Spec me a flavour of wallpaper paste...

Skeeter · 16 Aug 2009 at 23:02

monkey_boy said:
It's the main family car. We have a cheap second car. I know it's uninspiring to drive, but if we have a snoozemobile main family car, I should be able to get something a little more fun for the second car. The Passat is comfortable, it is a nice place to be and it does fit the practical requirements I have. I can't find any other car (except the E Class which I'll look into) that ticks all of the boxes. The answer isn't to halve the budget and ***** the rest.

I need to pick the best car I can out of the available trim and engine options and try to dodge any potential bullets with regards to must have features or problematic engines etc.

Ok, look, behind all the banter and insults flung about on this forum there is some generally good advice.

Your situation appears to be that you have a kid on the way and you need a reliable car with a big boot to lug your kid and the associated stuff around in safety, and as you have sed, this is likely going to be a bit of a boring car, and you would like to have a second car thats more fun, which is fully understandable.

But why £8k on a Passat? If what you are looking for is somewhere comfortable and a nice place to be with a big boot there are a million and one options out there for you, all either much cheaper, or the same price and much better than an £8k Passat. If you have already set your mind on a Passat then go and buy one. But dont come on here and ask for advice and then get uptight when you dont get everyone agreeing with you. As much as they may seem like idiots, there are a lot of people on here talking sence and who know there stuff. £8k on a Passat in your circumstances does not make sence, but then its not us whos doing it. If you want to do it then go and do it, just know that it will be against the advice of some other people.

Oh, and how do you expect to have a fun second car if you blow all your money on your 'snoozemobile'?

monkey_boy · 16 Aug 2009 at 23:12

Don't particularly like the look of estate cars. The new mondeo is the only other car we've looked with a boot as deep as the passat. The key thing is that the pushchair goes in without having to be diagonal. In a hatchback, there wouldn't be room for say a suitcase for going on holiday. Why is a saloon such a bad idea?

Morba · 16 Aug 2009 at 23:13

a hatch is better to load.
go try an Octavia, saloon sized boot but with a hatch.

arent there some mondeo hatches as well?

[TW]Fox · 16 Aug 2009 at 23:16

monkey_boy said:
Don't particularly like the look of estate cars.

But you are not buying a car to cherish - you can hardly say you love the look of a Passat, right? Surely if you are buying a practical car for your baby to ignore the obvious answer because it doesnt look good enough and then going and buying a Passat is a bit bizare.

In a hatchback, there wouldn't be room for say a suitcase for going on holiday. Why is a saloon such a bad idea?

I think you actually need to look at some cars - the boot on a Mondeo/Octavia/Mazda6 hatchback is not like that on a Golf or a Focus - it's basically the same as the boot on a Passat but with a MUCH bigger more practical opening.

I drive a saloon and the boot is huge but you cant fit anything through the opening making the size irrelevent.

monkey_boy · 16 Aug 2009 at 23:22

[TW]Fox;14692365 said:
I cant imagine being 22 and loading a pushchair into my Passat diesel

Not sure if you're just having a pop at the car, or whether you're moving into personal insults.

Skeeter said:
But why £8k on a Passat? If what you are looking for is somewhere comfortable and a nice place to be with a big boot there are a million and one options out there for you, all either much cheaper, or the same price and much better than an £8k Passat. If you have already set your mind on a Passat then go and buy one. But dont come on here and ask for advice and then get uptight when you dont get everyone agreeing with you. As much as they may seem like idiots, there are a lot of people on here talking sence and who know there stuff. £8k on a Passat in your circumstances does not make sence, but then its not us whos doing it. If you want to do it then go and do it, just know that it will be against the advice of some other people.

Oh, and how do you expect to have a fun second car if you blow all your money on your 'snoozemobile'?

I intend to get whatever I think is suitable. The family car will be at home with my other half in the day, so the only time i'll be driving it is with the family. The opportunity to hoon will be so few and far between that it barely matters.
I'm trying to to come accross as uptight, but I'm not asking to have a car spec'd, I'm asking about which options are better to go for and which are better to avoid on a particular car.
The second car will always be the lower priority. Even after the bike. So i'll look at that when the time comes. A hot hatch won't be a big stretch for a second car though will it. That will be when i'm after a 'spec me a bang for buck car for £4k' thread.

[TW]Fox · 16 Aug 2009 at 23:24

monkey_boy said:
Not sure if you're just having a pop at the car, or whether you're moving into personal insults.

I'm having a pop at the car.

I intend to get whatever I think is suitable

But you've demonstrated you dont really know whats suitable, you just think you do, which is why you think a pushchair will fit better in a saloon than a large hatchback. Trust us - and my saloon has a bigger boot than a Passat - it wont. Nothing swallows crap easier than a Mondeo/Mazda6/whatever sized hatchback this side of a proper Estate. I gave a friend a lift home a few years ago and she had a pushchair, I was suprised at how bloody awkward it was to get into the back of my 5 Series. It went diagonally in the end, something you claim you are keen to avoid. The main problem was the fact the boot opening is not as wide as the boot itself.

