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Buying British cars


Dog
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Do people still buy British cars, Ford, Vauxhall, Austin Rover? Surely you would only drive this shower of sh1t if it was Free or a company car etc.

 

They just seem years behind everyone else, and still look sh1tty & plasticy as ever.

 

I mean who on earth who consider buying a new Ford? They just look so crap.

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Always thought the Mondeo was a decent enough motor TBH.

 

But yeah, the two cars i am looking at getting in September would be an Audi A4/A6 or a Skoda Octavia Vrs

 

I would rather drive around in a Robin Reliant than a bleeding Skoda! Have you been on the sherry?

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Fords are complete sh!te. I owned 2 Mondeos and the other half had a disgusting C-Max. Awful cars.

 

Never had any inclination to own a Vauxhall.

 

Surely though, a "British" car is now a Honda Civic (Swindon) or most Nissans (Sunderland)? They on the other hand are good. Uninteresting, but good cars. Build quality wise, the best I've been in is probably a Volvo now - solid, quality. Mercs and Porsche are obviously good too.

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Fords are complete sh!te. I owned 2 Mondeos and the other half had a disgusting C-Max. Awful cars.

 

Never had any inclination to own a Vauxhall.

 

Surely though, a "British" car is now a Honda Civic (Swindon) or most Nissans (Sunderland)? They on the other hand are good. Uninteresting, but good cars. Build quality wise, the best I've been in is probably a Volvo now - solid, quality. Mercs and Porsche are obviously good too.

 

Great reply Patrick, would you ever consider a Skoda?

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The Fabia is basically a Golf without the badge

 

No it's not, a mate at work has just bought one, and it doesn't even have the shape of a golf, cheap interior and very light tinny doors, very under spec'd for a basic golf.

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The Vauxhall Vectra is the worst car I have ever ridden in or driven. Closely followed by the Vauxhall Astra

 

There are much much worse....The worst car I have driven without fail was a Chevrolet badged Daewoo Matiz closely followed by a Hyundai Getz.

 

I would buy British if there was a decent choice! When I last bought a car for myself, it was 10 years ago. I wanted a biggish estate, rear wheel drive and a 6 cylinder diesel. There were 3 choices. A Vauxhall Omega, a BMW5 or a Merc-E. The problem with the Omega was that it used a detuned old BMW engine and was lethargic and while it was OK, it was miles behind the BMW. The E Class looked like a hearse and the wife refused it. Therefore I splashed out a bit on a 10k miler 5 series and still got it today, 10 years later.

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Interesting to read the comments about the Mondeo as recent models have been getting praise from most quarters including the Top Gear team, the Jaguar XF is British (maybe only i name) and i know its taking alot of customers away from BMW and Mercedes judging from the car forums i visit.

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There are much much worse....The worst car I have driven without fail was a Chevrolet badged Daewoo Matiz closely followed by a Hyundai Getz.

 

Every Korean product I have ever used or owned has turned out to be a heap of crap, without exception. Cars, tvs, washing machines and microwave, all turkeys.

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Every Korean product I have ever used or owned has turned out to be a heap of crap, without exception. Cars, tvs, washing machines and microwave, all turkeys.

 

My housemate's Hyundai Amica has been the butt of many jokes, is tiny, rides like a rollerskate and handles similarly. Yet it's been bulletproof, cheap to run and utterly dependable.

 

Would I have one? No. Would I buy a hyundai in the future as a second car for my future family. Oh yes.

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The point about 'British' is well made...I think all the mass produced cars in this country are owned by foreign parent companies.

 

As to the better ones...I've owned or driven (company cars) Ford, Vauxhall, Chrysler, Renault, Peugeot, Citroen, VW, Mercedes, Toyota & Nissan and probably more. My last three choices have been Audis (A6, Allroad & another A6) - I find these to be of VW quality build but with a nicer interior & spec..which is what the extra money goes on.

