massiveCoRbyn
ClioSport Club Member
Several
Decided it was time to buy a new car. Had my Clio 197 almost a year now, but it's not ideal for my daily ten-minute commute through city traffic and, with our equivalent of the MOT due, I thought I'd buy something else. The problem was, what to get? While everyone immediately thinks of supercars and G-Wagens when they think of the Middle East, the general car market is pretty grim. Outside of the really high-end stuff, most people have little interest in performance cars, and instead aspire to big BMWs and Mercs. On the whole though, most of them actually drive silver or white Toyotas and Hyundais with beige interiors. Almost everything is automatic (CVT in many cases), with dreary four-pots.
Obviously with petrol being about 50p a litre, buying a V8 might sound appealing, but there was no way that was going to happen, as new cars can be unbelievably expensive. For example, the Dodge Charger starts at £42,000 for the shittest V6 model (compared to £26,000 in the USA). The dealers here are adding huge markups, which is actually being investigated by the authorities apparently, because people are fed up with it.
Anyway, with a big V8 out of the window, I started to think about the usual stuff like a Golf GTI, but that was ruled out, partly because of cost (nearly £40k), and the fact the MK8 is minging. After much thought, I decided I wanted something fairly small and cheap. My missus and I want to save as much as we can with a view to moving back to the UK in a few years, while parking near my work is a pain too, so a small car made sense. She has just bought a Hyundai Kona for transporting her kids about too, so I don't need anything big.
I thought about a Toyota GR86, which is actually slightly cheaper here than it is in the UK, but the dealer said it was going to be at least four months to get one, and I really couldn't be dealing with waiting like that. Also, while the kids don't go in my car, it was pushing it a bit in reality. I also thought about an Abarth 695, but there were a few problems with those. Firstly, it was going to be nearly £450 per month and secondly, you can only get the soft top Turismo here now. I looked at a Chinese car which I posted in another thread, a GAC Empow, which was ridiculously cheap at £17k, and comes in a fancy matt green but, after talking it over with various people, the consensus is that the Chinese brands are shite when it comes to parts supply, and it's likely to be worth about 50p in five years, so I ruled it out.
Anyway, to bring an end to the essay, I settled on this; a Peugeot 208 GT. I went and saw check it over one night during the week, before it was registered:
Then when I went to collect it on Thursday, they'd put it in the showroom under a cover:
And uncovered. Amusingly, while they went to the trouble of putting it under a cover, they didn't bother to remove all the plastic protection and delivery notes:
Annoyingly, they have fitted square plates. You can get European-sized plates, but the dealers get what they're given when they register the car. You can apparently buy new ones, so I'll try and do that at some point, as the square ones look a bit daft. Quite funny that the plate is "KTR" though - would have suited the Clio better
The dealer also gave me some gifts with the car, which was quite nice. I'll get some pictures, as one of them is quite funny!
Anyway, to the details. It's a 1.2-litre three-pot turbo with a whole 130PS. Weirdly, in Europe, it would have an 8-speed auto, but versions sold in most other countries seem to have a 6-speed for some reason. Obviously there is no manual available, because Middle East. It actually seems ok so far. Haven't given it too much stick as it's brand new, but it feels just as quick as the Clio in most situations, as it's got decent torque thanks to being turbocharged. You can reflash them to 150bhp, but perhaps not sensible on a brand new car.
One area where it does really shine over the Clio is equipment. They don't really do options here, you either get a base model, or what they call "full option", so the upper trim level. In this case, that means pano roof, LED headlights, lane assist, blind-spot warning, brake assist, power folding mirrors, keyless, electric handbrake, along with climate control, cruise control and the usual bits and pieces. It feels like a bigger car than it is in a way, and is more than up to the job of sitting in Jeddah's shitty traffic jams.
Obviously it's no baller wagon, but a decent enough daily, and I think it's probably one of the best-looking small cars for years. Set of white Turinis and some Eibachs would improve it of course, but only if I can afford the import duty 😂
Obviously with petrol being about 50p a litre, buying a V8 might sound appealing, but there was no way that was going to happen, as new cars can be unbelievably expensive. For example, the Dodge Charger starts at £42,000 for the shittest V6 model (compared to £26,000 in the USA). The dealers here are adding huge markups, which is actually being investigated by the authorities apparently, because people are fed up with it.
Anyway, with a big V8 out of the window, I started to think about the usual stuff like a Golf GTI, but that was ruled out, partly because of cost (nearly £40k), and the fact the MK8 is minging. After much thought, I decided I wanted something fairly small and cheap. My missus and I want to save as much as we can with a view to moving back to the UK in a few years, while parking near my work is a pain too, so a small car made sense. She has just bought a Hyundai Kona for transporting her kids about too, so I don't need anything big.
I thought about a Toyota GR86, which is actually slightly cheaper here than it is in the UK, but the dealer said it was going to be at least four months to get one, and I really couldn't be dealing with waiting like that. Also, while the kids don't go in my car, it was pushing it a bit in reality. I also thought about an Abarth 695, but there were a few problems with those. Firstly, it was going to be nearly £450 per month and secondly, you can only get the soft top Turismo here now. I looked at a Chinese car which I posted in another thread, a GAC Empow, which was ridiculously cheap at £17k, and comes in a fancy matt green but, after talking it over with various people, the consensus is that the Chinese brands are shite when it comes to parts supply, and it's likely to be worth about 50p in five years, so I ruled it out.
Anyway, to bring an end to the essay, I settled on this; a Peugeot 208 GT. I went and saw check it over one night during the week, before it was registered:
Then when I went to collect it on Thursday, they'd put it in the showroom under a cover:
And uncovered. Amusingly, while they went to the trouble of putting it under a cover, they didn't bother to remove all the plastic protection and delivery notes:
Annoyingly, they have fitted square plates. You can get European-sized plates, but the dealers get what they're given when they register the car. You can apparently buy new ones, so I'll try and do that at some point, as the square ones look a bit daft. Quite funny that the plate is "KTR" though - would have suited the Clio better
The dealer also gave me some gifts with the car, which was quite nice. I'll get some pictures, as one of them is quite funny!Anyway, to the details. It's a 1.2-litre three-pot turbo with a whole 130PS. Weirdly, in Europe, it would have an 8-speed auto, but versions sold in most other countries seem to have a 6-speed for some reason. Obviously there is no manual available, because Middle East. It actually seems ok so far. Haven't given it too much stick as it's brand new, but it feels just as quick as the Clio in most situations, as it's got decent torque thanks to being turbocharged. You can reflash them to 150bhp, but perhaps not sensible on a brand new car.
One area where it does really shine over the Clio is equipment. They don't really do options here, you either get a base model, or what they call "full option", so the upper trim level. In this case, that means pano roof, LED headlights, lane assist, blind-spot warning, brake assist, power folding mirrors, keyless, electric handbrake, along with climate control, cruise control and the usual bits and pieces. It feels like a bigger car than it is in a way, and is more than up to the job of sitting in Jeddah's shitty traffic jams.
Obviously it's no baller wagon, but a decent enough daily, and I think it's probably one of the best-looking small cars for years. Set of white Turinis and some Eibachs would improve it of course, but only if I can afford the import duty 😂
