Buying a new car - advice if possible

Lulu58

Thanks for the info Jay Tee and celticsprite. Methinks I will have to push for a test drive! They didn't have one in when I was in the showroom last week so I drove a normal geared car.

Why is nothing ever simple ?!

vikingaero

Whatever the sales reprobates tell you about the autoboxes/automated manuals then don't believe them until you've checked for yourself in brochures etc. Salesmen lie. End of.

You haven't mentioned a budget, but I'm guessing at £15k by the sounds of the Nissan Cube. Have you thought about a Honda Jazz. The new version is a lot bigger than the old and is very versatile. It has a CVT box that has proven to be very reliable and would be the only non-proper auto that I would buy myself.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Lulu58 wrote: »

Hi


The other thing I've just picked up is Gilbert and Sullivan's comment re gearboxes above. The Fiat 500 offers a 'Dualogic Semi Automatic Transmission' option which we were thinking of getting. My husband likes automatics. I like geared cars.

Can you give me some more info re 'idiotic gearboxes' - it could be that I'm buying myself trouble in the future and should just stick to a manual?

Thanks.

Ok then this is my opinion only of automated manual boxes.

For open road easy driving they are probably ok for most people most of the time, at least whilst under warranty.

For close manouevres and heavy traffic and hill starts they're not so nice, they have no creep as a normal torque converter automatic has, remember you can't brake and accelerate at the same time either as power is normally cut when you apply the brakes...not as you'd do that often but tight parking sometimes needs some extra control.

For many owners they are fine and they are more economical in fuel use than a conventional auto which probably explains their popularity together with lower emissions, however long term reliability is questionable and repair costs out of warranty could wipe out any savings, again Celticsprites experience bears this out, she has already linked to the reliability she's found with the Fiat box, i've seen dozens of similar stories for other makes too.

You'll have to search various forums for more info and make your own judgement on any particular vehicle that takes your fancy.

If you like the car and the way it drives then by all means have one, i would only say have an extended test drive in a car with the gearbox you will be buying and do give the car full throttle acceleration to see how good or bad the change copes, do try some tight manouevres preferably on an incline, and do see how well the car selects the correct gear or not at junctions eg roundabaouts where you approach as if stopping and suddenly get the chance to go, see if the gearchange can keep up enough for you, and with the particular car you have in mind try to find a steep hill for a stationary hill start.

If the sales bod doesn't want you to test a car properly, but tries to take you on a nice easy route of their choosing you'll know there's something to hide.

As i said this is only my own opinion.

Edit.
how (un)fortunate they didn't have the auto boxed car in for you to try, why not?
I also tend to agree with Vikingaero's post re sales people, i know nothing of CVT boxes and bow to anyone else's knowledge of them.

Jay_Tee

vikingaero wrote: »

Have you thought about a Honda Jazz. The new version is a lot bigger than the old and is very versatile. It has a CVT box that has proven to be very reliable and would be the only non-proper auto that I would buy myself.

Sorry but the current Jazz has the option of an I-shift gearbox (automated manual) it was the previous Jazz that had the CVT.

Mind one car you could think of is the Toyota IQ that has got a CVT gearbox (called multi-drive)

celticsprite

Lulu58 wrote: »

Thanks for the info Jay Tee and celticsprite. Methinks I will have to push for a test drive! They didn't have one in when I was in the showroom last week so I drove a normal geared car.

Why is nothing ever simple ?!

Hi,

We were able to test-drive the one & only Fiat panda with the dualogic gearbox they had when when we went for the test-drive - but they NEVER had an automatic available for me when she needed serviced!

Also, OH nearly killed us on main road as he stomped on the clutch (which was not there, so he hit the brake instead). The car was fine on the test drive and back then I didn't think to check anything other than the official line. Lesson learned though, and hopefully I'm wiser than before. I didn't even think of checking MSE then and getting advice - won't be so rash in the future :money:

In future I won't be paying anything until I have checked the gearbox out and had a looooong test drive on different roads etc. I think maybe we Brits are a bit stupid when it comes to buying cars - or gullible at least. The company I was thinking of buying from (peugeot) didn't have an auto to test drive, so I'd need to buy it to test it out. Neither did the Renault dealership.

If I'm going to spend £15-£20k I'll be wanting to make sure it ticks all the boxes & am confident on how the car handles. Probably should have done this the first time

Lots of good advice from the folks on this board - people who are not interested in just getting your dosh, and who will give you advice if/when the dealers can't be bothered returning your call.

cs x

ps for heaven's sake, we don't even buy shoes/clothes without trying them on - yet we do almost nothing when spending a large chunk of cash!

celticsprite

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

Ok then this is my opinion only of automated manual boxes.

