new cars: how do you choose yours?

[Dark Knight]

Lady D has just got her new car, in the past she has gone for 4 wheel drive monsters and has had 4 so far
this time she has gone for a smaller car that is not a behemoth and should save her some serious money
the new one is small MPV type thing with an economical diesel engine. 50-60 mpg in the real world and road tax of £30 per year
it is a real change for Lady D and I wondered how do people pick their cars and what criteria do people use when buying
is it a badge thing? economy, equipment, or just a price issue or brand loyalty

[david63]

Having recently gone down this route I still don't know how we ended up with what we did.

We set off with a Nissan Juke in mind - until we actually saw one and decided that it was not big enough for us - plus we thought that the design was a bit "gimmicky" (sorry if that is what Lady D has got) for a longish term investment. But what did happen when we went to the Nissan showroom was one of the guys there started enthusing about electric cars - which is not something that we had considered, and still believe that the infrastructure to support electric cars is not in place yet (give it another two or three years and they will warrant serious consideration)

So our next step was to go round as many car showrooms as we could - basically to see what was available and at what price.

At this stage we still had a MPV 4WD in mind.

Upon visiting both the Honda and Toyota showrooms we were impressed with their offerings of hybrid cars (part electric and part petrol). Eventually settling on a Toyota Prius.

So to answer your question - for the last two cars that we have had it has been a case of what took our fancy when going round the car showrooms.

[Dark Knight]

oops forgot to say
she has bought a Fiat 500 L...Diesel

[GillD46]

We know it will be a Volvo - for safety - having had a "less solid" car crumpled and written off when a drunken idiot with no insurance smashed into it many years ago, fortunately we were not in the car! Other than that, we each choose our own models, taking our budget into consideration and also the comfort of the seat, and then I choose the colours!

My husband has an XC60 - black
I have a C70 - navy blue

[Frank Manning]

Will it fit in the garage, is the footwell big enough for my size 13 feet, is there enough leg room, what is the view from the steering position, how are the controls laid out, is the boot big enough, what is the fuel consumption, what is the engine size, what safety features does it have, what brand is it.

Boring I know, but thats just me; colour is the last consideration.

[Quizzical Bob]

I need a big estate. After two 5-series BMWs I would have bought another but there was no spare wheel. I now have a Mercedes E350 diesel. It's not in the same class when it comes to driving but it's steady and reliable and extremely well-built. A bit like me really

[oldbluefox]

Will it fit in the garage, is the footwell big enough for my size 13 feet, is there enough leg room, what is the view from the steering position, how are the controls laid out, is the boot big enough, what is the fuel consumption, what is the engine size, what safety features does it have, what brand is it.

Boring I know, but thats just me; colour is the last consideration.

At a guess it's a Massey Ferguson Frank!!

[Kendhni]

Whoever is doing the deal. The interior ergonomics, fuel consumption (must be a diesel), and general space are important to me ... Julie gets to pick the colour.

I had a few days of work earlier in the year (between jobs) with the intention of going to a nearby industrial estate that has car showrooms for many makes and models. I had done lots of homework via the local newspapers and online to see what sort of deals they had on. There are certain brands I would not even consider though.

My first stop though was a local dealer who was advertising some good (but beatable) prices. After a bit of haggling I cheekily asked him what he was willing to do to stop me going up to the area where all the other car dealers were ... so he came down another few hundred quid. I then played a little known trump card I had up my sleeve and managed to get in the region of another £3000 off the price (bit of a fiddle but worth it).

In the end we got a Hyundai i40 tourer diesel ... £30 tax, £170 fc ins,50+mpg, and pretty much every electrical device you can think off factory fitted (and covered under warranty).

[Frank Manning]

Will it fit in the garage, is the footwell big enough for my size 13 feet, is there enough leg room, what is the view from the steering position, how are the controls laid out, is the boot big enough, what is the fuel consumption, what is the engine size, what safety features does it have, what brand is it.

Boring I know, but thats just me; colour is the last consideration.

At a guess it's a Massey Ferguson Frank!!

No, that didn't fit under the garage door! But the neighbours sheepdog got very excited when I test drove it up the road.

[Frank Manning]

I need a big estate. After two 5-series BMWs I would have bought another but there was no spare wheel. I now have a Mercedes E350 diesel. It's not in the same class when it comes to driving but it's steady and reliable and extremely well-built. A bit like me really

That sounds very nice Bob. I had a C class estate in mind for a while but it wont go into the garage with all the other stuff we have in there. Also our car has inbuilt child seats in the back, which come up at the click of a button. Ideal for our grandson, so we wont be changing it until he is a bit older.

[Capt Black]

A few years back we went down the Beemer route and haven't looked elsewhere since. Went for the 1 series because we don't need anything bigger, and we like the shape. Good service back up when things go wrong.

[lioness]

We bought a Skoda Octavia Estate 1.9TDI. We get up to 60 mpg on a long run. The engine and all the parts are the same as Audi/VW and we absolutely love it. Fantastic car.

[Mervyn and Trish]

oops forgot to say
she has bought a Fiat 500 L...Diesel

Interesting to hear how you get on with that Batty. It's on our list as a possible car for us when we cut down to one (being impoverished pensioners now) and Trish having an ordinary sized 500, which we are impressed with, at present.

For myself, how do I choose? Well the last one I bought (before I retired) was on impulse having seen it second hand at a good price at a local showroom. It's a diesel X-type Jaguar, now 7 years old. It really was an impulse buy. I only went out for the paper.

