What's my SOC worth?

Tell Neil Ronketti, I think he's got a 635csi stuck in a barn
somewhere...

I dunno, maybe. Hopefully I'll be buying when the credit crunch hits
the high street and buying cost won't be such a factor, so
BMW/Audi/Lexus might be more in my budget. Still got to move house of
course, hah!

 

heh. But to be fair, a 20 year old former supercar bought for 500
quid is not really comparable, is it.

"Hah!" indeed. I might be doing a bit of that next year.

 

[bmw]

I drove a 318 coupe years ago and absolutely loved it, but company car
schemes have priced them out for me. The problem is I think even the
oldest 135 coupe will be out of my price range, and that's the one I'd
like most.

OTOH, Are the diesels as nice to drive as the petrols?

 

The current 320d, IMHO, is shit.

 

Could that possibly be because it's built the wrong side of Switzerland
for your strange tastes?

 

Conversely, the 330d, imho, is bloody brilliant. It was driving Black
Mike's which caused the scales to fall from my eyes wrt to BMW cars.

 

Has he got a 330d touring? That's the one I reckon would be just the
ticket at the right price.

 

No, he's got the slightly bizarre 330Cd - coupe shape, with a 3 litre
diesel in it.

 

I tried a 320d SE saloon.

The engine was noisy and vibrated like hell at low revs. It didn't feel
like it was somewhere in the region of 175bhp either.

Aside from that, the non-satnav models have a very spartan interior and
the trim quality is shocking given how much money you have to part with
for one - the car I drove was pretty much standard spec. at £26k - the
car I'd have ordered would have been near on £28k with auto box and a
few options.

Also tried the same engine in a 520d. It was more refined in the 5
series and the interior is less spartan, but it was still poorly
equipped and felt very cheap for the money.

 

Yeah, whatever happened to Tatra?

 

But you're happy to drive a Vauxhall Vectra, no?

You should try before you judge. If the image puts you off then fine,
although I'd have exepected a more open mind from you, especially
considering your current wheels, but in the flesh, and in the driving,
this has beaten the A6, Volvo V70, Ford#HJaguar X-type, Cayenne,
Scooby-something and various other 4X4 cars that I tried, specifically
on the issues of comfort and luxury.

Not trying to convince you, of course (god forbid), but if you haven't
driven a newish hi-spec one you may not be fully aware of their
potential.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

Ahh, so in your world 'luxury' = premium-branded, big, soft and lardy.
All becomes clear ;-)

Your other comment

is also at odds with my definition, so yes, MMDV.

Err, think about Phaeton == Bentley. Or perhaps Bentley == rebadged
Phaeton.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

I'd have classed mine as something a cut above a Ford, Vauxhall or
similar, but below BMW (and only slightly below Mercedes, when they were
going through their quality probs).

What I'd be very interested to know is the degree of similarity between
VW and Audi. Not the vehicles themselves, but their quality, finish,
build, interior, longevity, 'feel', whatever makes a luxury car
perceived as that.

There's a lot in common between a Golf and a Skoda Octavia, for example,
but what about between a Passat and an A4?

And take the VW Phaeton. It's not considered a viable S-class competitor
becaus it's a VW. But just how good is it?

Toyota managed the trick of establishing a luxury brand with Lexus:
completely new division, new factory, separate R&D, a clean sheet of
paper. Would it have been different if they'd built the original LS400
in the same plant that was churning out, for example, Corollas?

 

See my posting of a minute or two ago. I think this is an interesting
example.

 

In the showroom, and on test drives, there are a few small pointers
that show the difference. The only one that springs to mind is that
the inside door handles in the Passat are somewhat plasticky in feel;
not bad in themselves, but not quite up to Audi standards. The rest of
the cabin, and the 'quality feel' of the general build, seem to be
comparable between the two.

The VW Satnav/radio/cd/dvd/mp3 controls are _much_ easier to use than
the Audi ones, although conversely I think that 'single joystick,
overly complex, takes an age to understand it' interfaces like on the
Audi are more common on 'luxury' marques.

Not at all. Completely different cars.

VW/Audi seem to be trying to avoid that route - certainly the current
and emerging range doesn't conform to Audi=hi-spec, VW=workaday,
although the pricing model does. It almost feels, with the R32, R36,
R50 models, like they're focussing on VW=Sporty, but that's in stark
contrast to the normal view of Audi, so I'm not sure.

--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

My old man has a new 330se touring, and whilst it's a lovely car, I
presonally don't like it. I find the cabin feels very cramped and it
doesn't go as quick as you think a 3 litre petrol should go.

 

No, I had a 9000i before the present Nissan.

 

was the steering wheel extra?

 

Hmm, as much as I hate to say it a boring old Mondeo 2.2 ST TDCI is
looking like a sensible option at the moment. Dirt cheap for what it
is, and spacious.

 

The new ones look fine to me for the money, as you say. **** that
Diesel shit though.