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Thread: Properly, or surprisingly good real world cars (yes, it's another wife car thread...)

  1. #1
    Grand Master TheFlyingBanana's Avatar
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    Properly, or surprisingly good real world cars (yes, it's another wife car thread...)

    No, I'm not looking for advice this time.

    My missus was due a car change, and after very careful consideration I decided against getting her something new on contract lease.

    This was after a close (ie five second) inspection of her existing car (Vauxhall Zafira Elite) that showed that after nearly four years of ownership there was not a panel without a dent, scratch or chip, and not an alloy that didn't look like someone had been at it with an angle grinder.

    I realised that due to my spouse's complete disinterest in cars (apart from sporty convertibles - for which she seems to have a weakness), any car on a contract lease would result in a bill of thousands at the time of handing it in.

    So, knowing that she mostly judges cars based on their colour, size of rear window (no, I know it makes little sense) and cost to fill up rather than MPG (which yes, I know makes even less sense), I went online for a look.

    I had a fair idea what would suit her (and the large dog), but using cunning wife psychology I also identified several other vehicles that I was certain she probably wouldn't like to have a look at first. Then, after gaining her agreement that she would reluctantly come out with me to visit car dealerships for a maximum of two hours provided we could also visit Dunhlem Mill for yet another excessive cushion purchase, we set off on our mission to buy a reliable car a couple of years old that I wouldn't care if/when she trashed.

    Nope, she didn't like the Mokka, because it was "sh** brown" (Bronze actually).
    The CRV wasn't right because she didn't like the higher boot ("The dog isn't a puppy, he won't like that").
    The Zafira.. (No she didn't want another Zafira because she had had one, very happily, that had been extremely realiable and she had liked a lot. Go figure).
    Mercedes B Class was a no-no because "You have a Mercedes and I don't want one."

    So far, so good. She hadn't liked any of the cars I had shown her, as intended.

    It was time for me to make the move. "What do you think of that one?"

    "I like that. It looks nice. I like the rear window, and the colour." And once inside "Oh yes, this is nice and comfortable, and I like the low boot for the dog, and the screens."

    "Would you like this one then darling?"

    "Yes please."

    "Would you like to go for a test drive?"

    "No, I'd like to go to Dunelm Mill now."


    So two days later I went and picked up her new car and I have to say driving it I was hugely impressed by the comfort, ride, space, toys, build quality, interior and, well pretty much everything really. Fortunately, she actually seems to love it too, now she has finally driven it.

    Oh, what was it?

    Ford S-Max Titanium in metallic black with the chrome trim and blacked out windows. It looks a bit gangsta.

    As an all-round real world car I struggle to see how anything can be much better to be honest. It seems pretty much capable of doing anything she'll ever need it to do, and do it well.

    Anyone else have longer term experience of one?

    Or any other wife/car/real world great car recommendations they'd like to share?
    So clever my foot fell off.

  2. #2
    Craftsman
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    Was not expecting an S-Max

  3. #3
    Fords rust like nothing I ever seen in my whole life.

    I switched to Renault which for me are more reliable, nicer to drive and rust considerably less.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by xellos99 View Post
    Fords rust like nothing I ever seen in my whole life.

    I switched to Renault which for me are more reliable, nicer to drive and rust considerably less.
    No rust on my 2013/14 Mustang and in F150.....well....it's alluminium so.....

  5. #5
    Grand Master Onelasttime's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by xellos99 View Post

    I switched to Renault which for me are more reliable …


  6. #6
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    I can only share my love of the VW Golf GTD, but i can post this as a woman i suppose.
    It costs 32-35 quid to pelt down from Lancaster to London at robust speeds. No idea about MPG wot?
    It goes like the clappers when you put your foot down but grips around corners. It upsets audi drivers when you put it in sport mode.
    Enough room for 2 large suitcases, a holdall, a backpack, 2 large toiletry bags that mrsv can never fit in her suitcase, 2 children, a small dog and a passenger.
    Big rear window and satnav helpfully cautions about traffic building ahead when youre at a standstill on the M1.
    Also front tyres are 150 for a pair which i thought was decent. Nothing has broken yet and ive done 20k miles in the last 6 months since purchase.

