sadietoo Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 Ok, so my weekend didn't go quite as I'd hoped, and instead of setting up my lovely green cube that is waiting patiently for me at the end of the garden, we went car shopping. We are looking for something to replace our ancient Volvo 850, but now the kids are bigger, we don't need the space. We are looking for diesel. When we started the day our shopping list was Golf, Audi A3, Seat ( basically a golf with more bells and whistles) Honda Civic (maybe?), Skoda, and Volvo. We then wandered accidentally onto the BMW forecourt (ostensibly we were looking at Minis although they didn't fit any of our criteria!) and came across the 1 series, which we had not previously been aware of (I did start off by saying our Volvo is ancient so it's a long time since we've looked at cars!). So my question is does anyone run one of these? We were looking at a 118 but by a happy coincidence our local dealer has a very fine example of the 120d at about the right price...should we be worried by high servicing costs etc? Incidentally, the Golf went off the list quite quickly , the A3 seemed overpriced for what is on offer, but is still and option, as is the Seat, the Skoda was a disappointment- we plan to do quite a lot of touring in this new car, and hopefully some stints down to the South of France...and for us Octavia was too big, and the Fabia was too utilitarian to spend a long time in, in our opinion, although absolutely perfect for the daily commute. The Honda does have all the bells and whistles but OH banged his head on it every time he went to get in and out (he's not hugely tall but does have a very long back) so he was annoyed with it before we even left the garage..so a bit of a non-starter! I thought the seats in the Volvo C30 were the most comfortable I have ever sat in, but the boot space and boot access were not what we were looking for (although I'd be happy to have one of these as a second car ) YOur opinions as always greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted July 24, 2011 Share Posted July 24, 2011 My current company car is a BMW 1 series. They are nearly all 2litre models despite the confusing categories, mine is the 118d but is still 2l Its 2.5 years old and I have driven 100,000 miles in it so I know it pretty well I wouldnt have another for the simple reason that it is extremely uncomfortable on long journeys Good points: Fun to drive, its a really fun sporty car and the 2l engine in a small car means its shifts pretty well traction control 6 gears, cruises at wonderfully low revs on motorway brilliant responsive steering fuel economy, I get 55mpg aprox (but do mostly motorway driving) cheap tax at £35 a year for my diesel Stereo and speakers are very good Bad points: cheap uncomfy seats, awful lack of gadgets on many models mine came with run-flat tyres as standard, brilliant idea but really really expensive, these give a hard ride too hard suspension - you feel every bump in the road no cup holder (say what you like but you WILL miss this!) Small hatchback aperture, makes loading some things very restrictive Back seat passengers have very little leg room Expensive parts if you inisist on genuine manufacturers ones Its quite a low car and can make for awkward entry/exits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadietoo Posted July 25, 2011 Author Share Posted July 25, 2011 Thanks Redwing.... we'll go back and have another look/ test drive, since comfort on long journeys is one of our criteria, and we hadn't found much difference in the back seat leg room between any of the models we were looking at.Interesting comments about the load access too We did test drive the A3 and that was a very smooth ride, but the BMW was ahead on our list because it was just a bit more snappy! Thanks again for replying, what would I do without this forum? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 If there is a model of 1 series that has adjustable lumbar and headrests then it would be a good buy overall One other thing about the BMW is that they are useless in the ice and snow as are rear wheel drive (makes for fun driving the rest of the time though!) I test drove the Audi A3 before choosing the beamer but found the A3 un-necessarily noisy and 'revvy' - the one I test drove only had 5 gears so I dont think that helped. otherwise the A3 was a lovely car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gongladosh Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Yep, you won't go far wrong with a 120d - they're quite nice to drive, and as with all BMW diesels, they're pretty brisk and economical. As for the rear wheel drive in the snow factor, yes, all rear wheel drive cars are appalling in the snow. Last December I spent 16 hours (yes!) stuck in the m40 in 1 foot deep snow in my 3 series... Most painful journey of my life! It's nice to drive other than that though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
