[Closed] 7 seater luxury 4 x 4s - anyone got an XC90, Q7 or X5?

Who's poor?

you

Do all rich people buy stupid oversized cars then?

Nope. But they don't moan about them either

Flange, you are AWESOME. the forum needed a new Don Simon or Surfmat and I think you might be that man!

No need to thank me.

Think of it as a service to the poor

I miss Surf Mat

Nope. But they don't moan about them either

They just moan about poor people instead, right?

I've been in the discovery, X5 and Q5. I thought they were all horrid - a kind of reverse tardis where there's far less space on the inside than you'd think, given the gargantuan external dimensions. Any wanting a spacious luxury family car would buy an upmarket estate.

Mind, she is a Maths Professor at Cambridge…

EDIT: wundhundredd! 😀

I have a twin brother and sister 3 years younger than me. The car was a VW Beetle for some years though I've a vague memory of a Mini at some point. Later there was an Austin maxi and I think when we were teenagers a Vauxhall Cavalier.

SIL has 3 (8/10/12)who happily fit in a Nissan X-trail. Mate in London (3/5/7) has just switched from a Touran to a Saab 9-5 estate (which gets them to France camping in summer).

Surely the cost, and inconvenience, of running a behemoth like the Q7 outweighs the benefits of not having to take two cars occasionally?

I know, Ginger and Bonkers..!

And drives a bright blue Hybrid..

Whooodathunkit.

I have a twin brother and sister 3 years younger than me. The car was a VW Beetle for some years though I've a vague memory of a Mini at some point. Later there was an Austin maxi and I think when we were teenagers a Vauxhall Cavalier.

In the days before car seats, I'd guess..?

And to be fair you can only take two cars if there are two drivers on hand?

What tyres for a Chelsea Tractor?

Ones that cost £500 each.

Lolz

In the days before car seats, I'd guess..?

Days before rear seatbelts. I think the Beetle had some sort of arrangement in the front but they weren't on an inertia reel.

Thinking about it, I remember a number of times the Beetle worked as a 7 seater - you could get two children in the bit on top of the engine behind the rear seat.

Ones that cost £500 each

They don't tend to do well on cars though.

Unless you are implying that the costs are similar, in which case I would counter that I don't spend £2k a year on MTB tyres 🙂

I haven't read all of this thread so apologies if what I say has been said already. We used to have an XC90 and it was the best family car I ever had. It was reliable and well built but best of all was the thoroughly sensible design - the little things that you don't notice until you run a car day to day. I really miss it and would be very tempted to buy another given current deals although you'd probably lose a lot in resale with a new one around the corner.
Good points;
The most comfortable seats of any car I've ever driven. Got out after 700 miles without any aches or pains. Utterly brilliant on long motorway journeys, 6 passengers and a roofbox. Very clear and simple intuitive controls - easy to underestimate this. The heated seats that with one push go to full, then another push to 50% then another push off. Never used all the infinite heat settings on German heated seats. The great rotary controls for cabin temp (Audis look great in the showroom but clicking through 0.5 degree increments in some models is a total PITA). Can use the controls wearing gloves in winter. Really powerful aircon and heating.
Brilliant xenon lights that turn with the steering (I swear that they were brighter and better than xenons on other cars I've tried), tough and durable, very very reliable and even servicing etc is relatively reasonable at a Volvo independant. We had an upgraded stereo on ours and it sounded really good - not sure if that was due to the bigger "space" inside the cabin or not but it sounded great. Easy to get rearmost seats up and down. I even liked the little plastic window tab that holds parking tickets in place. It just oozes thought and good design.
With regard to 4x4, that really depends on tyres. No match for a Landie. It is OK in snow on the standard conti cross contacts, and certainly got to places that lots of "normal" cars couldn't in deep snow but it's nowhere near as easy as you'd think. The "winter" setting on the gearbox seems to make a difference in snow and I've got up many snow covered steep hills with cars slipping and failing all around me. It's much better with proper offroad tyres if that's what you want. Last but not least, it's sublimely safe. I think when it came out, NCAP rated it as one of the strongest chassis/body cells it had ever tested and as Clarkson once said, with all the curtain and side bags etc, it would be like crashing a bouncy castle. Even the door handles are designed to be able to be opened by fire crews using large fireproof mitts! Size wise, it feels smaller than other 4x4s and more akin to parking an estate.
Bad points:
Very few. It's heavy on front tyres (especially contis). The front nearside always wears most. I had tracking etc checked umpteen times over but then got from a reliable source that it's common to all due to 2 tons pivoting on the front nearside going round roundabouts (on the continent, it's the front "UK offside" that wears most). I used to get about 7000 miles out of it. I'm told that Nokians may be better but possibly louder.
The engine is tough and reliable but rougher sounding than some competitors - but that's relative. I quite liked the 5 cylinder thrum at times and it was great when cruising on faster roads.
Economy for me (driven slowly and gently 99% of the time with family on board) was high 20s mixed urban - that's 6 up most of the time too.
I've owned about 10 cars in my time, driven a lot more. I would recommend an XC90 unreservedly. It's the best car I ever had. I may well look at the new model and really really miss my old one. Hope that helps.

I've never understood the high driving position thing.

Raising up a car is about the worst thing you can do to the handling of a car apart from adding a whole load of weight...

Is it just that people who like these faux off-roaders aren't very confident drivers?

This thread reminds me of a couple I knew through Madame. His was a new Ferrari, hers was a new AMG Merc, and when we visited we stayed in the guest house at the bottom of the garden. Nice fun-loving people exuding confidence, but something went wrong and when the assets were divided up in the divorce it turned out that they weren't worth much more than my bicycles. Careful, Flange. 😉

Mitsubishi outlander
4x4 and 7 seven seats and not big and ugly

I used to get about 7000 miles out of it. I'm told that Nokians may be better but possibly louder.

