Advice needed: seeking comfortable, automatic car ~R100k

BMW 320d? Mine was rather good on fuel and it was comfortable... runflats may not be to your liking though!
 
My dad bought a Chevrolet Cruze against my better judgement, but now I really love it.
 
neilronaldson said:
Auto's are not fuel efficient - you lucky to get under 12l/100km in a small engined auto...
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*** man. It's not the 90's any more.

Modern conventional autos are maybe .1 - .3 l/100km heavier.

In the case of CVT or Dual Clutch they can be lighter even.

Honda Jazz auto gets under 7l/100 quite easily without trying too hard.

The requirement for a 6l/100 car here is really the (unrealistic) problem, unless it's hybrid or Diesel.
 
GMAN03 said:
Looks reasonable. I'm not a huge fan of the Insight though, sacrifices some practicality for aerodynamic efficiency over the Jazz IMO.

Seriously, don't underestimate the practicality of the Jazz, I can't imagine how I would get by without being able to borrow my mom's every now and then because my Accord is made for people, not goods.
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Yup. Jazz probably the most versatile car out there.

Should be one in every household as a daily runner.
 
I can recommend one of these : http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/661290-Should-I-or-shouldn-t-I-buying-a-slightly-new-car

Recently did two long trips, one to Clanwilliam and another to Uniondale, fully loaded with a bicycle on the back it managed 8.1l /100km with most of the driving done at 120~140 km/h. Had it since 60,000km and it currently has 95,000km on the clock. No major issue but I did have the inconvenience of not being able to open the passenger door from the outside and had to import a new doorlock to fix it. Bought it for R100k so see if you can find something similar.

IMG_20160918_125730577_HDR.jpgIMG_20160918_125741950_HDR.jpg
 
Sodan said:
Guys, what about this 320d?

It falls nicely within my cash budget. And it's for sale in CT.
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Just remember auto box lifetime is about 200k km, but can last longer if it was taken care off. If the auto box fails, your wallet won't be happy!

The engine is rock solid on the 320d.
 
Gtx Gaming said:
Just remember auto box lifetime is about 200k km, but can last longer if it was taken care off. If the auto box fails, your wallet won't be happy!

The engine is rock solid on the 320d.
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Cool, thanks. Will keep that in mind. What sort of costs are we talking about (regarding auto box failure)? And I don't mean stealership prices.
Gonna give my mechanic a call too, see what else he can advise me to look out for.
 
Mmm, Astra H has a cambelt which needs to be replaced every 75000km so that won't be as costly as a chain breaking. Those cost a lot more on a W203, but I'd have one of those instead of the H.

What worries me is all this talk of the autoboxes dying at 200,000km. I know BMW also uses Aisin Seiki in some autos so I do hope my car will give me more than that.
 
Sooo, didn't like the 320d Auto. Felt really odd/sluggish when pulling away (are all autos like this?! - I'm guessing the hybrids are not..?) Beautiful car, but for some reason I just didn't get a good feeling about it. I can't really explain. It just didn't feel... "right".

Sat in some kind of MB Kompressor with leather seats. Seats were too hard.
Test drove an A-Class. Seating (cloth) was comfy enough, but my mechanic said stay away from MB - awful to work on, and the parts are more pricey than BMW/Audi.

Sat in a Honda Insight (cloth seats), and my bum protested.

Sat in a 2007 Honda CRV with leather seats. Comfiness was good. But I don't need such a large vehicle (and, of course, there goes fuel consumption). However, the positive here is that at least some Honda's meet my comfy levels.

What's next? Perhaps an Insight with leather seats. Or a CRZ (but then I'll have to settle for a manual - the CVTs were only released in 2013, and thus too pricey for me).
And Audis are obviously still on the list. Nothing else seems to satisfy my rear-end.

In terms of seating comfort, I think the above will give you guys a clearer picture as to what works for me, and what doesn't. At the end of the day, it's the only real non-negotiable. E.g. if the price is low (sub R100k), then I can be more lax on the fuel consumption requirement.
 
Sodan said:
Sooo, didn't like the 320d Auto. Felt really odd/sluggish when pulling away (are all autos like this?! - I'm guessing the hybrids are not..?) Beautiful car, but for some reason I just didn't get a good feeling about it. I can't really explain. It just didn't feel... "right".

Sat in some kind of MB Kompressor with leather seats. Seats were too hard.
Test drove an A-Class. Seating (cloth) was comfy enough, but my mechanic said stay away from MB - awful to work on, and the parts are more pricey than BMW/Audi.

Sat in a Honda Insight (cloth seats), and my bum protested.

Sat in a 2007 Honda CRV with leather seats. Comfiness was good. But I don't need such a large vehicle (and, of course, there goes fuel consumption). However, the positive here is that at least some Honda's meet my comfy levels.

What's next? Perhaps an Insight with leather seats. Or a CRZ (but then I'll have to settle for a manual - the CVTs were only released in 2013, and thus too pricey for me).
And Audis are obviously still on the list. Nothing else seems to satisfy my rear-end.

In terms of seating comfort, I think the above will give you guys a clearer picture as to what works for me, and what doesn't. At the end of the day, it's the only real non-negotiable. E.g. if the price is low (sub R100k), then I can be more lax on the fuel consumption requirement.
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Strange, I've driven a 320d auto and found the acceleration from 0-60 very quick, quite different to my usual 1.6N/A 77kw (manual) experience. But could be because you're used to something else.
 
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