Mine always used coolant - never did find out where. If its the VW engine change the thermostat at the same time as the waterpump - I didnt and it cost me £1.2k to get the dammed thing back on the road.
Mazda update - 6 months on and totally reliable - quick, comfortable and copes with my kids too. Dont miss the sharalhamalxy thing at all -just sorry I ever bought it. Only slight disappointment with the 5 is the fuel consumption - low 30's on my daily grind- thats not great for a modern petrol engine.
ford galaxy
Re: ford galaxy
wifeys had enough & wants a new car, any suggestions? mechanic is coming this afternoon.....
Re: ford galaxy
How many small people do you have? do you actually need 7 seats or can you live with a normal car?
If you do need the space of a people carrier then You could get one a year newer so it has a different engine. I know people with the Espace who say how comfortable and quick they are. Personally I don't like French cars as from experience the interiors fall apart. However A quick look on auto trader shows that they aren't overly expensive.
If you can live with something normal sized then. I have the 2.0 TDCI in my Focus and it gets me 50mpg without any trouble. I am biased towards fords but the Focus is really nice to drive and pretty cheap if you want a mk1. If you want a mk2 then avoid the 1.6 tdci as it has a reputation for burning out turbos. The mk2 feels "bigger" to drive (because it is a bigger car) but is very solid. Changing the belt was a bit of a fiddle as there isn't much space but otherwise it isn't difficult to work on.
My dad is always raving on about his mk4 golf saying how it is bomb proof (he got a 1999 mk4 gti about 2 years ago for £1000) and I would agree that it is a nice car but I prefer driving the ford as the golf feels heavy and I can beat his GTI with my 2.0 Ghia.
If you do need the space of a people carrier then You could get one a year newer so it has a different engine. I know people with the Espace who say how comfortable and quick they are. Personally I don't like French cars as from experience the interiors fall apart. However A quick look on auto trader shows that they aren't overly expensive.
If you can live with something normal sized then. I have the 2.0 TDCI in my Focus and it gets me 50mpg without any trouble. I am biased towards fords but the Focus is really nice to drive and pretty cheap if you want a mk1. If you want a mk2 then avoid the 1.6 tdci as it has a reputation for burning out turbos. The mk2 feels "bigger" to drive (because it is a bigger car) but is very solid. Changing the belt was a bit of a fiddle as there isn't much space but otherwise it isn't difficult to work on.
My dad is always raving on about his mk4 golf saying how it is bomb proof (he got a 1999 mk4 gti about 2 years ago for £1000) and I would agree that it is a nice car but I prefer driving the ford as the golf feels heavy and I can beat his GTI with my 2.0 Ghia.
Understeer: when you hit the wall with the front of the car.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
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tractorman
- Posts: 1399
- Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2011 11:22 am
- Location: Wigton, Cumbria
Re: ford galaxy
I know one or two folk who rate the Zafira highly - I would assume it's a Opel over there! I must admit, they never seem to have problems with them and use them for all sorts of things. I also admit, I never thought I'd suggest a Vauxhall as a suitable car!
I'd agree with both Terry and his father's comments about the Mk4 Golf - mine was a 1.9TDI and, although solid, I didn't really like the car as I didn't seem to be involved in the process somehow. The Mk5 is a lot nicer to drive (it's a 1.9 Bluemotion) but avoid the 1.6 and 2.0 diesels. The Mk4 GTI was a slow machine - the GTTDI was actually the quicker one; again, Mk5's have addressed that problem too!
I'd agree with both Terry and his father's comments about the Mk4 Golf - mine was a 1.9TDI and, although solid, I didn't really like the car as I didn't seem to be involved in the process somehow. The Mk5 is a lot nicer to drive (it's a 1.9 Bluemotion) but avoid the 1.6 and 2.0 diesels. The Mk4 GTI was a slow machine - the GTTDI was actually the quicker one; again, Mk5's have addressed that problem too!
Re: ford galaxy
As Terry says an Estate or hatch is usually enough unless you and your other half plan to have more than two bairns at which point you discover how few "normal" cars' rear seats have three lots of Isofix adaptors. Three kids? Volvo and Peugeot are about all that's left. Possibly today's split-new motors all have three sets of fixings? I don't know, but it's something you could find out easily enough by taking your kiddy seats with you when you go for test drives.
I've been keeping a watch on Focus prices recently and it appears that they're as good as money in the bank if you trade wisely and buy a private example.
