On 12/6/2020 at 9:14 PM, TomsFocus said:

I can only dream on doing 14 mile trips now...  I live 2 miles from Tesco and 5 miles from Sainsbury's.  That's about the furthest I go now! 

 

What about  getting a bike?  If there are hills near you then get one with an electric motor.  If you buy loads of stuff then get one with a big basket on the front.  Some of them even come with air suspension and hydraulic disk brakes all around nowadays. 

1 minute ago, south_bound said:

What about  getting a bike? 

It's OK Tom, I'm sure he's only joking LOL 🤣

Add a carbon fork and seat post with a comfy gel seat and it's a winner......😄

4 hours ago, Frowma said:

Have you looked at https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/honest-john-satisfaction-index-2018/top-10-most-comfortable-cars/ not sure any of them fit your bill though.

The Jaguar XE surprised me...  Wonder if there are any in budget?  

The i10 has a shocking ride so I'm not sure how that made the list.  I was offered my Grandads after he passed away but I couldn't drive it.  Also surprised at the small Skoda as we had a Mk1 Fabia with a poor ride, and I tried a Mk2 Monte Carlo (looked fantastic!) with an even worse ride.  Most of that list is too big tbh, Golf estate would be ok, I reckon they fitted IRS to the estates like Ford did...

3 hours ago, Guy Heaton said:

The missus Active, shows the ride height.  Yes it is on 18s but they are not that low profile and they make less of a difference than the suspension IMO.  It is a good ride.

Hmm, what's the tyre size on those?  Sidewall looks pretty small to me, and I'm guessing XL tyres as well?  I do think it's the sidewall making a difference for me, as it can smooth out the smaller bumps to stop the constant jittering.

24 minutes ago, south_bound said:

What about  getting a bike?  If there are hills near you then get one with an electric motor.  If you buy loads of stuff then get one with a big basket on the front.  Some of them even come with air suspension and hydraulic disk brakes all around nowadays. 

Mobility scooter is probably a better option...  

On a positive note...the Golf just passed MOT with no advisories.  I've only done 3,500 miles this year.  No wonder the DPF hates me!  

I agree on the MK1 Fabia, the seats are horrifically bad on those. Is the next car going to be a petrol instead of a diesel?

3 minutes ago, dtulip8 said:

I agree on the MK1 Fabia, the seats are horrifically bad on those. Is the next car going to be a petrol instead of a diesel?

Yes, 100%.  That's something I can't compromise on this time.  I've only stuck with diesel so long due to needing super low running costs - £30 tax and 50+mpg.

With the tax being £150 on everything post 2017 and doing such low mileage that MPG isn't a concern I can finally go petrol daily again - first time since 2011!

It does need to be something torquey though.  I had a Mk3 Focus with the 125ps 1.0EB and thought it was broken!  Couldn't pull a single grain of rice let alone the skin off a rice pudding...  The 2.0 TSI Leon has 320Nm of torque as standard which is one reason why I chose that.  Sadly they're all DSG though.  So if I go for another midsized VAG it would have to be the 1.5 TSI, and if I go for a midsized Ford it'll have to be the 1.5 EcoBoost.  Hopefully they're torquey enough...

 

Talking of VAG.....Prior to purchasing our Mk4 I test drove the T-Roc R line and if it wasn't for the fact that the salesman would not budge by £500 at the point of bartering which I thought was pathetic on his part ( losing a sale for £500 on a £23k car) then I wouldn't be in the Focus at all.  

It was way more comfy and a better drive height too. 

Yeah I think the 1.0 is a better fit in the Fiesta, but knowing your luck with MK3’s it probably was broken 😂. The 1.5 EcoBoost is a nice engine, would you consider a late 18 or 68 reg (if you can find one) MK3.5 Titanium X as those should still be in manufacturer’s warranty, unless your MK3 experience has put you off lol? 
EDIT:

This MK4 looks decent 

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202011276542177?atmobcid=soc4

3 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

The Jaguar XE surprised me...  Wonder if there are any in budget?  

Surprised me as well. Had a look at that when it first came out (always had a fancy for a Jag, but always too big, so thought a smaller one might be interesting). Seemed pretty big outside, very cramped inside, interior was not my idea of "premium" (but I think it's been improved since). Couldn't even be bothered driving one, tbh.

Seem to be quite a few about from £15k upwards, 15 to 17 plates with 35-45k miles for that though.

3 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

if I go for a midsized Ford it'll have to be the 1.5 EcoBoost. 

