Car Suggestion - Around £6000

[Gerrard]

So I tested a petrol 156bhp GT last night. After spending a few years driving a diesel, I think I need to learn how to drive a petrol to get the most out of it! There is another one I might go and see tomorrow if I get time off work tomorrow, which is similar spec and mileage, but has the SatNav option. Is the SatNav any good? I have a Garmin standalone device anyway and I have read something that it gets in the way of the visiblity?

I do have a concern with them though; the petrol versions seem to suffer from timimg belt tensioner failures (common to the engine across numerous makes and models). I might also try the diesel version as well and see how that compares.

[mistral_blue]

Indeed, yes it is a potential weakness of that engine across mini, DS3 and rcz I think, I'm on 25k miles so far an no problems other than a whiny fuel pump replaced under warranty.

Wrt sat nav, wouldn't be too fussed, IMO factory satnav goes out of date/has limited support whereas portable stuff is easily replaced/updated so I wouldn't go out of my way for it.

Wrt engine, yeah you need to rev these petrols to get em shifting. Try a 200GT if you can find one, will put a smile on your face... Diesels are apparently very good too, not as quick at higher speeds but torquey and efficient where it counts for overtaking.

[circuitmonkey]

The first gens do and in fact mine is booked in on Friday to have mine done, so glad I got them to throw in a 3 year warranty! Worth checking if it's been done already as I believe the replacement tensioner and guides fix the problem. The SatNav is OK, takes getting use to, I've got the NG4 unit and it only has 5 digit postcode searching (surprisingly not a deal breaker if you know the full address) and no Bluetooth streaming which is quite annoying.
If you do the miles a diesel may be worth considering, the engine is pretty bullet proof but like any modern diesel with a particulate filter doesn't like short runs

[mistral_blue]

On the subject of warranties, I took out the Peugeot platinum warranty which covers it once you get outside 3 years...

I'm not sure how it works if the manufacturers warranty has expired, but a Peugeot dealer will tell you if they can cover you or not (or there's Warranty Direct of course...)

If you Google it you can read the PDF, Platinum covers cars <5 years old & 80k miles or there's Gold, which I'd <10 yrs old and 100k miles. Well worth it for peace of mind if you're worried about timing chains etc...

Personally I'd go for an extended warranty on any new/nearly new car now as they are so complex and expensive to fix, especially with the current trend in smaller, highly strung engines...

If you were buying from a dealer vs private I'd try and negotiate fitting of upgraded chains into the price for an older car...

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/peugeot/rcz-2010/

[kalniel]

So I tested a petrol 156bhp GT last night. After spending a few years driving a diesel, I think I need to learn how to drive a petrol to get the most out of it!

Tell me about it.. I went from a 140ps old 2.0tdi heavy A3 to a sparkly 150ps 1.4tfsi light new A3.. and it feels sooo slow! It's not, it just has neither the shove in the back from the torque at low revs from a diesel nor the near red line urgency of a non-turbo petrol engine.

[Butcher]

Tell me about it.. I went from a 140ps old 2.0tdi heavy A3 to a sparkly 150ps 1.4tfsi light new A3.. and it feels sooo slow! It's not, it just has neither the shove in the back from the torque at low revs from a diesel nor the near red line urgency of a non-turbo petrol engine.

Also the new shape A3s have little sense of speed, they're too comfortable in a sense.

[Gerrard]

So I have put a deposit down on a 156bhp GT version; '11 plate and only 30k miles. I'll be picking it up next weekend, where they will no doubt be pushing the extras like hell (they were trying it today...). They gave me a warranty leaflet (Safe & Sound) and one of the first exclusions I saw was timing belts, so that's not worth getting! Mind you, they never are.

So thanks for the suggestion.

[mistral_blue]

Great news, that's a nice mileage for the age. What colour is it? Good work on getting the GT, it's worth it for the extras. You'll have to post some pics when you pick it up!

[circuitmonkey]

Congratulations and welcome to the club!

[mistral_blue]

Oh and if you've not already, get yourself on the RCZ Forum, we're a friendly bunch!

[Gerrard]

It's dark grey (charcoal?). Whilst blue would have been nice, as long as it wasn't pink, I wasn't too bothered!

I had been looking through the RCZ forums a bit before buying for research; I see you have an XKR, which was one of the cars I was looking at getting when I was looking for a V8 before settling with the CLK 500.

[mistral_blue]

A fine colour choice (although I'm biased, same colour!). Yeah I still have XKR, off the road at the moment but hope to have her up and running again for summer... Great fun but £££ to run/maintain daily (which I did for 5 years!), hence the RCZ for daily driver now!

[circuitmonkey]

Snap!

[mistral_blue]

Lolz - and here's mine before I picked it up!



Still waiting to get the wheels I want for it though...

https://www.first4auto.com/uploads/a...edCarbon02.jpg

[Gerrard]

Well, I've now picked it up. The road noise is a bit more than I am used to, but no real surprise given the 19" wheels. The dealer was good enough on their word to touch up all the alloys (they had all been curbed to some extent), so now look tidier. However, the engine is incredibly quiet, especially at idle when I thought it had Start/Stop. Looks a bit odd when you look in the side mirrors and see the rear wheel arch bulges, and seeing the rear windscreen so close when you look behind you. I have quickly noticed how lazy I have become in my previous Mercs, since they had a rear camera and I am used to glancing at the SatNav to check the speed limits!

It is wider than my C-Class, as I have to fold the wing mirrors in to get it into my garage; I could leave them out normally. Still, at least it fits! It won't get much running this week as I am away again later on this week.

[mistral_blue]

Good work. What tyres are on it? I've just changed some cheapies off our Octy for GY Eagle F1s and it is waaay quieter... Worth bearing in mind when you come to change. Enjoy your new rcz, hope to see you on the forum at some point!