Quality thread, thanks all. The faux comments tickled me most, who do you think cares what you consider to be a "real" 4x4?! The car designers tend to build the cars that people want to buy : )

[i]No need to thank me.

Think of it as a service to the poor[/i]

& my real name is Hood, Robin Hood. Except I rob from the rich (your type apparently) & keep it.
You are a snobbish troll.

Don't discount the Discovery...
I've done 60,000 in my Disco II and I bought it with 75k on the clock. I love it and use it for work and family. At work it tows a 2.2 Ton trailer and it does it better than my previous Defenders.
The new Discoveries have better seats in the boot (seats 6/7) and are better equipped and handle/drive better than my Disco II.
If you're buying new then they are all awesome cars but for what I need (towing) there's nothing better with 7 seats...

My (small) mate has an X5, he loves it. He had a Disco before that but (he felt) it was more designed for off road than on road and as he drives on roads ( but towes a lot) the X5 made more sence to him.

Although X5's are probably looked down on from the 4x4 lot, at least they drive well, on the road which is probably whee most non utilitarian 4x4's stay anyway.

Also, google x drive vs Quattro on you tube.

Interesting results.

[quote=richmtb ]I've never understood the high driving position thing.
It's so you at least have a decent view when you are packed nose-to-tail in a traffic jam.

Yep, just seen the Outlander mentioned. A newer one is my next car.

I've got the petrol addicted older one...

I thought the high driving position was so you couldn't see the proles and children in your way thereby enabling you to concentrate on your handheld mobile phone call to the salon during the vital drop off on the school run.

Of the 3 I think I would most likely consider an xc90. Oddly for me this would be image over function. I just couldnt face being seen in the audi as nice as i suspect it may be. Everyone I know with an xc90 loves it. Q7 owners similarly happy. Think my britishness might send me to look at a disco tho.....

Nokian tyres will be very hard wearing btw because they are all scilicia. And energy saving too, but you lot don't seem to give a crap about that.

And energy saving too, but you lot don't seem to give a crap about that.

I don't think anyone with three kids (by choice) really gives a damn about the environment...

[i]And energy saving too, but you lot don't seem to give a crap about that. [/i]

Whoa big boy, only last month I 'downgraded' to a smaller engined car - now a 3.0i V6 rather than the 3.5i V8 I had before.

I'm Mr Green me 🙂

Disco 4 with the 3litre twin turbo diesel engine. As much power as you'll need, nicely refined and as comfy as a range rover. And as has already been said 7 proper seats

My Britishness would point me to a Qashqai +2 and a pile of change!

I struggle with long sentences

but...

your missus wants a car that is expensive, uneconomical, eats tyres

grow a pair any buy an espace instead or a T4

Good to see envy and petty jealousy alive and well on STW! OP wasn't asking for demonstrations of how low some people's self esteem is, so low that they feel threatened by his choice of car 🙂

@OP I would go for an x5 out of those you mentioned. Maybe a merc GL? They were a bit chintzy last time I looked though. I've had disco3s, RRS and FF over the last few years and they have all had reliability issues which has put me off them, besides the RRS is tiny inside for such a big car. Saying that, there are all new versions of RRS and FF out this year, and I know I will be tempted again, especially if the tdv8 makes a comeback! Q7s don't really do it for me.

Interesting read, and not only for the vehicle options...

7 seats with the capacity to look after everyone as they grow, plus all the stuff you cart around, reasonable on consumables and fuel.. high driving position etc etc.. forget the snow, towing a small building, off road and 4wd..... I'm coming back round to a T5 Caravelle or Viano which are quite a long way from "vans" ...... and good residuals too. There must be a reason that taxi drivers / professional drivers use them.

Like your website btw and I reckon that either of the above would not look out of place in your line of work if thats a consideraton...

I'm coming back round to a T5 Caravelle or Viano

Which if you have three or more kids is the vehicle you choose if you're making a decision based on your practical needs rather than badge status.

We have some family friends who have four kids under seven and this is what they ran for a number of years (as an interesting aside, he remarried after his wife left him; at that point he already had three kids, the youngest of which was still living with him age 15. He was early 40s. He then took the plunge with his new wife and now has four more kids, so seven in total!)

Good to see envy and petty jealousy alive and well on STW! OP wasn't asking for demonstrations of how low some people's self esteem is, so low that they feel threatened by his choice of car

Envy and jealousy really has nothing to do with it. I could afford one of these ridiculous cars if I wanted one. If we are going to get into armchair psychoanalysis, what about the low self esteem of those who feel the need to buy an impractical and antisocial car for reasons of 'status', but don't have the confidence to admit it, so come up with all sorts of frankly laughable justifications?

It's the inverted snobbery I find the most saddening. 🙁

Some of the comments are bordering on the offensive. However, the OP hasn't helped by trying to justify a choice on [i]practical[/i] grounds whilst ignoring the most practical options.

It's the inverted snobbery I find the most saddening.

But you're fine with the blatant 'regular' snobbery on display here. Interesting...

Envy and jealousy really has nothing to do with it. I could afford one of these ridiculous cars if I wanted one. If we are going to get into armchair psychoanalysis, what about the low self esteem of those who feel the need to buy an impractical and antisocial car for reasons of 'status', but don't have the confidence to admit it, so come up with all sorts of frankly laughable justifications?

Envy and jealousy has *everything* to do with it, what do you think fuel the bile-filled posts? - it's the same thing as inverse bike snobbery only with 4 wheels. I find it interesting how much some people care about what other people drive 🙂

But you're fine with the absoolutely blatant regular snobbery on display here. Interesting...

why mess around with softcock 4wds?

http://www.earthcruiser.com.au/