Hey all, not been around these parts in many years now.
For the last 3 years or so I've been running a Mazda 3 2.2D (well, have had 2 of them, a Gen2 and now a Gen3) and they have been brilliant cars. Not had a single issue with them, great to drive, loads of spec and my current one has had 32k miles put on it in just over a year so the diesel was the right choice.
However, my commute was previously about 30 mins down a dual carriageway but I recently moved and its now only about 10 minutes. Not had any DPF issues but I know its been in the middle of a regen when I've arrived at work sometimes. It does get longer runs occasionally but not with predictable regularity. I'm hoping to be offered a new job soon though which will mean my commute is about 2 minutes down a 50mph road then 10 mins through town. My thinking at the moment is - if I dont get the job to consider swapping it for a petrol if I get any DPF issues. But if I do get the job I should probably just change it straight away. Does that seem sane?
With that in mind - what should I be looking at? A saloon would be a good thing as I'm getting fed up of folding down seats to get 2 suitcases in. We dont need back seats often though so dont need a large car. I want something well equipped, nice to drive and with a decent amount of power without costing the world to run - for about 10-12k. 3 series would be ideal but I have some sort of allergy to their seats - any time I drive one for more than 30 mins I end up with catastrophic back ache. I'd love a C class but for the criteria its a C350 which would be lovely but its in the £555 VED band which would sting (5% of the cars value every year!). Oil consumption issues aside, would the A4 2.0 TFSI be a bad idea?
Or should I just get a Mazda6 2.0 and live with relatively lethargic performance?
For the last 3 years or so I've been running a Mazda 3 2.2D (well, have had 2 of them, a Gen2 and now a Gen3) and they have been brilliant cars. Not had a single issue with them, great to drive, loads of spec and my current one has had 32k miles put on it in just over a year so the diesel was the right choice.
However, my commute was previously about 30 mins down a dual carriageway but I recently moved and its now only about 10 minutes. Not had any DPF issues but I know its been in the middle of a regen when I've arrived at work sometimes. It does get longer runs occasionally but not with predictable regularity. I'm hoping to be offered a new job soon though which will mean my commute is about 2 minutes down a 50mph road then 10 mins through town. My thinking at the moment is - if I dont get the job to consider swapping it for a petrol if I get any DPF issues. But if I do get the job I should probably just change it straight away. Does that seem sane?
With that in mind - what should I be looking at? A saloon would be a good thing as I'm getting fed up of folding down seats to get 2 suitcases in. We dont need back seats often though so dont need a large car. I want something well equipped, nice to drive and with a decent amount of power without costing the world to run - for about 10-12k. 3 series would be ideal but I have some sort of allergy to their seats - any time I drive one for more than 30 mins I end up with catastrophic back ache. I'd love a C class but for the criteria its a C350 which would be lovely but its in the £555 VED band which would sting (5% of the cars value every year!). Oil consumption issues aside, would the A4 2.0 TFSI be a bad idea?
Or should I just get a Mazda6 2.0 and live with relatively lethargic performance?