For open road easy driving they are probably ok for most people most of the time, at least whilst under warranty.

For close manouevres and heavy traffic and hill starts they're not so nice, they have no creep as a normal torque converter automatic has, remember you can't brake and accelerate at the same time either as power is normally cut when you apply the brakes...not as you'd do that often but tight parking sometimes needs some extra control.

Hi Lulu58

I agree with gilbert and sullivan re the hill starts, you find yourself doing a bit of jiggling with the hand brake and the accelerator. I had to let the car roll downwards on a hill in the ice when it was here, as I couldn't get started any other way.

Unlike a geared car & most automatics, the dualogic has to be parked in gear - I know "proper" automatics have to be parked in P and other cars in neutral, but the dualogic has to be parked in gear - pity the garage didn't know that - she was always in neutral when we collected her - despite the fact that she "bings" like crazy.

cs x

Lulu58

celticsprite wrote: »

Hi,

In future I won't be paying anything until I have checked the gearbox out and had a looooong test drive on different roads etc. I think maybe we Brits are a bit stupid when it comes to buying cars - or gullible at least. The company I was thinking of buying from (peugeot) didn't have an auto to test drive, so I'd need to buy it to test it out. Neither did the Renault dealership.
QUOTE]

Interesting point from celtic sprite. Has anyone tried (and succeeded!) in getting a long test drive on different roads etc? I called several dealers and different manufacturers and got absolutely nowhere. I was offered an 'extended' drive by one which meant instead of 10 minutes round the block on a set route, I got 15 minutes round the block on a set round. In my experience, this applies whether discussing low end or high end vehicles.

I went into my spiel about £10k, big investment, yah di yah. Not interested! Even gave them my bad back story and needing to know I would be comfortable and the seating/ride etc wouldn't aggravate it (true by the way). Not interested!

I can remember a few years back companies like Vauxhall were offering a car for a whole weekend. It's interesting that when so many car manufacturers (and therefore dealers) have their backs to the wall, they are offering less and less. Greed is still the driving force ... oh, and arrogance, not to mention the lies

alleycat`

Several dealerships, vw, saab and citroen have lent me a car for test drives for at least 24 hours.

So it is possible.

The local saab dealership currently has a banner saying they do 24 hour test drives on the outside of the building.

The local hyundai dealership either has a ghost santa fe or they let people take it on extended test drives. It is never at the dealership friday to monday (well not when i've asked to look at it).

Hyundai and Kia are the recommended small cars at the moment (i thought) why not give them a call or skoda and the fabia?

vikingaero

Lulu58 wrote: »

celticsprite wrote: »

Hi,

In future I won't be paying anything until I have checked the gearbox out and had a looooong test drive on different roads etc. I think maybe we Brits are a bit stupid when it comes to buying cars - or gullible at least. The company I was thinking of buying from (peugeot) didn't have an auto to test drive, so I'd need to buy it to test it out. Neither did the Renault dealership.
/QUOTE]

Interesting point from celtic sprite. Has anyone tried (and succeeded!) in getting a long test drive on different roads etc? I called several dealers and different manufacturers and got absolutely nowhere. I was offered an 'extended' drive by one which meant instead of 10 minutes round the block on a set route, I got 15 minutes round the block on a set round. In my experience, this applies whether discussing low end or high end vehicles.

I went into my spiel about £10k, big investment, yah di yah. Not interested! Even gave them my bad back story and needing to know I would be comfortable and the seating/ride etc wouldn't aggravate it (true by the way). Not interested!

I can remember a few years back companies like Vauxhall were offering a car for a whole weekend. It's interesting that when so many car manufacturers (and therefore dealers) have their backs to the wall, they are offering less and less. Greed is still the driving force ... oh, and arrogance, not to mention the lies

The best way to experience a car if you can't get one from a dealer is to hire one. Other than that dealers are reluctant for mileage, fuel cost and insurance risk to allow long test drives. I would say that out of the dozen cars I buy per annum for family or our firm, 8 will be accompanied test drives, and 4 will be solo drives. The companies that allow me to drive solo only do so because they know that I've bought from them before.

calebdylan

Buying a car, whether it's a first-time purchase or not, can seem like a daunting task. You've probably seen your share of car commercials on TV and recall hearing phrases like "down payment" and "APR." Although some of the terminology may seem confusing, once you break it down, buying a car is pretty straightforward....hope you like to shop yours