Hard decision.

[gavroche]

As you know, our daughter is buying my Renault Captur at the end of this week as we don't need two cars now. It will leave us with the Nissan Juke and I am thinking of changing that but hesitate between a Citroen C3 Picasso, CitroenC3 Aircross, Citroen Cactus or Dacia Stepway. Not buying new but probably 3 years old.
What are your experiences of any of them?
Of course it is all subject to my wife agreeing as she likes her Juke.

 

[Drago]

Not the Dacia. The least safe of the list, and the least reliable small car some years running on the What Car reliabilty survey, little reason to nelieve the new model is any better at this stage.

Aircross is actually a very decent car, but has a reputatuon for poor reliability. 66th out of 75 in Carbuyers survery, poor Reliability Index ranking.

Nothing inherently wrong with the Cactus, but aside from the oddball looks its an utterly conventional smallish hatch and there is much better out there for similar money, so why bother?

Personally Id incline towards the Picasso. Popular, tried and tested, no stupid air suspension to cost money and require servicing, mechanically quite conventional, make good use of interior space, and I think theyre funky in an understated way.

But really if you want a smallish hatch that drives well, is moderately reliable, inexpensive to run and maintain, then there is the Fiesta. As an all-round proposition nothing comes close.

 

[cougie uk]

If you don't regularly do long runs and you have a drive - have a look at electric cars too. Save a fortune in fuel and less to go wrong.

 

[vickster]

Why not keep the Juke?

 

[roubaixtuesday]

Meh. They're all boxes with a wheel at each corner. It makes next to no difference which, they're all subject to the same speed limits, so you'll get to the same places at the same time regardless. Why does it matter?

Best way is for someone else to make the decision (@Drago seems to know what he's on about) or just draw lots.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

A Toyota hybrid like the Corolla. Seriously.

 

[Pale Rider]

then there is the Fiesta. As an all-round proposition nothing comes close.

Assuming you avoid the 1.0 ecoboost engine which blows up.

All fixed now we are told, which it probably is, but the OP is thinking about a three-year-old car.

 

[Beebo]

Meh. They're all boxes with a wheel at each corner. It makes next to no difference which, they're all subject to the same speed limits, so you'll get to the same places at the same time regardless. Why does it matter?

Best way is for someone else to make the decision (@Drago seems to know what he's on about) or just draw lots.

I have the same opinion on bikes.
They are pretty much identical at every price point. But some people still insist on certain brands.

 

[Drago]

The early ones blew up as a result of an external coolant pipe that was left in raw steel and corroded - coolant escapes, kerblammo!

However, that was resolved and the design revised over half a decade ago, and theyre tough enough that they'll reliably take tuning up to 180bhp, which is the limit kf the stock turbo,

 

[roubaixtuesday]

I have the same opinion on bikes.
They are pretty much identical at every price point. But some people still insist on certain brands.

I agree that you get pretty much the same thing at the same price point. But MTB is a very different beast to a road race bike is very different to a Dutch style bike. And what wheels you have in a bike from flimsy lightweight to exped tourer makes a radical difference to what you can use it for. Etc.

Cars are far more similar. They all do the exact same thing, save for the amount of space in them.* That's it. Just decide how big you want it.

*OK, not if you're genuinely into proper offroading or something, but hardly anyone is.

 

[gavroche]

If you don't regularly do long runs and you have a drive - have a look at electric cars too. Save a fortune in fuel and less to go wrong.

They are too expensive to buy.

 

[gavroche]

Why not keep the Juke?

It may come to that.

 

[gavroche]

I swore many years ago that I would never buy a Ford or a Vauxhall and not likely to change my mind.

 

[vickster]

It may come to that.

Why are you actually thinking of selling it? Is there an issue? Intergalactic miles?

 

[Drago]

I swore many years ago that I would never buy a Ford or a Vauxhall and not likely to change my mind.

But a Renault, a firm that collaborated with the Nazis, made in Spain or Malaysia is somehow better? That's like buying a used hand grenade, but insisting on a chinese copy of an obsolete soviet item.