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his is your chance to write to the team about any kind of motoring issue. Don’t hold back, good or bad, and whatever the subject, get it off your chest. Do you need buying advice or help with a motoring related issue? E-mail all of your comments to editorial@dieselcar.com and you could even win a prize for your trouble thanks to Sealey Power Products. Our star letter is rewarded by an exciting gift, so get busy tapping away at your keyboard or scribbling away on paper, we really welcome your views, whatever they are.
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STAR LETTER
KIA MISSING A TRICK – TAKE TWO Dear Ian I’m also one of the customers that would love to buy a Kia Sorento 2 with the diesel engine, but can’t because they don’t offer one. I’ve been badgering my local dealer and they came back with a similar answer to the one that you gave. The problem as I see it is that there are very few diesel SUVs that have the towing might that the Sorento has. And with diesel vehicles being discontinued at every turn, that’s only going to get worse. In days gone by, there was the Hyundai Santa Fe option, but the Korean firm has chosen not to import diesels into the UK anymore, despite offering them in Europe. All I keep hearing is about diesel’s diminishing market share, however, if the right products aren’t sold here, how can customers buy them? Why not let customers decide what they want to buy, rather than getting caught up in unnecessary politics. So I challenge both Hyundai and Kia to do what is right for their customers, not what their narrow minded product managers think is the right route to take. Robin Butcher By e-mail As well as the missing Sorento 2 2.2 CRDi diesel, there’s a number of models that we don’t get in the UK that other countries sell, including beefy X-Line editions and sporty GT-Line versions. Other markets get colourful upholsteries, like terracotta, and yet we just get boring black. It would seem like we’re the poor relations here in the UK. Ian
DIESEL STILL ON THE COMPANY CAR LIST Dear Ian, I think I must work for the only company that has diesel cars left on the company car scheme. All of my friends have to choose electric or plug-in hybrids on account of the tax benefits, but every single one of them has been left stranded for one reason or another. Therefore, I’m feeling quite smug with my diesel list, but would love to hear your advice. I’ve got a choice of the new Peugeot 308 GT BlueHDi 130, DS 4 Trocadero BlueHDi 130, Skoda Octavia SEL 2.0 TDI or Volkswagen Golf Style 2.0 TDI and many more if I put more money to it, which I’d rather not do if I can help it. I think I know what I’m going to choose, it’s French, but I’d be interested in your view. Mike Smith
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Hi Mike, what a great choice you’ve got there, and it would be easy for me to strike one from the list, and that’s the Volkswagen Golf. It just isn’t as special as it once was. Now I haven’t driven the latest Peugeot 308 – Phil Huff took the trip to France to do that earlier in the year, but I have been behind the wheel of the latest DS 4 in left-hand drive guise, and it fitted me like a glove. I didn’t want to get out of it when my time came to an end, and that rarely happens. So unless you need the acres of space that the Skoda Octavia offers, I’d say pamper yourself with a new DS 4, you won’t regret it for one second, I promise. Ian
