This thread is so old... but so actual for me
So, in 2012 I had a used Citroen C5 2.0i 143hp from 2005, between the payment, the petrol, the reapairs and other, I was broke. This was a very expensive car for me to have at that time.
Going forward for a bit, had company cars for 5 years, all good but, as usual, I had to move on, lost a lot of time at that company.
In 2018, I bought a used Skoda Fabia 1.6 TDI 90hp from 2011 and I had to do some repairs, but I managed to find all the problems and had it working well and sold it. Of course, I had to diagnose it myself as it seems I am having a hard time finding a good diagnostician. The EGR was bad but 2 shops were not able to find the issue. I had to learn how the TDI engine works and what it behaves alongside the turbo, the EGR and so on and them have somebody replace the part. It was fun... if it wouldn't be so frustrating. Then I decided to sell it because I was not comfortable diagnosing the car's problems myself. At this time I was a bit more specialized so I was not absolutely broke for the first time.
In the first time of 2019, I bought the best used car I ever had, it was a 2008 Dacia Logan Prestige 1.6 16v 105hp. It was a 1 owner car and that owner was my colleague. It had some minor issues, brake shoes on the back, some shocks and a steering pump sensor but, besides that, it worked great, HOWEVER we had our first long jurney (600 km both ways) and my back was really hurting from the bad seats. It was just terrible. Another problem was that, even with the AC being optioned on this car, there was no cabin air filter and all the dust and the smells from outside will just go inside. After 3 months I sold it and I was really salty as this was a good car mechanically speaking, but it was not a good fit for my needs.
At this point, in September 2019, I ordered my first new car (owned by me) and it arrived in October 2019. It was a base model Hyundai i30, white, with a 1.4 MPI petrol engine making 100hp. Being a new car, it worked flawlessly, absolutely no issue in 1 year and 9 months that I had it. I had done 16 000km in this time. Problem is that the car was a bit bland - because it was the base model, there was no powerful engine or many options added. It had a basic radio with bluetooth and USB, a nice steering will wrapped in leather and all the buttons on it but that was about all. The region I live in is a hilly one and I could use a bit more power. When I was driving through the mountains, the power was even less (because of the elevation) and I was forced to use the first gear for a lot of uphill roads. Because I did not enjoy the car, the full insurance was quite some money I decided to sell the car and get a better one - maybe same model but a better engine and some more options. I did sell the car with about the same money I bought it (thanks to this situation we are in at this time) and put the money in an S&P ETF. Mind you when I bought the i30 I was starting to learn a lot and I already had an acceptable job, I had some money from the previous car, I had some money saved and borrowed some from my parents, that I quickly returned.
Now I had no car and no money (all being invested). I started to look for a cheap car, I started talking again with my old Citroen C5 mechanic and asking him how it's doing and if he is still working on Citroens. I have looked for a C5 in the online sites and I think I checked about 5 of them, starting from 1800 euro to 3000 euro, petrol, diesel, automatic, manual, estate / sedan. They were all bad. Just bad, in an unrecoverable state. Then I talked some more with my mechanic and he told me that a client of him wants to sell his C5 and I should take a look as it's a good car. Well, it was the best of all I have checked and the cheapest
This is a 2003 Citroen C5 2.0 HDI Sedan with about 300 000km on the clock.
Now, after 9000km done with the car, I still have some annoying problems and I'm just not enjoying the process of diagnosing it and my mechanic I think it's kind of busy so he cannot work very often on the car. I got the car with 1250 euro, I think I am about another 1000 euro in it, the car got new tires - both winter and summer, new headlight / windshield wiper stalks, new windshield, a used cd player, new mats, disc brakes and may more. To be honest, renting a car each time I went on a trip would have been more expensive so I kind of got my money's worth and maybe I will still get some money for it when I will sell it, but not that much I would say.
However, now I am thinking about getting a new car or an almost new car. The options on my shortlist, right now, are as follows:
1. Get a manual 1.0 TGDI (3 cylinder) 120hp Kia Ceed from 2019, 21k on the clock for 12 000 euro, still 4 years left on the warranty. I has 17inch alloys, android auto, navigation, parking sensors, rear camera, auto climate and other options but no heated seats and steering wheel and no lumbar adjustments.
2. Get a manual 1.5 TGDI (4 ciylinder) 160hp, Mild Hibrid Hyundai i30 brand new for 17 500 euro, 5 years warranty, 16inch alloys, wireless android auto, rear parking sensors, rear camera, auto climate, heated seats am lumbar adjustments in the driver's seat. I'll have to wait 6 months for this one.
There are, of course, other differences but they don't make a great difference for me, these are the main ones. Why I'm comparing a Kia Ceed to a Hyundai i30? Because they are about the same car and the i30 has a better price in Romania compared to the Ceed and I could not find a suitable i30 on the used car market.
Why there is not a french car in the list? I think the new french cars are not at the same level they used to. In the same way, I think that Kia and Hyundai from the 2000s were less that their french counterparts.
This is what keeps me awake at night and I shared it with you. Please feel free to add your thoughts.
