Dacia Duster.

[Retired]

Hi,

Many thanks Colin. Yes it will be the more powerful petrol 105PS version we'll go for; I note one model has a seven speed gearbox which should give better mpg?

The Monte Carlo appears to be made in short production runs of 1,000 cars which isn't a problem because these are based on the standard Fabia. Bron and I like the red with black roof. We'll also have a look at the new model just out the RAPID which looks good and in our price range. Perhaps a boat might be a better choice if this rain doesn't let up?

David (Yorkie) bought a new Fabia Elegance late last year which I've had a good look at and its a beauty; David's though is the diesel version because he does a lot of mileage.

Kind regards, Col.

[Refugee]

They will scare you into buying a pipe that bypasses the filter as that is what the video was made for.
The filter would have to be refitted for each MOT in order to avoid a failure due to the smoke test.
The smoke test involves sharply increasing the throttle setting while monitoring the exhaust fumes. They are looking for the puff of black smoke it makes during acceleration.

[pwdrive]

Apart from the possible extra carrying capacity/pulling power etc I can't quite see why folks would want to buy a 4wd motor if they don't intend to use it off road, if there is serious snow/ice on the road then do yourself and the emergency services a favour, don't drive in such conditions.

I don't know the insurance companies view on this but if I ran an insurance company the first question I would ask in respect of a claim during adverse road conditions would be did you take the emergency services advice and if not why not, no credible explanation would result in no credible pay out.
If the insurance companies don't already do this then I can foresee the day coming when they will.

Lawrence.

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks Refugee; yes I realized the company in the video was trying to sell its product but this is only one video on the subject of particulate filters shown on YouTube; the fact is though that for low annual mileage these filters are trouble?

Please move to Huddersfield Lawrence.

Kind regards, Colin.

[pwdrive]

Nah, I'll miss the bad weather Col.

Lawrence.

[pwdrive]

Here yer go Col.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MINI-PICK-UP-V...mobiles_UK&hash=item461ad6832c

Lawrence.

[ed731pdh]

Of marques not catching on, pity the poor Chevrolet owner who after the middle of this year will have little support as the brand withdraws from the European market.

[Yorkie]

I've mentioned before the 'J.D. Power Survey' of customer satisfaction with both the manufacturers overall, and with individual models of cars. I never take any notice of reviews by motoring journalists because they lack objectivity - often the journalist are taken on 'jollies' to exotic places to see new models, and they don't bite the hand that feeds them, or they might not get asked back next time. Also some 'reviews' are nothing more than paid for videos made by the manufacturers to show the features and benefits of their vehicles to best advantage. Basically, marketing their vehicles - advertising dressed up as editorial - in marketing terms, known as 'advertorial'.

I'm much more interested in what actual owners of vehicles have to say about their experience in owning and driving their cars.

The J.D. Power Survey of 16,000 car owners in the UK covers 116 models that are between one and three years old. Only models with more than 4000 sales and 50 clean surveys are eligible for inclusion. In total, respondents had clocked up more than 340 million miles in their cars. Owners rank their vehicles on 66 criteria, which are grouped to deliver an overall score. Points are accumulated to provide scores for good reliability, performance, service and running costs, which are then expressed as a percentage score.

There's still a large element of subjectivity when owners are asked to rate 'overall comfort' or road-holding capability', but there are some aspects where the answers will be objective, such as 'has the car broken down?, or 'have you experience any defects, if so, what have they been?

I think that 'prestige cars' will sometimes score low because the makers' hype tends to over-promise, and the cars may under-deliver'. If you're fobbing out >£50K then you're going to expect near perfection, which is an unrealistic expectation because hey - it's just a car, and if it conks out, people may laugh at you for being sucked in by hype and you won't like that.

The 2013 Survey results have recently been released.

In terms of overall satisfaction with manufacturers, with Jaguar tops the rankings.

In terms of customer satisfaction with individual vehicles, the Skoda Superb topped the list, with the Skoda Yeti second, pushing the Jaguar XF into third place. It has to be said though that only three percentage points separates the Skoda Superb in No 1 spot, and the VW Tiguan in 20th.

2013 JD Power Customer satisfaction survey - individual car model results (I've just shown the top and bottom twenty models):

Top twenty:

1. Skoda Superb 83.0%
2. Skoda Yeti 82.8%
3. Jaguar XF 82.7%
4= Citroën DS3 82.2%
4= Lexus RX 82.2%
6= Honda Jazz 82.0%
6= Volkswagen Passat CC 82.0%
8. Volvo S60/V60 81.9%
9= Lexus IS 81.4%
9= Mercedes-Benz B-Class 81.4%
9= Toyota Prius 81.4%
12. Mercedes-Benz C-Class 81.3%
13= Kia Sportage 81.1%
13= Mercedes-Benz E-Class 81.1%
15. Saab 9-3 81.0%
16. Ford C-Max/Grand C-Max 80.9%
17= Skoda Octavia 80.8%
17= Volvo XC60 80.8%
19. Nissan Qashqai 80.7%
20. Volkswagen Tiguan 80.6%

Bottom 20:

96=Kia Picanto 75.8%
98=Mazda 6 75.3%
98=Nissan Micra 75.3%
100. Citroën C1 75.2%
101= Renault Clio 75.1%
101= Suzuki Alto 75.1%
103. Peugeot 207 CC 75.0%
104. Peugeot 207 74.8%
105= Peugeot 308 74.6%
105= Vauxhall Corsa 74.6%
107. Kia Rio 74.4%
108= Alfa Romeo Giulietta 74.1%
108= BMW X1 74.1%
108= Citroën C5 74.1%
111. Peugeot 107 73.9%
112. Fiat Panda 73.7%
113. Ford Ka 72.2%
114. Fiat Grande Punto/Punto Evo 72.0%
115. Alfa Romeo MiTo 70.7%
116. Chevrolet Spark 70.2

