Seems to have been ages and ages since I first decided I wanted to look at changing my car and spotting the new 2008......
I booked my preview day and time and had to wait several weeks for that. But I was impressed! First sight I just thought "wow, that's nice". It was a diesel Feline in the opalescent white. Perhaps I'm a little biased though as I have had Peugeots for many years and never really had problems, that is until my current 'Friday' built 207.
Anyway, the salesman let me take as long as I wanted. Sadly the car wasn't there to be test driven. So I had to arrange a test drive that once again seemed ages away.
But the day finally came and I got a call from the garage to say they had changed my time and I was now the last of the day, which meant I had all the time I needed.
My biggest problem was I am coming from a 1.4 petrol 207, not the best in the world, and I missed my 140,000 mile 1.6 306 when I first had the 207. Now people were advisimg me to 'go diesel'. People at work, my brother all people who swear by diesels. And my research kind of swayed me towards the diesel as the road tax and running costs looked far better.
I hoped the test drive model would be a diesel, but sadly it was a 1.6 petrol. I didn't actually think it was that bad, not as bad as some people make out. But then I am coming from a 1.4 to a 1.6 so would notice a difference anyway. I mean, any of you out there with the same 1.4 207 as myself would know what it is like trying to get it up to speed on the motorway
! So now I was undecided again. And at this point I have to say the dealership were fantastic. I had all the time I needed, there was no pressure to get me out of the door, although they did know how keen I was on the car. To help me decide, we then took out a 1.4 diesel 208. The idea being that I could compare the 1.4 diesel with my 1.4 petrol in a smilar sized car. I immediately noticed how much better the 1.4 diesel was. So then another of the sales chaps suggested I take out his 1.6 diesel, which had much the same unit as the 2008 would have, a 1.6HDI 92 BHP.
I have to say I was more than impressed, that was enough for me. When I got back to the showroom, the chap from Peugeot (non-dealership, he was in charge of bringing the 2008 down) talked me through the engine specs and compared the torque etc. With his advice and my experience of the test drives I plumped for a 1.6 e-HDI 92BHP.
You might ask why I didn't go for the 115BHP? For me, I saw no point. The 92 was fine. It had poke, acceleration and good torque across the range.
So then it was down to 'the deal' and the spec of the car.
In the previous month I had had a lot of work done on my 207, just to keep it on the road. In fact the costs were getting ridiculous for a 6 year old car. This time it had cost £850. And it still had the spectre of a failing head gasket - this would it's second and I have only done 85,000. So I needed to recoup as much of that as possible in the deal or would have been money thrown away. The dealer was well aware of my prior problems and we did a deal based on that premise that I had just spent all the money for basically the next driver to benefit. They pointed out the head gasket problem, which I knew would be an issue along with the fact the car is rusting already. But I think the fact I would buy outright with no finance helped too.
So the deal was done and decsion made...... 1.6 e-HDI 92 Allure (I'm afraid I do not like the large sunroof or leather trim), Nera Black (I really like black cars and so was not an difficult decision) with the deal including Sat Nav, Park Assist, and the Eridian Black 17" alloys. And protection pack - yes, this was included. For the simple reason I had it on my 207 and I feel it is worth every penny. For a start, there is nothing worse than getting in a car without car mats! But there is more to it than that of course..... my black 207 stayed 'showroom' bright after washing for a couple of years.
They did try the GAP insurance option, but I don't see the point. If anything happened in 6 months that I needed to buy a new one, there will be demonstrators around at prices much less than dealer new prices.
So now I just have to wait....... oh the waiting!
People have questioned why I didn't go for full 4x4. You see the reason I wanted a 4x4/pseudo 4x4 is that I live on a road that when it snows is just to steep to get out of. My winter tyres helped no end, but in the more severe weather that just didn't quite have the grip. I looked into 4x4s but the penalty on the car tax, insurance, MPG etc was just too much. So I nvestigated the Grip Control system and that looks like all I need. If it can drive up a Snow Dome ski slope, I think it manage our estate road! So for me, this was a no-brainer. Staying with Peugeot, with a good looking car that was probably halfway between a 2 wheel and 4 wheel drive was just what I was looking for.
