Early this year I decided to bundle a car lease into my remuneration package. I ended up making an interesting choice in both the make, engine type and size of car.
Firstly I would like to spell out the reasons for getting a new car. My previous car (by the way it is for sale, anyone, anyone?) is a very nice fully imported 1989 Nissan. It is large and has all of the mod cons, you know the list, climate control, electric everything, woodgrain dash, etc. It has a beautiful smooth six cylinder motor, which provides plenty of power and good economy on the highway. Around town, however it used more fuel than we thought acceptable (approx 13 L per 100Kms).
One of the things that concern me is the effect we are having on our planet. Our continued destruction and thoughtlessness is slowly killing the only world we call home. With this in mind I wanted to ensure that my new car enabled me to “tread lightly” on this world. Based on this I decided I needed a smaller and more economical car but still one that was practical for me with my family of two kids. It had to handle everyday trips to and from schools, shops and friends and family. We would also have to do some driving holidays to keep the total mileage up (Australian Tax laws) and see this wonder land that I live in. Our last, and most difficult requirement, is that this car would have to transport my daughters Double Bass to and from school. That’s right I wanted a small economical car that can transport 4 people and a Double Bass.
You should have seen the car salesmen go white when we told them that.
Anyway after searching around and reading some reviews of small 5-door hatches, I decided to look at the new Peugeot 307, as it had a lot of the features that I was used to and a wider wheel base then most of its competitors. These alone would make it more suitable for our longer trips then the rest of the contenders. However I did really want to reduce the fuel usage as much as possible and I spent a long time researching on the net and in car magazines. What struck me was that small cars from Europe with Diesel engines were by far the most economical and with very low emission rates. People in Australia, however have a preconceived notion that diesel is dirty, produces low power un-drivable passenger cars. This means that only Peugeot release a small car here that runs on diesel.
Based on this research I went to the dealer and asked for a test drive. To my dismay they had no diesels on the floor and would not have one for months. Not to be deterred I took one of the petrol cars for a test drive (which included confirming the Double Bass fitted in the back with only one side of the seats down). I found the build quality, ride, handling and safety features to be better than any other car I had tested to date. But I was still very unsure about buying the diesel without a test drive. Luckily the local paper (Courier Mail) had a review of the car I was looking at comparing the diesel to the petrol. The reviewer highly recommended the diesel engine over the smaller petrol due to it more usable power and torque.
So I bit the bullet and ordered a Peugeot 307 Hdi.
I have now had this car for five months and I have not once regretted my purchase. It has been economical averaging 7.5 liters per 100Kms in town and 5 along the highway, it is very comfortable on long trips (550Kms longest so far, with family, computer, microwave and suitcases), and carries a huge amount in the luggage area.
We are going on a long trip soon and I will keep you all posted on how it goes.