Info On Which Car To Buy, Please.

Ford Focus is a good choice . I had the C-Max for 5 years sold it at 92000 miles , passed every MOT and just changed one wheel bearing
Has yours got the 1000cc turbo engine ? Titanium model is top spec , just be careful with all them buttons - one is a passenger ejector seat

 

Only on right hand drive cars...its the driver ejector seat on those sold in Europeland!

 

I bought a Ford Focus Zetec last Oct and I absolute love her. I find driving quite boring, but the Focus is a pleasure to drive, very comfortable, light and responsive on the handling and also practical as large boot. Mine has rear parking sensors. She also has SPORT MODE .

 

Hope you don't mind me joining this thread to look for somewhat urgent advice re another car too!
My Subaru "broke" yesterday. I am waiting to hear the bad news from the garage but am pretty certain she is a write off.
It is my fault. 1 of her shock absorbers had been dicky for ages and it was going to be very pricey to renew it so sort of left it.
2 weeks ago she had a marble hearth and surround in the back of her (don't ask why!)and then 2 days ago I got the nod that there was some free wood going abegging close to here. That day and yesterday we moved a small forest in her and on the last trip back home she broke!
She wasn't driveable so had to get put on a low loader and driven to my garage.
I was planning on selling/saying goodbye to her anyway this year as the amount of issues she has is getting quite long now but cannot complain as we've had her for 11 years and she has only started to cause any trouble at all just recently. She's done over 130,000 miles still has the same exhaust and lives outside all year.
What do I get to replace her, that's the question.
She is a Subaru Inpresza Sports Wagon. 2000 ltr hatchack with all wheel drive. Very quick and excellent in tricky driving conditions/snow etc.
I would be happy to buy 2nd hand as nowadays don't do a high milage at all.
Budget well as it might be my last car I would be prepared to pay around £25,000 for the right car.
I like a hatchback. Probably 5 door as 3 door the doors tend to be heavy?
Not interested in the latest sat navs bluetooth sterio sound systems and the like
Not interested in cream carpets etc! Would probably want leather seats with my lifestyle and would prefer a non carpeted boot area but most cars seem to have it...stupid to my way of thinking.
Like all wheel drive but don't need anything with quite as much zip as the Subaru I have as I am an OAP and must try not to be a girl racer nowadays! That said I am not prepared to drive something which wouldn't take the skin off a rice pudding.
I prefer a car which when you look out of the rear window you don't have to imagine loads of bumper etc. Ie a car with a pretty flat rear end, makes judging reverse parking easier (this is not a must).
Not sure buying a diesel would be a good move as it looks as tho there may be changes ahead re how government is going to treat them maybe?
Don't really want any kind of "Chelsea Tractor" as had to put up with driving a Discovery for years which I did not like. It was so gutless unless you were going down a steep hill with a following wind despite being 2.5 ltrs and was a bitch round corners as so top heavy.
I live in the countryside and it can on occasions get a little "exciting" re driving hense why the Subaru was great. When it's bad around here most rear wheel drive cars are less than useless. Maybe another smaller 4x4 might be worth a look but most ones I see around are huge and I really don't want or need to drive anything big these days.
It's been so long since I had a new car I am very out of touch so perhaps some kind soul might give me some ideas.
Years ago I did have a great Volvo, maybe a smallish Volvo would be good for me? Hopefully you knowledgeable folk might be able to wittle down what I should go and have a look at.

 

You don't see many on farm nowerdays FC it's more of the 4x4 pickups Toyotas, Nissans and Mitsubishis then for going out in Disco 5,BMW x5 and the Audi Q3, Q5 even Q7

 

Thank you very much @fat controller. You have given me plenty of homework to do and good to be advised what not to go for too. My car needs a new shock which doesn't sound too bad until you see how much a new 1 costs. If I can't find a 2nd hand 1 which will be quite tricky as there are dozens of different ones for various models/ages I could be looking at about £500 to have a Subaru 1 plus fitting. Phew the car probably isn't worth a whole lot more than that!
I would bite the bullet if I intended to keep the car for the next few years but I'd made up my mind to part x or sell her but currently she isn't driveable. I'll phone round some breakers and see if I'm lucky in sourcing 1. I think you are meant to change both backs/fronts if you need to replace 1 but as I am waving bye bye to her I do not want to spend much on getting her fixed.
When the garage phoned to tell me the damage I said "oh I thought I might well have broken the back axle as well as the shock absorber".I'm sure I detected slight sounds of muffled laughter, then a pause (probably needed for the mechanic to stop laughing) He then with as serious a voice as he could muster informed me my car doesn't have 1! OK so I'm bottom of the class in motor mechanics!

