[Closed] Changing the car - a nice hatchback?

Gary_M - Member

Yes, think I got just under £9k off list price

Bloody hell, who's that with?

Kryton57 - Member
I really wanted Leather in my next car.

Think carefully about it before you commit, I've had leather and prefer cloth now.

Leather = boiling hot, sticks to your skin in summer, freezing cold need heated seats in winter.

I have serious doubts a 1.5 and certainly a 1 or 1.2 is going to last in what are these days quite large heavy cars (Golf etc)

Wife’s Golf estate is the 1.4t and isn’t short of poke.

To be fair, he didn't say they were slow, he said he wasn't sure about longevity, and I can understand why, smaller engine working harder and all that. Not sure I agree personally, but turbos are likely to fail [i]eventually[/i].

Bloody hell, who's that with?

Through drivethedeal. Think they're about £1k more expensive than last month now but I guess the price goes down at the end of the quarter.

Our 1 Series has little flaps that slide out the way on the roof. Very tidy solution. Great cars too, comfortable and ace to drive.

Yeah, takes 5 mins to put a roof rack on its excellent.

If I hadn't been buying to fit a size gap between the wifes Golf and the T4 I'd have bought a 1 series - had one as a company car and loved it. Great all round, maybe just lacking a little on boot space (I didn't measure it so this might be hokum) compared to some but that's all I could fault it on.

Stop this. The more I read this thread the more I think I should just pay the settlement and keep my 120d / get another auto box 120d when the PCP ends.

Leather = boiling hot, sticks to your skin in summer, freezing cold need heated seats in winter.

Gah! #shattereddreams

Don’t most leather seat options come heated ?

Kryton57 - Member

Leather = boiling hot, sticks to your skin in summer, freezing cold need heated seats in winter.

Gah! #shattereddreams

I have full leather on one of my current cars, never had an issue with it. Heated seats in winter and air con in summer stops the issues you've mentioned. It's not something I'd bother upgrading to though, new car is part leather which is fine.

Yeah, takes 5 mins to put a roof rack on its excellent.

Same with the Astra J. But not the Astra K.

The Mazda 3 has heated seats with leather.

Personally I love leather as it's easy to clean and looks great, but then my car has heated and cooled seats, plus remote start to either cool up or cool down the car before you even get in 🙂 Yes, I'm spoilt.

Gary_M - Member

I have full leather on one of my current cars, never had an issue with it. Heated seats in winter and air con in summer stops the issues you've mentioned. It's not something I'd bother upgrading to though, new car is part leather which is fine.

Horses for courses, it looks better and you can wipe it clean, but other than that IMVHO cloth is better in every respect.

You don't slide about as much, you don't need heated or cooled seats, bare skin doesn't stick to it, it's cheaper, you don't have to condition it. I really have no idea why it's used at all let alone a 'premium' feature.

And yes the seats I had were heated and the car had A/C. Didn't have cooled seats though, how does that work bensales?

Luckily you can get the Integrale with lovely alcantara Recaros so shouldn't be an issue.

[img] [/img]

My 120d has alcantara seats.

I was out in it after I posted on this thread yesterday, and - adding in my recent Stoicism dabbling - I found myself thinking that actually all I really need is an auto box for my comfort and sanity on my travels.

A decent 1 series isn't much different to a Golf part from drive layout and design in overall usage remit.

Alcantara FTW.

The main difference between the 1 Series and Golf is that the 1 doesn't make you want to smash your face in with boredom every time you drive it (GTI + R excepted). 😉

You don't slide about as much, you don't need heated or cooled seats, bare skin doesn't stick to it, it's cheaper, you don't have to condition it. I really have no idea why it's used at all let alone a 'premium' feature.

I don't get this, I've never noticed any sliding about, I don't drive with just my pants on, I've never conditioned the seats (which would be far easier than cleaning sweat soaked fabric from your bare skin). I prefer leather, wouldn't pay for it but have no negatives about it.

Gary_M - Member

I don't get this, I've never noticed any sliding about, I don't drive with just my pants on, I've never conditioned the seats (which would be far easier than cleaning sweat soaked fabric from your bare skin). I prefer leather, wouldn't pay for it but have no negatives about it.

Well, I'm not lying. Maybe your leather was nicer quality.

I don't drive in just my pants either BTW 😆 I'm talking about when your arm touches the side bolster when changing gear etc. Also I never get sweaty with fabric seats, only leather so that is a moot point.

Anyway I'm not saying don't buy it, I'm saying try it first - don't just assume because it's generally considered desirable that it actually is better.

bensales - Member

Full leather in the Mazda sounds pretty sweet and should make it easier to wipe out the mud after a race...

I should point out, it's a cost-option.

Standard on the 165 Sport Nav 😉 8)

For me the thing with Leather is the smell. I find it instantly relaxes me to the extent that I won't admit to having a constant supply of "Leather aroma" air fresheners in my current car...

Another Mazda 3 here, petrol Sport Nav, auto with leather seats. It has all the toys you could want and has been largely faultless over its first 5k miles.

But I'm not sure I like it. Nice to look at and comfortable, but not frugal (mid 30s average with a semi rural commute of c.20 miles each way driven conservatively). Beneath the cosmetics there is some clear cost cutting (the budget seems to have gone on the touch screen and rotary dial), and it just doesn't feel solid like our Skoda Superb or MiLs A3.

I went down the PCP route as I intended to buy outright anyway and Mazda's 0% finance made the overall cost cheaper, but I am not sure I will purchase it at the end of the three years.

It has 2.5 years to grow on me!

I looked at my Dad's new Mazda CX3 and I must admit I was a bit disappointed with the inside. Didn't seem to me much thought about where the switches go. Touch screen up high and volume control and rotary dial thing down the bottom. What's the point of a rotary dial thing if you have a touchscreen?

Quite a few bits of odd plastic in the dash as well.

I'm biased but my new Focus ST is nicer.

The touchscreen only works below a certain speed on our 3 I think, which is useful for putting in destinations at the start of a journey (it really just saves the extra time you spend working how to actually add a postcode, which is about as unintuitive as it gets!). Rotary is quite useful while driving, but its function is duplicated/triplicated by touch screen and steering wheel controls

Kryton57 - Member

For me the thing with Leather is the smell

I don't have leather seats in the car, but find wearing my driving lederhosen gives me that fresh leather smell.

I don't have leather seats in the car, but find wearing my driving lederhosen gives me that fresh leather smell.

Amateur, leather driving gloves are where it's at.

Leather used to be used for the driver's seat, because it was exposed to the elements. Cloth would be used for the passengers.