Post by atlex on Jan 23, 2023 9:30:32 GMT
So we're due a 3rd kid shortly. And the Carib wasn't going to cut it any longer for family duties. So it was time to find a 7 seater...
Looked at the Mazda5 which is a good car but there were terrible examples available.
Drove a C4 Grand Picasso but my god the interior was just 5 years old and all the plastics had been rubbed to prarrie canoe. The interior of the 1996 Carib at 242K KMs is in better condition...
Test drove a Touran TDI Sport 2.0 thingy, interior good, looks like it'll last longer than the french equivalent... and it has eyeline-centered real instruments for speedo/tacho.
So I've bought a low mileage example of that.
Been driving it for 2 days now.
It's a modern car and suffers modern car problems. electric handbrakes are a terrible idea and I have no idea how I will feel things on a hill start now.
I'm already quite adjust to driving wronghanddrive.
It's manual so the wife won't lose the ability to drive a manual car. (phew) The gear shift is definitely well tuned.
Isofix setup is across all the middle and 3rd row seats and easy.
Also the car weighs near enough 1700 KG with just me in it, but the chassis tries to hide this fact with all its prowess, meaning you're tempted to late brake.
And that's why modern cars eat their brake so fast. Everyone's late braking in a heavy car..
It's a Spanish car and I've paid a prarrie canoe-ton more to get it than I would have for a UK car... easily 10-20% over the odds of a UK car. But this way I won't have to import it which also costs.. money.
Other interesting things to note:
It's heavier than my mum's X-type 2.0 Diesel but no less economical, so effectively one step forward one step back in terms of a being compared to a 20 year old French TDI motor.
Final notes for now. Should be a good car for us but I won't sell the Carib. I suspect the Carib will last longer than it despite the Touran being 20 years younger.
Looked at the Mazda5 which is a good car but there were terrible examples available.
Drove a C4 Grand Picasso but my god the interior was just 5 years old and all the plastics had been rubbed to prarrie canoe. The interior of the 1996 Carib at 242K KMs is in better condition...
Test drove a Touran TDI Sport 2.0 thingy, interior good, looks like it'll last longer than the french equivalent... and it has eyeline-centered real instruments for speedo/tacho.
So I've bought a low mileage example of that.
Been driving it for 2 days now.
It's a modern car and suffers modern car problems. electric handbrakes are a terrible idea and I have no idea how I will feel things on a hill start now.
I'm already quite adjust to driving wronghanddrive.
It's manual so the wife won't lose the ability to drive a manual car. (phew) The gear shift is definitely well tuned.
Isofix setup is across all the middle and 3rd row seats and easy.
Also the car weighs near enough 1700 KG with just me in it, but the chassis tries to hide this fact with all its prowess, meaning you're tempted to late brake.
And that's why modern cars eat their brake so fast. Everyone's late braking in a heavy car..
It's a Spanish car and I've paid a prarrie canoe-ton more to get it than I would have for a UK car... easily 10-20% over the odds of a UK car. But this way I won't have to import it which also costs.. money.
Other interesting things to note:
It's heavier than my mum's X-type 2.0 Diesel but no less economical, so effectively one step forward one step back in terms of a being compared to a 20 year old French TDI motor.
Final notes for now. Should be a good car for us but I won't sell the Carib. I suspect the Carib will last longer than it despite the Touran being 20 years younger.
lol
le sigh