The car for you?

[Dippydog]

A recent thread on what makes a British car got me thinking,what makes a car the car for you[I hope I'll make myself clear]?I'm not talking the badge that's nailed to the front and rear but more the things it has or does.Obviously liking the styling is a bit of a given but is really a very subjective issue.So for me I want a medium to large car[an S60 for example is about the smallest I'd go]I don't need one as there's only me and Dog now,but it's what I look for.A fairly large engine[again my 2.4 V70 is about the smallest I'd go]I'm not bothered by rocket ship acceleration nor a hyper top speed but rather the ability to cruise at the legal limit with no fuss drama or strain and in as near silence as can reasonably be expected.Ride comfort is very important-hence the medium to large car-and whatever I buy must absolutely have a leather interior and a reasonably decent stereo.I'm not bothered by "toys" in fact a lot of them are a put off as I'd be paying for an awful lot of stuff I'd never use and they're yet more stuff to go wrong.One last bit is that for me it must be petrol not diesel[an electric one is totally impractical for me as I've nowhere to charge it]

[Father Ted]

Good question. For me there are certain functional "givens".
Auto box
Cruise control
Air conditioning.
Able to pull the caravan.

My V70 did all of that. In style. Felt posh. But never quite felt right.
The XC90 feels right. My Toyota Estima felt right. Maybe I just like the high ride height or maybe I like big cars?
But it is all about that gut instinct feel.

[eternal optimist]

Quiet
Quick
Quirky
Comfortable
Reliable
Capacious (or small, no middle ground here)
Puts a smile on my face
Value for money

I’ve rarely if ever managed to tick all those criterion.

The Renault Vel Satis was reliable for 90,000 miles with me until it went bang; the Smart ForFour which followed was equally brilliant but for different reasons.

The one I really regret not keeping was the 1968 Cortina Savage estate I had in 1983 and the 1968 145S I restored and ran in the late 90’s. Would love to have those two back again.

[reggit]

Don't know what I'll do when I need to change, assuming I can keep the current V70 going for a couple of years.

Recent-ish cars:
VW corrado VR6 - loved it.
Corsa dual fuel - just don't ask, ok needed to dramatically reduce outgoings to to moving house and huge mortgage. It wasn't for me.
S60, kids, then V70, V70 All P2 pre-facelift varients.


Not keen on the look of the P3 cars, so debating XC90 or VW Touareg as the next car although hopefully not for a while - Must not be weak and buy a V10 touareg……

You get the idea, fairly big and comfy cars - can cope with petrol or diesel.

[AndyJudge]

For me

Comfortable - I do a lot of long motorway journeys for work, I need a car I can get out of without feeling the effect

Size- My hobbies involve me going away for weekends, sometimes camping (but lightweightish), most of the time outdoors so need correct clothing & my camera bag is huge. I need to get this all into the boot. Sometimes I go away with 4 Adults so we all need to fit in with all our kit.

Toy's - Decent Music set-up, Air-con, Sat-Nav etc. the more the better. Now I have adaptive Cruise these needs to be on the list.

Engine - Big enough to be able to sit comfortably at motorway speeds for long periods with 4 Adults on board.

I love the additional ride height of the XC60, it ticks all the boxes, AWD is a bonus as sometimes I'm at events where muddy carparks are the norm.

Transmission - I used to hate auto's, now I do the long distances I love them.

[DaveNP]

Number one for me is definitely Comfort. Having a bad back I need a good seat to be able to spend a long drive in it and still walk afterwards, Volvo 940, 850 and V70 big ticks, Kia Cee'd if I adjust the seat and use a coccyx cushion just about acceptable, the Proton my wife had if I spent an hour driving it I struggled to crawl away from it never mind walking.
Second is an Estate, I end up lugging large things around often enough that it merits a large car.
Third overall economy, it doesn't need rocket ship performance or the latest gadgets and styling.

Yep seems the old V70 will do me for a bit longer yet.

[volvo always]

For me I'm drawn to estates as for nearly 10 years only had one car a 1989 Volvo 240 GLT auto estate.

This I could use for my self employed work but at weekends use it to visit my Nan and Sister and take them out.

I then bought a 1996 940 LPT estate which is my main work car and when I was looking it had to have ABS and Air conditioning and be an automatic.

The AC didn't work but got it working last summer and is a must for me as I feel the heat.
Sunroof too is a bonus. Must be easy to do maintenance and comfortable.

