diesel is a personal choice, and there are adv and dis-adv to both.

My brother a few years ago had a 1.9 Diesel flat, I was driving the 1.6 then and found it very slow on take off. You really do need the 1.9Tdi in them, mind you he said he never found it slow but I moved to the 1.6 off a 3l Turbo Diesel jeep so was used to a bit of power:p

RiderOnTheStorm

Big Nelly wrote:

...but I moved to the 1.6 off a 3l Turbo Diesel jeep so was used to a bit of power:p

ha ha ... yes, that would seem 'sluggish', a'right

maidhc

Colm's avensis D4D is very good value!

It is a much nicer more modern and more more petrol like engine than the VAG TDIs, and you can rev the hell out of it... it redlines up around 5.5k rpm.

Car is comfortable, it isn't as steady on the road as a mondeo, but, the handling is safe and predictable. It will always be worth a few grand too. It looks like a 3 series too from behind, although no one admits it.

Ignore the nonsense about Skoda's having a different engine, the only Skoda-specific engines are the "MPI" 1.4 petrols.

Mc-BigE

zag wrote:

Just on buying from the UK, I'm sure there are loads of threads on this, but I'll ask here anyway.
What taxes do you pay? VRT and VAT?
What about registration, insurance and tax etc.?
Any other implications?

Is it really worth it, like do you save, or do you get a better car for the same price?

Buying in the UK can be justified because there are more cars to choose from, they normally will be a higher spec, i.e. leather/cruise/parking sensors/etc. but the downside is mileage and verifying that the car is in good condition before going over there.
There are loads of threads on here about it, but check http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=176389
For details.

Make sure the car is more than 6months old and 6000Kms on the clock, otherwise you get caught for VAT on top of what you paid in euros.

Check: https://www.ros.ie:/VRTEnquiryServlet/showCarCalculator

For how much vrt will cost you.

Most important thing, check here first to see is the equivalent car cheaper or the same price. No point in travelling if it is.

unkel

Mc-BigE wrote:

Buying in the UK can be justified because there are more cars to choose from, they normally will be a higher spec, i.e. leather/cruise/parking sensors/etc. but the downside is mileage and verifying that the car is in good condition before going over there

And to add to that, the car probably has a complete service history, with bills and all. One of the biggest advantages of buying in the UK imho. Also the higher mileage is more likely to be "easy mileage" i.e. motorway cruising which does very little harm to a car that is maintained regularly.

But come to sell it here again and that benefit will be mainly gone as most people here don't understand that concept and wouldn't touch a car with say >100k miles

Rudolph Claus

and 50 quid for my mate to do service. Thats aint expensive.

For all the talking you do about cars you`d think you`d be able to change the oil yourself.

colm_mcm

maidhc wrote:

Colm's avensis D4D is very good value!

It is a much nicer more modern and more more petrol like engine than the VAG TDIs, and you can rev the hell out of it... it redlines up around 5.5k rpm.

Car is comfortable, it isn't as steady on the road as a mondeo, but, the handling is safe and predictable. It will always be worth a few grand too. It looks like a 3 series too from behind, although no one admits it.

Ignore the nonsense about Skoda's having a different engine, the only Skoda-specific engines are the "MPI" 1.4 petrols.

The old shape Avensis D-4D is a cracking drive, most people don't care though and would rather a 90bhp Passat with no equipment!

ninty9er

Big Nelly wrote:

What you talking about? price drop because it my GF cars and she is off to Oz, she is not really pushed on selling and talking of giving to her sister now. Just though I would throw it into the bowl.

Again I mention only losing 500 euro on my Passat in a year and putting 20k on it. Name one other car on the market where you would get that? and dont mention Golf because they are not in the same market place.

Wouldnt say the Passat is a poor mans Audi, they are more or less on the same playing Field. Same difference in price and thats about it. If I dont buy a Passat next year it will be an Audi. Will NEVER buy an Skoda! end of story!

I would ask you to look at the second hand prices for a Passat and an Avensis. you're talking 04 Avensis for the same price as a 05 Passat.
5 years ago VW were tops for holding value, but now that people are seeing them for what they really are (my uncle has had so much trouble electricallly with his) VWs are no longer desirable s/h buys as they used to be

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carid=366632

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=385296

twice the mileage a year older and still only a grand in the difference
I know there's been a model change on the passat, but people are now wide to VW. Their German reliability claim no longer applies.

The Toyota build quality is massively superior with better petrol engines and the diesel not too far behind.

The corolla is also better bought new for what you'd get a 1-2 yr old one for

vector

ninty9er wrote:

I would ask you to...

sidebar: Why do so many people speak in the conditional whats wrong with
a plain old "I ask you to"