It’s been said but definitely a Citroen C6

Damn I want a C6 – having just googled it after those posts up there.

The XC90 has long been one of my favourites, but the fuel economy seems pretty rubbish on them, which is a day to day factor.

You should get one then. People get so hung up on the economy figures but on a car of that age its a minor factor. You can’t have a big heavy safe cruiser with all those options and expect 40mpg. Its not bad on a run though…35 is possible.

You sure it’s not a Mondeo ?

Yeah…..the grill hasn’t been ripped off an Aston.

That does look pretty good for £10k.
Oh.

Not suggesting it to the OP as he has already ruled Skoda’s out. Just commenting that it looks pretty good to someone who claimed that the Superb was a munter.

And relax. what a buy, no idea where you are in the country though!

The new Superb looks pretty good to me:

That was me. The one I sat in which was in the dealership looked crap from the outside. That looks better.

The top of the range C5s also have the hyropneumatique suspension. Nothing else I’ve been in comes close. Pity they’ve dropped the petrol V6 from the C5/C6.

Issue with the Phaetons used to be finding someone who knew what they were doing with the things when it comes to servicing and repairs.. Not even all the dealerships were equipped is what I heard! Not sure if that has changed?

Still not got around to this yet…

Currently back in debate after a longish and noisy motorway drive yesterday. I’d just like to be able to hear myself think on the motorway.

Current list :

Low Spec Mondeo petrol, cheapish money, had one before
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322002802661?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Mercedes C180 auto
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201423530347?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Quashqai, more from a space and the wifes semi-company loan car is one and she approves
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/222148474548?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

C180, higher price, low miles, lovely looking motor
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/311656672196?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Newer Mondeo, higher money, but new and decent miles.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191919519007?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

That’s all i’ve got currently in my mind.

Plan B is to take the current Civic to Burgundy in Aug and see how it is, see if we can put up with it.
Plan C is possibly to invest in some new rubber, quieter rubber and take to Burgundy.

Plan D… i dunno.. what is plan D ?

of all those you listed none look particularly appealing for your SOR in the OP imo.

Would have titanium x sport. Yes it’s diesel but it’s a nice spec;

Saw this car on Auto Trader’s Android App. Thought you might be interested. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201606285353739

Heated/cooled seats, dab radio, torque, mpg, what’s not to like?

Whatever you go for, make sure it doesn’t have stupid 19″ wheels on it. 17″ give a nicer quieter ride on the same car IME.
Don’t understand the anti skoda snobbery when you are considering a mundano though.

I don’t really want a diesel due to potential scare/horror stories. Sure, it MAY not happen, but i feel that a petrol negates that more so.

trail_rat – Member

of all those you listed none look particularly appealing for your SOR in the OP imo.

So then, what does ?

what tires are on the civic ?

Civics ive traveled in have not been noisy ….. equally quashqais are not particualtly quiet cars either…..

C class merks have wind noise issues with the wing mirrors at motorway speeds – parents had one and john clark wouldnt honour the goodwill warrenty merk were offering lots of people with effected cars.

Why not hire a car? You can get exactly what you want, brand new. Will cost a bit but after end of holiday you hand it back and don’t have the risk of a dodgy buy and keep your own car that you already have.

trail_rat – Member

what tires are on the civic ?

Tehy’re likely to be a mis-matched set of whatevers.

In all honesty, i’m not big on tyres so i don’t really know. Last pair were a set of part worns from local back-street place…

Checked : Michelin Primacy HP on the fronts.

gavinpearce – Member

Why not hire a car? You can get exactly what you want, brand new. Will cost a bit but after end of holiday you hand it back and don’t have the risk of a dodgy buy and keep your own car that you already have.

To get something worthwhile as an improvement, along with Euro cover and a towbar for the cycles is just way too much money.

It’s not like the Civic is a wonderful car that i love, at the most i tolerate it.

“Last pair were a set of part worns from local back-street place…”

– seriously ? why bother ?

trail_rat – Member

“Last pair were a set of part worns from local back-street place…”

– seriously ? why bother ?

Sometimes we’re flush, sometimes we’re not… i guess at that time, £50 for the pair fitted was a lot better than £180 fitted…

with your SOR i would be looking at older beemers , older french luxeo barges , Big volvo s/v70s , Big old saabs.

Lowish miles , big engines .

Forget tax brackets and fuel economy – once you add in fuel economy and low tax you need to be spending alot more money to get a decent motor.

