R9UKE's French Car Blog...

[robert_e_smart]

Rosyth!, Vel Satis Petrol! Whats the hold up!? Use the insurance claim to buy that, petrol, and some tat!

[KP]

Turbo seals, egr, lambda sensors.... Aren't these all things fitted to that vel???

I've owned plenty of turbo petrol and derv and Serb are much more reliable!!

[R9UKE]

Robert, don't worry, if and when I get word I'll be straight over for that! There's only 13 2.0 T Autos in the UK

Yes - but it's a much better behaved unit than a dCi, plus I don't mind putting those things right when the car is a pleasure to drive when it works - a diesel just isn't. Sorry, but I really really really hate diesels. Robert gets a rant every time I drive one of his diesel XMs!

[robert_e_smart]

Yeah, but you aren't allergic enough to not drive them!

[KP]

Go and test drive a new FFRR 4.4 TDV8 and see if you still hate them AS much

Truly great sound and even better i've heard are the 3.6 TDV8 units when sports systems are fitted properly

You fancying another 540 then for a few weeks before moving it on?

Do we need to get jim to rename your username to Mike_Brewer_Junior...... LOL

[Citroenmad]

Sounds like it might be good news for your Megane.

The Chevy does seem to get decent reviews and its probably cheap to buy, but it s certainly no looker!

A Hydundai accent! Luke, your liking a Chevrolet Spark and have bought an Accident, im starting to worry about your sanity Ive driven a manual version of those Accents and that is by far the most drearery car in the word, the manual box was total rubbish, so I can't imagine the auto being any worse! I realise im not easily pleased with cars now, but an Accent is pretty dreary. Ive been driving a 61 plate Audi TT Cabrio today, I could not wait to get out of it! Over priced, low quality, noisey, not sporty, fashion tat!

The 2.0HDi 407 is a nice car and uses the same engine which I have in my C5 and that is a superb engine. An excellent diesel engine and I would not be without a gutsy diesel with 50mpg.

I couldn't live without a diesel, that is not an overstatement I simply cant justify the fuel a decent sized petrol uses for use as my everyday car. I do about 400 miles a week at the moment, between two diesel cars, that mileage in a petrol doing 30mpg-ish would be about £85-£90, that is not justifiable to me! I also like the drive of diesels, the torque at low revs and the refinement they offer. Though im not trying to convert you Luke, I doubt thats even possible

That Vel 2.0T Auto looks superb Luke, I hope you buy it anyway, it will sit in your collection of Meg an Avantime very nicely

When will you find out if your Megane is repairable or not?

[R9UKE]

Do we need to get jim to rename your username to Mike_Brewer_Junior...... LOL

LOL Brilliant! Feel free! I am in desperate need of an Ed China to mop up my messes though - any volunteers!??

OK, so the 540i was very sexy indeed. Black leather this time, car phone, M Sport steering wheel. It sold for £400. Why didn't I buy it? Transmission completely shot. No drive forward or backwards. When Renault's auto boxes give up, they at least have the decency to retain reverse!!

Right. Now a few words on the Spark - I need to justify the insanity of liking a Chevy. First thing is very important. Erase ALL perceptions of this being a new Matiz. A Matiz it is not. Once you're over the hideous attempt at styling, the tiny wheels with only centre caps, and the shame of opening it with the key in the lock, we have a very capable little car indeed. The seats are nice, the dash is styled really well and everything has a pleasant feel to it. The steering has a great feel to it, it zips around the city really well and despite quite a lot of road noise, the ride isn't bad at all. The reason I am so impressed by this is that you don't feel a cheap b*stard in the slightest while driving it. The climate controls have a lovely feel to them and the blue back lights look great at night, they also shine down into the cup holder and storage area which looks great. Although... they forgot to put a clock in, which is very annoying.



It feels like a quality car. I've driven C1s, Foxes, and a few other miserable city cars, and these all led me to believe I was in for a horrible time with this. When in a C1, it properly lets you know that you're a cheap sh*t. Everything from the stupid pop out rear windows to the exhaust note reminiscent of an 80s Metro. Before ANY of you (that includes you, Chris) even think about defending these PSA Puss balls, take a ride in a Spark first. You'll soon see exactly what I'm talking about. It's successfully proven to me that a cheap new car actually can be very good.

