[TrevorB]

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

 

[allan40alt]

Hi Trevor and welcome to the club.

This will be my first diesel as well. Always hated them; lorries and tractors have diesel engines, not cars!! But, hey, they certainly have come a long way now and the running costs show a massive saving.

The Allure is a very nice spec and the extras you've added are a good choice. Looks very nice in Nera Black.

Good luck.

Al.

 

[TrevorB]

Hi Al,

Thanks for the welcome! Agree about the diesel, never really considered it before. But I have to say I am becoming a convert. The Peugeot people weighed up all the pros and cons for me (they had nothing to gain really in this respect) and they said I do enough miles to make a diesel pay. I said to them I was concerned about the smoke having sat behind many diesel vehicles spewing out stinky smoke and fumes, But they explained that this wa sno longer the case, even when pulling away at junctions etc there should be no smoke. Apparently, modern diesels store up the emissions at low speed and then these get 'ejected' at higher speed when they are less noticeable. Or something like that anyway.

Just one embarrassing moment....... had to have my photo taken with the sales chap as it was the first 2008 they had sold! I am not a fan of having my photo taken. Still, I felt pleased for the young sales chap. He was not pushy at all, very patient, very knowledgeable. I was there nearly 3 hours and he just kept bring a different engine size to drive interspersed with cups of tea and coffee! At no point did I feel any pressure to make a decsion. In fact, I could have walked away to think about it had I wanted to. But what was the point as the answer would have been just the same 2 days later i.e. yes please!

 

[Don Bernard]

Greetings and welcome Trevor. What sort of wedge did you negotiate off the list price?

 

[Dan]

Hi and welcome along,<div id="watchlr_dummy_element_for_plugin_detection">
I was never a fan of diesel either - I hated the noise and vibration through the cabin (This was based on my brief Mondeo ownership). I then switched back to petrol and loved it, but hated the high tax and 25mpg.

I am now back to diesel again. I find the more modern engines to be quieter and have less vibrations than they used to. I am also loving the torque. I think you'll grow to love the diesel engine.

The process you are talking about (storing it up and burning off) is calleddpf regeneration. It can cause no end of issues on cars with low mileages that are never driven fast for long periods of time. Assuming you give it a good motorway run for an hour or so every few months you'll be fine.

Also, if you want to consider GAP Insurance we've got a nice discount here:http://www.2008ownersclub.co.uk/forum/discount-on-gap-insurance_topic7.html- you should find this considerably cheaper than the cost Peugeot will have quoted.

 

[TrevorB]

Thanks for the warm welcome - what a friendly forum

!

Well,
the dealer asked me to keep the deal to myself, so I have to honour
that. If I told you all, you would all want one! LOL! Having said that, I
am not the world's best negotiator.

He said from the outset
there was no room to deal on the list price as it was new model. I don't
know if he was spinning me a yarn or it was the fact the Peugeot bloke
was sat some 10m away.

But we all know there is room for maneuver on these things.

So
let's just say my budget was originally for an Allure with no extras or
frills or packages less the expected px value for my 6yr old, average
mileage 207, but wanted to recoup some of the £850 outlay on repairs
over the previous month or so. I got the car I wanted plus the extras I
listed and protection pack etc and I cam in under budget.

I will let you do the maths! Suffice to say, I left the garage happy

Edited by: TrevorB

 

[TrevorB]

Thanks Dan, I will take a look at the Gap Insurance page. Peugeot quoted me £399 which I said I didn't want.

 

[Don Bernard]

Check your car insurance before buying GAP - a lot of policies automatically replace the vehicle with a brand new one any way if it's a total loss within the first 2 years.