rabbitstew Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 The missus is due a new company car, so we spent a lot of the weekend checking out what cars are out there in her allowed budget etc... So we looked at: Honda Civic - she likes the spaceship dash & front lights... Honda Jazz - too boxy Renault Megane - liked looked outside and big boot, but inside she thought was rubbish Peugeot 308 - she ruled this out within seconds, looked too dated. Nissan Juke - She loved the way it looked, but no boot on it hardly at all, and inside felt quite cramped. Ford Fiesta / Fusion - too small & boring (she says) Ford Focus - old mans car, and indeed, her old man has one. Vauxhall Astra - possibly.. need to check one out in more detail. So shes narrowed it down atm to: Citroen DS3 DStyle Plus - 90bhp 1.5 diesel. You seem to get a good spec with this pack. We drove the 110bhp version and it was a really nice drive, sporty ride, very responsive - turbo kicks in low down and was quite economical & comfortable. Inside was surprisingly spacious. Im 6ft and could happily sit in the back of one with loads of room for such a small car. Only question mark she has is cos its a small car, the boot with the back seats up isnt as big as say the megane or the 308. Personally I loved it, and could see id have loads of fun in it, although I was worried about the French build quality - would the car fall apart after a few weeks. Interestingly a brand new one of these was coming in at less than I paid for my 4 year old zed. Nissan Qashqai - Yet to have a good look around one, but she likes the idea of this sort of car and hopes the inside & boot is bigger than the juke. Too very different cars surprisingly enough. Her car "allowance" is crap, so it would have to be something like a 1.5/1.6 sized car, she does 30k a year so we`re mainly looking at diesels, although with the Hondas they were petrol as apparently Honda arnt making another diesel Civic until next March. Anyone got one of the above or any experience of them? What did you think? Any other cars we should be considering? BMW 1 series is just outside her budget. Audi A1 just about falls in there, but think its going to be too small.... Skoda again she thinks looks old man, and she doesnt fancy a KIA or Hyundi.... Not much else left im thinking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoff-r Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Why the requirement for a specified size? Kids, dogs? Or just generally want a larger car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH 370z Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Not trying to sound too biased, but the QQ is a great all-rounder, I would def look at the DCI's rather than the petrol’s, and the new 1.6dci is great. Pity you were not a bit closer to the North East I would have loaned you one for the day! Click on my Blue Banner below, the link will take you to the offers we have on, to give you an idea to what is out there deals wise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richt Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 We bought an 18 month old Qashqai 2 Ltr 4x4 about a year ago now and its great. Its my wifes car, but as she gets the bus most days, I use it for my 10 mile trip to work and save the Zed for weekends. Go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zugara Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 Cashcow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted November 14, 2011 Author Share Posted November 14, 2011 Its not so much a specified size, but what her car allowance will cover. She does cart a lot of rubbish about in her car as part of her job, so something "golf" or "focus" sized is what she has been looking at in order to get a reasonable sized boot. But with her allowance only covering smaller sized engines, we didnt want the car to be too under powered. The QashQai 1.6dci falls within the allowance by the looks of it - its on the companies "spreadsheet of approved cars". My only concern was would the 1.6 be too revvy. Im used to 1.9 or 2.0 turbo diesels which kick out 100->140bhp, and whilst it looks like the 1.6Dci does produce a reasonable amount of power, it must have a big turbo on it or be revvy to get that power? Ive been reading up a few reviews and they do seem to get good reviews! I`ll have to try and get a drive in one. Problem is, we are busy for the next 3 weekends and she needs to put her order in before then. May have to get a day off work or something I think or pop down my local garage at lunchtime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH 370z Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 I have a load of stuff on the 1.6dci, if you want it let me know T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ebized Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 http://www.alfagiulietta.com/giulietta/com/index.html My son and his partner have just bought one - 140bhp diesel, twin pipes and all the toys and goes well too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparky370z Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 