 

I've driven Ford Mondeos (aren't they made in Belgium?) in their various incarnations for about 300k miles and have nothing but praise for them...had a new one on hire & it felt similar to my Audi for motorway driving. I had Vauxhalls that I was less pleased with but generally reliable & practical...bits fell off the Peugeot & the Citroen but not the Renault surprisingly - the Toyota & Nissans were reliable but as dull as ditchwater to drive...I also found that I don't suit the Japaneese idea of seat comfort and the interiors were pretty uninspiring. I should say that this covers around 30 years of my 40 year driving life so many have undoubtedly improved.

 

Back to the Brit question though...Aston Martin? I dream, Bristol? I'm not 80 yet...plenty of kit cars but it's not really possible to buy much that's pure UK designed and manufactured nowadays.

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  • 2 weeks later...
The point about 'British' is well made...I think all the mass produced cars in this country are owned by foreign parent companies.

 

As to the better ones...I've owned or driven (company cars) Ford, Vauxhall, Chrysler, Renault, Peugeot, Citroen, VW, Mercedes, Toyota & Nissan and probably more. My last three choices have been Audis (A6, Allroad & another A6) - I find these to be of VW quality build but with a nicer interior & spec..which is what the extra money goes on.

 

I've driven Ford Mondeos (aren't they made in Belgium?) in their various incarnations for about 300k miles and have nothing but praise for them...had a new one on hire & it felt similar to my Audi for motorway driving. I had Vauxhalls that I was less pleased with but generally reliable & practical...bits fell off the Peugeot & the Citroen but not the Renault surprisingly - the Toyota & Nissans were reliable but as dull as ditchwater to drive...I also found that I don't suit the Japaneese idea of seat comfort and the interiors were pretty uninspiring. I should say that this covers around 30 years of my 40 year driving life so many have undoubtedly improved.

 

Back to the Brit question though...Aston Martin? I dream, Bristol? I'm not 80 yet...plenty of kit cars but it's not really possible to buy much that's pure UK designed and manufactured nowadays.

 

And edit...just read Bristol gone bust...sad if so.

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A mint green daewoo lanos is the worst car I have ever been driven in unless you are counting complete heaps of cr*p like a car I got driven home from school in years ago. No idea of the make but it was tiny and we all had to lean forward to get up a hill because it almost didn't make it.

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Do people still drive Fords etc. ?????

 

Between my wife and I we own 4 Fords. A 1983 Mk2 Fiesta convertible, A 1982 mK1 Fiesta L, a MK 1 Ford Escort, and an xr3i convertible. Yes people still drive Fords but personally i think there styling dept. completely lost it many, many years ago. Pre Front wheel drive. My mk2 Fiesta could never be described as pretty but it has somehow grown on me over the years. The mk1 Fiesta does have a certain charm, and compared with modern styling has a certain something. However the wifes mk1 Escort is a thing of beauty from any angle. They certainly dont make them like that anymore.

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  • 5 weeks later...

If you can get past the badge then Skodas are good cars and you get a lot more for your money.

Admittedly they're worth naff all after a few years but then I intend to run mine until either it or I die.

As it's a diesel I'll probably go first.

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  • 4 weeks later...

There's nothing wrong with Skoda's these days, all the same materials used on the dash/equipment panels are all the standard Volkswagen group plastics used across the range (Seat, Audi, Volkswagen and Skoda) the only differences i've noticed between the Golf and Seat Leon(have test driven both) is the cabin is slightly more cramped in the Seat and the doors don't have that nice clunk to them.

 

All Volkswagen group cars are built of the same chassis platform, the Golf MK6, Seat Leon, Audi A3 and Skoda Fabia are all made from the same platform. The Passat, Audi A4 and Skoda Octavia use the same platform, and the Skoda Superb uses the Audi A5 platform.

 

Anyone that slates the Skoda, go into your local Skoda garage and sit in the front of a Skoda Superb, then come back and say they are "tinny" ridiculous.

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