Do be aware that big plush cruisers tend to come with big plush bills when they go wrong though.

importantly id be looking for 4 matching branded near new tyres ….. they play a bigger factor than you believe in the road noise.

Looking at the C5’s as recommended, you can get a lot of car with not many miles

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Citroen-C5-Exclusive-HDi-DIESEL-MANUAL-2008-08-/222139095897?hash=item33b8859b59:g:3NcAAOSwLnBXUS8J

nice car how ever i dont consider that to be a particualrly lot of car for not much money.

its still an 8 year old car. even if it has 18000 miles – time hurts cars more than miles and that cars spent alot of time static – or worse doing small trips.

Id expect that to be more 3-4k of a car.

in my younger days ive bought similar cars – 10 years old circa 30-40k miles on the clock. they were pish. These days im not so fussy about milage and will buy based on condition and maintenance records – i have alot less issues with cars.

18000 miles on an 8 yr old diesel sounds like something I’d be leaving well alone.

You’ll be wanting a Honda Accord. Seats up there with Volvo, absolutely excellent in a straight line. Bulletproof in petrol flavour, only slightly less so in diesel. They do have dmfs but no dpf if you get ICDTI rather iDTEC.

Weeksy- ygm

After the Saab, I’ll be getting another Saab. Then I’ll move onto a big petrol Lexus 8)

Ive always looked at Skoda’s. I’d drive one but would never ever buy one. Its got a shit name for starters and they aren’t ‘cheap’ to buy. For the money I’d rather buy an Audi.

petrol tourer for 10k

petrol saloon for 10k

If you do buy an Audi, don’t get a s-line or one with big wheels.

I have owned a number of them, the best for touring was a A4 3.0 Tdi on standard suspension and 17″ wheels. Almost as smooth as a friends E-class. But they are not big inside.

I now drive a Superb. Hora suggests the Audi is better for the money, However for me the equivalent A4 at the time was £5000 more expensive for the same age and mileage, with the same engine and similar drivetrain ( 2.0 Tdi, 4wheel drive and a manual gearbox)The Audi also depreciates more in real terms if not percentage terms.

However, you have ruled Skoda’s out. Buy an old Merc for the real old mans car, the Honda’s above would get my vote

Thanks for all the advice so far.

I’m wondering if it’s better just to find a low cabin noise type tyre instead, get a set installed for say £250 and try that for a start point… It’s a lot less to spend than the £5000 i’ll end up spending to upgrade the Civic, the Civic itself works fine, goes OK and has been perfectly reliable.

S-Line spec is not the horrible ride most think.
The wrong tyres fitted to most are.
RFT’s are OE with them and they are what cause the problem.
Add that many will
Go and fit different wheels sometimes so it all goes to shit.

Depending on what you want –
Often going to non-rft and a softer sidewall solves the ride and costs a lot less too.

Tyres and wheelsize can make a massive difference

My 2 cents.

Germans make very good motorway cars, imo a function of their domestic market where people drive long distances for leisure and work. Size counts, a bigger car will naturally feel smoother, quiter and more comfortable than a smaller one. My A6 was an absolute joy on the motorway, fast smooth quiet and would run all day long at speed. We bought a quattro as we drove to europe a lot inc in the winter and lived in a fairly hilly area and on a non adopted non gritted/snow cleared road.

As above no low profile tyres / sports suspension cars.

OP your idea about trying different tyres on the Civic is a good one, if the car works 95% of the year for you why change it ?

you civic dosent have runflats by anychance they can be noisy

No mate. Not run flats.

S-Line spec is not the horrible ride most think.

Depends on the age and the model. I had an A3 Sportback s-line in 05. It was the worst riding car I ever owned. The later ones are better I beleive, but when I was buying A4 mentioned above, I tried the s-sline and went for standard spec as It was noticibly more pattery

BMW 520 Saloon or tourer, petrol or diesel. Done , move on.

Get a big lexus. LS430 or 460. Get it on LPG and they are really cheap, and there really is nothing else with the level of luxury – massage seats, air conditioned seats, rear fridge etc etc.

RE lexus – remember the old adege “if you couldnt afford to run it new – you most definitely cant afford to run it used”

FWIW when it comes to luxury comfort motoring nothing really does beat a full fat range rover – you actually feel refreshed when you get out of one of them after a long trip 😀

Thanks for all the wisdom.

In the end i went for the cheaper option of a Mondeo. 2.0 Petrol. It’s not a lot of money to put in the pot along with being a nice quiet and hopefully reliable car.

Not quite what you may have expected, but it’s what we have coming on Wed.