I have driven mostly new cars since passing my test, the last ones being a 2011 insignia and Clio to be honest they are great for daily cars and never break down or cause you any problems at all.

I don't think there's much of a difference between old polos (MK2 Saloon) and newer small cars but the insignia was obviously a much larger and more luxury motor which was nice. as far as windy windows, no power steering and manual locks are concerned you get used to things like that in a matter of minutes.

Older cars make much better cars for enthusiasts I think a big part of that is the history of the car and looking after something a bit special compared to the usual financed small hatchbacks I keep seeing all over the road!

I don't think you will see a huge difference in the two cars depending on the spec!

Newest car I've driven is the current focus and I hated it for various reasons. (horrible dash, uncomfortable seats, plastic steering wheel) There are very few new cars I actually like driving. I drove a 2.0 ecoboost mondeo auto a few months back and that was great for pootling about. I like the old/new swap now and then, stops me getting complacent. I drove a current model corsa the other week. It was a 1.2 and it was the slowest car I'd ever driven. I didn't think they still made cars that slow. It hung on in the bends though!

My current daily is a mk2 saloon with a GT engine and to be honest it's not very good at it. The ride is too hard even on eibach springs. I'm showing my age now I think! I had an audi cabriolet before that and that was fantastic. 20 years old but with compliant suspension, power steering and a lazy 5 cylinder soundtrack it was an easy car to go long distance in.

I had a '94 Polo as my first car. Loved it, after nearly three years of ownership I got a 9N, with more than twice the power and three times the amount of tourque. Of which lasted 9 months before I sold it and got another MK3, a '91 GT. It was fast, nice and cool for about a month until I got bored. Tried modifying it but just wasn't doing it for me.

I hated going back to the bumpy rattley old school side to begin with, it annoyed me no end but, now, to be honest.. it is SO much more fun and its not even summer yet. We all know abit of sun and the windows down only makes it better.

Thought you qualified on both fronts Yeti, an older car driver, and a driver of older cars!

Steady on lad - I'm younger than you!

When its 7AM and -1 degree outside I don't really care about how involved I am with the car. I just want the heater to get warm quickly.

I drove my mums 9n3 bluemotion for a while... yes it was comfortable and had loads of goodies, but i really didnt enjoy driving it, no where near as much as i enjoyed driving my 895cc mk1!

Yes it might sound a bit hippy, but i didnt feel connected at all to the 9n3... i dont need elec windows, or power steering as i dont struggle to wind a window down or turn the wheel on my mk1. . . i had so much more fun going for long drives with my iphone connected to a crappy single speaker than i did in the 9n3 with a good sound system, heaters and what not.

I think the only modern vws i would consider buying would be a lupo gti or a mk5 golf gti

Cannot wait to get my other mk1 back on the road!

When its 7AM and -1 degree outside I don't really care about how involved I am with the car. I just want the heater to get warm quickly.

Speak!

at any rate i got my licence revoked so the most luxury i get is my big parka :p

The two luxury items that absolutely transformed cold early mornings in a Mk2 Golf for me were a heated seat cushion (by waeco) and an electric aerial.

Can't use the heated cushion in the Mk2 Polo, because it does not even have a cigarette lighter socket.

When its 7AM and -1 degree outside I don't really care about how involved I am with the car. I just want the heater to get warm quickly.

1982 Polo it is then. The 2003 Corsa takes forever to warm up!

05:30 this morning, proper frosty windows, how refreshing to finally have a car again that works - the bike carb'd lump fired in half a second from the key going in, the heater started warming up in no time, it's better on such a morning than the modern diesels i've been driving.

I'll put most of it down to being a petrol as they do heat quicker (diesels may be newish to me outside vans, but i've owned a lot of petrol cars), the fast warm-up being helped by a tiny 4-pot engine with small coolant capacity for the relatively large cylinder bore/capacity, and then small windows/interior to cater for. The MK2 made today's frosty morning more comfortable than a brand new 207 or Golf4, so the argument of modern cars being better on cold winter mornings is yet unfounded to me.

05:30 this morning, proper frosty windows, how refreshing to finally have a car again that works - the bike carb'd lump fired in half a second from the key going in, the heater started warming up in no time, it's better on such a morning than the modern diesels i've been driving.

I'll put most of it down to being a petrol as they do heat quicker (diesels may be newish to me outside vans, but i've owned a lot of petrol cars), the fast warm-up being helped by a tiny 4-pot engine with small coolant capacity for the relatively large cylinder bore/capacity, and then small windows/interior to cater for. The MK2 made today's frosty morning more comfortable than a brand new 207 or Golf4, so the argument of modern cars being better on cold winter mornings is yet unfounded to me.

Quick-clear windscreen trumps all on a frosty morning. Also heated seats do help somewhat...

There are also cars with a remote startup which warms the car up (without unlocking it) whilst you sit inside drinking hot cuppa.

^^ I do miss the quickclear heated windscreen, last car i had with it was actually pretty retro - '90 Escort XR3i efi. Not just good for mornings but i used it most of the time - no misty screen with a full car in the rain!

Do wish i could get one for the Polo.

I did a PDI at work today (pre delivery inspection, basically check the car... Tell it what car it is and activate all computers via the Peugeot computer )

The new 208's have this "parking aid" in which it steers the car for you when reverse parking so I tested it... It's fucking weird watching the steering wheel spinning all by itself!!

