Moving house soon - not looking forward to the inevitable stress !
P.S. I also write on another rev...
Moving house soon - not looking forward to the inevitable stress !
P.S. I also write on another review site as diffyb (my nickname which was given to me in dubious circumstances).
Member since:24.03.2005
Reviews:33
Members who trust:16
The Bora is Volkswagen's attempt to rival the BMW 3 series and Audi A3 and makes a good attempt. I traded in my wife's cherished Golf GTI for the Bora 1.9 TDI (diesel) Sport (150bhp) because :- a) we needed a bigger boot b) we had just bought a tent which wouldn't fit in the Golf c) the Golf was making a few dodgy sounds d) diesel sounded more economical
~~ First Impressions ~~ I actually think that the Bora looks quite sleek and sturdy with it's high boot area and slightly rounded edges. The wheels are prominent giving the impression of good road-handling and the overall impression is one of a solid, reliable motor. One thing I noticed
was the "clunk" of the door being shut - like a bank vault being sealed.
~~ In The Driving Seat ~~ The driving position is comfortable with good vision both to the front and rear and is helped by the adjustable steering column. The seat can be adjusted up, down, forward, back - there is alos a lumbar adjustment for the small of your back which is handy if you've ever suffered with back problems like I have. All the controls are readily to hand - electric windows, wing mirrors and the stereo/cd can be manipulated with minimum distraction. One niggle is the left arm rest, which tends to get in the way of gear changes if it is in the lowered position, so I always have it raised well out of the way - this also stops my daughter from clambering into th efront when we're parked in the school playground.
~~ In The Rear ~~ Passengers in the rear will have much more legroom than the BMW3 series (which I found to be quite cramped) and has a lap belt in the middle in addition to the 2 other generous seats. There is a handy stowage compartment in the centre of the seats which my kids stuff full of toys - but at least they aren't scattered across the seats. In addition to ample legroom, there is also enough height to prevent a sore head for the taller people amongst us.
~~ Performance ~~ I have no complaints in this area - 150bhp takes you from 0 - 60 in around 9 seconds according to the manual, which I have no reason to disbelieve. Of course, do that too often and you won't get 38mpg around town or 62mpg on the motorway. I haven't noticed any major turbo-lag but I do find that 1st gear is quite restrictive when pulling away and try to get up the gears as quick as possible (6 gears in all). Fortunately, the gearbox is very forgiving and changing too soon won't have you "kangerooing" down the right.
~~ Equipment ~~ The bora is very generously equipped with :- - electric windows all round - electric wing mirrors - remote central locking and deadlocks as standard - climate control - airbags and side-impact bars - anti-lock breaks - immobiliser and alarm - power steering The 150bhp also comes with a single CD player and a handy drinks holder which folds away when not in use.
~~ Costs ~~ I bought my Bora 2nd hand (1 year old) and paid just under £14k which is £4k under the brand new purchase price. My first service cost £175 which was no more than oil change really but never having owned a diesel before I'm not sure if that is expensive or not. It was certainly less than I expected. I fill my 12 gallon tank twice per month which costs about £70 in total and allows me to cover around 800 miles in the meantime -mostly around town with the odd long journey (40 miles) thrown in.
~~ What I Like Most About This Car ~~ The acceleration is fantastic - I'm not a boy-racer by any means (I am 37 after all) but it's nice to have the power when you need it such as motorway slip roads. It's good that the handling is reliable to cope with it. The boot is huge and easily accomodates 2 large suitcases, 2 childrens suitcases and a few extra "stuff" bags which was handy for our holiday yesterday. I love the dark blue backlit dials when night driving for some reason. I also like the master switch which allows me to take control of the rear electric windows when 2 pairs of sticky mits are in the backseat. Being able to drop the backseats totally flat is handy fro trips to the rubbish tip too.
~~ What I Dislike ~~ I had to think hard about this but one that springs to mind is that as I take the train to work, my wife gets to enjoy driving it much more than I - but I make up for it at weekends. Boys and their toys ........
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Good review.
I thought you said elsewhere you had a lot of problems with the car?
If you re-do the review I'll re-rate.
darkangelwing 01.09.2005 16:18
sounds like a fun drive i say this to all car reviewers wish me luck in my driving test bahh i really hope i pass,brilliantly structured and well detailed review, well done(-:
Ali1000 03.07.2005 11:45
I think that's a perfectly reasonable reason to change car...the tent wouldn't fit LOL. As a keen climber, I sympathise. Ali :-)
Mar 24th, 2005
(May 20th, 2005)
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