AA advice

[growler_south]

There's an article on the AA website today about buying a used vehicle. It's generally a common sense guide, nothing too out of the ordinary, but the entire article is sabotaged by a couple of simple errors:

-Peugeots. Apparently they're good if you want a small diesel vehicle. And yes, Peugeot's diesel engines are pretty good, but unfortunately to get one you have to buy the rest of the Peugeot too. Which means you're buying a lifetime of random electrical failures and unidentified plastic components rolling around in the footwell.

-BMW 3-series compact. According to the article they're "well worth a look", but they forgot to mention that the reason for looking is so that you know what to avoid. *NEVER* buy a BMW compact. They have the silly plastic water pumps that fall apart, they have low trim and spec levels, and they're based on the heavy old E36 chassis. The later E46 shape are as expensive to maintain as the sedan, and fall apart just as readily.

-Electronics in Singaporean imports. Avoid totally? Well, apart from avoiding ANY Mercedes from 1992-2006, you only need to avoid German vehicles manufactured between 1993 and 1997. That's when the government had the clever idea that wiring insualtion should be biodegradable. Not an issue in a cold, dry country, but not so great in hot, humid Singapore.

Unfortunately there's no byline on the article, so i'm not sure of it's pedigree. One thing's for sure though, it's got the breakdown call centre laughing...

Comments

[pa747sp.livejournal.com]

It's so sad - Peugeots used to be the best made of any Franch cars. And before you say 'that's not such a high bench mark', back in the 50s and 60s French cars were incredibly reliable. African cities are still full of 504 taxis that have done over 500k.

[bluebear2.livejournal.com]

There's a similar thing I was told about. The EU has decided that solder for electronics can't contain lead anymore. Apparently the lack of lead will mean things won't last as long and solder joints will corrode sooner and stuff.