Industry Average77.6%

Full Results here: http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-ca...el-results

2013 JD Power Customer satisfaction survey - full list of manufacturer results:

1. Jaguar 82.7%
2. Lexus 81.8%
3. Honda 81.0%
4. Škoda 80.9%
5. Mercedes-Benz 80.4%
6. Land Rover 79.0%
7. Volvo 78.9%
8. Toyota 78.8%
9= Nissan 78.7%
9= Seat 78.7%
9= Volkswagen 78.7%
12. BMW 78.5%
13. Audi 78.0%
14. Citroën 77.7%
15= Kia 77.5%
15= MINI 77.5%
17. Hyundai 77.2%
18. Ford 77.1%
19. Renault 76.6%
20. Mazda 76.2%
21. Suzuki 75.8%
22. Vauxhall 75.6%
23. Fiat 75.4%
24. Peugeot 75.0%
25. Mitsubishi 74.5%
26. Alfa Romeo 72.5%
27. Chevrolet 69.1%

Industry Average77.6%

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/new-ca...er-results

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-reviews/skoda

Really, we all base our views on our own experiences and those who we know. Until recently, because we get 25% discont on Fiats due to a family member working there, for 20 years we've had Fiats - four Pandas and a Seicento for my wife, and two Stylos and two Bravas for me. They never skipped a beat and never failed an MOT - excellent dealership too.

We've don't need two cars any more so have gone down to one car. Hence, the Panda has gone to our younger son, and I traded my Bravia in for a Skoda Fabia because it's bigger than a Panda, but not so big that my wife would feel inhibited from driving it. (Fiat don't have any models that would meet our present needs). Both the Panda and Fiat are towards the bottom of both the above lists, but not reflective of our experiences. The Panda had an annual service, MOT and a free full valet inside and out which came to just £110 in September.

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks for the link Lawrence; that's a car you won't see on our drive.

What a surprise ed in that Chevrolet are pulling out of Europe; this is the first I've heard of it and I wonder how long it will be before Dacia also pull out; I see quite a few Chevrolet's on my travels but as yet not one Dacia; I'll keep looking out for Dacia models though just out of interest.

The J.D.Power Survey is indeed a good yardstick to judge a car by David and many thanks for adding all the assorted details and links. I've been watching both road test reports on both the Duster and Fabia but as you rightly say these will be biased with the test reporter not wanting to offend the manufacturers; however I've also been looking at forums where actual owners who have parted with their cash give their own opinions.

I remember Daewoo being introduced into the UK amid a barrage of TV publicity adverts and these cars appeared to sell in quantity but is this another marque which has now failed in the UK? UK car owners want a top quality car at a low price but when a low priced budget car appears once the honeymoon is over these budget cars disappear just as quickly as they arrived?

I mentioned previously that I never consider buying either Ford or Vauxhall cars so it's interesting to me to see that the Vauxhall Corsa and Ford Ka have done so poorly in the ratings? Our immediate neighbour has just traded her Corsa in and bought a new Skoda Citygo because she was spending £50 per week on fuel for the Corsa; she is amazed by the savings on the Citygo and loves the Citygo saying just how good it is. The Citygo is too small for us but looks to be a decent car.

We pay our money and take our choice but as with so many things it pays to do some homework before handing over large amounts of cash; having said this though what might please one might displease another?

A test drive isn't always valid either because the test drive is generally over a short distance and as it involves driving a strange car with unfamiliar controls there is too much to take in to form an objective opinion? Bron and I took a test drive in an Aygo before buying one but this didn't reveal a rather nice water feature which we only found out was an extra after taking delivery. Each time it rains which it often does when the rear glass hatch is opened all the water on the glass is deposited straight into the boot; very welcome I'm sure on four bags of shopping?

Kind regards, Col.

[Yorkie]

I remember Daewoo being introduced into the UK amid a barrage of TV publicity adverts and these cars appeared to sell in quantity but is this another marque which has now failed in the UK?

Daewoo car division was taken over by GM in 2001 and in the UK, what were Daewoo cars were re-badged as Chevrolet, but after their brief moment in the sun, they seemed to fade into obscurity. At one time they were marketed by Halford's. The reason Daewoo pulled out wasn't entirely of its own volition or the failure of it's cars to penetrate the market, but as a result of the Korean Government's intervention. Daewoo was founded on 22 March 1967 as Daewoo Industrial and was dismantled by the Korean government in 1999.

Prior to the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997, Daewoo was the second largest conglomerate in Korea after Hyundai Group, followed by LG Group and Samsung Group. There were about 20 divisions under the Daewoo Group, some of which survive today as independent companies. Daewoo was forced to sell off its automotive Daewoo Motor division to General Motors (GM) in 2001. Since then, GM has re-badged Daewoo-manufactured cars as models of many GM brands, including Chevrolet Buick, Pontiac, Holden, and Suzuki. The GM Daewoo nameplate was kept only for South Korea and Vietnam until 2011.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daewoo

Hyundai seem to be doing well in the UK, especially with the Ii0 and Sante Fe 'crossover' vehicle, which is trying to take market share from the Nissan Quashqui. (Hyundai's five-yr warranty is a good confidence builder).