Half-price heroes - All Comments

re: The thinking man's MPV

James Ruppert — Fri, 16 May 2008 10:13:16 GMT

It's Mrs R's car not mine and she'd kill me if I sold it now. Anyway my other cars balance out the Volvo's utter Volvoness....which actually I don't mind and the yummy mummies on the school run all liked it this morning on its debut run...

re: The thinking man's MPV

theoriginalshoe — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:08:01 GMT

James, I used to think a lot of you.

By buying that, you have tarnished the good reputation of the Autocar staffers, perhaps irreversibly.

Please sell it now. No, on second thoughts just scrap it and save the rest of us ever inadvertently laying eyes on it (and inevitably immediately losing the contents of our stomachs).

re: The thinking man's MPV

James Ruppert — Thu, 15 May 2008 09:05:17 GMT

Yes, love the old 850, great shape that, lots of T5s around and a new shape T5 was local to me but double the price of this one retail..

re: The thinking man's MPV

NiallOswald — Thu, 15 May 2008 08:50:49 GMT

Put a non age-related plate on it and I don't think it would stand out as a particularly old car at all. I happened to see an old 850 (towing a glider!) overtaking a new V70, both in identical 'coffee' metallic recently. Very distinctive 'DNA' there, and the old car stood up surprisingly well against the new model.

re: The thinking man's MPV

James Ruppert — Thu, 15 May 2008 06:42:35 GMT

Oh yes it's a 2000 I made very certain of that....seems like a nice old bus at the moment....J

re: The thinking man's MPV

JJBoxster — Wed, 14 May 2008 19:11:01 GMT

Looks in very good nick with a colour. And it's 2000 so does that mean you avoid the Chancellors tax grabbing on 2001-2006 cars?

If so you've just made an even smarter purchase :)

re: Dealers play recession roulette

Quattro369 — Tue, 13 May 2008 23:00:56 GMT

Im almost always insulted by the low prices dealers offer for a Part-Ex. Years ago i bought a Vauxhall Corsa for £6650.

My circumstances changed and approx 2 months (& 1,000 miles) later I asked the dealer how much it would offer me to hande the vehicle back. The offer was £4900. I was desperate and so after they agreed to up the offer to £5k i accepted.

I went past a week later and saw the car for sale at the bargain price of... Yup. £6650! What a joke!

re: Dealers play recession roulette

jbroadis — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:47:59 GMT

Couldn't agree more regarding the market demand for small/medium diesel and modest capacity petrol cars. I found this out recently when trying to trade in my 2004 Toledo. Except mine was a V5 (2.3l 170bhp). In many ways a desirable car with a great spec (part leather/alcantara, colour sat nav, elec seats etc.) but it soon became apparent that very few dealers would touch it as a part ex. The message was clear that clean 1.6 petrols and diesels fly off the forecourt, whereas a 2.3 petrol will sit, and sit, and sit....

In the end I got an OK price at a local SEAT dealer as a part-ex on a new Leon FR TFSI. That was three months ago, and my old Toledo is still there on the forecourt despite a £500 reduction. I wonder if it will still be there in 3 months time - I expect so.

The great news is that if you don't mind paying a bit more on road tax and fuel (my Toledo still averaged 31mpg) there are some fantastic used bargains out there.

re: The seven-seat itch

ColinS — Thu, 08 May 2008 09:55:38 GMT

Oops meant second car less practical. Saab cab is also nice cheap option for the summer

re: The seven-seat itch

ColinS — Thu, 08 May 2008 09:54:18 GMT

I can sympathise though the upside is that the second car must be more practical. Our main car is a Honda FRV (on which the residuals look strong as per other comments) as having the in-laws in the car for family trips is preferable to having them follow us at 50mph, plus we can go out for bike rides without needing a roof rack.

I'd take your own advice from Autocar last week and dig out a nice pre 2001 coupe. I sold my £2k 2001 Mondeo for a profit and bought a nice 97 328 Coupe for £2K instead, problem is it's too nice to sell so I'll have to wait before I move onto my other targets - Celica, Prelude, Accord Coupe.

I'd guess a Zafira is probably the best bet, in 2.2l guise if you can find one.

re: The seven-seat itch

James Ruppert — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 09:17:32 GMT

Ahh bench seats and Morris Oxfords how we all piled in, in those days, Caravelle is a fine vehicle but rather too van like for us, but loved the airport run story...On the nation's favourite auction site I went mad and bit £4500 to make me laugh on a new shape V70, but was outbid to my eternal relief. I still can't buy unseen unless it is someone I trust describing it to me....J

re: The seven-seat itch

Sibbo — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 22:23:39 GMT

Imagine the surprise when no 3 little menace turned out to be twins. The Ovlov XC90 was too small (yes its true), and the mutt was in the roofbox. It (the Ovlov not the mutt) was chopped in for a VW Caravelle which is suitably capacious for 7 (6 human and the mutt) and a visitor in comfort (apart from the ride on the ironically named 'sport' suspension) and to be recommended. However my neighbour added to the humiliation of dealing with the 'commercial vehicles' desk at the VW dealer by asking if I would run his family to the airport for money.

re: The seven-seat itch

podster — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 19:18:10 GMT

I think the desire for seven seaters is a consequence of child seat regulations. Whereas when I was young, my parents would happily sit me in the back of a van, nowadays, little menaces have to be contained in their own car seats. And putting three of them side by side in a normal car is a right fiddly pain in the bottom. So you need an extra row of seats

re: The seven-seat itch

James Ruppert — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:37:09 GMT

Great suggestions again gents, and yes MPVs do seem to keep their value to a fairly huge extent when actually a cheaper estate would do. Multipla is a nice idea but 7 seats needed...Hyundais I like a lot and they seem to be bullet proof, but Mrs R is even more of a snob than I am!

re: The seven-seat itch

Dave679 — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 14:49:42 GMT

We own a 7 Seater that few have heard of a Hyundai Trajet 2.0Tdi.

Yes its a full size 7 seater but if you need the seats you probably need to

carry some luggage too!

We needed it cos we have two sets of identical twin boys!!!

Its a great MPV and my wife uses it for her daily commute too.

This is comfortable on the motor ways and has good spec including air con.

Ours has now done 52K and has not missed a beat.

Don't be put off by the badge, none of the others come with a 5 year

warrranty from new and second hand ones shouldn't be too expensive.

Dave