My first car was an Audi A4 with 180k miles on the clock, loved it but it died within a year 
Q3’s are ok aren’t they?
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Not the coolest, a 1995(?) and therefore vauxhall in sheep’s clothing, 95.
I loved it. It was so comfy, rapid too. 2.3 SE to be exact.
Upon my recommendation, after years of him saying that they drive like boats, my Dad’s current car is a Saab and he loves it.
I gave mine away actually. Stupid move.
A friends parents need a car and I had my mum’s car while she was off in Galapagos and work had put me down for a company car.
I couldn’t accomoadate 3 cars so gave that one away to someone who needed it.
Company car never came through and mum came back from travels. Ended up with no car for a bit after thinking I’d have to take care of three.
Mum’s was a Z4 at the time. Didn’t grumble about that.
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Yes but I feel like a Michael Fabricant driving a diesel SUV. It’s a mum car and it’s the most basic bitch version too.
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Ha ha
Had a 1999 Seat Toledo in 2005 which was £2500 with 40k on clock and did 45mpg. Ran for 10 years. So cheap and you could have fitted two bodies in the boot.
We swapped it for a £12k 40k mileage diesel SUV (soz Hugo) 2010 Hyundai Sante Fe in 2015 which is lovely to drive and fast for its size. With a dog and pushchairs the boot size is the only way to go. It’s just on the way out depreciation wise and id like to try hybrid or electric but they tend to be taxi sized.
Would recommend both but tax is a fucker and the current one is a bit thirsty. Choosing new cars is a ball ache cos you’re always compromising somewhere.
Pushchairs will eventually and quite quickly not be necessary.
They do take up a fuck ton of space though in the meantime.
Yeah you’re dead right but then they get swapped for bikes etc. Families = big boot.
We have the CMax for that.
A Ford. Does what it needs to well enough.
Had it a couple of years and it’s been fine as the car my Mrs uses for short work trips or even the more rare longer trips to Cornwall with camping equipment the kids stuff etc.
Did have to get a roof box for that though.
Not the most exciting but I’ve heard those are very reliable indeed which is what you want for something like that.
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I bet being inside one is much more satisfying than seeing one in pictures or even on video.
Had a Golf, can’t remember the year but it was much more plush and comfy inside than the two subsequent Polo’s that I’ve had, including, maybe not so surprisingly, the current Polo gti.
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Fuckin’ aye.
gti is terrible on fuel around town but motorway is good. That’s not unexpected really.
It’s great having a tuned down 2 litre Golf engine in a much smaller car.
They only tune it down to keep attention on the Golf.
It’s a good town car but a little on the expensive side, long distances with that engine, it’s great.
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, I don’t like crowded places so the tube is out of bounds for me at the best of times.
I’ve made this really clear to my managers and they excuse me from meeting up in London if I don’t want to.
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Golf here too, but a 2015 2.0 TDi SV. Halfway between the hatch and an estate. Fits gallons of stuff, and will run from Cornwall to my parents in Farnham, and back, on a full tank. Can’t complain at that.
Seat folding configuration means I can treat it like an estate car, which is good when loading my ledge to go skate or chucking in surfboards etc. It’s not flashy or sporty, but works well. Second Golf, after the gearbox fell out of my last one at about 160,000 on the motorway, doing 90mph (well, 5th gear slipped off the gearing rack).
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my cheap mondeo has quite a big boot, so it usually holds lots of stuff i take with me some where and never take out. Manages to get all the stuff in when we go to the father in laws in Norwich. Its done 213k, and i need it to hang on til i buy a house then i can think about a car.
Unsure about how to finance the next car though. I really want a VW Caravelle but they hold their value really well. Was thinking of saving a couple of thousand and using a bank loan for the rest. Its looking like i’ll be able to get my mini finished this year which is something to look forward to.
At work we have a couple of Skoda Karoq (audi q7) and they are really well specced. Apparently the newer one of the ones we have had to be toned down becausue people were buying them over the equivlient Audi.
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My car history is chequered to say the least. Currently driving a 2007 bobby basic Focus which we’ve had since 80k and is now on 140 odd. It’s like a cockroach, just won’t die or even cost much actual money. I keep waiting for something catastrophic to fail, but it hasn’t yet. Alternator went in Croydon the other year which was a pain, but that was sorted for around 300 quid on the day so no complaints there. All it needed on the last MOT was a fog light bulb. I guess we could afford something newer and flashier if we wanted, but it does everything we need so what’s the point? It even handles OK in a dull kinda way.
Lowlights include a yellow Metro 1l in the early noughties that cost me 200 quid and was made mostly out of rust. I remember driving back down the M62 one night after a gig, it was firing on two and a half cylinders at best and struggling to top 40mph. Not fun.
Also had a Passat estate with the 1.8T from the Golf GTi in it, which on paper was great - massive, comfy, reasonably quick. Except it handled like shit, the seats hurt my back whatever I did with them and it wasn’t that quick unless you revved the balls off it, at which point you could virtually see the fuel gauge go down. I was secretly so pleased when the turbo went I didn’t buy another car for years.
High points include a MK2 Golf Driver, which looked like a GTi but didn’t go like one. It was still an absolute hoot to drive, light by modern standards, decent enough handling and no power steering. It also looked super cool in slate grey, and I regret ever getting rid of it. Probably worth a few bob now too.
After the Passat I went in completely the other direction and got a Toyota Yaris. It was the SR model with lower, stuffer suspension and boy racer body kit, and even with the (revvy as heck) 1.3 vvti engine it was amazing fun on B roads, handled like a rolleerskate and you could thrash the nuts off it whilst barely troubling the speed limit. I’m a big fan of little, light cars. Probably would still have that if some gomper hadn’t driven into it and mangled the front struts, writing it off in the process.
High point though was a facelift NB MX5, in 1.8 flavour. I’ve driven faster cars, and I’ve driven much more expensive cars, but I’ve never driven anything that’s so much fun to drive in the real world. Light, perfect weight distribution, rear wheel drive - it really was sublime. I’d recommend one to anyone, though keep an eye out for rust. Surprisingly practical too, if you squint - we managed a 2 week trip to Dorset and Cornwall in it. Pre baby, obviously. Got rid when I changed jobs and started commuting by bike, and it just wasn’t getting used. When we get into our next house I’d be very tempted to pick up an NA as a weekend / track project where I don’t need to worry about driving it 40 miles a day.
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If I was in the market for a small car I’d look at the new Mazda 3, I think it’s quite pretty.
Reminds me of the Brera a little bit. Never had a Mazda though, I bet the interior is all plastic.
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Yeah I’ve heard good things about those as well, the exterior looks aren’t bad at all either.
Best car I had was a 2.0 Turbo Diesel Alfa Giulietta.
Back to that Defender, they’re not that expensive. I was thinking it would be 80k but it’s like 50k.
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