I have had to hire one of these for 4 days until I can get a new clutch for my Felicia.

I shall tell you about its equipment it has

Air Con, A 1.0 64BHP engine, 5 doors, Blaupunkt Radio Cd player,ABS, Power steering, rear wash wipe, high 3rd brake light and 1 electric mirror.

What I like about the car - The engine doesn't sound too bad and the Blaupunkt Radio CD Player at least provides decent sound.

What I don't like - The design of the interior they have placed the speedo in the middle of the dashboard and even more stupidly its not even directed at the driver.

The gear change lacks sharpness, whilst it handles well in town at least anywhere else this car falls down - lack of steering feel, body lean definately not good.

It lacks a temp gauge :eek:

In summary I wouldn't recommend that anyone buy one of these. If you want a cheap talented car then buy a 93 shape onwards Nissan Micra or a Skoda Felicia. Sure they are older and dont have the luxuries of the new Matiz - but they are more reliable, better to drive and have a logically laid out dashboard.

Know someone who has an original Matiz, and when they had a new one for a loan car they hated it. That sounds a good design having a speedo that you can hardly see !

The lack of temperature gauge is now common in new small cars. Another new car that doesnt have one is the current Vauxhall Astra.

I wonder how slow the Matiz would be with the Aircon turned on.

The current Astra doesnt have a temp gauge :eek:

I havent tried te Matiz with the AC on. Will try that tomorrow and report back.

Do you guys want pictures of this car

stick with the felly:) there fun cars to chuck about:D

Thanks.

My Fellys not going anywhere.

A new clutch next week will mean it will be back where it belongs - on the road

And you're right about the Astra not having a temp gauge. Why is the temp gauge being taken off some cars?

And you're right about the Astra not having a temp gauge. Why is the temp gauge being taken off some cars?

There's a warning light if the water temperature exceeds a certain limit - which is pretty much the only useful thing the water temperature gauge would show anyway.

Rob.

they sell matiz's next door and my god are they orrid!

i know they are cheap, but i would rather buy a citroen c1 any day of the week, even if it costs a few hundred quid more

you want to read my What Car review on the Matiz

Won't be driving it for much longer. My mechanic needs those parts sooner rather than later as they opened the gearbox so my Felly's stuck on the ramps.

Parts were a reasonable price too. My mechanic said he could get a clutch and cable for £109

My local dealer Parkside? in total under £77

you want to read my What Car review on the Matiz

Nice thoughtful review.

No disrespect to Rob, but always found a temp gauge essential, it does show when the engine is starting to get hot when it starts to move from its usual position, so you have some indication before the temp reaches the red zone- very useful when had head gasket problems on the Punto;)

I have found the temp gauge useful espec last year when my Skoda overheated.

Also useful in winter as it shows when the engine is warmed up so you can turn the heater on full to make the cabin nice and toasty.

I have found the temp gauge useful espec last year when my Skoda overheated.

Is this the overheating Skoda Felicia with the failed clutch that'll be more reliable than a new Matiz? :rubchin:

I suspect that the temperature gauge didn't show you anything that a temperature warning light wouldn't have (ie. the coolant is above normal operating temperature).

The water temperature gauge won't show you when the engine's warmed up, it'll show you when your engine coolant has warmed up - it takes quite a bit longer for the engine to warm up!

Rob.

It only has one Eletric Mirror :eek:

I suspect that the temperature gauge didn't show you anything that a temperature warning light wouldn't have (ie. the coolant is above normal operating temperature).

Yes IIRC temperature gauges haven't showed actual temperature for quite a while and just sit at the half way mark when all is well (irrespective of fluctuations in temperature). Presumably this could easily be replaced by a light which illuminates when the temperature went above this mark.

This sort of thing has been happening for ages now and there are plenty of gauges which have been replaced by lights over the years that no-one worries about any more.

Chris

It only has one Eletric Mirror :eek:

Yep on the car I'm surrently driving it has the drivers mirror manual and the passenger one has electric adjustment.

Hmm Well if you know your stuff under the bonnet and keep an eye on the water and oil levels then I suppose you won't really miss the temp gauge.

I'd rather just see one there anyway

Why do you need a speedo? surely the ear splitting whine of the engine will tell you when you are going to fast or bits falling ff

Yes IIRC temperature gauges haven't showed actual temperature for quite a while and just sit at the half way mark when all is well (irrespective of fluctuations in temperature). Presumably this could easily be replaced by a light which illuminates when the temperature went above this mark.

This sort of thing has been happening for ages now and there are plenty of gauges which have been replaced by lights over the years that no-one worries about any more.

Chris

Some sort of digital display panel would be nice showing coolant, oil temps, oil pressure and voltages. Funny you should mention gauges because in my previous cars you could see the needle move up when the car was static, in the Fabia it never moves, also you have a set of figures 50 - 90 - 130 which IMHO are just there for display, on the Punto it was just letters C and H.

Not sure about the Fabia, but there's a "throw a 6 to begin" routine you can do on the Mondeo which allows you to view various sensor outputs on the car's lcd panel which I think includes oil pressure, temp, battery voltage, charging voltage, etc.

I suppose the problem is people like black boxes and only being told when there's a problem. Lights do this well but to fit them all in requires space which is at a premium, especially when you've accounted for the warning lights to show you when it's cold outside, you don't have your seatbelt on, traction control is off, a bulb is out, you've run out of screen wash, etc.

Maybe cars should have a "safe" mode and an advanced mode so those wanting to see details can?

Chris

Piccies of the offending car.

A whole album on Facebook too

I contemplated a Matiz for a few seconds before buying my Felly last year: Low mileage, low price although only two years old.

But it makes me think of Noddy's car - too much of a toy. Just as the old Twingo that I once rented. When it comes to road safety it's not better than my ten year old Felicia.

Temp gauge: I agree with Rob that a warning light is just as good for overheating, but with a failed stat the gauge tells you something is not right (which happened twice with my old Nissan and once - so far - with my Felly).

Electric mirrors - bah, posh! I still marvel at having an indoor adjusting kn0b

The lack of temperature gauge is now common in new small cars. Another new car that doesnt have one is the current Vauxhall Astra.

I wonder how slow the Matiz would be with the Aircon turned on.

Not sure but they definitely slow down when the AC pump kicks in! - we had one as a hire car in Lanzarote a few years ago and I couldn;t work out why it would suddenly slow down on a steady cruise across the island - until I turned the AC off and on that is!

It was also so underpowered that I took a run up at the only mountain (large hill) on the island and steadily had to work down through the gears until at the top I was crawling up with my foot to the floor in first, holding all the coaches up!

I didnt really notice any slow down with the ac on/off really

But now my Skodas back I couldnt give a toss.

I hired one in Sardinia a couple of years ago. They've got good mountain roads out there and I broke it (lights on dashboard, no power) and had to get another one! Both were quite new and totally horrible, only useful as a wheel chock for something larger. If considering one check out anything else secondhand for the same money it will be better.

Even skoda going a strange ( in my mind ) route re temperature gauge etc.

I went from 54 plate ambiente fabia to a 56 plate roomster level 2 . Gained alloys , 2 front cup holders & aux input for mp3 but lost temperature gauge , remote fuel flap , lid for small drivers side cubby & front fogs . Chuffed with the car so will just have to live with it , but just seems strange !