For those interested in old cars.

[Horsetan]

..... a Subaru SVX, the coupe they made a few years ago which was expensive in its day but a very interesting car.

Gearbox expensive to fix when it goes pop.

Edited December 29, 2014 by Horsetan

[RANGERS]

When we replaced the A1 we got my wife a VW Golf, initially we looked at the Audi A3 but the local Audi dealer subjected us to probably the most demeaning retail experience of my life and we walked out. Had a look at the Golf and bought a 1.4TSI with DSG box which is an incredibly accomplished car. The 1.4 turbo with cylinder de-activation and DSG is not that far behind the TDI and is quite warm in terms of performance, the DSG gear box is outstanding. Sorry for talking modern cars.

 

On older cars I'd still love a Citroen DS, I'd also love a Lancia Monte Carlo which is probably far from being a sensible car to want but I always remember as a boy thinking what a glorious looking car it was. A quirky one I'd like is a Subaru SVX, the coupe they made a few years ago which was expensive in its day but a very interesting car.

Interesting that Audi aren't immune from the modern day idiom of making it damned hard graft to actually buy a car. I recently bought a used Audi A6 from a franchised dealer, for no other reason than the car was nice and fitted the bill in terms of spec and was below our budget on account of being high mileage, not something that's ever worried me after covering an average of 150,000 miles in each of my past seven company cars, all bar two of which were VW group cars. The experience was a bit tedious but not painful, others however seemed to want to make it impossible to actually buy anything! One Skoda dealer was good but lost the sale after I'd made a bid on a car, which they were considering, but didn't come back to me for over a fortnight, by which time I had the Audi. His response, "we were disappointed you didn't give us the last crack at the deal"!

 

The rest simply didn't come back to me or were more interested in meeting monthly payment budgets than actual prices of cars, a trick which has a habit of guiding you into paying inflated finance rates.

[Kickstart]

Hi

 

We had an X Type. While they are based on the Mondeo platform there are not that many shared parts (even the engines have some fairly major differences from their Ford equivalents. And there was no 4wd Mondeo that used that platform.

 

We bought ours with about 44k on the clocks and sold it with about 128k. It was pretty reliable and the build quality wasn't bad (put it this was, it was replaced with a BMW E46 3 series and the Jaguar seems far better made than the BMW). Problems we had were a failed lambda probe, 2 rear suspension links (cheap and easy), brake light played up (caused by wear in the pedal box and the brake light flashes on when you use the clutch - fixed with a thin shim of plasticard on the brake light switch), central locking played up (caused by the little flap on the ignition key hole sticking - easily fixed with a little lube) and the drivers door handle deciding not to work (wear on the link inside the door). Starter motor played up at about 120k, but very easy to get to and once cleaned up it was OK. Reason to get rid of it was that rust was taking hold (bottom of the A posts), and rust on the brake pipes (mobile mechanic we use for some jobs commented that with the routing of the pipes he didn't want the money enough to do the job!)

 

It did use a bit of oil, but not that much, while changing the spark plugs on the rear bank of cylinders was a bit of a pain. Ate headlight bulbs (drivers side one is a pain to change)

 

Big problem with the X Type is the 4wd transfer box. These are sealed for life (or possibly sealed for death). While there is an oil filler hole it is below the oil level. They can use a little oil from here which lands up wrecking the transfer box. Reconditioned box is close to a thousand pounds. Officially to top it up you remove the transfer box, although you can get away with jacking the car up high (about 2 feet) on one side to fill up the transfer box.

 

Boot is big, front seats are comfortable. It managed 28mpg in general use, although occasionally I could get it up to 40mpg on a long motorway journey (both figures on the trip computer, which when checked seemed to read about 2mpg high). It drank petrol on short journies around town (my better half filled up one monday and then used the car round town for the week - 12mpg was the result).

