What I saw today....

[terence]

Thank god for that!!!!!!!!

[GORDON STREETER]

These new small cheapo's like the Kia Picanto can serve a purpose though (a 7 year warranty !) and good MPG are ok for dodging about in and parking around town.
But my endless supply of Mot failures for sod all do the job for me and you don't notice any new dents or worry about it getting nicked

[Lancsbreaker]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

These new small cheapo's like the Kia Picanto can serve a purpose though (a 7 year warranty !) and good MPG are ok for dodging about in and parking around town.
But my endless supply of Mot failures for sod all do the job for me and you don't notice any new dents or worry about it getting nicked

Bangernomics rules if you can weild a spanner.....though soon it'll have to be a laptop...

The Dacias do seem to be good value though...and a lot better dynamically than the Lada Estates that my Dad used to buy as he needed a cheap, but new hence hopefully reliable vehicle for transporting my disabled Mother. To be fair they did what he needed of them...... They were pretty tough, too as I found out when rallying Ladas in the Lada Challenge series....

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by Lancsbreaker

Bangernomics rules if you can weild a spanner.....though soon it'll have to be a laptop...

.

Ha ha yes but I have to use a laptop on most cars I work on these days including runabout old bangers.
The only problem I have is with the laptops themselves, leaving them on rooftops and running over them doesn't do them any favors !

[MJones94]

An Aston martin Cygnet with the plate: 'CY09NET' in Milton Keynes. It is such a pointless car, yet is probably rarer than the other models such as the DB9/Vantage/Rapide etc.

[garcon]

The first person on here to buy a Dacia Sandero gets a special user title of "James May".

If you see that as an incentive, you probably need to get out more.

[nicanary]

I've just seen a Chrysler Delta (nee Lancia, nee Fiat). Looked just like any other Euro-saloon, except the shield grille looks too small for the front of the car.

But I immediately thought - WHY? Unless it was forced on you as a company car, or was a demonstrator (there were no decals to indicate this), why would you buy one over something boring but sensible like a Mondeo? It has no class-leading qualities of any sort, and will depreciate faster than the album of last year's X-Factor winner.

When did Fiat last make a good "medium/large" car? The 130?

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by nicanary

I've just seen a Chrysler Delta (nee Lancia, nee Fiat). Looked just like any other Euro-saloon, except the shield grille looks too small for the front of the car.

But I immediately thought - WHY? Unless it was forced on you as a company car, or was a demonstrator (there were no decals to indicate this), why would you buy one over something boring but sensible like a Mondeo? It has no class-leading qualities of any sort, and will depreciate faster than the album of last year's X-Factor winner.

When did Fiat last make a good "medium/large" car? The 130?

Can't say I entirely agree with you. I think it is rather-good looking, especially with a two-tone paint job. Thankfully it is still a Lancia this side of La Manche & I see it as a potential replacement for my Alfa 156 - the 159 is simply bigger than I need & I'm not wild about the Giulietta.

The Delta is a bit tardis-like with leg room in the back reminding me of an Austin 1800! I once owned a Lancia Beta, one of the best cars I ever owned, & at the time I had back trouble - the Lancia seats were superb & it was actually the only place I was comfortable, which was just as well as I had a 32-mile commute to work.

[nicanary]

No offence intended John. Here in the UK public perception still rules - all French/Italian cars are supposedly unreliable and hence will have poor residual values. So unless the Delta has some astonishing redeeming feature, it will fare badly. The odd thing is, cars such as BMW and Audi are perceived as "quality engineering" when in fact their reliability records are nothing special.

I agree that it's not a bad-looking car, but when I spotted it I thought it was a Laguna or Kia - so many cars look like that these days. Lancia always managed years ago to produce something a little bit different.

I personally think Fiat/Chrysler have missed the boat - all the grief over rusting problems was long,long ago, and a new generation of buyers has come along who know nothing about those days. Brand awareness rules, and snobbery , and I reckon a fancy name like Lancia, especially if promoted along with their past sporting background and record of engineering innovation, would attract buyers - unlike the name of Chrysler.

But what would I know?

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by nicanary

No offence intended John. Here in the UK public perception still rules - all French/Italian cars are supposedly unreliable and hence will have poor residual values. So unless the Delta has some astonishing redeeming feature, it will fare badly. The odd thing is, cars such as BMW and Audi are perceived as "quality engineering" when in fact their reliability records are nothing special.

I agree that it's not a bad-looking car, but when I spotted it I thought it was a Laguna or Kia - so many cars look like that these days. Lancia always managed years ago to produce something a little bit different.

I personally think Fiat/Chrysler have missed the boat - all the grief over rusting problems was long,long ago, and a new generation of buyers has come along who know nothing about those days. Brand awareness rules, and snobbery , and I reckon a fancy name like Lancia, especially if promoted along with their past sporting background and record of engineering innovation, would attract buyers - unlike the name of Chrysler.

But what would I know?

No offence taken! I do get tired of constant unfounded criticism of Italian (particularly) and French cars, usually from people who have no experience of them. You only have to see the predictable tirade of knocking comments every time Alfa Romeo is mentioned on another forum (think you will know the one I mean!).

I have owned a succession of Fiat/Lancia/Alfa models continuously since 1971; all of them have been high mileage & all have been reliable. We also have a Peugeot 205 as second car, just a basic Junior. In seven years it has never let us down, lives outside, never failed to start all through the recent bad winters. There are still thousands of them running around here. Likewise other French cars such as Renault 5, 19, 21 & 25, Citroen 2CV, AX, ZX, Peugeot 305, 405 etc which rather puts the lie to the theory they are not built to last. The French market is very different to the British & does not have the same ridiculous levels of depreciation & consequently they get looked after & retain a decent value.

[John Elwin]

As if to underline my previous comments, spied a very pretty, very original Peugeot 204 Cabriolet in town this afternoon. Red with a black hardtop.

[steve nielsen]

Originally Posted by MJones94

An Aston martin Cygnet with the plate: 'CY09NET' in Milton Keynes. It is such a pointless car, yet is probably rarer than the other models such as the DB9/Vantage/Rapide etc.

why would you want to pay that much for a Toyota IQ??