The fuel light was on, I put in £30 and it got to near full. Not used to that!

Truly great sound and even better i've heard are the 3.6 TDV8 units when sports systems are fitted properly

Ah... but how great do the Petrols sound!?? This is one thing I ranted to Robert about - another thing I love about big Petrols is that the person driving has thrown two fingers up to his own bank balance. Take the BMW 535d. Stunning performance, perhaps even better than the 540i, but this person has still wanted to retain a little sanity. The person who orders the 540i has just gone mad and opted for the completely illogical choice. I love that. Same with those mad people who walked in to Renault dealerships and asked for a 3.0 Petrol V6 in their Espace. Uber cool people.

Which takes me back nicely to that dCi Mégane you posted, Robert. Imagine having "dCi" written on the side of my Mégane instead of "2.0 16v". Looking like a logical, self preserving, "normal" motorist. NO THANK YOU!! Not even a £30 road tax bill as opposed to £245 will see me out of it.

Ive been driving a 61 plate Audi TT Cabrio today, I could not wait to get out of it!

Get a similar feeling every time I'm in VAG rubbish! The new fog light dance when indicating or turning is particularly annoying.

That Vel 2.0T Auto looks superb Luke, I hope you buy it anyway, it will sit in your collection of Meg an Avantime very nicely

When will you find out if your Megane is repairable or not?

That was always the dream. A beautifully spec'd Mégane, Avantime and Vel Satis side by side. 2 out of 3. I'm VERY tempted by it. It's a cert if the Mégane isn't coming back, but if it is, I want the "permanent" Vel to be a 3.5 V6.

Body shop seemed pretty busy, I have a feeling it'll be some time next week before I hear

Rant over, thank you for listening, petrol rules.

[KP]

Well i'll give it to you that the petrol RR may sound nicer, but it is a big old 5.0litre supercharged V8 and thus has reason to be and the cheapest new ones are about £80k.. 4.4TDV8's come in at around £68k....

VAG's are rubbish of late. I had to drive a lot of Avis cars over the last 2years for work and went thru golfs and jettas and passats. the Mrs seemed to like them but i preferred the Alfa Guilietta 2.0JTDm instead and she really liked that and the one i think i could get her into would be a cloverleaf version but we will wait and see how the economy goes and the SSS before she moves on to another car

[lexi]

Is a 1.8 Almera a boring car? I have been driving one this week.

Either I am totally bored ATM or it's the car .Bored Shi**ess........Lexi

[robert_e_smart]

I had the pleasure of driving the Spark today. I was expecting motorings worst piece of drivel. But I was mightily impressed by the whole thing. It has been well thought out, and I liked the design of the fascia. It even had suspension, something that many more expensive cars don't have.

[R9UKE]

And I didn't even pay him to say that ^

KP - I'm seeing quite a few Guiliettas around. Very sexy indeed, I juts hope the interior isn't too "Fiat".

Is a 1.8 Almera a boring car? I have been driving one this week.

Either I am totally bored ATM or it's the car .Bored Shi**ess........Lexi

Oh dear. Jap Scrap! That's about as boring as motoring comes, Lexi. It's on par with a Toyota Corolla. Shall I ship you over this? It'll be a damn sight more interesting, albeit for all the wrong reasons

[R9UKE]

Look at this!!! I shouldn't have left registering on the site so late, it's unlikely the process will be complete before this one ends -

http://auctions.motorhog.co.uk/vehicle_ ... alue=57539" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[robert_e_smart]

I wonder if the gearbox will be better than your last one!

[R9UKE]

The gearbox was fine for me - the car just didn't like it's next owner!!!

[KP]

How much did it go for in the end??

I registered with them a long time go but for one reason and another I let it lapse

They do seem to be getting a lot more dealer disposals lately? Albeit at the bottom end of the market but still