Is it?

I drive a Skoda. Does that make me a snob? My point was, if you don't need to cart kids or stuff around, a Picasso/Scenic is a waste of time. If you want a good French car, either get a basic 205 or 405 where there's nothing electric to go wrong and the engines go on forever (for the most part) or a C5.

Ultimately, it's my contention that French cars are cheaper to buy and service, so a lot of family types buy them and a lot of these people aren't interested in fastidious maintenance. An E46 BMW in 320d will hit pretty much all of Heathers reqs and they're largely bulletproof because the design is pretty good (particularly on the engine, transmission and electrical fronts) and people, on the whole, look after them.

Most manufacturers go in cycles. I've already said I wouldn't buy VW right now and in fact I wouldn't have done for at least the last 6 or 7 years (with the stated exception of the V GTI).
The Cavalier was a pretty good car. Then the Vectra was crap by comparison.
The III Golf was much better than the competition in the mid 90s, but in 98 the Focus took the crown and went on to big things.

Requirements were given and I offered advice as requested. French stuff has a rep for a reason. Yes the bigger, newer ones are slightly better, but there are other options which may suit better. Ultimately, Octavia is a great all-rounder in medium size. An similarly aged Focus drives better, but that's already been ruled out, and the rest of it isn't as well put together.

Yes, it is.

Mark

In which case, your tolerance for staggeration is lower than I might have expected.

That's as maybe, but I'd only drive one if someone gave it to me - and that would be to somewhere I could PX it for another make.

Car snob? Moi?

We've owned and run estate cars for a long time. Frankly, we don't need anything as large any more. We used to travel to model railway exhibitions with stuff a lot, but we don't do that any more, so we're happy to downsize to a mid-range hatch.

We've travelled in a friend's Zafira which was roomy, comfy and nippy, but suffers from being a Vauxhall. It's also larger than we want. I don't need an SUV, or a 4WD.

So, currently, the list goes like this:

Skoda Octavia or Fabia

Ford Focus or Fiesta

Seat Ibiza possibly

Fiat Bravo came up (I like the build quality of my little Fiat, it has to be said)

Something Japanese

As I've said, this is all speculative at the moment, as we don't have the available funds for an immediate purchase. The idea behind the thread was to get opinions and experiences so that we can target our purchasing down the line. I appreciate all the comments and suggestions immensely.

I'm still going to suggest the Citroen C3. Mine is a fantastic little car, the mileage is great, it's cheap to ensure and I can fit a weeks shopping, (for 5 people) in the boot.

OK, so it's French. So what? I'm half Maltese half Greek Cypriot... not entirely sure where to go with the rest of that sentence... :etc:

Okay, revised list:

Skoda Octavia or Fabia

Ford Focus or Fiesta

Seat Ibiza possibly

Fiat Bravo came up (I like the build quality of my little Fiat, it has to be said)

Something Japanese

Something French if I can't find anything better

SO are you gonna contact your local dealers for test drives of used cars on their forecourts?

You sure? The one we have has the performance of an indolent old cart horse. It gets you there, but you can time its response to the gas pedal with an egg timer. Sluggish, an “all or nothing” clutch and funny brakes. Not good.

For those who care - I tend not to park near people carriers. Observation has shown that they tend to attract people who really don’t care about what is parked next to them. Kids will wham doors open, adults will be trying to control kids, shopping, or both, and won’t be too bothered if the door clips the car parked next to it. There is a curious lack of respect for other peoples’ cars in car parks. It’s the second most expensive thing anyone will buy.

FYI - there is a small dent on my car where someone clearly did not give a toss about how they opened their car doors.

Second only to the cost of parking it

Being serious, a lot of people spend more on their car than they do on their home. Although a car costs about a tenth of what a house does, some people replace them every few years and so end up buying many more cars than houses over the course of a lifetime. There's also the upkeep to consider, which is not trivial.

Not until we've got funds to cover a purchase. Currently, that might be some time.

Paul, the model is a 1.8 diesel, and it went like merry stink, and cornered pretty well for such a relatively tall vehicle.

I had a 2.0 Focus diesel - brilliant car. Well built, great to drive and averaged about 50mpg, based on me driving 35k per year. The 1.6 diesel Eco is much better on fuel and still a very good drive, but obviously not as sporty.

Seat and skoda are both VAG and just as good as the VW branded models, largely.

Aren't the newer Citroën cars German designed now?

I share the general low opinion of French cars, but a friend is on his fourth Laguna. He says the only problems he has had are very minor niggles, including the dash readout reporting that he was doing 80 on the motorway with only three wheels.

This is my little baby..... Skoda Octavia VRS Petrol Turbo

It's my third Octavia VRS all of which have been the petrol versions; diesel did tempt me on this change but the road test didn’t ..... (Very hard to go from petrol to diesel unless you do large mileage which I don’t)

Well, I've just bought a nearly new Fiesta today!! A "10" reg, 1.25 Zetec with only 2,000 miles on the clock (think it was probably an ex-demo car), for £9,500 - which I thought was pretty reasonably priced. Absolutely immaculate and a few added extras such as Bluetooth, USB, Voice Controls (no, I dunno either!).

The downside, I only got £2,300 for my old "54" reg Ford Fiesta 1.4 Zetec, which is in spotless condition and only 37k miles. I don't tend to get sentimental about cars, but I'm actually going to be sad to see my little old Fiesta go, it's been pretty rock solid, and the new shape models are reportedly even better.

After having a 1.4 in the old model, I wanted another 1.4 Zetec, or ideally a 1.6 ZetecS (the sportier one), but...

a) The ZetecS, lovely as they are, are pretty rare and fairly pricey to buy and insure, couldn't find one below £11,000.

b) Apparently, the difference in power between the 1.25 and the 1.4 model is only 8 PS, due to the 1.25 using a newer design aluminium engine. The 1.4, the older engine, is also heavier - so the difference isn't as great as you'd expect. On the test drive, it certainly seemed spritely enough and it felt like a much larger car than it is. Despite having a firmish ride (like all Fords seem to), it coped really well with the frankly shocking state of Manchester roads, soaking up the pot holes and rough surfaces much better than my old car. Zipping around the roundabouts in 3rd gear (30-40mph) I couldn't feel any noticeable body roll or lack of grip. In short, I was very impressed.

Pick it up Monday, can't wait, but it will be tinged with sadness when I wave goodbye to my current Fiesta!

I had a mk4 fiesta and it was a 1.25-zetec, so it produced the same amount of power as my mate's 1.4 polo.

A while back, I had a breakdown and got a new fiesta as a courtesy car. In some ways it was better than my mk4, in others, it was exactly the same. Did look very sexy though.

Each to their own Steve, but what prompted you to trade in a Fiesta, for a Fiesta? Especially at that money, it's more than I paid for mine!