 

On the other hand, it was not a fun car to drive. It is a big, heavy and slow steering car prone to understeering. The 4wd is great in snow (handles beautifully in snow) but doesn't do anything for handling the rest of the time. The 2.5 V6 is an engine that needs to be revved hard to have any reasonable amount of go, but the gear change is fairly lazy which doesn't match the engine while it feels like half the weight of the car is in the flywheel which makes it rev slowly; again not matching the engine.

 

If you want something for cruising down motorways then it is great. If you want something that is fun to drive then avoid it.

 

All the best

 

Keith

Edited December 29, 2014 by Kickstart

[jjb1970]

Interesting that Audi aren't immune from the modern day idiom of making it damned hard graft to actually buy a car. I recently bought a used Audi A6 from a franchised dealer, for no other reason than the car was nice and fitted the bill in terms of spec and was below our budget on account of being high mileage, not something that's ever worried me after covering an average of 150,000 miles in each of my past seven company cars, all bar two of which were VW group cars. The experience was a bit tedious but not painful, others however seemed to want to make it impossible to actually buy anything! One Skoda dealer was good but lost the sale after I'd made a bid on a car, which they were considering, but didn't come back to me for over a fortnight, by which time I had the Audi. His response, "we were disappointed you didn't give us the last crack at the deal"!

 

The rest simply didn't come back to me or were more interested in meeting monthly payment budgets than actual prices of cars, a trick which has a habit of guiding you into paying inflated finance rates.

 

Sounds familiar! I made an appointment by telephone to test drive an A3 with the 1.4 turbo petrol (we'd already decided that was the engine we wanted based on driving other cars with the engine) and duly turned up with licenses etc to take the car out. We were then asked to sit down and asked how much we wanted to spend on a car. You'll note the word wanted. I politely asked about the car we'd arranged to test drive and got a load of guff about how it is no use test driving a car unless we could afford it and therefore he would only talk about what I'd spend. Because, of course I am in the habit of wasting my time driving going around car dealers test driving cars I can't afford   Since my wife was there who doesn't like making a scene I decided to just let him have his say them disappear, so told him how much I wanted to spend, which wasn't very much. He then proceeded to tell me I might be able to afford a poverty spec A3 with the base 1.2 petrol engine followed by almost ordering me to take out a finance deal there and then and telling me it was the only car I could afford. At that point I dropped politeness and pretty much told him not to call me and I wouldn't be calling them, it was an appalling experience. I will say the VW dealer (part of the same group, oddly) was completely different, no hard sell or pressure, gave us a car for a few hours and offered a great price on a pre-ordered car in their system which was close enough to the spec we wanted to be attractive.

[Guest]

We were then asked to sit down and asked how much we wanted to spend on a car. You'll note the word wanted. I politely asked about the car we'd arranged to test drive and got a load of guff about how it is no use test driving a car unless we could afford it and therefore he would only talk about what I'd spend. Because, of course I am in the habit of wasting my time driving going around car dealers test driving cars I can't afford

I once went to a VW dealer after a cheap cash deal on a VW Fox. My only requirement was that it had rear head restraints (this was not long after my car had been rear-ended) side bags and opening rear windows, these things were all options on the Fox.

The sales manager charged straight in with a deal on the showroom car which had none of those things, zero discount and an offensive trade in offer. He was also filling out the PCP form before we even sat down.

 

For some reason I didn't buy it.

[Horsetan]

I'm almost tempted to splash out on a remapped ECU for the diesel Bora now.....

[brianusa]

Wasn't the X type really a Ford Mondeo in drag?

 

The X -Type certainly had a lot of bits from the Ford parts bin but we  always like the Mondeo so it didn't bother us.  The main attraction was that it said Jaguar on the front and had the Leaper to prove it!  Also the price of 'real' Jags was more than we wanted to pay.  I always thought the concept of a 'cheap' Jag was a good one but it never caught on.  You don't see many on the road these days but the turnover rate here is around six years.  My Lincoln Mark8 will be twenty years old come next May with less than 74K and the '74 Mustang I traded for it had done 120K when we turned it in so we don't change cars all that often.