 

If a Subaru could be had for the money, then, @silu that would have been my first choice. It seems as if you like them, why change brands? Second choice in this case might just be a Honda, but I expect that they may seem a boring drive. It took me ages to like the one I have, now, I dont want to part with it!

I totally agree with the fact that diesels are being vilified in the media regarding N2O emissions. If it was as dangerous as they state, then why does it have so many medical uses? Such as within dentistry and childbirth? Are Doctors and dentists trying to kill us? The real truth is that N2O is easy to convert into breathable air. Why dont they just do that instead of moaning about its negative effects? Or perhaps they dont want too much of it in the atmosphere because it will make us all to happy? In case its been forgotten, its also known as laughing gas! (Rant over! )

@fat controller Oh, really. FCA make the finest cars in this and any other galaxy. As long as they are repaired at home and not in their workshops! (Can you tell I own 3 of their products at present?)

 

Any thoughts please on Mini Clubman - used? Are some years better than others? Hope I don't get told to avoid at all costs, but if this is the advice...so be it. My heart wants a Clubman tho head is trying to suggest otherwise - but what?

 

@JJ28 The new MINI is a well proven car and there should be plenty of choice . There are two models , first and second generation . Production years are shown below . The second generation is a little longer.
First generation (R55) (2007–2014)
Second generation (F54) (2015 – Present)
Don't know if you want petrol or diesel , but I would go for the Cooper option.
Mrs H got a Mini Cooper convertible 18 months ago and she loves it
I would say go with your heart , you'll regret it if you don't. Keep having a look at Autotrader this will give you a good idea on prices in your area.

 

I fully agree with that. Whether its good or bad, theres not really a lot of competition to it in that segment that I would prefer. At least, not as an estate. If it was a saloon that was being looked for, that would be a completely different story.

 

@JJ28[/USER] We have just become the proud owners of a new Mini Cooper (Katie) a week ago and we love it.Mr Kandy was giving Myrtle my 10 year old a Hoover out the other week and found water under the front mat on the carpet in the foot well where I sit We have one of those Vax carpet cleaner/hoovers and when he sucked up all the water he reckons he got half a gallon out of it.We couldn't understand why my side window had suddenly stated to steam upSo that afternoon we trecked off to the car showrooms and ended up having a test drive in a Cooper and loved it so much we bought it.As it was a preregistered one with just 50 miles on the clock we got a good deal on it.If we had waited another week for the 17 plate we would have paid thousands of pounds more for it,and after all it is just a number

We looked at the countrymans and although a lovely car with lots of boot space it was going to cost us an arm and a leg and we don't need a posh one with all the bells and whistles as it is just a replacement for the Ka

As some of the Mini dealerships round us have got lots of Minis with the 66 plate on them they are doing good deals to get rid of them.We looked on line at the Mini dealerships bit for used cars so you can see all the photos of the cars in stock,and the price and mileages.The young chap that served us said if there were no cars at his dealership that we liked then they would look round their other branches near to them for one that might suit our needs.

The Minis now have come a long way although I still like the very old shaped ones but they are a danger on the roads so we have been told

There are also lots of combinations to choose from so it can get a bit confusing and we can't get used to Mr Kandy having the keys in his coat pocket and the fact that the car stops and starts at traffic lights etc.

We have just filled ours up this morning and Mr Kandy reckons we have got 53 miles to the gallon out of it since the salesman filled it up for us.We were getting 45 miles to the gallon out of the Ka

Also the road tax is only £20 (can't remember how much the Ka was) but I got a cheque this week from the DVLA for £108 as I only taxed it last November for the year.

We were telling Mr Kandys sister and hubby about it the other day but they reckon they don't like the new shaped Minis but we don't care as we like it and they haven't even seen it yet:rasp:

 

How do you do it???!!! I'm looking at a new Honda Jazz or Toyota Yaris. Tips appreciated!