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my Grandad (GRHS) had a Lada Riva estate for many years, he said it was the best car he'd ever owned, and he was a mechanic. But then he did spend a lot of time in the garage.
I found out latterly that he spent a lot of time in the garage to get away from his wife, my Nan, and therefore buying a heap of Soviet crap that needed constant maintenance gave him that excuse. He was a whiley old dog. 😉
I wouldn't buy another MG. They don't seem to make old bones (mine included) if your fed up of Saabs blowing up an MG blowing up might make a bit of a change (the comedy interior falling apart will entertain you in the meantime) but I'd go for the Volvo.
Latecomer to the mix, x-type Jag estate, 2.0 diesel, which I think is a Mondeo engine.....
V70 still in the lead
x-type Jag estate, 2.0 diesel, which I think is a Mondeo [s]engine[/s] in a skirt.....
Yup having driven both x types and mondeos I'd say that the mondeo is better in every way and cheaper. The x type is all about the jag badge and not as good a car as the mondeo on which it is based.
We looked at a few cars to tow the caravan. On paper the 75 fitted the bill...quite heavy, 90kg noseweight. The interior put us off. It was like sitting in that section of a furniture showroom where they have all the Thora Hurd / OAP chairs. Truly awful. And despite its size it was fairly cramped inside.
Wife didnt like the V70 interior either. I would have had one in a flash. Not a day goes by without there being a re-run of "Traffic Cops" with a few Police V70's taking a battering while bringing some drug dealer to a halt on the M6.
We bought a Mondeo in the end. Has been great. Even at 160k it still drives well.
Borrowed a Jag X-type from work a few weeks ago, was ok but not really my cup of tea.
V70 or Mondeo. Don't look anywhere else!
My beloved V70 is an awesome bit of kit. Built like the proverbial brick privy, super comfy seats (heated, natch) , great stereo, super 4wd grip and plenty of poke from the turbo.
Oh, and heated wing mirrors. Obviously.
Oh, and heated wing mirrors. Obviously.
Decision made...
The Volvo was a total shed. Just bought a mint 04 Saab. Tried to find things wrong with it to use to knock the price down, but there was nothing, so reverted to disinterest. This will be my 3rd Saab estate, first diesel (yes I know, Vauxhall engine). Very pleased.
Bonus news people. A warning light came on the Saab dash before I collected it. So it's having an engine rebuild, so I know all gaskets, timing belt etc will be sorted.
My A190 Noddy merc which I bought for £1100 from ebay 2 years ago as a temporary car, and then racked up 50k trouble free miles in has just sold on ebay for £510
Thank you for listening
(yes I know, [s]Vauxhall[/s] [b]FIAT[/b] engine).
FTFY
(yes I know, [s]Vauxhall[/s] FIAT engine).
Even better, Ferrari by proxy
This will be my 3rd Saab estate, first diesel (yes I know, Vauxhall engine). Very pleased.
I was going to say something about the timing belt but you mentioned it's all getting rebuilt anyway, so I'll save it.
except for this - if you plan on keeping it for 75k miles or more, it'll need doing again. £600 plus labour...
but you'll know about that, having had Saabs before
On the Saab thread, oh dear, how sad it is. Used to be totally bullet proof, old Merc build quality for half the cash.
Then GM took a controlling share and quality control nose dived. Then GM got into global do-do because it couldn't sell its mediocre cars, and tried to close Saab down, Saab fought to get free but needed GM agreement for tech information to be passed to new Chinese funders. GM refused. Now Saab is bankrupt. Very sad, and an object lesson in global capitalist 'progress'.
Saab owners - be aware of the 'We are Saab' rally at Saab's Cranfield, Beds HQ tomorrow. Single finger to US corporate asset strippers.
Don't believe the hype, the press hated rover but the cars were not that bad. We ran a 216 for 8 yrs. Handled as well as a focus but was much faster. One spring, one radiator a clutch and a head gasket the latter being the most expensive. Cheap as chips to fix. The Tourer is a great car, BMW diesel engine pre dpf. Its already Retro so it does'nt look dated. I would of bought one but the towing capacity was'nt as much as the mondeo. Just about the best value diesel estate you could get. Or you could just revert to singletrack type and get the obligitory passat or octavia. Yawn.
"Or you could just revert to singletrack type and get the obligitory passat or octavia."
Did you read any other posts?