Daft Girly Question - Need Assistance Please

Lpfsox

Hi folks

Looking for some assistance please (don't laugh at the ridiculously girly question coming up )

Am about to change my 10 year old Astra and am considering either a Focus or a Honda Civic (2004/2005 ish, depending on price. Can go up to about €16,000).

First question is; which in your opinion and all things being equal (price, mileage, condition etc) would be the better car?

Second question (and this is the daft one); can you tell me if it's possible to replace the stereo in either car, I want one that can play mp3 and has bluetooth so I can have handsfree in the car without having loads of gadgets plugged in. The Parrot Rhythm & Blue seems to be able to do the job but the stereos on both the Focus and Civic seem to be moulded into the dash. Can they be changed?

Thanks for your help

Mr Magnolia

Lpfsox wrote:

Looking for some assistance please (don't laugh at the ridiculously girly question coming up )

Am about to change my 10 year old Astra and am considering either a Focus or a Honda Civic (2004/2005 ish, depending on price. Can go up to about €16,000).

First question is; which in your opinion and all things being equal (price, mileage, condition etc) would be the better car?:)

The questions aren't ridiculously at all IMO . I'd say the Civic, though it's personal preference.

Lpfsox wrote:

Second question (and this is the daft one); can you tell me if it's possible to replace the stereo in either car, I want one that can play mp3 and has bluetooth so I can have handsfree in the car without having loads of gadgets plugged in. The Parrot Rhythm & Blue seems to be able to do the job but the stereos on both the Focus and Civic seem to be moulded into the dash. Can they be changed?

When you say MP3, do you want to intall an Ipod integrated with the radio? If you give Halfords or someone similar a bell, they'll set you straight
A blue-tooth car-kit can be installed into any car AFAIK. €250-€300

Lpfsox

Hi Sparks400

Thanks for the reply. I meant a CD player that plays mp3 files as well, rather than an ipod or similar. My current Pioneer unit does this but doesn't support bluetooth so I was considering changing to the Parrot unit that will do both.

What I'm trying to avoid is having a seperate CD player, mp3 player and bluetooth kit along with my GPS in the car - although the GPS does support bluetooth I don't plug it in when driving to/from work etc. If it was possible to just change the stereo in the car to the Parrot one or similar it would give me everything I need in one go.

Stephen

Pioneer have units available with Bluetooth handsfree support built in. If you want to do it cheaply, Aldi/Lidl seem to have one every few months that plays MP3 CD's and has bluetooth, but you won't be able to control this with any built in steering wheel controls, whereas a decent pioneer will have wiring to hook the wheel controls up.

Lpfsox

thanks for the tip Stephen. Steering wheel controls aren't vital.

eusap

The focus is a better car, and is much cheaper to insure, if you take either factory radio out you can buy dash inserts so you can buy normal size radios

rebel.ranter

Hi,
I would opt for the Ford Focus out of the three. Servicing & parts will be cheaper. We have a few pool Focus in work that get a lot of abuse & they are still perfect. Also Top Gear have always praised the focus as the best "drive" for a car in it's class. Personally I would avoid the Astra. Honda is probably ultra reliable but the parts are known to be dear (for when something goes wrong.

As for the stereo/bluetooth question. Firstly you can buy a new facia to fir a normal aftermarket stereo to your car like the ones here:
http://search.ebay.ie/search/search.dll?sofocus=bs&sbrftog=1&catref=C6&from=R10&satitle=ford+focus+facia&sacat=-1%26catref%3DC6&sargn=-1%26saslc%3D3&ga10244=10425&ftrt=1&ftrv=1&saprclo=&saprchi=&fsop=1%26fsoo%3D1&coaction=compare&copagenum=1&coentrypage=search

That means you don't have to keep the existing radio, most if not all aftermarket stereos now allow MP3 CDs to be played no hassle. There are also stereos now that you can plug in a memory stick into the front of & play your MP3s directly from the memory stick.

As suggested above a lot of stereos are now coming with bluetooth. Pioneer do a nice one, although once a bluetooth car kit is fitted all's that's visible is the button. You'll pick up a Nokia one on EBay for €100.

Lpfsox

appreciate all your help folks, thanks very much for the advice.

zt-OctaviaN

Hiya doin!

Ok the questions are fine!

Cant help you on the choice of car I dont have experience with those 2 cars however, the stereo swap out I can suggest!
(personnally im not gone on the ford interiors but thats me)
btw couldnt you get a new 206 for same money? brand new car, warrenty etc etc! fair enough smaller but new.

I purchased a Sony FX7500 from www.incarexpress.co.uk its MP3 cd tuner but no bluetooth that was however 2 years ago basically www.incarexpress.co.uk have tonnes of units just get a fascia and you may want the dash display/steering wheel adapters aswell if the civic or focus have radio display on a LCD in the dash / steering wheel remote these little adapters allow interface to the aftermarket headunit.