i have a fully loaded QQ DCI. love it, its very comfortable and nice to drive. facelift on a 60 plate. its very nice. would highly recommend it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaptorUK Posted November 14, 2011 Share Posted November 14, 2011 I work for logistics @ Nissan I've had all manner of them 4 Pathfinders 2 Micra's 2 Almera 1 Primera 1 QQ QQ is a cracking car.... OEM tyres are crap in the snow If you want an all purpose QQ's the car, Juke's also cracking but smaller in side Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted November 14, 2011 Author Share Posted November 14, 2011 I have a load of stuff on the 1.6dci, if you want it let me knowT Cheers Mate http://www.alfagiulietta.com/giulietta/com/index.html My son and his partner have just bought one - 140bhp diesel, twin pipes and all the toys and goes well too yep, she likes them too!!! Just been looking at them and it would cost us an extra 150quid a month, but they look awesome. Apparently 60mpg and 0-60 in 7.7seconds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH 370z Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 I have a load of stuff on the 1.6dci, if you want it let me knowT Cheers Mate Just PM me an email address, as most of the stuff is quite large on Excel & PDF, whenever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted November 15, 2011 Author Share Posted November 15, 2011 I have a load of stuff on the 1.6dci, if you want it let me knowT Cheers Mate Just PM me an email address, as most of the stuff is quite large on Excel & PDF, whenever Will do. Intrequed as to what the difference is between the 1.5 and 1.6 diesels? On paper looks like very little, so why have 2? The 2.0 looks a bit more pokey, but the fuel economy drops loads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rawbhp Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 I have a QQ company car which the wife uses and it's great. It's only the 1.6 petrol but manages ok, looks great in silver, and is really big inside. We went for the Ntec spec with glass roof, sat nav etc. really good value and an all round ideal utility car. They've sold over a million for a reason! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted November 15, 2011 Author Share Posted November 15, 2011 I have a QQ company car which the wife uses and it's great. It's only the 1.6 petrol but manages ok, looks great in silver, and is really big inside. We went for the Ntec spec with glass roof, sat nav etc. really good value and an all round ideal utility car. They've sold over a million for a reason! What sort of mpg does the 1.6 petrol get in normal use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 My big sister has a full spec 2.0 petrol 4x4 qashqai, bought it new 4 years ago. It's a good car and even on the oem tyres she had no issues in the snow over the past few years. We live in a place that gets lots of snow and has 'hill' in the title..... As you can imagine, there are plenty inclines and her drive is steep too. No problems at all. She has used it with her child and all the crap that she routinely carts about. It's not the biggest car (Mums CRV dwarfs it) but it's comfortable and capable. You can do a lot worse than a qashqai in my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted November 15, 2011 Author Share Posted November 15, 2011 Okay well just popped down my local Nissan dealer to have a quick snout about at the QashQai. After a good ten minutes or more of climbing in and out of cars, finally someone asks me if I need a hand. However, unfortunately all their sales people are busy.... looking about, busy means they only have 1 sales person on duty by the looks of it and they are sealing a deal on a car. The base model QashQai did look very boring and plain, but the N-Tec spec one they had sitting there did look very nice. Ive booked a test drive for tomorrow so will see what its like on the road. Only problem is, revisiting the spreadsheet of cars which the missus`s company have given her, only the lower 1.5Dci and the 1.6 petrol Acenta models fall within her bracket. Whereas with the Juke, because its a cheaper car, we could get a higher spec model for the same price.... so, looks like the Juke may be back in the equation. Sigh. Im tempted to just leave her too it, as i know she`ll end up going with the car which is the best colour, or has the cutest looking headlamps or something..... argh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EH 370z Posted November 15, 2011 Share Posted November 15, 2011 I have a load of stuff on the 1.6dci, if you want it let me knowT Cheers Mate Just PM me an email address, as most of the stuff is quite large on Excel & PDF, whenever Will do. Intrequed as to what the difference is between the 1.5 and 1.6 diesels? On paper looks like very little, so why have 2? The 2.0 looks a bit more pokey, but the fuel economy drops loads. The 1.6DCI is to ultimately replace the 2.0cdi believe it or not! expect in the 4x4 guise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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