Yet another "What Car" thread

[Toms306]

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!

Oh I'd forgotten the wind noise....that was the only thing that beat the dash vibrations. Tbf, the dash issue and the wind noise were partly to do with the car being on its 3rd windscreen. The chassis was updated for the facelift which flexed so much it'd crack screens pretty quickly...brilliant idea lol. But a lot of the wind seemed to be coming from the back somewhere, never did find out where though.

It wasn't in an accident, I was only the 3rd owner, full history and a clear HPI. They just aren't put together well, or not after the facelift at least, and everything inside is very noticeably cheap and shit, feels a bit like a 306 interior! You also lose a lot of standard spec on the facelift for cost cutting reasons. Though if you go for the Design spec, you do get a 6CD changer with DAB and an auto dimming drivers wing mirror....about the only parts of the Vec I liked!


Jordan, I'm sure you had a new EGR under warranty?

Also, forgot to mention the springs snapping...you had one snap as well iirc lol?

When mine snapped the spring it was dangerous though, due to the daft little coils top and bottom when they do snap a front spring it takes out the tyre as well...fortunately I was only doing 30, dread to think what might've happened if I'd been doing 60+.


On another note, the mileage thing is interesting. When I started buying diesels they were all well over 100k because that's as far as the budget would stretch. I've had mega mileage cars as well, some with history, some without, both Golfs and the Vectra full history, and look how well that went.

But when I was looking this time I wasn't too fussed by mileage, I found 2 Focii to look at, identical spec and engine. One an 09 plate with 107k FFSH, and one an 08 plate with 47k FFSH, £500 between them....massive difference in the amount of wear and the obvious use between them though! Besides the odd car park ding that's been touched up, mine still looks new, sitting inside I genuinely feel like the first owner! The 09 plate on the other hand, had a lot of wear to the steering wheel and knob, seat bolster had gone saggy, the boot was well used, inside it generally looked 'tired' I guess. And the outside was worse, scratches and scuffs all over, tonnes of stone chips, rear bumper scuffed to hell where stuffs been put in and out and kerbing on every wheel. And when I asked about of the service history, turned out it was full, but that that didn't mean much, see below...

I chose the lower mileage one, unsurprisingly.

If you do for a high mileage car, if its been leased, full history doesn't mean a lot. The lease companies decide whether or not parts can be changed. For example, at 75k the DPF and Eolys should be changed on the Focus...a lot of lease companies refuse this, and get rid of the cars shortly after...as had happened with the other one I was looking at!