One of the Sis-in-law beast's mates bought a 52 Focus hatch (Diesel, not sure which engine but it don't half shift along, certainly far quicker than many of the petrol ones) from the block last month for a mere £485 plus the auctioneer's commission and the cost of a fresh MOT. She's a competent mechanic so wouldn't have been at all phased by whatever the car needed since it was basically clean with only the usual rotten window frame in the tailgate to concern her. One scrapyard tailgate - in the correct shade of metallic green, the jammy bugger - cost her £60, the MOT was a straight pass with no advisories and she's so taken with the thing that she's decided to keep it for now and buy another to sell on. I haven't driven it but if she says it's a good car, then it is. Unbelievably good value, even on eBay assuming that the ones for sale on there aren't just the dross that's not good enough for BCA or the used trade.
The only thing that may be a disadvantage of any non-people carrier style car is that it's much easier to attach kids to the back seats of something higher off the floor, hence the ridiculous quantity of big 4x4s that block roads by schools twice every day.
I've been keeping a watch on Focus prices recently and it appears that they're as good as money in the bank if you trade wisely and buy a private example.
One of the Sis-in-law beast's mates bought a 52 Focus hatch (Diesel, not sure which engine but it don't half shift along, certainly far quicker than many of the petrol ones) from the block last month for a mere £485 plus the auctioneer's commission and the cost of a fresh MOT. She's a competent mechanic so wouldn't have been at all phased by whatever the car needed since it was basically clean with only the usual rotten window frame in the tailgate to concern her. One scrapyard tailgate - in the correct shade of metallic green, the jammy bugger - cost her £60, the MOT was a straight pass with no advisories and she's so taken with the thing that she's decided to keep it for now and buy another to sell on. I haven't driven it but if she says it's a good car, then it is. Unbelievably good value, even on eBay assuming that the ones for sale on there aren't just the dross that's not good enough for BCA or the used trade.
The only thing that may be a disadvantage of any non-people carrier style car is that it's much easier to attach kids to the back seats of something higher off the floor, hence the ridiculous quantity of big 4x4s that block roads by schools twice every day.
J
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
Re: ford galaxy
thanks chaps! mechanic had a look & took off the water pump which is fine apart from the bead of silicone which is causing the seal to leak....(35000 km) so a new pump etc is on order for tuesday... we only have 2 kids at the moment (wifeys said thats enough....) so we can get away with an estate car, but the extra seats/space is great when we have visitors or visit blighty or mother in law, shes 600 km from us 
ive developed a fancy for a nissan primera....
ive developed a fancy for a nissan primera....
Re: ford galaxy
I have found Nissan spare parts to be quite expensive, especially body panels but it has been almost 10 years since I owned one. They do have a reputation for reliability so unlike your leaky ford it will go on and on and on 
Understeer: when you hit the wall with the front of the car.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
Re: ford galaxy
Just be sure to check out the cost of lower BJs for the Primera's front suspension before buying a used one. They come with half the suspension leg attached and cost - last time I had to get one for somebody - £400 per side. That's FOUR HUNDRED POUNDS per side, only available as O/E and often the cause of ostensibly very tidy Primerae being in scrapyards. It wouldn't be so bad if the joints lasted exceptionally well but they don't. Used ones, imported from Japanese specialist breakers that exist to take advantage of compulsory replacement tend to be around half the price, but you've no way to know how much life's left there.
Nice cars though.
Nice cars though.
J
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
Re: ford galaxy
hmmm thats expensive thanks for the warning john... audi a6 estate??
Re: ford galaxy
Nothing wrong with one of those, but thanks to a minority of pillocks and one of Top Gear's long running "jokes", drivers of the Audis tend to be abused on the roads these days. Develop a thick skin or consider whether Seat and/or Skoda have an equivalent model and buy that instead, probably saving you some money but not as much as you might think.
Off the wall suggestion coming up: Opel Omega Estate, the one with the BMW Diesel engine. No cam belt to worry about there and they're cheap to buy. Or is it something more m*dern that you need as a family hack?
Hack...
Buy an ex-London, Nissan-engined black cab. Cheap now that the LT1 has displaced it to the regions, dead cool and best of all; very few French people will own one.
Off the wall suggestion coming up: Opel Omega Estate, the one with the BMW Diesel engine. No cam belt to worry about there and they're cheap to buy. Or is it something more m*dern that you need as a family hack?
Hack...
Buy an ex-London, Nissan-engined black cab. Cheap now that the LT1 has displaced it to the regions, dead cool and best of all; very few French people will own one.J
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..