Eventually we will end up a one car partnership..I dont need a car now to be honest..those chairs you and Dan posted up look just the ticket ....at the mo she is happy to use the panda as daily transport until the right buy comes our way..but at the moment there are two in the list and neither of them are fiats..we dont like the bravo or the croma..and have already owned and sold a GP before the stilo[piece of crap]

Mazda 3

Kia ceed

These are two possble replacements for the stilo both have a good service record regarding problems and dealers and hold their price well ..in fact the ceed [which I have driven] is an excellent car and very much a stilo look a like..

awwww Phil come lets give yous a hug............................................... .................................................. ................on second thoughts scratch don't want you getting excited now

aw man still can't believe you gave up the stilo..... but... if your going to leave the italians....... do the right thing and buy Jap! can't go wrong. though the Kia Cee'd does look quite tasty

Both the Mazda and the Kia are excellent..the KIA 1.6 is 120bhp straight out of the box and a flier..so i think I will encourage her in doors to get a 1.4.. I havnt even sat in a mazda so at this time I cant even comment on it..a car is very much a personal thing what suits one is another mans poisen [as the saying goes ]..my other half has issuse as well in the fact that she is only about five foot five and in some cars she has sat in cant see over the top of the steering wheel or the end of the bonnet..she hasnt bought any car that has those two problems from the offset..she commented last night when she came in from work how surprised she was with my little yellow peril..she said the seating position [although not ajustable] was just right and she felt comfortable and could see the end of the bonnet very easily and in her stilo dispite having the seat jacked right up to the max she still couldnt see the end of the bonnet in that car..

i have the same problem with my stilo mate, cant see the end of the bonnet and i'm six foot

Originally Posted by scottie2065

i have the same problem with my stilo mate, cant see the end of the bonnet and i'm six foot

Seems to be a universal problem in the 3dr now if you had the 5dr you wouldnt get the problem..

Yes I'd agree. I'm 6'6" but cannot see the end of the bonnet. But then I never have been in able to in many cars.

Its a case of learning and getting to know your car. Can suss where the bonnet actually ends by awareness surely?

Originally Posted by Insomnia

Yes I'd agree. I'm 6'6" but cannot see the end of the bonnet. But then I never have been in able to in many cars.

Its a case of learning and getting to know your car. Can suss where the bonnet actually ends by awareness surely?

of course you can learn to know where the front of your car is, well i can't when when the front of my car is stuck up the ar$e of an MX-5 , lol,

now Phill dont start me on the 3door / 5door thing lol

Out of the 2 possibles you've listed, I can see why it may be difficult. The Mazda's just been replaced and the Cee'd's just been/about to be face lifted, so both of their values could be hit ever so slightly. But then again, that could be a bargaining tool come buying time.

Out of the both of them, the Kia maybe has the edge in terms of warranty package and the like, but I still think the Mazda has a slightly better reputation...badge snobbery and all that. If it's the older 3 though, the interior apparently wasn't much cop. Quality of plastics and the like weren't praised very highly, though I don't know about the seating comfort. I do know that the interior of the Kia has been praised by many in the motoring press and many including Tom Ford of Fifth Gear fame were surprised by how good a car it was.

Anyway though, give both a thorough test drive and see which one you could live with. If you can, try and get one of those 24 hour test drives, though I know not many dealerships offer them.