 

Happy New Year

 

Brian.

[edcayton]

I don't understand the attraction of this PCP thing. It seems to me that you pay a large deposit, a large amount each month for a long time and still owe a large amount amount at the end.  When we were looking for a car for my son all the dealers were pushing this, plus "gap" insurance, key insurance, minor damage insurance and interior and exterior treatments to keep the car clean.  Presumably these things are where the dealers make their profit, as they all insisted on showing us "confidential" figures that proved they were losing money on the car (not new but 1-2 years old), but they were doing us a favour because of the time of the month or year, making room for new stock or they just liked the look of us!

 

Ed

[Guest]

I don't understand the attraction of this PCP thing. It seems to me that you pay a large deposit, a large amount each month for a long time and still owe a large amount amount at the end.  When we were looking for a car for my son all the dealers were pushing this, plus "gap" insurance, key insurance, minor damage insurance and interior and exterior treatments to keep the car clean.  Presumably these things are where the dealers make their profit

PCPs are not without merit, it depends on your circumstances. A larger deposit will reduce the monthly payments, while a higher annual mileage will reduce the final value and increase the monthly payments. My Jazz is on a PCP as it's 0% combined with a decent trade-in + discount + five years servicing makes it a no-brainer.

 

If you're financing a car GAP insurance is important as without it you might end up in negative equity. It's equally important not to buy it from a dealer as they'll try and charge three times as much as it would from an insurance broker.

 

Likewise the shiny stuff is pure profit for the dealer.

[brianusa]

It would appear that car dealers are the same all over the world.  In the case of the Jag, it was fortuitous that we purchased an extended warranty considering the problems that arose; for once it paid off.   Normally we wouldn't have bothered but on purchasing the new car, the dealer tried to add a couple of grand with 'stuff'!  Needless to say, his offers were turned down.

 

Happy New Year

 

Brian.

[RJS1977]

I've often wondered if there should be a system of car "ownership" whereby you take the car away for free and agree a mileage rate with the dealer/manufacturer. All insurance, maintenance, fuel costs etc get charged to them and when you take the car in for a service you pay for the number of miles you've driven. You then either negotiate a new rate for the next period or give the car back and get a new one.

 

That could lead to quite a change in patterns of car usage and perception of cost of train fares!

[edcayton]

I've often wondered if there should be a system of car "ownership" whereby you take the car away for free and agree a mileage rate with the dealer/manufacturer. All insurance, maintenance, fuel costs etc get charged to them and when you take the car in for a service you pay for the number of miles you've driven. You then either negotiate a new rate for the next period or give the car back and get a new one.

 

That could lead to quite a change in patterns of car usage and perception of cost of train fares!

 

Peugeot do something similar with "just add fuel", except (obviously) for the fuel.

 

Ed

[russ p]

VAG Audi platforms have been mentioned on here, this is a different take on it.

These two vehicles are actually Chinese vehicles based on the montego estate platform, the white one if you look hard enough you can sort of see it but the silver one looks like an Audi. I understand that they have Toyota engines, which is a shame I'd love one with a rattley old Perkins in it!!

[Horsetan]

VAG Audi platforms have been mentioned on here, this is a different take on it.

These two vehicles are actually Chinese vehicles based on the montego estate platform, the white one if you look hard enough you can sort of see it but the silver one looks like an Audi. I understand that they have Toyota engines, which is a shame I'd love one with a rattley old Perkins in it!!

This is Landwind again, isn't it? They have form for copying other makers' cars. Land Rover Evoque is the latest victim of the clones!

 

Landwind cars generally can't pass a EuroNCAP crash test, which is why they don't get sold here. Just as well, really.

 

The only Chinese manufacturers I'm aware of who have gained some sort of Euro acceptance are MG and Kinglong (they make coaches).

[russ p]

I think the company is called yema,not sure if its the same one that made the maestro van. There was a maestro copy marketed by etsong, I actually had some wings from this company that were made in England! I wish some more panels would find there way over here. Obviously with so few maestros left over here it wouldn't be viable to import them

[RANGERS]

This is Landwind again, isn't it? They have form for copying other makers' cars. Land Rover Evoque is the latest victim of the clones!

