Dorsetmike
Member
Teddy, I agree we are being stung by fuel prices, (mostly tax), however choosing a vehicle with better MPG can minimise that to some extent, road tax again can be minimised by choosing a car with low emissions.
As for sophistication, that can come at a price, often meaning more to go wrong, also German manufacturers and other so called "prestige" marques are falling towards the bottom of the reliability listings, BMW (26) Audi (29) Jaguar (30) Merc (31) Alfa (32) Jeep (33) and Porsche (34) and Landrover last at 35 all coming in the worst 10, surprisingly to some people Ford have crept up to 4th place
http://www.reliabilityindex.com/manufacturer
Only 3 Asian makers, Hyundai (11), Lexus (13) and Nissan (16) are outside the top ten, VW at 24th just escape the bottom 10.
These are the things I consider when buying a car, will it get me from A to B in reasonable safety, comfort, efficiency and economy, that covers performance and reliability; after that I can then consider the "extras"; for me ABS brakes are a must, power steering preferred, remote locking is handy, electric windows and mirrors, nice - but not essential, air con not needed enough in UK to warrant the extra cost, (plus it's more to go wrong) colour doesn't matter unless it's pretty pink, purple or a garish orange/green, dark colours get hotter inside when left out in the sun, but would only be an issue given a choice of cars with otherwise similar specs. Sat Nav, no way, I can read a map, I don't need some stupid voice telling me where to go, and it's a magnet for thieves. Rarely if ever switch on a car radio/CD.
Given a choice and the necessary money, I prefer to buy a car which has been used as a demo for about 6 months by the dealer (from new); any manufacturing faults will have been found and cured, it should have been well maintained during that period and price will be well below that of a new vehicle, typically 10 - 15% but I have had over 20% on one that had been a demo which was no longer needed when a new model was introduced.
As for sophistication, that can come at a price, often meaning more to go wrong, also German manufacturers and other so called "prestige" marques are falling towards the bottom of the reliability listings, BMW (26) Audi (29) Jaguar (30) Merc (31) Alfa (32) Jeep (33) and Porsche (34) and Landrover last at 35 all coming in the worst 10, surprisingly to some people Ford have crept up to 4th place
http://www.reliabilityindex.com/manufacturer
Only 3 Asian makers, Hyundai (11), Lexus (13) and Nissan (16) are outside the top ten, VW at 24th just escape the bottom 10.
These are the things I consider when buying a car, will it get me from A to B in reasonable safety, comfort, efficiency and economy, that covers performance and reliability; after that I can then consider the "extras"; for me ABS brakes are a must, power steering preferred, remote locking is handy, electric windows and mirrors, nice - but not essential, air con not needed enough in UK to warrant the extra cost, (plus it's more to go wrong) colour doesn't matter unless it's pretty pink, purple or a garish orange/green, dark colours get hotter inside when left out in the sun, but would only be an issue given a choice of cars with otherwise similar specs. Sat Nav, no way, I can read a map, I don't need some stupid voice telling me where to go, and it's a magnet for thieves. Rarely if ever switch on a car radio/CD.
Given a choice and the necessary money, I prefer to buy a car which has been used as a demo for about 6 months by the dealer (from new); any manufacturing faults will have been found and cured, it should have been well maintained during that period and price will be well below that of a new vehicle, typically 10 - 15% but I have had over 20% on one that had been a demo which was no longer needed when a new model was introduced.