Good luck,
Nick.

maidhc

I'd go for the Focus, but then I drive one already!

I'd suggest you fit a car kit like the Parrot CK3100 and keep to factory fit radio. They also have a new car kit that can stream mp3s over bluetooth,

The Ford radios sound pretty good and, unlike most aftermarket ones, are actually usable*. The remote control on the steering column is also a lifesaver in the most literal sense of the word.

*I bought one of the radios in Lidl recently for a 12 year old car, and it has been thrown out already in favour of the original casette player (for now). Sound is only average, its bloody impossble to use and the buttons are so small they must be designed for elves.

Fey!

The new pioneer MP3/Bluetooth headunits are really sweet. Had a look at one recently myself to replace an older Pioneer Mp3 headunit. Anyone who supplies the headunits should be able to supply the facia inserts and the cables to go to the steering controls (they are a nice touch). One word of advice would be to hold on to the original headunit for when you go to sell on the car - a lot of people like original, plus you can then move your new one to your next car.

I would recommend MJ Systems in Galway (091-561449) for supply and fit if you're heading west at any stage. Otherwise, get the garage you're buying off to recommend a fitter they use to avoid any later warranty issues.

Watch the nokia bluetooth kits on ebay - I got stung badly.

As for car choice, I think I'd be edging toward the Focus, based on any reviews I've seen (Hondas are superbly reliable (I've had 2, and loved the Civic), but I don't like the newer Civic styling).

colm_mcm

Civic saloons tend to be pretty basic, also the 1.4 engine isn't up to Honda's usual standard, and is gutless. not as underpowered as the Focus 1.4 though. I'd go with the Focus.

wingnut

Fey! wrote:

I would recommend MJ Systems in Galway (091-561449) for supply and fit if you're heading west at any stage. Otherwise, get the garage you're buying off to recommend a fitter they use to avoid any later warranty issues

Expensive route I'd say. Changing a car stereo is usually straightforward even my mother can (and has!) done it. Keep the old one and I don't see what warranty issues there would be.

As well as the fascia adapters you should get a loom adapter for the wiring (often sold as a set). A mate has the bluetooth stereo from Lidl its sound allright, won't set the world alight but at the price you wouldn't expect it to, its a solid performer.

My last stereo I bought myself a number of years ago played MP3 CDs back when this was a new and uncommon feature. I got it from incarexpress (mentioned in previous posts) for 1/3 the price it was retaling in Irish shops at the time. It outlasted my last car as well!

I'm pretty sure a Sony MP3 CD player with BT handsfree was an option on the Focus, if you are lucky maybe you will find one.

JHMEG

The Civic will be a lot better built, and will give you the sort of reliabilty Ford dream of.

Tho the Ford is nice to drive, if gutless.

The stereo in the Civic is DIN and is very easy to replace (a 2 min job) and there is no farting around with bits of the dash like there is in the Ford.

I would recommend a Pioneer DEH P75BT as a drop in bluetooth head unit. If you have an iPod you can get (cheaply) a IB100ii iPod interface for the Pioneer allowing you to control the iPod from the stereo.

DEH P75BT:
http://www.pioneer.eu/eur/products/25/121/61/DEH-P75BT/index.html

IB100ii:
http://www.pioneer.eu/eur/products/25/38/301/CD-IB100%20II/index.html

Biro

Go for the civic. You definately won't regret it. I've heard various reports from various people on lots of different cars, but I've yet to hear of anyone who regretted buying a civic!
The focus would be a better handling car alright, but the driving position is rubbish, which takes from the handling again! In every other way the civic is a better car.

ballooba

You could have this Astra on the road in ireland for €16,000:

http://www.johnbanks.co.uk/search.php?ListingID=1437

Or this one for €15,000:
http://users.autoexposure.co.uk/classicdd.cfm?Account=AETA13345&VehicleID=AETV102862&Photo=http://users.autoexposure.co.uk/is/autoedit/AETA13345/AETV102862_1a.jpg

Lpfsox

thanks for that Ballooba, but I'm looking for a 1.4 engine - I'm still on my first provisional (though test coming up soon, hope it goes well) and my insurance is pretty high. A 2 litre engine would be expensive to insure and is too big for my needs really.

ninty9er

I know you won't get a Focus with inbuilt bluetooth for your budget, but if you check with a Ford main dealer, they might be able to get you a stereo upgrade to one with bluetooth. (sony option)

My granny has one with voice control but that's not worth the hassle

Car Mad

Biro wrote:

Go for the civic. You definately won't regret it. I've heard various reports from various people on lots of different cars, but I've yet to hear of anyone who regretted buying a civic!
The focus would be a better handling car alright, but the driving position is rubbish, which takes from the handling again! In every other way the civic is a better car.

What biro said .Civic all round better car.You can get an mp3 radio in any decent motor shop halfords deevys and the likes.Good luck with which ever one you decide;)
Good luck with the driving test