Wuvvum in 21st century car shock

[wuvvum]

Well, it's finally happened. I've finally got round to buying a 51-plate car. I picked it up from Southampton last night.

 

 

 

It's a 2.5 V6 with a 4-speed tiptronic auto 'box. It's only an LX so not particularly lavishly equipped - it has four electric windows and aircon, but no climate control, cruise or electric seats. It's done 123K, which is quite a bit for a 2001 car, but it's had one owner from new and has a full main dealer service history with it. It's actually quite pleasant to drive - surprisingly quick when it needs to be (got from 70 to 120 in pretty short order when I got the hump with some twat in a Focus ST who tried to flash me out of the way when I was halfway through overtaking an artic), and the handling is pretty good too - not a great deal of feel through the steering, but it clings on pretty well and is not at all the wallowy barge I was expecting. It's got a few odd scuffs, including a bit of a depression near the front of the roof panel where it looks like someone's stood a heavy box on it or something, but it's still a smart-looking car (I reckon anyway). Interior is much as you'd expect - well screwed together, and everything works (including the parking sensors - first car I've had with working parking sensors) but some of the plastics feel a bit cheap and cheerful. Overall though I'm pretty pleased with it, especially since it was bloody cheap for a big relatively modern car.

 

The this morning I picked this up.

 

 

You may remember I won it last weekend after Mr Hirst posted it on the eBay tat thread knowing full well that I wouldn't be able to resist. It drove 160 miles home without missing a beat, sitting happily at 85-90 on the motorway, although it seems to kangaroo a bit at low revs on a light throttle, so progress at 30 in fourth is slightly jerky. Performance is not dissimilar to my other Colt - it has a bit more power but a bit more weight too - but motorway cruising is far more civilised as the five-speed box means it's doing 3,200rpm at 70 instead of 4,300. It's not been looked after as well as the other Colt, and the interior needs a bloody good clean, but overall it's done pretty well for its age.

 

The only other recent addition to the fleet is this:

 

 

It started out life as a cheap Chinese 125cc scooter (a Yiben Warrior to be exact) but after various bits seized up and fell off it was rebuilt by the chap I bought it from (who works in a bike shop) into what you see here, complete with ported & polished head, rejetted carb and a home-made exhaust with a Suzuki 600 Bandit can which makes it the horniest-sounding rev'n'go 125 I've ever heard. Unfortunately the aftermarket twin projector headlight is absolutely pants and makes riding in the dark more guesswork than anything else, so I'm going to have to do something about that, but otherwise I'm happy with it - and a 57-plate bike for £155 is cheap in anyone's book.

 

So there you go. After a bit of a bleak period in the life of the wuvvum fleet, due to various circumstances which (fingers crossed) are now sorted, I'm gradually getting back into my old shite-buying routine. Which is a good thing, I think.

[Milford Cubicle]

http://www.sniffpetrol.com/issue020.html

 

How much was the Magentis out of interest? It looks quite smart.

[Timewaster]

It may be 21st century - still shite though!

[reallyloud]

The Magentis is a handsome looking car. What a shame they never did an estate version, I think that would helped sold a few more kias here. I prefer this to the similarly aged Hyundai Sonata - but the outgoing Sonata is another one of those cars I would have a perverse hanking over.

[MrRegieRitmo]

There's a current Sonata in the car park at work, a very smart looking machine, could pass for a Lexus or something of that ilk!

[retrogeezer]

I saw a Sonata in the Asda car park t'other day and it looked very Audi A4 from the rear...I had to look twice to make sure it was a Hyundai.

 

 

I like the Magentis too by the way...there is a black one in my road and it looks pretty smart.

[MrRegieRitmo]

 

I think it looks like this Lexus LS350

 

[Milford Cubicle]

I like the Sonata, it has neat old-fashioned, clean lines you don't see in many cars today, especially with all the makers trying to out-ugly and out-bloat each other

[wuvvum]

http://www.sniffpetrol.com/issue020.htmlHow much was the Magentis out of interest?

Heh, I might've guessed Sniffpetrol would have something to say about the Magentis... It was £450, which I reckon is pretty cheap for an MoT'd 51-plate car.

[Split_Pin]

Hey I'm keen on that Magentis. I think they look kind of similar at a glance to a Hyundai XG30.Nice find

[Ratdat]

That's a steal at £450. I'd definately drive that, it looks pretty good to me.

[pompei]

Is it a killer on the consumption?

[wuvvum]

Depends how you drive it, but it's not that bad. It's no Polo Bluemotion but it's better than the Alfa 166, which was the last V6-engined saloon I had. I reckon I've averaged about 30mpg so far, although that was mostly motorway driving.

[r.welfare]

Unbelieveable value, and being based on Mazda bits (626 I think?) it should hold together. What's the RFL level on this these days, presumably being a V6 auto the CO2 is pretty high - mind you, they've backed down from the £420 proposal haven't they?

[nigel bickle]

Yup -nice buy. Pretty good looking too.Going cabbing this weekend?

[wuvvum]

Unbelieveable value, and being based on Mazda bits (626 I think?) it should hold together. What's the RFL level on this these days, presumably being a V6 auto the CO2 is pretty high - mind you, they've backed down from the £420 proposal haven't they?

I think the top whack now is £400, but that's for things like V8-engined Land Cruisers and the like. The Magentis is £210 a year, so not a lot more than it would have been if it had been older. From what I've read about these on the net, most of the mechanicals are shared with the contemporary Hyundai Sonata. I think it was the Clarus that was based on the 626. Claruses are good value too, but they're fugly.

[wuvvum]

Going cabbing this weekend?

See that's something that's always puzzled me about these - why are so many used as minicabs? Yes they're big, comfortable and reliable, so GR8 4 minicabbing in that respect, but surely if you're doing the kind of mileage a taxi would rack up, the increased fuel costs over, say, a Mondeo TDCi would outweigh the lower purchase price.

[dollywobbler]

That is VALUE! Crikey. Now I want some modern barge action...

[Guest greenvanman]

 

Tweaked 125 with a wheelbase the length of one of your car ramps = white knuckle ride fo sho!

[AnthonyG]

I saw a Sonata in the Asda car park t'other day and it looked very Audi A4 from the rear...I had to look twice to make sure it was a Hyundai.

 

 

 

These are very popular in the States. It helps that it looks very similar to the previous generation US Toyota Camry, which was always either the first or second highest selling saloon car over there.

 

Plus Hyundai USA are doing a offer on their new cars - if you lose your job you can give the car back with no comeback or debt owed on the finance or lease!

[bravo sierra echo]

Plus Hyundai USA are doing a offer on their new cars - if you lose your job you can give the car back with no comeback or debt owed on the finance or lease!

Bloody hell. That's a sign of the times!

[AnthonyG]

Plus Hyundai USA are doing a offer on their new cars - if you lose your job you can give the car back with no comeback or debt owed on the finance or lease!

Bloody hell. That's a sign of the times!

Its probably quite a sound business idea - just calculate the likely comeback rate - say 10-15% at most I would have thought, versus the sales uplift. Probably about 5-10% of your sales get repo'd anyway - possibly more in the US, the original land of 'easy credit'.Obviously it depends on the area - I wouldn't want be a dealer in a town where a major manufacturing plant is about to go tits up!

[Pillock]

What a delightful offer that is! "Buy a car, don't worry if you get made redundant" I guess it saves the hassle of having to repo the cars after the owner misses all the payments though, you get the car back quicksmart and in one piece, the owner gets let off the finance.Course, the simple option to Mr Might-lose-his-job is not to go splashing out on a new car, but hey......