Help me choose a car please

I haven’t run a car privately for 17 years and the choice is bewildering, here are my main criteria:

Ideally something used but less than 3 years old
High mileage doesn’t bother me as long as the car has been properly maintained
Must be able to seat 4 adults comfortably – 6/7 seats would be a bonus
Comfortable on long journeys, not fussed about B-road handling
Decent boot with room for bikes so looking at estate/hatch
Up to say £20K
Not too fussed about running costs as long as they’re not crazy
I’ve had diesel manuals for years but happy to consider something else
I will run it for 3 years/60k miles

You do realise that the blinkered types on here will only end up saying you must buy a diesel Octavian or Passat, rather than what you actually need or want?

That criteria covers up a HUGE number of options!

You can get a thoroughly decent German estate for that money – C class Merc, Audi A4 or A6 Avant or BMW 3 or 5 series Touring. Diesels recommended.

If you want massive, a top spec Mondeo estate would fit the bill.

Honda Accord fits the bill

Check out somewhere like Autoquake – not everyone’s idea of a car dealership but I’ve had a good experience with them

Must be able to seat 4 adults comfortably – 6/7 seats would be a bonus

What does that actually mean?

If you want/need 6/7 seats then look at a larger people carrier – plus plenty of bike space. The S-Max looks a decent option, or a Disco?

Otherwise a bigger estate – Mondeo/Insignia/Volvo/E-Class/5 Touring, wouldn’t bother with the small ‘lifestyle’ ones.

And aim to spend half your budget.

Thanks and yes agreed there is a big list of options there.

I’ve had 5-series and A6 etc and I fancy a change

6 seats would only be needed perhaps 5% of the time, not sure if it’s worth getting a 6/7 seater in that case, the alternative is taking 2 cars on those occasions

You might be able to squeeze a new shape Audi A4 s-Line estate for that money. Failing that, a 520D M-Sport estate (touring) would fit the bill nicely.

S-Line and M Sport small engined Audis and BMs are utterly gay – all show now go and the ride suffers big time – not useful.

Still a very wide open field – if you want a change from a BM/Audi, in what way do you want to change?! Bigger, faster, more comfy, better on fuel, etc, etc?

Everyone will recommend something they like but it might not be right for you!

£20k’s a pretty decent budget for a <3 year old car.

You could probably get a nearly new/low mileage Honda FRV which would fit your 6 seat criteria (if you can live with the 3+3 seating and slightly unusual looks). Honda build quality and reliability tends to be very good, from my experience.

If I had £20k to spend on a car I’d pay £8k for a well maintained e-class estate – wait, that leaves £12k to spend on other things……

OK well I looked at a Jag XF and a Volvo XC90 this weekend – two quite different cars but both had their merits and downsides – just not sure what I want really

merc R class would tick all the boxes..

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201016357232151/sort/priceasc/usedcars/maximum-mileage/up_to_40000_miles/maximum-age/up_to_3_years_old/model/r_class/make/mercedes-benz/page/1/radius/1500/postcode/bn24dp?logcode=p

big, comfy, loads of room for bikes & adults.

I like the cheaper/older idea but sadly that’s not an option cos the car has to be 3 years old or less

just not sure what I want really

That may make life tricky! XC90 and XF are very different vehicles. Both very decent at their own “jobs” as cars though.

The XF is more like the sort of car I would choose normally but now I have more freedom I thought about something a bit different. I was suprised that a lot of the big 4x4s don’t have 7 seats as standard which is why I looked at the XC90. The S-Max looks OK but generally most MPVs don’t float my boat. Only concern with a Ford would be high depreciation.

I’ve got an S-Max – drives like a car, very comfortable, easy seat folding, loads of space

VW Touareg?

S-Max is very good indeed and handles well too. Some just don’t like Fords though however good they are.

Looked at the Touraeg but it seems small inside compared to external size – only 5 seats too which seems pointless on a car of that size/type

A lot of big looking SUV type cars don’t have much room inside – X5 is the same.

Nothing against Fords apart from depreciation – I drove a new Mondeo recently which was very nice if not very interesting

XF’s are very nice and I’ve looked at one as a repacement to my 5 series.

My wife has a Freelander so I can get away with not worrying about space etc – but my bikes go on a tow-bar rack.

If you want different to the usual 3-box saloon; buy a small quick car for day-to-day – 130i/147gta etc and then an older people carrier / 4×4 for the other stuff?

The other puzzle was the Volvo dealer saying that because used XC90s hold their value and there are big discounts on new XC90s it might be worth considering new? He was offering a new XC90 for £27K which is not much more than a 2 year old dealer approved one. Is this unique to Volvo/XC90 or was he just trying to make his quota for the month?

well, an smax would have larger depreciation %age, but less actual depreciation than an equivilent xc90 or similar (due to the much lower starting price). dunno if the pic will work

Ford S-Max MPV 2.0 TDCi 163 Titanium X Sport 5dr £27,995 £16,725 £13,675 £11,125 £8,900
Volvo XC90 4×4 2.4 D5 200 SE 5dr £37,275 £24,450 £20,000 £16,250 £12,975

essentially, if you buy a 1 year old smax and run it for 3 years, it’ll cost you 8 grand (17k-9k). A 1 year old XC90 over 3 years will cost you 11.5 grand (24.5k-13k)

up to you if the additional money is worth the extra..