  7. #7
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    I'd have made her keep the Zaf until she learns how to treat things properly.

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    Grand Master Seamaster73's Avatar
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    Dacia Duster Essential on steel wheels.

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    Grand Master Saint-Just's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheFlyingBanana View Post
    As an all-round real world car I struggle to see how anything can be much better to be honest. It seems pretty much capable of doing anything she'll ever need it to do, and do it well.
    Can it park itself?

    Other than that, a lesson in wife psychology (and C., I did not say 'women' on purpose. I am sure you can relate to Alex's post )
    'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.

  10. #10
    Grand Master
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    I can relate, none taken

  11. #11
    Grand Master TheFlyingBanana's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Saint-Just View Post
    Can it park itself?
    Funnily enough, it can. 😉
    So clever my foot fell off.

  12. #12
    Grand Master Saint-Just's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheFlyingBanana View Post
    Funnily enough, it can. 
    In this case it is almost perfect, if Mrs TFB can learn how to use it. Well done!


    (impressed, and vaguely jealous)
    'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.

  13. #13
    Grand Master TheFlyingBanana's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Saint-Just View Post
    In this case it is almost perfect, if Mrs TFB can learn how to use it. Well done!


    (impressed, and vaguely jealous)
    Indeed - I'm thinking now all I need to do is hand some old tyres around the sides, front and rear, a bit like a fishing boat, and it'll be sorted.
    So clever my foot fell off.

  14. #14
    Grand Master Saint-Just's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheFlyingBanana View Post
    Indeed - I'm thinking now all I need to do is hand some old tyres around the sides, front and rear, a bit like a fishing boat, and it'll be sorted.
    If you have a garage, tyres on the wall at the back, and bits of carpets against the side walls. Ask me how I learn (don't! )
    'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.

  15. #15
    Master IAmATeaf's Avatar
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    My wife is the same, she views and treats cars like white goods, when they break replace them is her thinking.

    She has never ever test driven any of the cars I’ve got her, always me driving it with her in the passenger seat. Her view was she’d get used to it if she liked it.

    Although she has no interest in cars she does seem to know what she wants so I just get what she wants. She wanted a Micra, so we got a Micra. She wanted a Civic so we got a Civic but not a green one as that wasn’t a Civic? Current car is a Yaris as that’s what she wanted.

    She incidentally has the same attitude to watches, got her a Hamilton which gets thrown into the kitchen cupboard so that it can mingle with her other watch!

  16. #16
    Master
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    Risky game buying a car without test driving it though. Could turn out very expensive if she hated driving it.

  17. #17
    Grand Master TheFlyingBanana's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jaytip View Post
    Risky game buying a car without test driving it though. Could turn out very expensive if she hated driving it.

    Agreed, but we had to get to Dunelm Mill don't you see? Far more important than a car purchase...
    So clever my foot fell off.

  18. #18
    Grand Master Saint-Just's Avatar
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    Jaytip has no understanding of wife’s psychology. Poor soul!
    'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.

  19. #19
    Master earlofsodbury's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheFlyingBanana View Post
    .... It looks a bit gangsta.
    ...aaaand you were doing SO well until that point!

    Yep, buy it, after that comment I think you richly deserve everything your Mrs throws at the poor benighted vehicle!

    At least Fords are cheap to repair...

  20. #20
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Saint-Just View Post
    Jaytip has no understanding of wife’s psychology. Poor soul!
    Oh I don’t know about that, I got the wife to agree to me having a new 240L aquarium and cabinet on the proviso that she can go home to Thailand to visit her family next year (she was going to go the year after, oh, and she’s paying for her trip)

  21. #21
    Grand Master Saint-Just's Avatar
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    No offence meant
    'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.

  22. #22
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Saint-Just View Post

    No offence meant
    Don’t worry, none was taken.

  23. #23
    Master Harry Smith's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by xellos99 View Post
    Fords rust like nothing I ever seen in my whole life.

