My new car

And people could say exactly the same about your choice of car? How many people consider a 205GTi a good car to own today? Yet there is still a following and enthusiast market for it, which I suspect will go on for some time. So who is right about the GTi, the majority or minority?

If he’d spent your hard earned money on a BMW which you didn’t like then maybe you'd be in a position to press criticism on his choice.

People often mix up their delivery of ‘constructive informed opinion’ with trying to force what that think is right onto someone else. It can become embarrassing when that person is either wrong or mis-informed.

Bottom line is, just because you don’t like it, doesn’t mean it’s not a good buy. Also strong opinions expressed face to face can lead to unpopularity or a punch on the nose.

And by the way, I am in the minority as I love old cars like XR3i’s, 205 GTi’s, and XR2’s.
 
So 6 months on nearly and I still love the car, it's still a blast to drive and I still absolutely enjoy driving it at every opportunity I can. I'm always volunteering to drive people places if I can, just so I can enjoy new roads and test the car out more

Saying that...

I'm getting rid of it

On Friday, I will be going to the garage I bought it from for, and I'm not exaggerating, the 25th time in 5 and a half months to fix yet another problem. Since owning the car, I've had problems with faulty tyre pressure sensors, ABS problems (which was apparently very expensive to fix), multiple battery issues, a 6 month battle trying to get my headunit replaced because it was faulty (and when it was replaced it was giving problems again so had to be replaced yet again), handbrake problems, dead rear wiper jets and loose panels in the dashboard that needed reseating

Now a lot of those are fairly trivial problems, but there has been big issues, and issues that mean a lot of money spent on the car through warranty work. Now fair enough that money is not my own but my warranty expires in 2 weeks and I have to ask myself, do I really want a car that is this troublesome once the warranty goes.

Because of the silly amount of problems I've had, I've been offered the chance to get out of it, pay the finance off, then sell the car and all this without me losing a penny other than the interest paid on the finance for 6 months which isn't much

So I will be looking for a new car very soon. A shame as I really enjoyed driving this car, so needless to say, 1 series will be very much at the front of my search, most likely a 130i. But hopefully I find another 1 series

And before anyone says, that's what you get for rushing into it. The car was fine on the test drive, it drives perfectly. So any car no matter how many I looked at could have turned out like this. Unfortunately I've just picked a troublesome example and one that could cost a lot of money if this pattern is to go by
 
Oh I will, I'm going to test drive as much as I can

I've already got one booked for a Mini Cooper S JCW, as I do love them after driving my girlfriends a bit and being the passenger quite a lot

anticonscience said:
Surely you could look to take out a warranty on the car to save having to fork out for any future problems?
Click to expand...

Most warranties worth looking at still require an excess being paid though, so how many times am I going to have to fork out?

I'm in no means expecting never to have to pay costs for running a car, but this has just been a bit silly, like I said, 25 times, a lot of those different problems. So it could end up costing far more than it's worth to run
 
Sorry to hear things haven't worked out with the car, at least things are going to be simple in regards to getting a refund. Put it down to experience eh? :p
 
Yeah :) but then I could have been in this exact situation if I spent 6 months looking for the right car. A test drive would never show the sort of problems I've had
 
130i is a good shout, I'd just recommend you get an LCI one if you can afford it because the build quality is a lot better.
 
No but some homework rather than an impulse buy would have, none of your problems seem that unusual. Dont know what makes you think the next 1 Series will be different?

At least you seem to be conceding that the diesel is pointless given your shortlist for replacement cars.
 
Yes, if there is one regret I have with my purchase, it's that I went for a diesel. I hate the noise and the short gearing. But other than that, financially I am neither worse off or better off than with a petrol so that doesnt bother me

Well I'm only going by the 1 series forums I visit, no one seems to be having any of the issues I am, and the list I wrote in my post isn't everything, there's been other issues too regarding warnings and other random things that just happen out the blue
 
So after all the problems have been fixed on this car for nothing, you want to go out and buy another which could inherently have the same issues that need fixing.

I'd be more inclined to try and do a deal with the vendor to extend the warranty for another year with either the warranty or excess being at their expense.
 
I wouldn't, it's clear he's not 100% happy with the car anyway and he's been given an opportunity to get out of it, so why not take it?
 
I'd love to keep the car trust me, and the extended warranty was an option too. But as much as I enjoy the car, it's brilliant to drive yet a nightmare to own at the moment.

And with all the problems I've had it's just made me not enjoying owning it. So whether I get an extended warranty or not, it wouldn't change the fact it's getting me down putting up with it all the time and taking a trip to the garage once a week
 
To be fair, after I bought it, a lot of people told me nightmare stories about the dealer. But the owner is a friend of the family and my family have used them before so we didnt think anything of it. I even got my very first car from there, which I learnt in (Citroen AX) and that ran like a dream and they were great with that.

But they have been terrible to be fair. A lot of problems they simply wouldn't have dealt with unless I constantly pestered them
 
Looks like you got a duff one there bud, very unlucky.
You say you're interested in a 130i. As an owner, I can thoroughly recommend it. Unlike yourself, I've had zero issues with mine in 13,000 miles. The only cost, which bites a little more than most, is fuel at a realistic 25-30mpg depending on how you drive of course. Having driven both the 120d and 130i the main difference is power delivery. Unlike the 120d, the delivery is very linear and has huge amounts of it in any gear from only 1,500rpm. The power goes on and on and on. At approx 4,500rpm you an extra boost and the exhaust changes note too, growling to a wonderful crescendo before you have to change gear. If I had to give it one criticism, it would be the ride on bumpy b-roads. (in m-sport trim anyway, which most are) It's very firm and can catch you occasionally, but you get used to it and I guess it's all part of the fun!
There aren't many 130i's on the roads, making them quite individual; not because they aren't any good, far from it - check the reviews, but because of there ridiculous price when new, especially with a few options ticked. I think mine was £34k which is just nuts for a small hatch, albeit a very fast one.
Buy one, you won't regret it. :)
 
Sounds like you've had a fair few issues with this car then, I'd call taking it back and losing virtually nothing other than a bit if interest a 'get out of jail frer card' ...now you have the chance to own a real BMW :)

If you do go for another 1 series though, at least you now know you want a petrol engine, the little diesels are pointless, they aren't economical enough to off-set their downsides 'dagadagadaga'
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom