Mrs P is getting a bit bored if our Nan Series Beemer (2 Series Active Tourer) and fancies something newer, bigger, nicer and with more gizmos
I think this has been kicked off by a trip to the states pre lockdown and having a ridiculous hire truck for the week.
Current car has alway been a little small as our only car, kids are getting bigger now and holidays are filling the car up.
Looking at swapping it to something 3ish years old. Budget about £17500 max. Bigger boot essential, as is a high driving position because Mrs P has a ropey back.
Mrs P has some deal breakers that I’m struggling with slightly. They are in no particular order
No autos - could probably convince her to move on this
No leather (kids don’t like it either)
No Skodas - she thinks they’re boring and someone she doesn’t like has one.
No other VW group cars - also has an aversion to them.
Has to have climate control
I want a car that is a nice place to be, is reliable and doesn’t cost the earth. Also can’t be slow slow.
Short list isn’t very short
Hyundai/Kia pair, Kuga, XC60, X1, X3 (all leather though) X Trail are the main suspects, but there’s something wrong with all of them.
In my head I think the Hyundai Tucson or old shape XC60 are at the top of the list, followed by the Kuga and then the rest.
Any one got any personal experience of buying any of these used?
I have to say the 2 series has been super reliable, I wish it had cruise control and car play would be nice. But it’s developed a knock in the steering that is common in a lot of BMs the same age, there’s a cheap fix for all other affected models but doesn’t appear to fix ours. Otherwise I’d probably keep it another couple of years until we could afford something significantly better.
Help!
In the grand old STW tradition of recommending what you have, how about a Berlingo. Driving position is higher than a normal car, plenty room, comfy, no leather, new models are nice inside. Also has the added advantage of not being an SUV like all the other stuff on your list.
Chances are your missus will dismiss it out of hand but get her to test drive it and she'll change her mind, mine did. I would say it's not the best looking but you've got a 2-Series Tourer thing so clearly looks aren't that important
Again, recommending what you have.
V70, everything you need and more!
I've had a Hyundai Santa Fe before and it was a great motor as well!
I like the Santa Fe but they’re all leather too which is a shame. V70 might be worth a look, not sure how well her back would cope though.
Not sure on the berlingo, would love one as a second car, but as ugly as the 2 series is it’s a nice drive and surprisingly quick
We've got a 2017kuga, had it for 2 years now, it's been fine, no issues to report, and swallows bike kit and holiday kit fine. Drives nicely enough for an suv and has all the gizmos you could want Inc heated seats, sat nav, android auto, apple car play, cruise control, big glass roof, electric driver seat, electric boot opening and closing,bluetooth etc
From that list though I'd imagine the x3 and the xc60 would be a nicer place to sit,although I'd imagine that fo r the same price as the Ford you'd be looking at a substantially older car, higher mileage car, or much lower spec Ed car in the form of the x3 or xc60. That's what we found when we were looking - hence the kuga.
Would have thought the x1 would be too small given your comments on your current 2 series, x3 might even be too small as well.
TL; DR - Mondeo estate with all the toys
Porsche Macan.
If she's a ropey back then you need to look a cars with a driving position that suits her better - or maybe adjust her seating position...
Plus look at auto's, might help her back not constantly changing gear.
@drac 😂
X1 is surprisingly big, sat in one as a wildcard at the car supermarket last week. The boot is bigger than most litres wise, even bigger than the Kuga.
Budget would stretch to about 68 reg Kuga, 66/17 xc60 or x3.
I like mondeos, had one years ago, before we had the kids but had no end of issues with it, which makes me a bit nervous spending decent money on one.
Never had a Volvo so don’t know what they’re like reliability wise, had a couple of BMs and they’ve both been super solid, if a bit more costly to service.
I keep going back to the Hyundai for the warranty and the last Hyundai I had was solid. But I can’t help but think I’d get bored of it after a couple of months.
Ok, to buck the trend, I’m [i]not [/i] going to recommend what I have.
It’s a BMW X3. Yes it’s nice enough but it’s overpriced compared to some of the VAG or Ford cars.
I’m looking to change mine now, probably for a Skoda Karoq or Kodiaq. Much cheaper PCP payments for the same screen price.
For your requirements it fails on the ‘no leather’ as it’s only available with leather interior. I do like the automatic gearbox though
Not sure on the berlingo, would love one as a second car, but as ugly as the 2 series is it’s a nice drive and surprisingly quick
Try one, yeah it won't be fast but in all reality as long as it's gets to 80mph (on the French Autoroutes officer) I don't see the issue. I've had fast cars and other than getting you to the speed limit a bit quicker for everyday driving it makes next to no difference.
You can get a year old one with 5-6k miles on for your budget compared to say a 3-4 year old XC60 with 35-40k miles on it.
The VAG aversion is a bit daft. A VW Tiguan an obvious answer as it'll be easy to find a cloth interior/manual combo and they're very good.
Just looked at the berlingos, the new ones looks smart! No climate control on them though, unless you have a top spec one, and they’re out of budget used, might be worth having a look at a new pcp one though... a wildcard for sure.
I really like the Kodiak, it literally ticks all boxes but Mrs P is adamant on the no Skodas rule which is a real shame.
I was disappointed with the Tiguan we sat in, bit dull and the arm rest was in completely the wrong position and wasn’t adjustable, would have annoyed me massively.
I’m getting the the point of just getting a mk1 X5 for 2 grand and spending 15k on fuel and repairs 😂
Ford Galaxy.
Smax.
End thread.
(Sadly they don't make Galaxy any more)
My old boy just got a new XC60 - that is one tiny boot! Far smaller than our Octavia. (For comparison) Couldn’t fit our pram in lengthways, had to go across and left very little room. The Octavia can put it in lengthways leaving almost half the boot completely free.
Lovely looking car, useless if you already pack your Nan series to the limit
Looked at the S Max, nice. The only thing I don’t get is why they don’t put cup holders in the middle row, there’s 2 in the front, 3 in the very back and non in the middle, WTF. The galaxy is the same.
It’s on the list anyway, will find one to have a nose at, galaxy too actually, there’s some of them in the budget.
Not very sexy though, but I suppose I’m used to that.
I love my kadjar (ducks).
Lots of options, cheap to run and insure.
A lot of love for the Kadjar in the motoring press but I’m not a fan, that and the cash cow I think would be a bit small. I think the Koleos (new one, not the ugly one from years ago) looks really nice, but doesn’t review well.
The VAG aversion is a bit daft.
not as daft as not liking a brand because someone you don't like has a car of that brand
Not very sexy though
Unless you fold all the seats flat. 😉
singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/standard-stw-what-car-friday/#post-11453962
Yeah, boot is a little small, though that was compared to the boot on our megane 2 estate, which was massive.
Looked at the Koleos as an x trail alternative but decided we didn't need 4x
Unimog.
Or go a bit older and learn to love the leather and auto and get a 5 yr old Mercedes ml. High position big boot and swish interior. Auto was a revelation for me with a dodgy knee. Wouldn’t be without it now.
I had a similar brain fart after hiring a SUV in Canada last year (never driven one before). My last Passat (one in a long line of Passats) was due a change and I ended up with a volvo xc60 - 4 years old and £15k.
Its the previous version and no worries on boot space - can fit my Ice cReam Truck in without taking wheels out, with back seats down.
Its also a very nice car to drive - not exciting (but I don't want that). And it came from a main dealer but there 'too good to auction' section round the back. They seem to have a lot of confidence in their own cars as I got a further 3 years warranty, some kind of MOT failure insurance, 3 years breakdown cover and gap insurance (which I wasn't fussed about but hey ho) all for a few hundred quid.
Its so much nicer to drive than the Passat and the higher position is good - my wife is much more confident driving it. Basically still feels like a £45k car but for a third of the price.
Oh and seats are excellent with lots of adjustment (I've got a dodgy back too) and electric memory so no moaning when the other half adjusts everything.
+1 for the SMax, we loved ours and thought it was a great drive. Good at transporting tbe bikes upright too. Then had a Seat Ateca. That was good too...VAG group again, but a good drive and good value second hand.
I've just been through the whole what car thing and whilst it's a VAG car so recommending something outside of criteria I've gone with a Golf Estate. Really nice to drive (1.6 diesel), can be spec'd as high as you'd ever want to go but mine has plenty of toys.
And, believe it or not, the boot on a Golf Estate is bigger than that of a Mondeo estate (or a Volvo V70) and at 605l is only 45l smaller than that of a Passat in a car that handles more like a hatch.
Mines mid-spec so touchscreen, adaptive cruise control (black magic), manual but with hill start assist (also black magic), automagic lights/wipers etc. I paid £7k for a 2015 with 84k on it. For your budget you can have a nice low mileage newer one and I don't think you'd be disappointed.
Cheap to insure, £20 p/y tax and combined mileage seems to be around 50mpg - possibly a bit more.