    I switched to Renault which for me are more reliable, nicer to drive and rust considerably less.
    I dunno about Fords rusting but we've had Renaults and Peugeots for years and never had a problem.
    Lately apart from diamond cut alloys losing varnish which was redone under warranty and a leaky head gasket on our Pug Gti, also warranty sorted.
    We had our Captur from 600 mile now 26k, 55mpg, nippy, handy and no issues.

  24. #24
    Grand Master thieuster's Avatar
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    Citroen Cactus, with those horrible plastic moulding slabs on the side. Those cars are designed with careless owners in mind. Some cars come have eye-blistering ugly colours. Some women like that. (Personally, I think that its designers should be banned to the French Île du Diable (Devils Island) for life).

  25. #25
    Master pacifichrono's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by IAmATeaf View Post
    My wife is the same, she views and treats cars like white goods, when they break replace them is her thinking.

    She has never ever test driven any of the cars I’ve got her, always me driving it with her in the passenger seat. Her view was she’d get used to it if she liked it.

    Although she has no interest in cars she does seem to know what she wants so I just get what she wants. She wanted a Micra, so we got a Micra. She wanted a Civic so we got a Civic but not a green one as that wasn’t a Civic? Current car is a Yaris as that’s what she wanted.

    She incidentally has the same attitude to watches, got her a Hamilton which gets thrown into the kitchen cupboard so that it can mingle with her other watch!
    My wife is similar. I had to twist her arm to get her to test drive the Honda Accord Sport I had picked out for her. It's really an amazing car in almost every way, especially that turbo 2.0L that sounds and feels like a jet taking off when you floor it! It reminds me of the '72 Mazda RX-2 rotary I bought new way back then...if it had wings it would have taken off!




  26. #26
    I'm with verv (VW Golf) except I got the GTE version. Packed with tech, comfy, easy to drive, very economic. Overall I've about 70mph since the summer, about 4,000 miles, quite a bit of it long distance. Lively when you want it to be. When necessary the racing bike goes in the back with the front wheel off.

  27. #27
    Grand Master AlphaOmega's Avatar
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    Sounds like Mrs TFB is treating her car like the tool it is.

    I can understand this.

    I don't have any real love for my daily workhorse and nor did Mrs AO for hers. I should clarify that I have a lot of mechanical sympathy and I'm fairly rigorous about safety checking (tread depth, oil levels, tyre pressures etc.) but I'm not one of those up at 5am polishing a s***box on the driveway.

    But *screen dissolves* in previous years when I used to run a drophead weekend car, she used to look after it very well - immaculate inside and out, and thoroughly warmed up before going above 6,000 revs.

    I would have mentioned the CRV but actually the new HRV is rather good too. It'll never be an object of desire but it'll put up with a lot of abuse without complaint.

    Glad you've solved the problem and I'd be interested in the results of the long term test.

  28. #28
    Master
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    Listening to your needs I would suggest have you had a look at Kia, maybe the new sport back ceed or optima would suit

    Recently almost got a Kia before I drove the Passat GTE which won, however the optima estate is a lovely place to be and drives very very well. Great warranty and reliability and room for the dog


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  29. #29
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheFlyingBanana View Post
    Indeed - I'm thinking now all I need to do is hand some old tyres around the sides, front and rear, a bit like a fishing boat, and it'll be sorted.
    I’ve suggested the same to my sister, went down well, honest!

    She’s even managed to lose a wing mirror to a stationary wheelie bin at about 30mph. It blew out towards her apparently!! The mind boggles.


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  30. #30
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by AlphaOmega View Post
    Sounds like Mrs TFB is treating her car like the tool it is.

    I can understand this.
    Every dent on hers probably matches up with a dent on something of somebody else's and they may feel differently.

    Plus it would appear that TFB is paying here and the car is now worth much less than it might have been if cared for. She is therefore resigning her husband to working harder or for longer or denying the family other things that they might otherwise have been able to afford (including, of course, watches).

  31. #31
    Grand Master AlphaOmega's Avatar
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    ^I'd say it was a relatively common experience judging by one of the BP threads.

    I do like the understatement in your first paragraph though, and I would agree with you in regard to damage to other private property.
    Last edited by AlphaOmega; 8th January 2020 at 17:16.

  32. #32
    There is only one option for good car, the Skoda Yeti!

