What make to defect to

[dw]

It is the First of May and the debit card was severely hammered this morning as I bought the Belgium assembled car with a body based on a design made by Ford, but with an engine made in Sweden, but funded by a Chinese company.

So so much for my loyalty to Sweden <g>

So far so good  - it can get up and go as well as the Aero - might even have a bit more poke as the torque comes in at lower revs.   

Slightly humorous event during the handover. The car has a feature called Volvo on Call which enables one to connect to emergency services if you have an accident or to call out breakdown services if the car fails.

There was a problem in getting the system working so the car was taken into the workshop so the techs could fix the problem. Shortly afterwards I got a call on my mobile phone from Hampshire Police.

Hello is that Derek the nice lady said, do you have a white Volvo - yes
Are you OK
Yes I am at the garage collecting the car
Oh - we have had a message saying that you have a serious emergency

and so on

Turns out that one the techs had accidentally pressed the Emergency button by mistake.

Thanks for all the information and help

[sgould]

Good Luck!

Saabs sold in America had a system called "ONStar" which could be set to call the emergency services and roadside assistance.

[dw]

OnStar is the GM system available across all GM (wash mouth out) range - if you pay for it. I believe it uses a satellite(s) to cover the US.

[Paper Plane]

What surprises me about other makes is that they put the ignition key lock in some stupid places, and not next to the gear lever.

That's the one thing that will take me longest to get used to when the inevitable happens. Putting it by the gear lever just seems so logical...


steve

[aerojon]

OnStar is the GM system available across all GM (wash mouth out) range - if you pay for it. I believe it uses a satellite(s) to cover the US.

and now fitted in every Vauxhall,i believe..

[Geoff1951]

I just thought I'd freshen this topic up.
I've just clocked up 13k in the Octavia (1.4 petrol turbo, 140 BHP), so there's 23k on the car in all. It's giving just over 40 mpg, with long trips - four up and a full boot (and it's a BIG boot), to the Isle of Wight and back to Cheshire, say 800 miles all in - giving high 50s, and for me it's as comfortable as the 9-5 was after 200 miles. And it's fast.
All very nice, but it's got its faults. So easy to get the wheels to spin and trigger the traction control, the DSG gearbox isn't a patch on a Saab auto box, it never knows what gear to choose next - which is the whole point of DSG; and the torsion beam rear suspension is poor with only me on board - fully loaded, rear passengers are quite happy. BUT I wish I'd gone for the vRS, except that mine is so cheap to run.

However, SWMBO has just given her Peugeot 206 to our daughter, and replaced it with a VW Up. Three doors, three cylinders, 999cc, 75bhp, £20 tax. High Up spec, which means heated seats, aircon, satnav and bluetooth in a removeable Navigon unit which also doubles as an extra instrument panel, and rear parking sensors (on a car less than 12 feet long).

The car's a hoot.
I haven't had this much fun with so little power since the day I borrowed a 2CV. A nice precise gearbox, a lovely growl out of the engine when accelerating, and around town and suburban dual carriageways you can thrash it without worrying too much about breaking the law. The word "nippy" is hugely over-used by drivers, but if ever a car deserved being called nippy, the Up is it.

But I don't think I'd like to try it on an 800 round trip to the Isle of Wight.

[Abraham12]

They're owned by British Car Auctions, which obviously wants to get stock at the lowest price. 


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Xperia Z5 case casesam

[Geoff1951]

They're owned by British Car Auctions, which obviously wants to get stock at the lowest price. 

Who are? (Should this be on another thread...?)

[Norfolk Jim]

You beat me to it Geoff!

[sgould]

There has been a small spam attack this morning.  I'm dealing with it now!

[Geoff1951]

Over on a Skoda forum, the first post by a new member today asked for replies by PM...

[fka]

There has been a small spam attack this morning.  I'm dealing with it now!

If you don't sort it now, before you know it you'll have some idiot interjecting threads with talk of fishing boats 

[Geoff1951]

Apologies in advance for monopolising this thread! Just thought I'd let you know that the dissatisfaction being generated by my 1.4 Octavia has reached the limit.  Over the past 18 months it's been faultless, giving great fuel (petrol) economy, and around 70% of the performance of my old Hirsched 2.3t 9-5.

Aye, but there's the rub. It's that 30% shortfall that makes the difference.
So, after a couple of weeks searching, I decided to go for this -





It's a 2 litre petrol Octavia vRS, with a 6 speed DSG box, bi-xenons, leather, 18" wheels, and lots of toys. Just over a year old.
The best bits are the 217 bhp and 350 Nm, near enough what the Hirsch gave. It's around 100 kg lighter than the Saab, which helps with the top speed of 150 and 0-60 of 7.1. A bit heavier than the 1.4 version, it's less prone to wheelspin unless you really try.
A completely different car from the lesser Octavia, the performance is everything I've missed since the Saab went. There's no noticeable turbo lag, unlike the 1.4, so in-gear acceleration is excellent.


Just needs a Saab badge on the bonnet.

[mikeloadsasaabs]

Well done Geoff, the estate version would suit us, if I could persuade SWMBO to look beyond the badge    Be interesting to see what fuel economy you get from it.

There seems to be a bit of a swing away from diesels. I have to say we continue to be very happy with our CR-V, that has only 120bhp, but 300Nm, so it gives surprisingly good day-to-day performance and 50mpg. It's a great motorway car as well, although I miss the front end lifting when you floor it at 90mph like the 9-5 Aero 

[Geoff1951]

Hi Mike, if it beats the Saab I'll be happy!  The 9-5 gave 25.7mpg over 122k. The previous Octavia managed 41.5 mpg over 15k with a best tankful of 51 mpg. I'll be aiming for mid 30s overall from this one.

The boot is huge. As for badge snobbery, my neighbour has just traded a Merc E Class for a Superb, and says the Superb is much the better car.