Right, have had various threads about which car to get over the last 18 months, but now it finally has to happen. Bought the 306 to last 6 months whilst I changed jobs, and tax is up end of April - I'm not paying £240 to tax it, it's falling apart. I have strict wants, and it's moon-on-a-stick as ever, so I can only find a couple of cars that half-fit it, but I just must be missing something, I know it, so open to suggestions
Basic criteria
£6k (£6500 absolute max)
Probably trade not private
2007/8 onwards, diesel, nippy.
Then the fussy bit:
80-90kish miles or less ideally, FSH
Not french, or Vauxhall
Tax band G or less (ideally F, £135)
As close to 50mpg as possible
Pokey enough (140hp min, 230ftlb min?)
Cruise control, ideally heated seats etc - ie a good place to be!
Doesn't need to be sporty - don't want massive great 18" wheels with expensive tyres, or a crashy ride (ie no M Sport!)
Aiming to last 5 years with minimal hassle
Of course in an ideal world I'd have an E90 320d or Audi a3 Highline 170hp, but at that price they are mostly older, rougher, lots of mileage etc. So my attention moved towards VW, and the 170hp SEL Passat. Well kitted, half leather, cruise, £170 tax, etc. The Audi A4 of a similar age isn't as well specced but a possibility. I know some of you will say get a 10 year old BMW because they are awesome and age is irrelevant. And I hear you, but they DO have their pitfalls at that age (rusty archs, poor stereo, bushes, just to name a few), I want something as new as possible that I shouldn't have to do any proper major work like re-bushing to in the next 4 or 5 years.
The sort of Passat I'm considering:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2008-VOLKS...item257c2d09e3
Downsides: heavy! DPF.
Is there anything else that fits the bill similar to the Passat? Mazda 6 maybe?
Also, I promise this will be the last thread on the matter for 5 yearsmaybe.
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Originally Posted by def
To be honest, driving it I didnt really notice the weight of the car as much as I thought it would have. Only downside the old man has said about is the headlights are shocking with the projectors, I fitted him some Osram Nightbreaker Plus' in as a thank you for borrowing the car but he said it has made minimal difference. I didnt find it that difficult to see at night, compared to 200's, but just the only thing he doesnt like about the car. Also they seem to suffer an injector issue from an apparent design flaw, had 2 go at once on his way to work and the engine management system just shut the car down on a motorway 
not to sure on how true it is that its a design flaw, that was a word of an AA man that came out to recover the car but that was what the problem was
