New (Used) Car Advice - Golf Again?

anonymous12124

The golf is a great option, I'd stick with it if you can. There's a reason why it's so popular. But in terms of reliability, I was just having this conversation with my mechanic yesterday and he said you cannot go wrong with the far eastern brands. Kia, Toyota, Lexus, Mazda and Honda were what he said he sticks too.

I'm not a fan of how the new civic's look but in terms of reliability and maintenance they're really good value. Not sure whether you're a fan of these brands, but right now if you asked to give you a a word option that isn't the brilliant golf it would be the Lexus CT 1.8 200 hybrid.

But the golf is still a great option.

anonymous12124

gord115 said:

He needs something reliable so don't get a Peugeot.
Unless he likes AA mechanics of course LOL

Yep avoid Peugeots. Very unreliable, although the parts are relatively cheap - they're a pain.

cymruchris

I've never known anyone to have a good Peugeot in all the years I've been driving (and that's a lot). I'm sure there are plenty of decent ones out there - but all friends and colleagues always had something to complain about, and I even had one myself as a company vehicle about 10 years ago - and true to word - the dashboard often flashed like a Christmas tree telling me that the car was falling apart, even though it wasn't. 

I also had a Golf for a couple of years, again a company vehicle - that was with a DSG box - and I remember when they delivered it off the trailer, it had 1 mile on the clock. I promptly took it for a gentle drive - as it was shiny and new - and it promptly gave up the ghost about a mile away from home, telling me the DSG box had a fault and to call for assistance. It got trailered away, and brought back the next day, and then it didn't miss a beat for the 70k miles I drove in it over 2 years. 

I would certainly recommend staying with the VAG group as it's something you know. As others have mentioned the Skoda Octavia could be a good bet as it's a bit bigger, better for the long drives , or stick with a newer, better spec'd Golf. 

If you do choose a Peugeot though - I'd love you to come back in a year and let us know how you're getting on - if it was going well - you'd be the first person to ever tell me they had a fault-free Peugeot. (Happy to stand corrected btw if there are any fault free Peugeot owners on the boards!)

AdrianC

cymruchris said:

I've never known anyone to have a good Peugeot in all the years I've been driving (and that's a lot). I'm sure there are plenty of decent ones out there

Well, here's a 100% success rate for you...
We had a 205 - sold it five years ago, with 180k on it. Bombproof. Replaced it with a ZX.
My mother had a 306 then a 207, from 2001 until last year. Probably 120k between the two of them. No problems whatsoever - she only replaced the 306 because it was written off, and replaced the 207 with a Cactus last year - and Citroen are, of course, mechanically and electrically the same thing. And so, for the last few years, are Vauxhall and Opel. And Fiat and Chrysler.

Between all the Stellantis brands which tech-share, that's the fourth-largest car manufacturing group in the world, about 10% of the global market.

shinytop

Goudy said:

What about a Mazda 3 or even a CX-3 if you fancy a softroader?
Don't let larger size SkyActiv petrol engine put you off, it's a very efficient unit using some clever technology that Mazda have nailed when it comes to reliability. 
It'll easily match or beat a lot of smaller petrol engined cars for mpg.

They are well screwed together, feel sharper to drive than a Golf and if you steer clear of the models with large wheels and skinny low profile tyres, ride very comfortably.

The auto versions are a proper old school torque convertor auto's and was offered as an option on every trim in the line up, so you shouldn't have to look far to find one.

I went from a Golf to a Mazda 3 2L Auto.  Reliable, comfy, performs well. Probably not quite as well screwed together as the Golf but then not a lot is.  

noclaf

AdrianC said:

cymruchris said:

I've never known anyone to have a good Peugeot in all the years I've been driving (and that's a lot). I'm sure there are plenty of decent ones out there

Well, here's a 100% success rate for you...
We had a 205 - sold it five years ago, with 180k on it. Bombproof. Replaced it with a ZX.
My mother had a 306 then a 207, from 2001 until last year. Probably 120k between the two of them. No problems whatsoever - she only replaced the 306 because it was written off, and replaced the 207 with a Cactus last year - and Citroen are, of course, mechanically and electrically the same thing. And so, for the last few years, are Vauxhall and Opel. And Fiat and Chrysler.

Between all the Stellantis brands which tech-share, that's the fourth-largest car manufacturing group in the world, about 10% of the global market.

Older members of my family had 306's,205's and Renault 5's. They were all petrol manuals but absolute tanks, took years of hard driving and no issues apart from consumables and servicing. Two of them were driven by medics so galactic mileages before being sold or p/X for newer cars.
However I'm not convinced with the newer cars running small capacity engines with turbos strapped on. I think older cars in general whether they were French, British, Jap or German were more reliable across the board due to the simplicity and I'd go as far as to say that's the exact reason why the Korean brands are doing well...stick to the tried and tested formula of n/a engine, manual or torque convertor auto....and fairly low tech interior gadgets...less stuff to go wrong. It's interesting that Kia have started using the low capacity engine coupled with turbo route and I wonder if that will negatively impact reliability...

cymruchris

noclaf said:

AdrianC said:

cymruchris said:

I've never known anyone to have a good Peugeot in all the years I've been driving (and that's a lot). I'm sure there are plenty of decent ones out there

Well, here's a 100% success rate for you...
We had a 205 - sold it five years ago, with 180k on it. Bombproof. Replaced it with a ZX.
My mother had a 306 then a 207, from 2001 until last year. Probably 120k between the two of them. No problems whatsoever - she only replaced the 306 because it was written off, and replaced the 207 with a Cactus last year - and Citroen are, of course, mechanically and electrically the same thing. And so, for the last few years, are Vauxhall and Opel. And Fiat and Chrysler.

Between all the Stellantis brands which tech-share, that's the fourth-largest car manufacturing group in the world, about 10% of the global market.

Older members of my family had 306's,205's and Renault 5's. They were all petrol manuals but absolute tanks, took years of hard driving and no issues apart from consumables and servicing. Two of them were driven by medics so galactic mileages before being sold or p/X for newer cars.
However I'm not convinced with the newer cars running small capacity engines with turbos strapped on. I think older cars in general whether they were French, British, Jap or German were more reliable across the board due to the simplicity and I'd go as far as to say that's the exact reason why the Korean brands are doing well...stick to the tried and tested formula of n/a engine, manual or torque convertor auto....and fairly low tech interior gadgets...less stuff to go wrong. It's interesting that Kia have started using the low capacity engine coupled with turbo route and I wonder if that will negatively impact reliability...

I'm with you on the old ones - cars like the 205 are more old school technology - it's the newer (last 15 years or so) ones that have gotten more computer brains and electronics that have been the ones that I've seen cause the most problems. 

OwlishAgain

Realised I'd never updated this post - we bought a 20 plate 1.5 DSG Skoda Karoq shortly after this discussion last year. We've been very happy with it