[Dark Knight]

I am lucky, in that I drive a company car, I get a monthly allowance for rental/lease hire and this generates a list from the provider.
My criteria are: equipment levels, performance, tax liability and colour

shallow I know ,but I don't have to worry about, mpg, servicing, repairs, insurance or road tax , as it is all funded via the lease and my company, I am due for a new car in the new year and may for the first time ever go for a badge, eg BMW Audi, Lexus or Mercedes, the only stipulation is that we have diesels

[Boris+]

We used to stick to just one make - different models, but always the same make. Then we decided that our main car was too big and we were missing out on a whole heap of pretty country lanes etc - so we made a change.

The most important thing was luggage space.

Em

[royalprincess]

Cheap to run i.e road tax, insurance and mph and a large enough boot to hold the suitcases.

Did look at the Smart but obviously not big enough but very nice though.

[Jan Rosser]

My weakness is Mini's - I am on my fourth (new shape) but many years ago my husband and I before we had the boys had the original mini in various colours and styles. I started with the Mini One but now have a Mini Cooper S with a few extras and I love it - it is very solid, safe and I feel like an 18 year old when I am driving it There are drawbacks - petrol consumption not too good - road tax quite high but insurance is very reasonable (probably my age has something to do with that)

It is the perfect size for me (and the dog) and my grandchildren love riding in "Nana's Mini" I like to be able to garage the car especially during the winter months as we get bad weather up here in the hills of Wales and this influences my choice of car too but for the moment I am happy with my little Mini.

[Gill W]

We've both had Toyotas for years. I have a Yaris and Mr Gill has an Auris

When we stop working in a couple of years, we'll go down to one car, probably a new Yaris, as I'm not keen on driving larger cars. Not sure yet whether it'll be a hybrid or petrol driven one

[ItsmeAnnC]

It needs to be an estate for the two Labradors, and for cruising luggage.
Other than that comfort, visibility all round - so many cars that I can't see the bonnet from the driver's seat.
It will do less than 2,500 miles a year, so must be a petrol for economy, and must be a manual gearbox.
Currently driving a 16 year-old BMW 3 series touring. We have had this car for 15 years. My husband has done all the maintenance, and we haven't changed it because, frankly, the new ones run no better. And we are not car snobs so don't care that we are driving old cars - the car was chosen for all the above reasons.
Our other car is an 2004 Astra estate, which has now done 30,000 miles from new (we bought it at ten months old with 1,600 miles on the clock) and it still runs and feels like a new car.
Yes, they are expensive to tax - £210 and £220, but apart from that MOTs, insurance (the BMW costs £180, Astra £240), and maintenance (parts only). Miles per gallon - well, we do so few now (I work from home and my husband has a van for his business) that it is not cost effective to change cars to improve this - you can get a lot of petrol for the price of a new car! We have other things to spend our money on than lumps of tin.

[Silver_Shiney]

Colour is a consideration for us.

We bought our Hyundai Getz mid-2006. We're thrilled with it and will go for another one in a couple of year's time. We were looking at a brand new one and were told that the default colour was solid red, solid black was an extra £60 and any metallic colour was another £300. I'm not paying for paintwork. However, they wouldn't have a red one in stock for at least 6 months. I then asked if they had any demonstrators - they did. It was registered to the showroom so I couldn't get the free servicing agreement, but it was 6 weeks old, had 13 miles on the clock - I effectively had a brand new car at a second hand price. Well satisfied.

Fuel consumption is a major factor, obviously, and I do like to have a decent set of "toys" to play with. As I am bad with heat these days, air-con is a must. The only downside to the Getz is with the ergonomics - the idiot lights for the front and rear fog lamps are hidden behind the wiper switch.

Also, it must be cheap and reliable!!

[oldbluefox]

I go for looks, economy and performance. I have had all sorts in the past - Triumph, Morris, Peugeot, Citroen, VW, Rover, Vauxhall. The slowest of them all was the 1600cc Vauxhall Astra which was like a bathtub. And it's the only car I have had a speeding ticket in!!!

This time around I had a look at what was on offer and settled for another Merc with all the sporty upgrades and automatics to the extent it virtually drives itself. It can really shift when I want it to but being diesel it returns a handsome mpg return and does not cost a fortune to run. A pleasant surprise. The big downside is, being a saloon it's useless for going to B&Q or taking rubbish to the tip!!! I still love it though.

I never buy brand new but always look for one a couple of years old with a low mileage. That way I have avoided the bulk of the initial depreciation.

[haveabeer]

After years of a comapny car when i had to buy a car i had not got a clue what to buy.
Visited all the dealers first car i brought was a Ford CMAX good car very poor MPG
Out latest one is a Nissan Qashqai 1.5 diesel its two years old now, never had a car that old for many a year will probably change it next year for the same vehicle
i am trying to work out whether to stay with Diesel or go back to Petrol as my mileage is very low at 10k a year

[jay-ell71]

I have a brand new VW Golf Mark 7. It is super. Petrol, low mpg, low tax, auto, heated seats (!) a very smoooooth drive. Car of the year. (according to which magazine you read) It is my second Golf and is superior to the previous one which I had for 7 years.

The OH has a E Class Merc Estate auto diesel, it is 8 years old but he isn't going to change it. Himself likes to drive my Golf on shorter journeys.

These cars may well be the last we buy!!!!! That's a thought isn't it?

[oldbluefox]

One of the best cars I have had was a Rover 75. I was really sorry to part with it but as it was on almost 70000 miles I decided I needed a newer model. What a pity they went out of production as I would have had another without any hesitation. I loved the retro look.

[haveabeer]

i agree OBF i had two as company cars the 75 connoisseur
It was a BMW built car they designed and built it in the UK after buying out Rover