Sportage boot is smaller than my M135i boot.

Can get a 26″ wheel Frog bike in the back of my 2 series AT, don’t know about a grown up bike though, not tried yet. Probably would in the GT.

I shall firstly be selecting any replacement vehicle by boot size with seats down, followed by MPG, followed by how easy it is to clean mud off the inside.

I’m not sure that’s how a non MTB obsessed person would shortlist cars 🙂

Back to the Maxi Life then ALex – tops each of those 😆

Going through the same thing at the mo as have to order in the next month or so for Feb delivery. I have a company car list to choose from though and it comes down to;

Seat Ateca 1.6 manual something tech. Sat it one and seemed a bit drab although it was in the showroom and no panoramic roof so might be nicer in reality. Not really much bigger than a standard hatch and I think the Tiguans at least look like they’ve had the back chopped off. Wasn’t over enamoured.

Touran 1.6 dsg SE family. Nice spec, adaptive cruise, bit boring. Got a 7 seater now but don’t really need one bar a couple of times a year.

Passat GT 2.0 manual. Sacrifices the elevated seating and DSG but most powerful, likely to be best drive, best seats by some margin and nicest cabin.

Haven’t driven any of them yet so will keep an eye on this thread and report back when I do. I do well over 20k a year and am by myself 95% of the time so think I will be selfish and go for the passat. It’s not a small car by any stretch so should still be fine with 3 kids. It’s not like 7 of us in a cortina estate to the west coast of Ireland like when I was a kid. Every. Bloody. Year!

S-Max isn’t for everyone but I extended the lease on mine. It’s a bit Orange Five. Stunningly capable all rounder, but it might not be to your tastes.

More refined than my wife’s BMW on the motorway, good on A roads and ok elsewhere – yes I’d rather have the BMW on a B road. Fantastic at 130k on the autoroute.

7 seats when you need it, posh van when you don’t.

Bikes (plural) go in the boot without folding seats. Family plus snowboards plus luggage inside the car easily.

Downsides? Massive, air con needs an up grade, build quality not as good as BMW (but far better than Audi – they were bad on the 4 company ones my wife had)

Volvo? XC60 ticks all the boxes. Or more conventional v60.

It’s not a small car by any stretch so should still be fine with 3 kids

Difference between cars like the Touran and Passat is that in the Passat the two rear seats are recessed, so whilst you can sit on the lump in the middle you are always on the lump. It makes fitting three car seats or even boosters quite hard.

With a flat seat as in a more basic car, or something designed for three, people and seats fit much better. It’s not about width, but how it’s arranged. Three boosters don’t really fit in my Passat.

Seats fold flat in XC60. However, if I was a man of the OP’s means, it would be the XC90. 😀

I know what you mean molgrips but mine are 9, 7 and 4 now and all tall for their ages so think that will be less of a problem. Going to borrow one off a colleague for a weekend and give it a good trial though

You’d have more cash DD if I’d never mentioned SkiFamille.

I’m not that much of a man of means DD 😉 If I was I’d buy the F-Pace with the big engine and not be troubled by the fiscal consequences!

I have a list. Both the Octavia VRS estate and the Passat Alltrack are considerably less cash than the SUVs and bigger in the back. I’m not hosting an internal debate on how much I’d miss the driving position.

RRP v Residuals was an interesting* investigation of which cars hold their value. The T6 Caravelle is stupid money but it’s not the most expensive monthly payment on the list…

*okay not that interesting

We wanted an xc60 when we got the BMW but our budget wouldn’t stretch to a nice one that hadn’t done a billion miles.

There’s some amazing lease deals on the last of the old shape ones.

Transit custom double cab. Trust me on this @Alex…. will change your life 🙂

@ben. I think it probably would. I just need my 5ft4 better half to accept she’d be one driving it back fron the pub :). I’ll take a look tho.

Got bored of reading things: wrote something instead http://pickled-hedgehog.com/?p=3910

If you’re looking at the Octavia, why not the Superb estate, which seems considerably bigger? It’s on my list to look at next time

A mate has one. The front half is in Herefordshire. The rear in worcestershire. I can get a bike in the smaller one. I really don’t want something I can launch into the Birmingham canal system. I feel the same way about LWB VWs.

I’ve got an SMax. Very capable vehicle that will take my 29″ Trigger wheels on without any bother. With a top box it will also take 4 adults and 2 kids on holiday with a week’s worth of kit. It drives like a car and is no longer than a Mondingo estate. 83k on the clock without a blip.

When it dies I’ll have another. Not a black one though, as it looks filthy all the time.

OP the Yeti replacement is due out later this year – Karoq. Due to be a bit bigger and more refined styling imho. I’m keen to see them in the flesh as they are a next car option for me. As you said don’t get something with a daft small engine.

EDIT just read the blog, I see you have the Karoq. My 6 pence on estates is you will of course get more car for a given budget, smootyer rider, better fuel econmy amd performance. You loose the elevated driving position & no back bending to put kids in car seats, that’s about it but for many its an imprtant consideration. FWIW I have had many 4×4’s and one estate (A6 Quattro) so can see both points of view.

What’s your budget? How long do you want to lease over, and with how many months up front? All these recommendations are meaningless without knowing that.