I then did a impulse purchase on ebay and bid £1,500 on a 2006 Lexus IS 220d. In some ways was hoping outbid, but wasn't and won the car at £1,475.

When I viewed it for the first time it drove fantastic even though it's done 175,000 and full service history and looked lovely. 1300 miles on it's still great to drive, but wish it was auto at times for when in stop start traffic.
Mine is the base model so. ECC. Cruise Control. 2.2 litre turbo diesel with 177hp. Electric windows x4 heated mirrors/electric. ABS. Traction control. Cloth interior. CD/radio with 12 speakers. Not mark levinson. Its very comfortable and does quite well on fuel. Good 5 star euro N cap safety test and 10 airbags.
Seems well built.
I do like Lexus, as not that known. Several asked me what it was. Comments is it looks great. The diesel engine isn't lexuses finest as sourced from Toyota and was used in the avensis. Can suffer head gasket failure and DMF and EGR troubles.
Only fault ECC not working and boot opener not working on the fob.

Regassed 8 weeks ago and must have a leak as only blowing slightly cold. Got a mobile AC man coming Tuesday to put a dye in and test for leaks.
If Birmingham ULEZ happens may buy a used hybrid lexus like a GS450h if that qualifies.

James

[Waynedance]

Surely aircon or sunroof not both, I would not use a sunroof as much prefer aircon which is on all year round and extras headroom.

I looked at Lexus but no auto on the diesel.

[AndyV7o]

Fluid handling
Lively
Communicative
Comfy seats
Decent economy
Capacious practical boot.

1st car, Nova 1.2 saloon, fiddled with mixture & timing, ran super unleaded (timing set to make use of it, it wasnt happy on std 95ron) perky little beast, got me about, could surprise folk with the carrying capacity, loved it.
Citroen ZX 1.9td good boot with no rear seats, great economy, once turbo fully upto speed could seriously shift, refined (after nova), loved it.
Scenic mk1 phase 2 (still got it) stupidly practical van/family-car, fair economy, once you get accustomed to chassis handles astonishingly well! Its not in use, has got to go, but still seriously love it, its got soul and character and loves to be taken by the scruff of its neck.
Citroen C4 1.6hdi, really low miles (47k when sold) (last car I had) great condition, no faults or anything worn, great economy, nippy, comfy..... Handled like a cut'n'shut arthritic dog, fealt cheap n flimsy, **** boot, never gelled, sold it, dont miss it. Technically best car I ever had, but my least favourite.
Volvo V70 D5, current car, its great! Much bigger and thirstier than C4, its a 'sensible estate', but it handles fluidly, coherently, it has torque low-down and up top, big boot, comfy seats, smooth ride... Love it! Oh, and it sounds like Chewbacca!
There's the thing, the volvo is a big old bus, its smooth and comfy, yet compare it from a standstill, down a fast twisty B-road to the C4 and for me theres no comparison. The C4 was 'the best' car Ive owned, but it was my least favourite, the volvo and scenic are not what youd expect a 36yo who likes drivery-driving to fall in love with, but I have, cos they have character and a fluid chassis. My favourite car of them all? a Renault Scenic.... why? cos it handles bloody lovely and has seats you can sit on for hours, whilst the engine is perky but needs keeping on the boil which adds to the fun.
Never thought youd hear that eh!

[Harvey1512]

Originally Posted by AndyJudge

For me

Comfortable - I do a lot of long motorway journeys for work, I need a car I can get out of without feeling the effect

Size- My hobbies involve me going away for weekends, sometimes camping (but lightweightish), most of the time outdoors so need correct clothing & my camera bag is huge. I need to get this all into the boot. Sometimes I go away with 4 Adults so we all need to fit in with all our kit.

Toy's - Decent Music set-up, Air-con, Sat-Nav etc. the more the better.

Engine - Big enough to be able to sit comfortably at motorway speeds for long periods with 4 Adults on board.


Transmission - now I do the long distances I love them.

This pretty much is me as well. I want a comfort barge, I want space, cabin and boot in particular. I want to feel relaxed, I want to glide.

Sports car hold no interest for me. They can look sexy but they don't do anything else that I want.

An Audi A6 or a Merc E class, tooled up, would be my ideal car. I thought I would always like high cars after my xc60 but having gone back to a regular car, Superb, I'm happy to stay in that category.