Which new car for move to Wales?

daveyjp

Whatever car ensure it has a spare wheel and you know how to change a tyre.

Nothing worse than being stranded in the middle of nowhere with a shredded tyre, a can of goo and no phone signal.  In summer its bearable, in winter not so and a puncture never happens at a convenient time!

I know this because I've helped out someone in this exact position.

hayley54321

Thanks all, that's a lot of really helpful thoughts for me to work from. I'll be living on a reasonably main road,but will be having to travel out a lot all over the place

AdrianC

One other thought that I don't think's been mentioned before...

Width!

For the lanes round here, a narrow car makes a MASSIVE difference.

Ditzy_Mitzy

Ford Focus Mk1 or 2: common, cheap, cheap to fix and practical.  Makes up for not being the most luxurious or powerful by having the best handling in the class.  Living in a rural area (I used to) requires lots of driving on twisty roads.  It helps to have something that's halfway decent round corners.  You get to places more quickly!  Also having a car you aren't too precious about is a boon; the car will spend half its life dirty and the odd dink and scrape is almost inevitable.  

AdrianC

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

Ford Focus Mk1 or 2: common, cheap, cheap to fix and practical.  Makes up for not being the most luxurious or powerful by having the best handling in the class.  Living in a rural area (I used to) requires lots of driving on twisty roads.  It helps to have something that's halfway decent round corners.  You get to places more quickly!  Also having a car you aren't too precious about is a boon; the car will spend half its life dirty and the odd dink and scrape is almost inevitable.  

Mk1s are very old (23-17yo) and have mostly rotted away.
Mk2s are old (17-10yo) and many have rotted away.

Ditzy_Mitzy

AdrianC said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

Ford Focus Mk1 or 2: common, cheap, cheap to fix and practical.  Makes up for not being the most luxurious or powerful by having the best handling in the class.  Living in a rural area (I used to) requires lots of driving on twisty roads.  It helps to have something that's halfway decent round corners.  You get to places more quickly!  Also having a car you aren't too precious about is a boon; the car will spend half its life dirty and the odd dink and scrape is almost inevitable.  

Mk1s are very old (23-17yo) and have mostly rotted away.
Mk2s are old (17-10yo) and many have rotted away.

Oh my God you're right!!!!  I've just looked out of the window and my Focus isn't there any more!  There's just a pile of rust and a council issued Fixed Penalty Notice for littering.  I didn't realise they could rot away so quickly, and shall immediately go and warn other Focus owners in the area (I may be some time).  

AdrianC

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

AdrianC said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

Ford Focus Mk1 or 2: common, cheap, cheap to fix and practical.  Makes up for not being the most luxurious or powerful by having the best handling in the class.  Living in a rural area (I used to) requires lots of driving on twisty roads.  It helps to have something that's halfway decent round corners.  You get to places more quickly!  Also having a car you aren't too precious about is a boon; the car will spend half its life dirty and the odd dink and scrape is almost inevitable.  

Mk1s are very old (23-17yo) and have mostly rotted away.
Mk2s are old (17-10yo) and many have rotted away.

Oh my God you're right!!!!  I've just looked out of the window and my Focus isn't there any more!  There's just a pile of rust and a council issued Fixed Penalty Notice for littering.  I didn't realise they could rot away so quickly, and shall immediately go and warn other Focus owners in the area (I may be some time).  

Yours must be one of the relatively few survivors... You may like to note that I didn't say "all"...

Remember, average age of a car at scrapping in the UK is just under 14yrs - about half-way through the Mk2's production cycle.

Ditzy_Mitzy

AdrianC said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

AdrianC said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

Ford Focus Mk1 or 2: common, cheap, cheap to fix and practical.  Makes up for not being the most luxurious or powerful by having the best handling in the class.  Living in a rural area (I used to) requires lots of driving on twisty roads.  It helps to have something that's halfway decent round corners.  You get to places more quickly!  Also having a car you aren't too precious about is a boon; the car will spend half its life dirty and the odd dink and scrape is almost inevitable.  

Mk1s are very old (23-17yo) and have mostly rotted away.
Mk2s are old (17-10yo) and many have rotted away.

Oh my God you're right!!!!  I've just looked out of the window and my Focus isn't there any more!  There's just a pile of rust and a council issued Fixed Penalty Notice for littering.  I didn't realise they could rot away so quickly, and shall immediately go and warn other Focus owners in the area (I may be some time).  

Yours must be one of the relatively few survivors... You may like to note that I didn't say "all"...

Remember, average age of a car at scrapping in the UK is just under 14yrs - about half-way through the Mk2's production cycle.

'Relatively few survivors'?  You must live in a posh area.  There are at least three Mk2s still in daily use in my road, let alone the town and area.  

Grumpy_chap

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

AdrianC said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

Ford Focus Mk1 or 2: common, cheap, cheap to fix and practical.  Makes up for not being the most luxurious or powerful by having the best handling in the class.  Living in a rural area (I used to) requires lots of driving on twisty roads.  It helps to have something that's halfway decent round corners.  You get to places more quickly!  Also having a car you aren't too precious about is a boon; the car will spend half its life dirty and the odd dink and scrape is almost inevitable.  

Mk1s are very old (23-17yo) and have mostly rotted away.
Mk2s are old (17-10yo) and many have rotted away.

Oh my God you're right!!!!  I've just looked out of the window and my Focus isn't there any more!  There's just a pile of rust and a council issued Fixed Penalty Notice for littering.  I didn't realise they could rot away so quickly, and shall immediately go and warn other Focus owners in the area (I may be some time).  

PMSL

You are lucky, though, my 14 YO Focus is slowly dissolving from the front wing backwards...

ontheroad1970

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

AdrianC said:

Ditzy_Mitzy said:

Ford Focus Mk1 or 2: common, cheap, cheap to fix and practical.  Makes up for not being the most luxurious or powerful by having the best handling in the class.  Living in a rural area (I used to) requires lots of driving on twisty roads.  It helps to have something that's halfway decent round corners.  You get to places more quickly!  Also having a car you aren't too precious about is a boon; the car will spend half its life dirty and the odd dink and scrape is almost inevitable.  

Mk1s are very old (23-17yo) and have mostly rotted away.
Mk2s are old (17-10yo) and many have rotted away.

Oh my God you're right!!!!  I've just looked out of the window and my Focus isn't there any more!  There's just a pile of rust and a council issued Fixed Penalty Notice for littering.  I didn't realise they could rot away so quickly, and shall immediately go and warn other Focus owners in the area (I may be some time).  

Take a bow - post of the day.