So I am happy, or will be when the car is delivered
Edited by: TrevorB
I booked my preview day and time and had to wait several weeks for that. But I was impressed! First sight I just thought "wow, that's nice". It was a diesel Feline in the opalescent white. Perhaps I'm a little biased though as I have had Peugeots for many years and never really had problems, that is until my current 'Friday' built 207.
Anyway, the salesman let me take as long as I wanted. Sadly the car wasn't there to be test driven. So I had to arrange a test drive that once again seemed ages away.
But the day finally came and I got a call from the garage to say they had changed my time and I was now the last of the day, which meant I had all the time I needed.
My biggest problem was I am coming from a 1.4 petrol 207, not the best in the world, and I missed my 140,000 mile 1.6 306 when I first had the 207. Now people were advisimg me to 'go diesel'. People at work, my brother all people who swear by diesels. And my research kind of swayed me towards the diesel as the road tax and running costs looked far better.
I hoped the test drive model would be a diesel, but sadly it was a 1.6 petrol. I didn't actually think it was that bad, not as bad as some people make out. But then I am coming from a 1.4 to a 1.6 so would notice a difference anyway. I mean, any of you out there with the same 1.4 207 as myself would know what it is like trying to get it up to speed on the motorway
I have to say I was more than impressed, that was enough for me. When I got back to the showroom, the chap from Peugeot (non-dealership, he was in charge of bringing the 2008 down) talked me through the engine specs and compared the torque etc. With his advice and my experience of the test drives I plumped for a 1.6 e-HDI 92BHP.
You might ask why I didn't go for the 115BHP? For me, I saw no point. The 92 was fine. It had poke, acceleration and good torque across the range.
So then it was down to 'the deal' and the spec of the car.
In the previous month I had had a lot of work done on my 207, just to keep it on the road. In fact the costs were getting ridiculous for a 6 year old car. This time it had cost £850. And it still had the spectre of a failing head gasket - this would it's second and I have only done 85,000. So I needed to recoup as much of that as possible in the deal or would have been money thrown away. The dealer was well aware of my prior problems and we did a deal based on that premise that I had just spent all the money for basically the next driver to benefit. They pointed out the head gasket problem, which I knew would be an issue along with the fact the car is rusting already. But I think the fact I would buy outright with no finance helped too.
So the deal was done and decsion made...... 1.6 e-HDI 92 Allure (I'm afraid I do not like the large sunroof or leather trim), Nera Black (I really like black cars and so was not an difficult decision) with the deal including Sat Nav, Park Assist, and the Eridian Black 17" alloys. And protection pack - yes, this was included. For the simple reason I had it on my 207 and I feel it is worth every penny. For a start, there is nothing worse than getting in a car without car mats! But there is more to it than that of course..... my black 207 stayed 'showroom' bright after washing for a couple of years.
They did try the GAP insurance option, but I don't see the point. If anything happened in 6 months that I needed to buy a new one, there will be demonstrators around at prices much less than dealer new prices.
So now I just have to wait....... oh the waiting!
People have questioned why I didn't go for full 4x4. You see the reason I wanted a 4x4/pseudo 4x4 is that I live on a road that when it snows is just to steep to get out of. My winter tyres helped no end, but in the more severe weather that just didn't quite have the grip. I looked into 4x4s but the penalty on the car tax, insurance, MPG etc was just too much. So I nvestigated the Grip Control system and that looks like all I need. If it can drive up a Snow Dome ski slope, I think it manage our estate road! So for me, this was a no-brainer. Staying with Peugeot, with a good looking car that was probably halfway between a 2 wheel and 4 wheel drive was just what I was looking for.
So I am happy, or will be when the car is delivered
Edited by: TrevorB