Thanx 5lab where do you get that info from?

TBH in the current car market, I’d take all depreciation info with a large pinch of salt. It WILL depreciate by a lot, whatever it is.

if you have got 20K to spend it cant be that hard can it? My advise for what its worth is spend 10k on a diesel estate of some kind and keep the rest for a rainy day.

that info is from the whatcar website. You might find the parkers website has something similar.

If you do go for an Audi diesel make sure you get a 2.7 minimum, the 2.0’s are rubbish (on my 3rd and still have not learnt).

Dont spend £20k on a Mondeo, it will be worth half that next year. However spend £10k on a nearly new Mondeo and your getting yourself a bargain.

Even better spend £5k on a 4-5 yr old Mondeo and spend £15k on some thing else !

If someone wants to spend £20k on a car, that’s their choice. These “spend a quid on a car and save the rest” brigade aren’t in the slightest bit helpful.

Yes spending a fair whack on a car(s) seems alien/pointless to many but not to everyone.

Of the choices suggested, the XC70 seems a strongish contender. I really like Volvos – how about the smaller estates? The V50 is very cool indeed and can be had for bargain money. R-Spec D5 with all the toys – £20k gets you a very nearly new one with bu66er all miles. Or an XC70 (slightly off road V70 so HUGE). Both great cars.

Audi Allroad (previous version, not current one) is also a lot of car for the money and you should be able to pick up a mint one for considerably less than £20k. Some also have the optional 2 addtional/removable rear facing seats in the boot.

Can’t say I’ve got a great deal of experience with these things but I love my Mazda 6 estate. I’m not a fan of BMW’s – nowt to do with performance just the brand really. Likewise with Audi. The reliability on my fathers Merc has been awful (and expensive).
My Mazda has been going for 6 years and I’ve never had to do anything more than change tyres/brake pads/ service. It’s got plenty of room and I like the fact that the back folds flat at the pull of a handle (not having to faff getting rear seats up first).

If someone wants to spend £20k on a car, that’s their choice. These “spend a quid on a car and save the rest” brigade aren’t in the slightest bit helpful.

thats your opinion, he may find it very helpful 6 months down the line when something unexpected happens, seems strange to me someone who doesnt know what they want and only wants it for transporting the family wants to spend 20K. If you were that into cars wouldnt you know what you want?

Suef Mat – I used to want nearly new cars (never stupid enough to buy new) However this time I bought a 54 plate because I knew I was going to be doing very high mileage until I find a job nearer to home.

The thing is now I will not buy a ‘nearly new’ car again. My £4k Mondeo gets me to work and back just as well as a £15k car would have done, plus I now dont worry about some one scratching or dinting it because its just a car. 15 years ago I think you needed to buy newish as cars didnt last, but now older cars are nearly just as good as new.

I’ve got no problem with people spending £20k on a personal car, but all I am saying is that there is an alternative, and that alternative isnt that bad (not half as bad as I thought it would be) and will save you vast sums of money.

However I can completely appreciate that some people will feel insecure if they dont have posh new cars and keep up with the Jones’s etc.

Thanks all – I take the point about not spending all of the £20K and I would be happy to spend less but the car must be less than 3 years old regardless

If he doesn’t want B road driveability (by which I assume he means sporty handling) then why recommend an s-line?

And do you need 6-7 seats or not? No point in shelling out for a bigger car and all that extra fuel if you don’t need it.

A that price I would go for a higher spec middle of the road car ie Passat/Mondeo/Superb/Accord etc rather than a lower spec flash motor ie BMW/Merc. Because I like extras.

Actually, Skoda Superb would be great, but I suspect there are not many s/h ones around.

Basically, what you should do is go down car dealer road in your local down and call into each one. That’s what I did, although I did shortlist them somewhat.

3 year old Passat etc should cost you £10-£15k depending on spec and condition.

However I can completely appreciate that some people will feel insecure if they dont have posh new cars and keep up with the Jones’s etc.

Oh dear. Maybe a £20k car will do something a £10k car won’t? Like comfortably transport 6 people and have a few luxuries? Or go faster? Or have lower emissions? Or last longer?
Never understood people who try and justify their cars over more expensive ones. Sure you can get decent motors for £5k and £50k but I never feel the need to think “my car is better than “x” car that cost a lot more” – because it probably isn’t.

Yet countless people do this with the lamest reasons ever – “ooh that Boxster is a hairdressers car” “that silly AMG Merc Estate has less bootspace than my Mondeo – what a MUPPET that Merc driver is” or “my Focus handles better than an Audi S3 – what a fool the Audi owner is” – etc, etc.

It’s not about appearances (to many), it’s about what you can afford and what your requirements are.

Having owned everything from old bangers to brand new fast(ish) cars and everything in between, I can safely say – buy what you can comfortably afford and want. Ignore the muppets who then try and mock your decision using some lame ar5e self justification.

Anyway, I’ve decided a nice Volvo will do for the OP.

Mol – S-Line kit simply ruins the ride of any Audi. It doesn’t make it any more “sporty.” Despite owners thinking they have a cut price RS model, they have actually just spent extra money on expensive chavving that doesn’t work.

Get a Discovery 3. Loads of space, great to cruise in, the handling prowess of a land yacht. Can get a good SE spec one for less than £20k.