  33. #33
    Master
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    The wife just bought an acid yellow Hyundai kona. It’s got an impressive level of kit that she will never use. It does have parking sensors, a rear camera, a high seating position and that colour.
    It also has a 1.0 engine which means it accelerates at about the same rate as continental drift. She likes it though and I will rarely have to drive it.
    It also means I have carte Blanche up to a similar cost for my next car.


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  34. #34
    Master nibby's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by verv View Post
    I can only share my love of the VW Golf GTD, but i can post this as a woman i suppose.
    It costs 32-35 quid to pelt down from Lancaster to London at robust speeds. No idea about MPG wot?
    It goes like the clappers when you put your foot down but grips around corners. It upsets audi drivers when you put it in sport mode.
    Enough room for 2 large suitcases, a holdall, a backpack, 2 large toiletry bags that mrsv can never fit in her suitcase, 2 children, a small dog and a passenger.
    Big rear window and satnav helpfully cautions about traffic building ahead when youre at a standstill on the M1.
    Also front tyres are 150 for a pair which i thought was decent. Nothing has broken yet and ive done 20k miles in the last 6 months since purchase.
    I'll second a vote for the GTD I have to do stretches on the motorway my commute is 110 miles of mostly Motorway/dual carriage way and you can get over 55mpg on a run and over 60mpg when the 50mph 'Smart Motorway' upgrade sections appear.

  35. #35
    Craftsman
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    We had an 2008 S-Max Titanium 2.3 petrol and replaced it a few years ago with a 2014 Citroën C4 Grand Picasso 1.6 HDi. I really like the Citroën, it is super comfortable and on a motorway run gets ridiculous mileage. It was also so much cheaper than pretty much anything comparable out there that I thought we would have quite a few repairs before we were no longer ahead.

  36. #36
    My wife had a Mk5 TDi Sport Golf for about 7 years which was an excellent car. We only got rid, because it was going to start getting expensive to get it through the MOT relative to it's value.

    She was absolutely adamant she "needed" an SUV. She liked the look of the Kia Sportage, Nissan Qashqai & Tiguan. Neither the Kia or Nissan came with engines that to my mind had enough grunt (I use her car to tow my track motorbike amongst other things), so we went to look at some nearly new Tiguan's (previous shape).

    We test drove a 1.9 (or was it 2.0?) TDi and it was OK, but whilst we were getting her Golf inspected / valued in terms of PX, she noticed a low mileage / keenly priced BMW 120 D Sport, so we asked to drive that. Hardly surprisingly it was a much better steer, so that's what she has now.
    I put a tuning box on it & for what it is, it drives quite well - certainly plenty of poke.

    That said, it's always a mess inside, they alloys are now all kerbed & there are numerous scrapes & scratches.

    I keep threatening her that the next car will be an original Land Rover Defender that we can hose out every few months, but I'm sure we'll be back looking at SUV's next time round.
    Last edited by andy tims; 14th January 2020 at 12:07.
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  37. #37
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    After years of company BMW 5 series X5 etc when i left my job and semi retired and having to use my own money i bought a Mazda CX3.

    Loads of kit and quality nearly as good but the one thing i have found in only two years of ownership it is far more reliable than any of the BMW's i had.


  38. #38
    Remember the Toyota pickup that Top Gear tried (and failed) to destroy many years ago?

    Every time I have to park in a public (or worse, supermarket) car park I wish that I had one of those...
    Although no trees were harmed during the creation of this post, a large number of electrons were greatly inconvenienced.

  39. #39
    Was looking for a new car just before Christmas and really wanted to get a S-MAX Titanium X Sport circa 2010-2014 but the diesel is not ULEZ compliant and I've heard horror stories on the petrol Ecoboost lump. This led me to think about the mk2 in Titanium Sport guise, with the 19" wheels they look the part abeit a bit bloated compared to the mk1. Then I got a great PCH deal on an Audi A4 Avant Black edition petrol, looks the part but boring as hell to drive and not as roomy as I would like. Wish I'd held out for a S-Max.

  40. #40
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by rgee View Post
    ...with the 19" wheels the ride would be terrible and the tyres cost me a fortune...
    Fixed.

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