 

Seem to be pretty rare beasts. Having my regular trawl on Ford Direct in search of something of interest, I only spotted 18 Mk 4 1.5 petrols below the £20k mark, and all but 4 (2 Titaniums, 2 Vignales) were either Actives of some sort or ST-Ls

205/45/17s on our Active.  As said though, I think it is a lovely smooth ride, compliant but not too much roll.

On 12/8/2020 at 1:44 PM, Wino said:

Talking of VAG.....Prior to purchasing our Mk4 I test drove the T-Roc R line and if it wasn't for the fact that the salesman would not budge by £500 at the point of bartering which I thought was pathetic on his part ( losing a sale for £500 on a £23k car) then I wouldn't be in the Focus at all.  

 

I've had similar experiences, I don't think the dealers have actually got much margin to give away nowadays, and any "deals" that do seem to be available are often from the manufacturer in the form of a "contribution" to a finance package. Dealers certainly seem far more interested in selling a finance product (PCP, extended warranty, GAP, etc etc, than the actual car.

I read somewhere recently that BMW has taken this to its logical conclusion (particularly as buying is increasingly being done online)  in that the deal will be set by BMW - no haggling - and the dealer does the demonstrating, handles prep and handover etc. The dealers get a handling fee directly from BMW for this. I was vaguely interested in the new 1-series so when the Covid business is over may pop in the local dealer and see what's what.

2 hours ago, dtulip8 said:

Yeah I think the 1.0 is a better fit in the Fiesta, but knowing your luck with MK3’s it probably was broken 😂. The 1.5 EcoBoost is a nice engine, would you consider a late 18 or 68 reg (if you can find one) MK3.5 Titanium X as those should still be in manufacturer’s warranty, unless your MK3 experience has put you off lol? 
EDIT:

This MK4 looks decent 

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202011276542177?atmobcid=soc4

Fair point!

Nah, not interested in a 3.5 after the Mk3s.  Not just my own but I've worked on several others and it seems to be rare to get a decent one!  Facelift wasn't enough of a change to convince me back. Would definitely be MK4 if I go for a Focus.

That TitX looks lovely tbh, especially in that colour!  It seems to be advertised with xenon headlights though...good luck with that on a Mk4! . Annoyingly LED lights is one of my wants after the awful halogens on the Golf. TitX only has halogens on MK4. 

 

1 hour ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Seem to be pretty rare beasts. Having my regular trawl on Ford Direct in search of something of interest, I only spotted 18 Mk 4 1.5 petrols below the £20k mark, and all but 4 (2 Titaniums, 2 Vignales) were either Actives of some sort or ST-Ls

Indeed, bit I do want something a bit different!  I could easily go and buy a standard Zetec in a boring colour with a common engine...

Do Ford Direct deliver?  Not sure of I've missed it somewhere!

1 hour ago, Guy Heaton said:

205/45/17s on our Active.  As said though, I think it is a lovely smooth ride, compliant but not too much roll.

Ah, only 205 wise, no wonder they've got no sidewall!  That's barely any larger than the Mk6 ST sidewall was. 😮

I'm sure you feel the ride is fine but I just don't see it being good enough for me.  The suspension on the Leon is actually very compliant, it doesn't feel uncomfortable.  I doubt any of my relatives would complain about it!

12 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Do Ford Direct deliver?  Not sure of I've missed it somewhere! 

Annoyingly LED lights is one of my wants after the awful halogens on the Golf. TitX only has halogens on MK4. 

 

Afaik it's still a case of going through a dealer. However, my local Ford place, for example, is offering a "minimum contact" experience at the moment, so others will no doubt be doing similar.

Any dealer should be able to get any car that's on the database, so if you see something you fancy I would think it's a case of contacting your preferred dealer and see what they can arrange for you.

PS Lol why are you so bothered about headlights? If you're only going 2miles to Tesco or 5 to Sainsbury's, can't you go in daylight hours?😃

 

I must admit I find it strange that Ford dropped the xenons from the higher trims. I think the new Titanium X editions have the LED’s, but those will be out of budget.

1 hour ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Afaik it's still a case of going through a dealer. However, my local Ford place, for example, is offering a "minimum contact" experience at the moment, so others will no doubt be doing similar.

Any dealer should be able to get any car that's on the database, so if you see something you fancy I would think it's a case of contacting your preferred dealer and see what they can arrange for you.

