The Car Thread

[Yakumo]

Ah, you poor guys getting shafted right up the arse again. In Japan it's a whole different story.

My wife has a Mitsubishi and I have a Subaru as you know. Anyway, my Subaru came from Tokyo, 500 miles away from where I live but I can take it to any official Subaru dealer for a service. It had 2 years free parts which includes EVERYTHING from body panels to engine parts such as a clutch. It also has 5 years free service warranty. Here is the best part though. Go to any Subaru dealer and you'll be greeted at the door before you even get out of your car. walked in to the showroom, given a seat and offered the free drinks and snack menu while you wait.

If your car is going to be there for an hour or more you an take anything you want for a test drive which is very cool. A feature I do love is that you get to talk to the mechanic about your car's problem and he'll break it all down on a spread sheet with parts needed, cost (if you need to pay) and what needs to be done. Honestly, you couldn't ask for any better service. It's a pleasure to go down to the Subaru dealer here. Mitsubishi is pretty much the same as well.

One word of advice for anyone buying a car. DO NOT get a loan from the car dealer. 100% you'll pay more than getting the same loan from a bank.

[charlesr]

[JSR]

Really keen on getting myself a Volvo S40, anybody got some thoughts on that one?

[Spatial]

My car saga continues.

So I've tried to get a test drive of a Nissan Qashqai. Rang up a dealership first thing and asked to book one, to be told that they're busy at the moment but someone will ring me back in just a few minutes to make an appointment.

Fair enough.

Almost 12 hours later (and a full working day) and not a bloody peep.

Is it me?* Is my money not good enough?



You read the news about how car sales are down anything from 1.4% to 24% last year depending on the month, so you'd expect them to be almost falling all over you if you show any interest in buying (and in the case of the Mitsubishi garage, be trying to give you a good deal to make the sale! They haven't even rung me back to chase up if I'm interested after the weekend).

Don't get me wrong, I certainly don't expect to be fawned over like some sort of Deity walking the Earth, but is it too much to ask for them to give a crap about my custom?

At this rate I'll have to buy an electric scooter!





*yes, it probably is

[Spatial]

Just seen this too, the Ford Ecosport - new 118bhp 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine that?s good for mid-50s mpg apparently, and will start at ?15k

From the front it reminds me of an Autobot.

[CMcK]

Really keen on getting myself a Volvo S40, anybody got some thoughts on that one?

I test drove one about three years ago. Didn't have a foot rest for your left foot so no good to me. Otherwise it was pretty good. Focus chassis gives a good combo of ride and handling and I really like the clean interior with the floating console.

[JSR]

Thanks! I really like the exterior design on it. About the only car that my I find "good looking" these days, but then again I'm pretty particular (weird) when it comes to these things.

[NW2013]

Just seen this too, the Ford Ecosport - new 118bhp 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine that’s good for mid-50s mpg apparently, and will start at ?15k

?15k in the States maybe. Probably use the $1 = ?1 method plus taxes and it'll end up being ?20k - ?25k over here. New car prices are insane these days.

[MartyG]

So the new Ferrari FF; am I alone in thinking it's one of the ugliest cars Ferrari have created in years? http://www.ferrari.com/English/GT_Sp.../Pages/FF.aspx

[Yakumo]

Just seen this too, the Ford Ecosport - new 118bhp 1.0-litre EcoBoost engine that’s good for mid-50s mpg apparently, and will start at ?15k

From the front it reminds me of an Autobot.

Oh man, that looks so fugly. Like some old womans shopping car. YUCK!

[charlesr]

Has anyone got a Nissan Puke?
I just want to check what level of restraint I should use when describing how fugly it is.

[Spatial]

I was looking at one in the dealership yesterday (while I was waiting to test drive something else, I certainly wasn't going to buy it!)

Fantastic spec on it, but yes it's the ugliest looking design I've seen in a long time.

Until yesterday I'd only seen one driving past and not up close. Put it this way, it doesn't get any prettier with proximity.

[charlesr]

Considering how bad it looks in reality, I think the PR dept's photo guys have done amazingly well.

[Colin]

I drove past Chiswick Honda yesterday and they had a CR-Z up on a display plinth that looked absolutely brilliant. I'd seen a few on the road, but this one really made me think it had the look of a new CR-X, (Which I owned, er, quite a few of!) really liked it. When I got home I went straight on their site to look at pics of it, man, what a horrid interior it has.

[EvilBoris]

Just googled the CR-Z, have they recently facelifted it, I always thought they looked like weird little electric cars or something, but those pictures made it look pretty cool