Yet another "What Car" thread

[1616six]

Excellent use of the multiquote function!

First thing I'd say though, is you're comparing cars to ones that aren't really similar. A petrol mondeo is very different to a tdci if it was engine problems (though thats a poor example as the 2.0 TDCi in the mk3 is also terrible lol). Equally, a Vectra isn't an astra.

The ride on the Vec was that bad yes, rear end Iis bouncy as hell, and the fronts are so soft they don't rebound before you hit the next bump which just becomes a horrible crashy mess with the dash, parcel shelf and everything else jumping around and vibrating.

As for paint, red cars almost always have issues (but flat red is usually a free colour anyway lol). Mine was lightening silver and was peeling on the edges of panels and where stone chips broke the paint. Not really acceptable for a 6 year old top spec midsized salloon car imo!

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But what I recommend is you go and test drive some cars... I got fixated on one or two cars that I hated when I actually tried, and ended up buying one I hadn't even considered lol.

I would like to point out Tom had an exceptionally big lemon from what was described to me, from everything you pointed out to me Tom it sounded like it had been in an accident in it's past hence the paint, wind noise you experienced etc.

Mine was a 2004 Prefacelift with over 100k on it, I put 30k on that car in less than 18 months & it never didnt start, never had an EGR fault (although I did get it remapped to 200bhp & had the EGR removed and mapped out)

The ride is very normal on them, I ran 19" VXR wheels with low profile tyres which coupled up with -45mm springs made for an even better ride and epic handling.

I'd certainly recommend driving a few cars as said, however you will do well to find some of the suggestions with the low mileage you're hoping for.

I never worry about mileage when buying a car, I remember something I was once asked

"Would you rather buy a car that has done low mileage, sat on a driveway with everything rubber on it perishing, been to the shops each week & MOT'd once a year, or a car that has done high mileage, used daily, regularly serviced with a full history, anything that needed changing..changed"

Hence I have a car that is 4.5yrs old with 103k on it, full main dealer history with the maintenance schedule perfectly documented...

I'd always go with history & condition over mileage!