Skeeter · 16 Aug 2009 at 23:28

monkey_boy said:
That will be when i'm after a 'spec me a bang for buck car for £4k' thread.

How about swallowing your pride, admitting your wrong, buying something just as practical and half the money, and then you can post a 'spec me a bang for buck car for £8k' thread, or even a 'spec me a £4k holiday for me, the missus and our kid' thread....

The answer to the 'practical safe comfortable car for family' question is not an £8k Passat.

Janesy B · 16 Aug 2009 at 23:32

Don't see why a 2.0 mk3 Facelift Mondeo Ghia X wouldn't do. It would cost less, won't be rubbish and it will be practical, reliable and cheap to run. Which is what you want from a family car.

teaboy5 · 16 Aug 2009 at 23:44

Ricochet J · 17 Aug 2009 at 00:16

To those that have driven one: would the Mitsubishi Galant be an option?

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1175919.htm

[TW]Fox · 17 Aug 2009 at 00:19

Ricochet J said:
To those that have driven one: would the Mitsubishi Galant be an option?

Come on, ask yourself that question again. The answer isn't hard to find, is it?

On what planet would somebody trying to decide which 2007 Passat to buy then think 'Oh you know what, I don't need a 2.0 TDI Passat, what I need is as 12 year old twin turbo Japanese saloon car'?

Seriously now?

Something like a Mazda6 or a Mondeo is a credible suggestion but come on, a 1997 Galant? What?

Ricochet J · 17 Aug 2009 at 00:24

Read a few reviews before I posted it as I don't know anything about them. It turns out reliablity is good but I couldn't get a figure on the boot space which is why I asked. It'll even give him a bit of money spare.

[TW]Fox · 17 Aug 2009 at 00:34

It's 12 years old!

Many people are fine with a car of that age but people trying to buy nearly new Volkswagens are not among them.

jamief · 17 Aug 2009 at 07:39

Morba said:
am i missing something? 1 kid on the way and you want to spend 8k on a passat?
or is there another reason why you must spend so much money and on saloon?
a hatchback would be much better option, or a touring/estate.

Why make such a big deal about £8k? Why does motors always turn into a "but for £4k you could get this"? Why can't we just assume that that OP can spend £8k (which, to be fair, really isn't a huge amount of money) comfortably?

chrislusty · 17 Aug 2009 at 08:16

A passat will be limited due to the way a sallon boot opens, why dont you just have a look at a Mondeo, or Mazda 6, or Toyota Avensis hatch, and see what we mean.

With those types of hatchbacks it doesnt matter how much stuff you put in the boot, as you can remove the parecel shelf, or have it at an angle, you cant with a passat, as the saloon has a "fixed" space. The boot on a mazda 6\ford mondeo etc is massive, and i bet you can fit the pushchair along the front of the boot, and the many suitcases in there too.

Tinders · 17 Aug 2009 at 08:56

Isnt the Mazda 6 a saloon only?

Tesla · 17 Aug 2009 at 08:58

Having owned an estate, if you are prioritising practicality on a new purchase an estate would be at the very top of my list.

[TW]Fox · 17 Aug 2009 at 09:01

jamief said:
Why make such a big deal about £8k? Why does motors always turn into a "but for £4k you could get this"? Why can't we just assume that that OP can spend £8k (which, to be fair, really isn't a huge amount of money) comfortably?

Because £8k is bottom end of the new shape Passat money, it doesn't comfortably land you smack bang into the land of the minters.

And if it isn't a huge amount of money you can do better than buying a Passat. I rather suspect it IS a huge amount of money, especially to a young father.

jamief · 17 Aug 2009 at 09:15

[TW]Fox;14693446 said:
Because £8k is bottom end of the new shape Passat money, it doesn't comfortably land you smack bang into the land of the minters.

And if it isn't a huge amount of money you can do better than buying a Passat. I rather suspect it IS a huge amount of money, especially to a young father.

My concern isn't what car you can buy for the money, but the constant presumption that the OP (in whatever thread) is stretching themselves financially.

It'd be nice if we could have a discussion where people suggested cars for the budget the OP specified, rather than saying stuff like "why not spend £4k on this and £4k on a holiday" or similar.

[TW]Fox · 17 Aug 2009 at 09:21

It's no assumption - somebody suggested the Mk4 Mondeo, which starts at about £8k. He replied saying it was out of budget, which informs us what his ceiling is. So somebody else says well the Mk3 is a decent car which is more practical than a Passat, but obviously as spending £8k on a Mk3 Mondeo is daft, points out you could save a bit as well.

These threads would be so much easier without have-a-go-heros wading in to defend the honour of the OP every 34 seconds.