I'm so new I haven't even got a CX3

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gasgas
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Nov 15, 2020 7:46 pm
Location: East midlands

Post by gasgas »

You know how it is, you go to the Mercedes dealer to get ATF, filter and gasket for your '92 Merc 190 and you have to walk past all the cars for sale on the forecourt. There are none in the showroom, it is empty because the Govt says so. Outside the Spares Dept door are parked two 'new' delivery mileage B200 Mercedes priced at £19,450. The thought comes into your head "Isn't that a bit cheap? I don't know the price of new B200s but I can't get that out of my head". So you get your ATF and bits, and go home and look up the price of Merceds B200s which is FROM £26,645 and upwards. You phone the sales dept who are open, but cannot come out to the forecourt to talk to you about the car. You go back to the dealer and take a careful look through the windows. You notice that the driver's door handle lock has lost its plastic cover, which is sitting on the driver's seat inside the car. It's just a small thing, an inch or two long. This leaves the locking mechanism in the open air. And rain. Then you think to yourself 'My 1992 Mercedes doesn't drop bits off like that, and bits shouldn't be able to be prized off a new car like that. I'm not impressed, I have lost interest in the car'.
You then think "I reckon cars made in Japan are better built than that, even if it was built in Germany - which I half suspect it wasn't"
You then think "I'll go and look at Japanese branded cars in town - Toyota, Mazda, (and Skoda)". Honda is out of town, as is Mitsubishi.
Toyota only have one car that is not Hybrid. I know enough about cars not to want a hybrid, and after owning a Nissan Leaf for two years I won't have another electric one either. I won't have a Nissan either. I had the traumatic experience of a Franchised Nissan dealer in Coventry who tried to tell me they hadn't changed the spark plugs on my car in a service "Because your car is a diesel, Sir, and diesels don't have spark plugs". It was a mainstream 4 cylinder petrol car but they are so unbelievably incompetent I won't buy a Nissan either. How can a major car manufacturer franchise employ a team of technicians who cannot even tell a petrol engine when it is in front of them? OK it wasn't a Nissan, but neither was it some exotic Ferrari or Bugatti.
So Nissan is out. Toyota is out because I don't want a Camry saloon with a low roof (the only Toyota without hybrid) - head banging is not something I enjoy.
I currently have a Golf SV DSG. That is a Golf with a 3" higher roof, and higher driver's seat which is lovely for getting in and out. The DSG is fabulous, but I wouldn't like to have to pay a repair bill for it.
I believe the CX3 auto has a torque converter gearbox - can anyone who is still awake reading this confirm it? My son in law had a new dual mass flywheel clutch fitted to his ordinary Mondeo and it cost £1200. So I think an auto box with a torque converter is going to be a lot cheaper in that aspect, it should last hundreds of thousands of miles if you don't do tyre smoking.
At the Mazda dealer I walked past all the Fords that the same dealer sells. I used to run my own little one man band garage and noted the shortcomings of Fords compared to other makes so I won't consider them. I looked at the Mazda 3 (too low), the CX30 (only new, so too expensive), I think they had two CX5 (is that a model?) but they were huge and as we don't have children to take 200 yards down the road to school we don't need one of those hugemobiles, even if it isn't a Range Rover or BMW X5. I saw one CX3 and thought aha, that is the right size. The roof is about the same as my Golf so I won't bang my head and you can get them second hand.
So I am looking for an auto CX3 and I've seen a couple in the on line adverts. I don't want new because of the rapid depreciation.
The problem is that I am not prepared to buy a car unless I have driven at least the same model, if not the exact one I am buying so it looks as if I will keep my Golf till the current unpleasantness is over. I think it would be too much of a gamble to click and pay on line, have a car delivered and then discover something you hate about it. So I have come to this forum to look and see if there are any common niggles or problems with the CX3. I've spent an hour looking at posts, and there don't seem to be any disastrous complaints about the car. If you go to the AutoSleepers owners forum you would see quite a few problems with them that might put you off, for example.
My favoured CX3 at the moment is a 2018 model with 11000 miles, 2.0 petrol auto for sale at £15,800 in that metallic red that I quite like. At least I would be able to see it in the supermarket car park. I can't test drive it though . . . . . . :twisted:
You need to test drive, and poke about. My daughter is driving a hire car, a Kia Tucson. She is irritated by the fact that if any seat has any weight on it, eg you have put your shopping on a seat, the car will not move unless the seat belt is clicked in. You can't even fold a rear seat forwards for luggage space unless you click the seat belt shut. You aren't going to find things like that out unless you take a car for a test drive, are you? She is having trouble with the electric parking brake as well.
The dumbest thing I did this century was to buy a 2020 year planner.
The cleverest thing I might do is buy a CX3. I haven't got one yet.

Stagman
Posts: 27
Joined: Sun Dec 23, 2018 1:39 pm

Post by Stagman »

I went through a similar thought process after my Multitronic Audi CVT failed for the 2nd time. A friend who has an automatic transmission repair company, suggested the Mazda box as being reliable unlike the unreliable and expensive to repair DSG boxes, especially Ford as he had one in for its 2nd new clutch in 22k miles.
I bought a 3 year old petrol auto CX3 with 33k miles, its now done approaching 60k with no problems, touch wood, in the same mileage span the Audi had a new DMF and injectors to cure poor running. The only gripe I have with the CX3 is that it's a bit tight in the back, not my problem as I'm in the front.
When the time comes a CX30 is next.

John
Dec 2015 Meteor Grey, Sport nav petrol auto.
Totnes
Devon
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HouseSpider
Posts: 545
Joined: Thu Jan 11, 2018 11:47 am
Location: New Forest

Post by HouseSpider »

No problems with the auto box in the 75,000+ miles I've covered. Still as sweet as was when new.
And no real gripes either.
Sports Nav Auto Petrol 2017, 131bhp (chipped), Soul Red, Half Stone Leather, Safety Pack, Arm Rest, Auto Folding Mirror Kit, Detachable Tow Bar, HatchBag Boot Liner, Stebel Nautilus Compact horn. Space saver.
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AndyRen
Posts: 660
Joined: Fri Mar 16, 2018 12:28 pm
Location: Down a bit, down a bit more, right a bit, down a bit.... Right there - Kent

Post by AndyRen »

No gripes at all, but we've a manual petrol, personally I'd always go for a model with a rear facing camera as I seem to be incapable of judging the rear when parking! Size wise (length x width) the cx-3 is pretty much identical to our old mk IV Golf with only a few CMS in it. Welcome to the forums😊
16 plate 2L Petrol, 120bhp Soul Red Sport Nav...
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