Also it could not get into any space without hiring the kerb and/or manual correcting

Pretty shit!

When its 7AM and -1 degree outside I don't really care about how involved I am with the car. I just want the heater to get warm quickly.

1982 Polo it is then. The 2003 Corsa takes forever to warm up!

dont it take a fiat panda like 9 seconds to get hot? crazy man. shame youll look like your from brighton though

I fear if I bought a modern car, I'd fall asleep at the wheel and crash .

They're just too comfortable and seem to disconnect you too much from the road IMO.

Haha, you wouldn't be saying that if you drove my Evo, lol.

Think it depends on the type of car to be honest.

In the Evo, all the electronic trickery and computers certainly help you to get the car round corners, but it is far from a comfortable ride on a long journey, and the computers are only there as an aid, certainly not to do it all for you.

Trust me, with 400bhp in the wet, 4wheel drive or not, you defo need to be keeping your wits about you.

I drive a Range Rover quite regularly and I'd daily my mk3 Golf over it any day.

The Range rides like a mk1 Golf on £150 ebay special coilovers, bouncy and unsettling, everything is so over assisted to the point that its dangerous, the thing is MASSIVE. People keep saying about heaters first thing in the morning, The Range is crap, because its such a huge interior it takes ages to warm up.

I daily drove a mk1 Golf Cabriolet for the past year and a half, and it was the warmest, most comfortable drive out of almost anything I've driven. You go out in the morning at -1degrees and sure its frozen over, but so would any car be. It starts on the button and is warm within 10 minutes!

I drive both, a 2011 ibiza diesel and my mk2 breadvan, oh and my 340 too. Gotta say old cars for the win. Fuck comforts man, I get into the ibiza and I'm like oh right, meh suppose I better drive somewhere. When I drive the bready I look at the beatifully crafted key with the metal logo in the middle, smiling as I walk up to it. Jump in and get greeted by the smell of old school car and a hint of petrol! Wack my favorite tape on and really fucking enjoy any journey, even just to the shops!

50mph feels like 100, it sounds great and I never miss any extra gears! What modern cars have a cassette holder and a brown dashboard?! the breadvan proves more reliable than any modern I've had. Regular maintenance on an old car and you're away. You know where you stand.

For me, modern motors are soul-less and it's like playing gran turismo every day! Although I do quite like a civic type R! :/

Smiles per miles! Sod gallons per miles!

I've noticed this too. I can't really talk, driving a 6n2 with electric windows and power steering. But it doesn't feel heavy at all, and I think it's the best power steering I've used.

The misses got a new Kia Picanto because of the warranty and we weren't going out at the time. I was insured on it so drove it whenever she was over or wasn't using it. Yes, it was good on petrol, was nippy for a 1.2, but by Christ, it was shocking. The steering was so light I could turn it with my pinky and I've certainly had it on three wheels at some points.

The ABS was too sensitive and the Traction Control was a permanent feature even though it had a button that turned it off. Would slide nicely in the snow but only when you've got it sliding at speed - too slow (less than 10 mph), and it thought the world was ending and cut the engine off to stop me doing it.

I never liked it, the build quality was horrendous - however, when I did hit a Vauxhall Zafira, he lost his back bumper, and there wasn't a single scuff on the Kia - was weird.

Not only that, a week before she traded it in, the engine coughed on me a few times, and something didn't quite feel right with it anymore. Saying that, it spent the 10k straight from the factory at pretty much 6 thousand..

She now owns a MK5 Golf - which cost the same as the Kia, GT spec, full leather with only 33 on the clock. Why would you want a Kia for the same money?! It's daft.

Now insured on the Golf, and I much prefer it. It's comfortable, pulls well. But the handling I don't think is that great. Speeding feels like you're walking and I hate that. Plus 100 mph feels normal and that's not right. Do that in the Polo and the world is going to end.

But it takes an age to heat up, well over 3x what the Polo does, and it doesn't handle the same. Feels so planted, but a few times I think I've started to cross that ragged edge and I think when it lets go - it's going to let go in style, and that worries me.

I still wouldn't change it for the Polo. Smiles everytime I get in it.

I drove past a new Audi earlier today which was parked up in front of a breakdown van and yep, it was there because of the Audi. Therefore I don't think it's a case of the newer the car, the more reliable it is.

I know my Polo is only 2000 reg, but I was surprised at how comfy a ride it is and I'm used to newer cars usually.

Not sure you can say one breakdown means all new cars are unreliable

Not sure you can say one breakdown means all new cars are unreliable

Not at all what I meant. Was just pointing out that because a car is new, it doesn't always mean that it's reliable, just the same as if a car is older it doesn't always mean that it's unreliable.

I'm not sure anyone was saying that though.

I'm lucky enough to have two cars at opposite ends of the comfort scales - my golf which is quiet, boring, comfy and economical, and my mx-5 which is mad, loud, thirsty, low, fast(er).

The boringness of the golf makes the MX-5 that little bit more special when I do drive it, and equally the mazda's bonkersness does make me appreciate luxuries such as heated leather seats, power steering, airbags, crumple zones etc.

Also, the mx-5 is infinitely more reliable than the golf which is 10 years younger! They've both done about the same miles.

I'm not sure anyone was saying that though.

Reading through the posts there were some comments regarding reliability of new and older cars. I just added my opinion to the thread. If I misread what was meant by the posts then oops, but no harm done eh