Time for a change

jp · **January 12, 2010, 16:50:34**

traded in my trusty Fiesta for the i30 just before Xmas. The Ford's been a good old car for the last 10 years but as a lot of cars nowadays have abs, eps multiple airbags etc. I was feeling at a bit of a disadvantage in the event of a 'bump' so wanting a bit more elbow room it was time to move on.
We arrived at a short list of possible Diesel cars, viz
SEAT Leon, VV golf, Vauxhall Astra, Ford Focus, Kia Ceed, Skoda Octavia and Honda Civic.
Leon was favourite but it became clear that the model I wanted, the 2L TDi reference sport in bright Yellow, was not going to be available with the right combination of age, mileage and price.
Golfs were too expensive and looked boring inside and out,
the Astra was not nice to drive,
Focus was boring and felt old fashioned,
Ceed drove OK but was too 'tinny',
Skoda would be great, if I was staring a Taxi service,
Civic looked nice but was cramped and not a good drive.

I liked the 1.6 Crdi i30 Style but couldn't find one at the right price, W Cornwall does not have a vast collection of cars to choose from. Getting nowhere we even tried Sabb convertibles, (no room in the back) and older C class Mercs, but still not wanting to run a Taxi, particularly an old high mileage taxi thought better of it.

after 6 months of this we were on a Xmas visit to Aberdeen and popped into a dealer in the Midlands, had a drive of the car (its an ex-demonstrator with 11000 miles on it) and chopped in the Fiesta there and then. Moved the luggage over and drove the rest of the way to Aberdeen and back to Cornwall last week through some 'unexpected' weather (if you're in the UK you'll know what I mean) so have had a chance to try most of the features and toys and get an idea of actual performance and economy.

Found this site through the Hyundai-forums, foolishly signed up on the old site (ignoring the 'this site has moved' notice) and finally got here.

Myowni30 · **Reply #1: January 12, 2010, 17:01:00**

Welcome to the i30 Owners Club JP

Good choice of car

Hemmi · **Reply #2: January 12, 2010, 17:21:10**

Hi JP and welcome

Shambles · **Reply #3: January 12, 2010, 17:30:05**

Hi JP, welcome to the club

Brilliant intro by the way...

SRT Metro · **Reply #4: January 12, 2010, 17:57:57**

Hi JP and welcome to the club!

eye30 · **Reply #5: January 12, 2010, 18:23:39**

Quote from: jp on January 12, 2010, 16:50:34

we were on a Xmas visit to Aberdeen and popped into a dealer in the Midlands, had a drive of the car (its an ex-demonstrator with 11000 miles on it) and chopped in the Fiesta there and then. Moved the luggage over and drove the rest of the way to Aberdeen and back to Cornwall last week through some 'unexpected' weather (if you're in the UK you'll know what I mean) so have had a chance to try most of the features and toys and get an idea of actual performance and economy.

Welcome jp,

What made you pop into a dealers in the Midlands.

Are you a dealer anorak?

I usually pop into service stations on my trips.

bumpkin · **Reply #6: January 12, 2010, 18:25:30**

Welcome jp, good choice of car and a great first run in your new baby

Lorian · **Reply #7: January 12, 2010, 18:54:26**

Welcome, great car, great colour

Probably white again by now though?

I think you probably rank as the shortest wait-time in our "How long did you wait for your i30?" poll.

2i30s · **Reply #8: January 12, 2010, 20:23:25**

welcome from Australia.

**Reply #9: January 12, 2010, 21:50:16**

Welcome

Dazzler · **Reply #10: January 13, 2010, 12:10:32**

Excellent Story JP.. Welcome to our humble club

and you are enjoying the car? I love my 1.6 diesel (your 2.0 with 6 speed box? should be Awesome!)

Shambles · **Reply #11: January 13, 2010, 20:01:04**

Quote from: jp on January 12, 2010, 16:50:34

... foolishly signed up on the old site (ignoring the 'this site has moved' notice) and finally got here.

Did you sign up there as "bluH" by any chance

babis_xo · **Reply #12: January 13, 2010, 22:09:54**

Welcome jp. Nice photo you have there

jp · **Reply #13: January 14, 2010, 10:49:04**

Quote

Did you sign up there as "bluH" by any chance

yep, to be fair I was led astray by the fact that my computer does not like connecting to the new site, it takes on avereage 5 or 6 retrys before it works, IE or firefox, so as the old site was still accepting registrations I assumed that the new site wasn't there and as it were fell into the abandoned well.

jp · **Reply #14: January 14, 2010, 11:38:20**

Thanks for the kind words and welcome folks.

Quote

What made you pop into a dealers in the Midlands.

it was essentially a trip from one end of Britain to the other, (with apologies to those in Penzance, Thuso and outlying islands) so a find a car opportunity not to be missed.

Quote

Welcome jp, good choice of car and a great first run in your new baby

It certainly tested most of the systems, except those I couldn't find the switches for. Tips: 1. 50:50 diluted screen-wash freezes in the nozzles at -12C 2. don't pull into icy lay-bys to clean your screen as you may never get back into the traffic, ESP notwithstanding.

Quote

I think you probably rank as the shortest wait-time in our "How long did you wait for your i30?" poll.

not a fair comparison really, as it was used and on the forecourt. However, from arriving at the dealer to driving away was about 3 hours.

Quote

....and you are enjoying the car? I love my 1.6 diesel (your 2.0 with 6 speed box? should be Awesome!)

yes. It's had 5 tanks of fuel so getting a good idea. waiting for more sensible conditions to see what she'll do. I'll put a posting on the appropriate thread with likes and dislikes then. Had a tow bar fitted yesterday so shall report on that too.

babis_xo · **Reply #15: January 14, 2010, 21:06:30**

Thanks for the tips. What's the meaning of "ESP notwithstanding"? (translation please)

bumpkin · **Reply #16: January 15, 2010, 08:25:00**

Quote from: babis_xo on January 14, 2010, 21:06:30

Thanks for the tips. What's the meaning of "ESP notwithstanding"? (translation please)

He means that the weather conditions were so bad that even with ESP it was difficult to drive the car.

IMCRZY · **Reply #17: January 15, 2010, 11:22:16**

Welcome....

I would have got the 2.0 diesel if they were sold here

Anyways enjoy

You'll love it

jp · **Reply #18: January 15, 2010, 14:17:44**

Quote from: babis_xo on January 14, 2010, 21:06:30

Thanks for the tips. What's the meaning of "ESP notwithstanding"? (translation please)

so, there I was, tucked in just off the road on this narrow ice covered pull in to clean my screen. Back in the car made ready to make a quick insertion into the fast moving stream of traffic 6 inches from my door and nothing! wheelspin! tried switching ESP (traction control) off and on, through desperation really. Finally made it by rocking back and forth on gears.

babis_xo · **Reply #19: January 16, 2010, 18:13:15**

I see. Too bad, no ASR on our car.
Soon i will post - at another topic - my experience with ESP (wich is actually works perfect).
Thanks jp & bumpkin for the translation

hipposniper · **Reply #20: February 12, 2010, 18:15:06**

great colour mate, welcome to the club

snowcherry · **Reply #21: February 13, 2010, 04:06:05**

welcome jp!

i also made the move from trusty ford (festiva in my case) to the i30. have been very happy to.