Thread: small fun car with manual gearbox

Originally Posted by DiscoMick

It's nice to drive, utterly reliable and good quality. I can't see her ever parting with it.

Unlike the Mazda BT50 work ute we have,which is a Ford anyway.
More problems than any other work vehicle we have ever had.
We can’t wait to get rid of it,unfortunately.

Originally Posted by scarry

Unlike the Mazda BT50 work ute we have,which is a Ford anyway.
More problems than any other work vehicle we have ever had.
We can’t wait to get rid of it,unfortunately.

We had that problem with our Citroen C4 Executive Diesel, very unreliable we bought new. Every time it went in for service the list was over 12 things wrong from brakes to catalyst converter that kept blocking up & cruise control that would stop working after 3/4hrs of driving. Dealer would just say they couldn't find anything wrong with it. When it came out of warranty, I took it to a local workshop who worked on European cars & it was a different vehicle, but he couldn't fix the Cat problem, so we traded on a new I30 Premium which we have never had a problem with. Never again.

Originally Posted by 1950landy

We had that problem with our Citroen C4 Executive Diesel, very unreliable we bought new. Every time it went in for service the list was over 12 things wrong from brakes to catalyst converter that kept blocking up & cruise control that would stop working after 3/4hrs of driving. Dealer would just say they couldn't find anything wrong with it. When it came out of warranty, I took it to a local workshop who worked on European cars & it was a different vehicle, but he couldn't fix the Cat problem, so we traded on a new I30 Premium which we have never had a problem with. Never again.

Let me guess... 1.6 clutchless manual. If you get the 2.0 turbo diesel it should have been a very reliable 6spd auto. I only purchased the poogoe above as it had a 6spd manual and a 2.0 HDi (later one with 168hp and 340Nm in a very small car .... its effortlessly quick regardless of the gear it happens to be in.... NOT fast like a full on sports car ... effortless quick). Eg: most sold have a slugomatic and the 1.6 petrol turbo about 160hp ..... not even with a barge pole would I touch one. The later ones are 266hp and actually very fast for a small fwd "sports" car. I still wouldn't touch it would a barge pole, who wants to drive a frenetic, laggy screamer as a "driver". It would be astoundingly fast, but most likely never when you need it if you suddenly need to accelerate for any reason without dropping a bunch of gears and getting the thing up on the boil.

my wifes poogoe 407 has the same motor and gearbox (lower powered version) 2.0 turbo diesel, 6spd manual that is. She has done over 200,000km in it over the last decade. Other than the rare service .... and finally a couple weeks ago a cambelt change ( 50,000km and 5 years overdue) the damn thing just keep going. Both driveshafts have become clattery. My fault, I noticed the boots were split years ago and never replaced. them. The only thing I have done to it in the last 10year is change the flywheel as it went clattery at very low milage (outside the warranty period unfortunately). It seems most manufacturers had problems with there dual mass flywheels around that time.

Like any car, buy the right one and you'll be singing there praises. Buy the wrong model and you'll hate them.

I did have a very close look at Citroen DS3's ..... They all have the 1.6 petrol turbo I have no intension of ever owning (they have to many known issues for my liking). Oh well, we'll see in time. we may end up hating as its an unreliable heap of junk. that'll be fun for future me to figure out

Old skool Renault Clio RS Cup 182. In the Gordini livery if you can find one

Megane 3 RS265 cup - slightly bigger, reliable. I enjoyed ours beyond measure. - an RS250 would be nice - there are some models optioned with comfy electric seats - our trophy 808 came with the full RS spec recaros - which in themselves are surprisingly comfortable - even on interstate trips. More importantly though - driving these cars - the RS cup variants are a totally different experience to the mainstream models. Craie et Reblochon.

and if the service history is there - particularly one by a good independent specialist, (ozrenaultsport.com for list) then you're miles ahead of the game.

Like any euro - proper servicing scheduled intervals and by the book - and problems will rarely manifest themselves. In my experience Dealerships do not follow the service manual sheets.

take one for a test drive. even if you don't buy it, it'll be fun

Originally Posted by Mercguy

Old skool Renault Clio RS Cup 182. In the Gordini livery if you can find one

Megane 3 RS265 cup - slightly bigger, reliable. I enjoyed ours beyond measure. - an RS250 would be nice - there are some models optioned with comfy electric seats - our trophy 808 came with the full RS spec recaros - which in themselves are surprisingly comfortable - even on interstate trips. More importantly though - driving these cars - the RS cup variants are a totally different experience to the mainstream models. Craie et Reblochon.

and if the service history is there - particularly one by a good independent specialist, (ozrenaultsport.com for list) then you're miles ahead of the game.

Like any euro - proper servicing scheduled intervals and by the book - and problems will rarely manifest themselves. In my experience Dealerships do not follow the service manual sheets.

take one for a test drive. even if you don't buy it, it'll be fun

Oh yeah, we looked at Meganes as well.... They are too popular .... especially in RS versions I was interested in..... Which meant they were waaaaayyy out of the price range we wanted to spend

Originally Posted by DoubleChevron

Let me guess... 1.6 clutchless manual. If you get the 2.0 turbo diesel it should have been a very reliable 6spd auto. I only purchased the poogoe above as it had a 6spd manual and a 2.0 HDi (later one with 168hp and 340Nm in a very small car .... its effortlessly quick regardless of the gear it happens to be in.... NOT fast like a full on sports car ... effortless quick). Eg: most sold have a slugomatic and the 1.6 petrol turbo about 160hp ..... not even with a barge pole would I touch one. The later ones are 266hp and actually very fast for a small fwd "sports" car. I still wouldn't touch it would a barge pole, who wants to drive a frenetic, laggy screamer as a "driver". It would be astoundingly fast, but most likely never when you need it if you suddenly need to accelerate for any reason without dropping a bunch of gears and getting the thing up on the boil.

my wifes poogoe 407 has the same motor and gearbox (lower powered version) 2.0 turbo diesel, 6spd manual that is. She has done over 200,000km in it over the last decade. Other than the rare service .... and finally a couple weeks ago a cambelt change ( 50,000km and 5 years overdue) the damn thing just keep going. Both driveshafts have become clattery. My fault, I noticed the boots were split years ago and never replaced. them. The only thing I have done to it in the last 10year is change the flywheel as it went clattery at very low milage (outside the warranty period unfortunately). It seems most manufacturers had problems with there dual mass flywheels around that time.