PS Lol why are you so bothered about headlights? If you're only going 2miles to Tesco or 5 to Sainsbury's, can't you go in daylight hours?😃

 

But other 'people' are there during daylight!  *shudders* 😬

In fairness though, you are right.  I've barely used the lights this year...but with it being dark at 3.30 now I've used them a couple of times this week...can't see a damn thing on the back roads!  Still, could probably see more than the dark blue Focus I passed in the dark and thick fog with no lights on at all at 4pm...not even sure how they managed that!  I flashed them but they still didn't light up!! Although being a Mk3, maybe it was just broken...

 

3 minutes ago, dtulip8 said:

I must admit I find it strange that Ford dropped the xenons from the higher trims. I think the new Titanium X editions have the LED’s, but those will be out of budget.

Xenon's are old tech now in fairness.  They're slow to heat up, can't be adapted and burn the projectors eventually.  LEDs are a vast improvement.  I don't understand why Ford and VW are sticking with halogen even on Lux models though...all of the Leon's get LED headlights!

I’ve got a 69 plate that I wish I’d paid for full LEDs . Will my headlights be xenon or halogen? DRLs are led 

1 hour ago, TomsFocus said:

But other 'people' are there during daylight!  *shudders* 😬

In fairness though, you are right.  I've barely used the lights this year...but with it being dark at 3.30 now I've used them a couple of times this week...can't see a damn thing on the back roads!  Still, could probably see more than the dark blue Focus I passed in the dark and thick fog with no lights on at all at 4pm...not even sure how they managed that!  I flashed them but they still didn't light up!! Although being a Mk3, maybe it was just broken...

 

Xenon's are old tech now in fairness.  They're slow to heat up, can't be adapted and burn the projectors eventually.  LEDs are a vast improvement.  I don't understand why Ford and VW are sticking with halogen even on Lux models though...all of the Leon's get LED headlights!

Haha I did mean LED’s, but didn’t really realise Xenon’s had become old hat now, even though I can’t think of a new car with them.

13 hours ago, Alex.S said:

I’ve got a 69 plate that I wish I’d paid for full LEDs . Will my headlights be xenon or halogen? DRLs are led 

Halogens on yours.  No Mk4s came with xenons.

12 hours ago, dtulip8 said:

Haha I did mean LED’s, but didn’t really realise Xenon’s had become old hat now, even though I can’t think of a new car with them.

Yeah, you also need a massive infrastucture for xenon with ballasts etc lol...  LEDs use less power (gotta get those emssions down!).  And in theory LED units shouldn't ever fail whereas HIDs do.  (Of course real world is lightly different to theory, hence wanting some manuafacturer warranty myself!)

I really liked the xenons on my Mk2 TitX but would prefer LEDs now...the lights on the Leon are amazing.  I flashed someone past a parked car last week and thought an atomic bomb had gone off behind me.  

I prefer the look of HIDS.  I like the little pulse as they start, then the second or so as they come to full brightness.

I know that's no good for full beam but they got round that mechanically.  I find leds cold and dazzling.

Also, with decent halogen bulbs (osram nightbreakers) in my mk4, I find on a dark road they give more than sufficient light, for me anyway. 

So, I thought I'd try putting my desired spec into Cazoo without a make or model to see what comes up...

Nissan Juke, Seat Leon, Ford Focus all as expected.  But it also brought up a BMW 218i Active...  Anyone have experience of them?  They do seem to be fitted with beefy tyres at least!  

Cazoo - BMW 2 Series Active Tourer

16 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

But other 'people' are there during daylight!  *shudders* 😬

Bad news for you Tom - most stores are open 24 hours these days and people can be there anytime!

Joking aside, my local Tesco superstore is always busy - once went around midnight, thinking surely it'd be quiet then, but no, just as bad! 😃

10 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

But it also brought up a BMW 218i Active...  Anyone have experience of them?  They do seem to be fitted with beefy tyres at least!  

Autocar  gave it 4 stars and were fairly complimentary about the ride etc:

 

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/bmw/2-series-active-tourer/ride

1 minute ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Bad news for you Tom - most stores are open 24 hours these days and people can be there anytime!

Joking aside, my local Tesco superstore is always busy - once went around midnight, thinking surely it'd be quiet then, but no, just as bad! 😃

My Sainsburys isn't...   

I used to be able to get there just after rush hour but just before the Mum's all get there after dropping kids at school.  There was a sweet spot around 9am pre-Covid.  No longer exists though so I'm just trying to get there as early as possible now lol!