Landwind cars generally can't pass a EuroNCAP crash test, which is why they don't get sold here. Just as well, really.

The only Chinese manufacturers I'm aware of who have gained some sort of Euro acceptance are MG and Kinglong (they make coaches).[/quote

 

Both have suffered mixed fortunes since launching into Europe, MG haven't received any great acclaim for their cars and King Long haven't exactly set the world alight, the UK importer has taken to buying up operators to find homes for the vehicles they're bringing in. Their excursion into Malta didn't go well either. Yutong and Higer are more recent coach entrants, it'll be interesting to see if they do any better.

[Horsetan]

....King Long haven't exactly set the world alight, the UK importer has taken to buying up operators to find homes for the vehicles they're bringing in. Their excursion into Malta didn't go well either.....

Judging by the state of the coaches in Malta, I'd say nothing goes all that well there!

[skipepsi]

Judging by the state of the coaches in Malta, I'd say nothing goes all that well there!

Are any of the1950's Bedford trucks and coaches still running?

[Guest]

Both have suffered mixed fortunes since launching into Europe, MG haven't received any great acclaim for their cars 

 

The MG 3 gets quite favourable reviews. I'd have considered one if it had a better engine and there was a dealer near by.

[Horsetan]

Are any of the1950's Bedford trucks and coaches still running?

I thought those had been phased out some years ago, when Malta got hold of some more modern (but relatively shagged-out) buses and coaches?

[RANGERS]

Malta now has a ten year age restriction on imported buses and coaches and restructuring of the bus routes brought an influx of new King Longs and modern Mercs so most of the "interesting" buses disappeared practically overnight. There's still a few older coaches around but they're gradually being replaced with more modern vehicles, mostly still ex UK models. New coaches are starting to find their way into some fleets but still very much a minority interest.

[PhilJ W]

I think the company is called yema,not sure if its the same one that made the maestro van. There was a maestro copy marketed by etsong, I actually had some wings from this company that were made in England! I wish some more panels would find there way over here. Obviously with so few maestros left over here it wouldn't be viable to import them

Rover/MG sold the Maestro tooling to China. In a few years time there might be a similar situation to the Rover SD1 tooling and parts that went to India and were re-imported a couple of years ago.

[russ p]

Rover/MG sold the Maestro tooling to China. In a few years time there might be a similar situation to the Rover SD1 tooling and parts that went to India and were re-imported a couple of years ago.

I'd love to think so but very much doubt it. When rimmers found the SD1 stuff they also found a load of montego stuff but it wasn't financially viable to bring back and i feel the same would apply to any maestro stuff

[jjb1970]

Given that MG re-launched in the UK quite a while ago the rarity of their cars is quite telling and their dealer network seems to have gone backwards. At one point there were biblical discounts on the MG6 to try and move stock. In fairness reviews seemed to consider the chassis was pretty well set up with potential and it offered a lot of space if they could get a decent engine and give the cabin and touch point quality a makeover. Whether you'd want to sink your own money into such a car is doubtful.

[APOLLO]

I bought a brand new 1.6 Montego back in 1986, local garage selling at a substantial discount. The only fault I had in 3 years was a stuck thermostat, costing around £5 to fix.

 

Not a grand car in any way, but (for me) cheap & reliable. Traded it in for an Audi 90 2.3 Auto a grand looking car - then my problems began !!!

 

Do you know how clever the Chinese are ? - They bought the tooling etc for the Rover 75, K series engine and all. This engine has / had serious head gasket problems, later solved by land rover changing the Gasket spec - but guess what, the new ROEWE car built in China has - - -Head gasket problems !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Nice looker though, I always liked the look of the Rover 75.

 

 

In China the MG is known as the "Modern Gentleman's" car - !!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Cars - a pain in the arse.

 

Brit15