Like any car, buy the right one and you'll be singing there praises. Buy the wrong model and you'll hate them.

I did have a very close look at Citroen DS3's ..... They all have the 1.6 petrol turbo I have no intension of ever owning (they have to many known issues for my liking). Oh well, we'll see in time. we may end up hating as its an unreliable heap of junk. that'll be fun for future me to figure out

Ours was the 2.0L Diesel 6 speed Auto, I think it could have been decent car if not for the Dealer (only one dealer in Brisbane) who didn't want to do warranty work once out of warranty & we went to independent the car improved out of site. The problem with the Cat clogging up could be fixed for a short period by locking it in 2nd gear & driving it hard for about 2 minutes every 2 weeks & I wasn't prepared to have to do that. The brake problem was there from day one, when in traffic the peddle would go halfway to floor & needed second pump to stop (think the front brakes were overheating due to not releasing properly which eventually warped the discs ) & when I took it in for the end of warranty service with less than 40,000km they told me all the pads & discs needed replacing & was normal wear & tare & I would need to rob the bank to fix them. The cruise control they would not test drive it far enough for it to stop working so would just tell me couldn't fault & when I picked it up only had 5km on clock from when I dropped it off, I even left the car with them for a week while we were away for the week so they could fully test it, within 2hrs of dropping it off they were ringing to tell me the car was ready& I had to pick it up that day, I told them we were in Mackay & wasn't going to fly back to Brisbane just to PU the car. The foam in the front seats started breaking down day one, every time I vacuumed the car, I would find the remains of the foam under the seats. The last straw was the fuel injection hose to injectors started leaking (Day after the end of warranty service) & spraying Diesel on the Exhaust Manifold & I asked them for a Quote to fix it & was told that they had never done one so couldn't give a Quote & would be cost plus. I went to order the part from there S/Parts & was surprised they had the part in stock, the guy told they always have them in stock as the workshop were replacing them every day. We kept the car for a year after it came out of Warranty & got $6,000 for a car that cost $62,000 new 4 years earlier. I once looked up what other people had complained about there C4's & ours had every complaint that others had mentioned, it was probably a lemon. This is why I say never again. I have had only one car that was worse than the C4 & that was a new VB (very bad) Commodore & never bought a GM product after that after 6 previous Holdens.

Originally Posted by 1950landy

Ours was the 2.0L Diesel 6 speed Auto, I think it could have been decent car if not for the Dealer (only one dealer in Brisbane) who didn't want to do warranty work once out of warranty & we went to independent the car improved out of site. The problem with the Cat clogging up could be fixed for a short period by locking it in 2nd gear & driving it hard for about 2 minutes every 2 weeks & I wasn't prepared to have to do that. The brake problem was there from day one, when in traffic the peddle would go halfway to floor & needed second pump to stop (think the front brakes were overheating due to not releasing properly which eventually warped the discs ) & when I took it in for the end of warranty service with less than 40,000km they told me all the pads & discs needed replacing & was normal wear & tare & I would need to rob the bank to fix them. The cruise control they would not test drive it far enough for it to stop working so would just tell me couldn't fault & when I picked it up only had 5km on clock from when I dropped it off, I even left the car with them for a week while we were away for the week so they could fully test it, within 2hrs of dropping it off they were ringing to tell me the car was ready& I had to pick it up that day, I told them we were in Mackay & wasn't going to fly back to Brisbane just to PU the car. The foam in the front seats started breaking down day one, every time I vacuumed the car, I would find the remains of the foam under the seats. The last straw was the fuel injection hose to injectors started leaking (Day after the end of warranty service) & spraying Diesel on the Exhaust Manifold & I asked them for a Quote to fix it & was told that they had never done one so couldn't give a Quote & would be cost plus. I went to order the part from there S/Parts & was surprised they had the part in stock, the guy told they always have them in stock as the workshop were replacing them every day. We kept the car for a year after it came out of Warranty & got $6,000 for a car that cost $62,000 new 4 years earlier. I once looked up what other people had complained about there C4's & ours had every complaint that others had mentioned, it was probably a lemon. This is why I say never again. I have had only one car that was worse than the C4 & that was a new VB (very bad) Commodore & never bought a GM product after that after 6 previous Holdens.

Wow .... I know poeple with that model that have done literally hundreds of thousands of kms without issues. The boss womens 407 still has its original brake rotors on it at 235,000kms. The fronts are now at the minumum, the rears have plenty of life left.

my parents had a C4 when new that would randomly cut out. They replace the injectors, the injection pump .... all sort of expensive parts. Changing the fuel filter was all it needed Whenever boss womens 407 starts surging, I think "must be time for a service.... I wonder how overdue it is". Surging in gear means it would like a new fuel filter soon please. Other than filter and oil changes .... it just keeps going ... its probably been the cheapest most reliable ****box we have ever owned. but it is getting very old and long in the tooth now (Peugeot and Citroen are the same company and same cars wearing different badges).