Have Car, Will Drive

If you are looking for an unbiased review on a used family car, I suggest that you leave this page immediately. For this is a review of a car that is quite close to my heart, my dad's 2003 Mazda 6 Luxury sedan. This is the first car I ever drove, and the a car I regularly borrowed when I had just passed my license test. Even once I've had my own car, I have borrowed the Mazda on multiple occasions, either for holidays not suitable for my then current transportation or just because I wanted a spin in my first automotive love. I've been thinking about writing this review for quite some time, but I was waiting for the timing to be right. Having recently spent a whole week driving this car according to my usual routine, reminding me all of the car's joys and shortfalls alike it feels like that right time is now.

(This one may not actually be dead, but it is certainly dead to me, and so it qualifies for a Posthumus Review) Despite nearly two months having passed since the unfortunate demise of my Peugeot 405 Mi16 , I was definitely on the rebound when I bought my next set of wheels. From the sporty French emotion of the Peugeot I went to the clinically Swedish practicality (with a hint of European style, of course) of the Saab 9000CS. Instead of a five-speed manual mated to a rev-happy four mounted on go-kart-tight suspension, I now had a (relatively) heavy wallowing barge driven by an asthmatic 2.3L four and a clunky four-speed auto. But the old Saab was not without its perks. Its rear hatch provided easy access for transporting bikes and other assorted luggage with the seats folded flat. The heated front seats were a delight on cold winter mornings, and to my (possibly strange) tastes the fake woodgrain dash was a nice touch of class. The heated side mirrors and headlamp w...

Everyone's first car has a special place in their heart, and for those of us with a passion for cars this effect is amplified. This was mine: a 1990 Peugeot 405 Mi16. I was with great restraint that had I held off buying my first car for nearly six months after I'd passed my license test, although finances (or more accurately, lack thereof) also played a substantial part. Having just scraped together just enough money for a car that might be worth owning, I trawled online car advertisements for weeks looking for the right vehicle. My list of criteria was short (ABS, somewhat economical to run, a touch of class) although armed with limited resources, this substantially limited my choices, especially given that I refused to own a family sedan of the Australian-built variety. Before buying the Peugeot I had test-driven five cars, all Saabs. Two GM 900s and three 9000s. The better of the two 900s I had bid for on ebay, but it sold above my budget, while the best of the 9000s made m...