For example, the Jag F-Pace you mention in your first post can be had for 550 per month on a business lease 3+36. for all we know, you can afford that.

OP get one with automatic gear regardless of which one you choose.

Have you thought of Hyundai Tucson or RAV4? 😀

Ha, you should take a look – its well worth it, and I will tell you why I think so too….

Its a brilliant ‘vehicle’. Its not a car, you have to accept that, but I think from what you say its less car like issues won’t bother you. Yes its not especially quick (unless you get an M Sport one), and you don’t want to stick it into a corner too quick or it will remind you its a van, but other than that, it drives like a car, a ludicrously spacious, well thought out car. I have the LWB double cab Limited version, which isnt that expensive in the grand scheme of things. Its got a great interior, mostly ripped straight from a high end SMax I think, with all the toys any half decent car has, bluetooth phone and music (and a really very decent stereo for a van and even if that wasn’t enough I am sure you could upgrade it, it has enough speakers to be audiophile worthy), parking sensors, a zillion buttons on the steering wheel, cruise & limiter, heated seats, air con… the list goes on. Its quiet, at least as quiet as my colleague Dan’s SMax, comfy, and has a great driving position.

The back seats are 3 full size seats capable of swallowing actual adults, and it has more cubby holes and storage etc. than you’ll ever need, and actually well thought out useful ones to boot, not just a series of holes where you can lose stuff.

So in essence its so car like you’ll forget it was a van… until you want to store/carry something. Then you realise why having a van with a bulkhead and windowless back is so genius. Whatever you want to carry you can. Bikes, Furniture, canoes. Whatever. Ok it would be a small canoe, but you get the idea. Bike dirty? No problem just sling it in. Something tall? That works too. All of a sudden everything becomes easy and no problem. You never worry about what it is or how dirty it is. Just stick it in the back. Its hidden away from view and no chance of you ruining the interior. Going camping? Worried about the space? Not any more! Just stick it all in. It will be fine. As a mountain biker its just a freedom you’ll never appreciate until you own one (or something similar but TBH its kind of unique). Also, those big van tyres and loads of underneath clearance? Genius for when you get to that race in a cut up field, and it also although those skinny tyres on cars look cool, every time you ht a pothole you’ll just know why big tyres are better.

I have an octavia, its a bit long in the tooth now so I think its up for renewal when I can… probably another Van on its way 🙂 Yes that would be 2 😉 My wife even likes driving it, much to my amazement. Sure its a bit of a pain to park, but you get used to that. The turning circle is OK for its size and with the sensors and parking display its manageable. Top tips if you ever did consider one: Upsize from the base 125 PS model, its a bit gutless at low revs so the wrong gear selection will leave you stalled and cruising into that roundabout with no power…. that can be annoying. Its not slow, its just rubbish under 2000 revs. Also don’t rush to get one like I did and get the bench front passenger seat. Be patient and get the 1 single seat version instead. Its well worth it.

What’s your budget? How long do you want to lease over, and with how many months up front?

Probably 3+35. Probably personal lease and I’ll charge the miles back. Current car is HP as Skoda were doing a stonking business deal but, even with the miles I do, financially it’s better to personally own it than leasing it through the company even after getting half the VAT back.

In terms of budget, depends really. I could probably go to the cost of the f-pace if I really, really liked it. I’d prefer to be a 100 quid a month under that tho.

I don’t want to do HP again as it’s too rigid. If I drive that Koraq in late 2017 and I like it, I’ll have to extend the lease on mine and that’s quite expensive.

@jamb – yeah that’s pretty much where I’m at currently.

In terms of that van Ben. Hmm. I totally get the MTB bit as another mate has a LWB T5 that’s been brilliant for exactly the reasons you wrote. And the ford is a lot cheaper than a Caravelle. I’m just not sure – as I’m not with the caravelle – that for 90% of what I do it makes better sense than something more car like.

Anyway thanks all so far, this has been a really useful thread. I’ll go kick some tyres and report back.

I had on older shape Rav4 which was a great bike / stuff car as you could remove the rear seats (as per Yeti / Karoq), have tried to buy a couple recently inc one from here as a stop gap (that model is 12+ years old now). The wife doesn’t like the boxy Yeti so I am hopeful she’ll like fhe Karoq. Q3 is too small (high quality though) and Q5 I don’t like plus they are expensive. I’d be lothed to pay Jag (or Macan) money and put dirty bikes in the back and a muddy soaking wet driver in the front. My A6 was a brilliant motorway car (up and down UK, Alps and Cote d’Azur trips etc) but not as quite as convenient for bikes (carried inside) etc

I’ll go kick some tyres and report back.

Please do, the updates / final decisions are always useful.

Take a bike with you as well.
Surprising how many dealers get shaky when you do.
Also surprising how many look like they’ll take it easily then can’t yet Ines that you think will be crap swallow them.

Taking a bike is a good idea but it should be spotless, I have certainly found some dealers naturally quite uncomfortable about you stuffing a bike with sharp bits and mud into the backmof their demonstrator !

I liked the boxy yeti. I’m less enamoured with the styling of the Karoq. I think the reason I didn’t like the kodiaq that much as it wasn’t a bugger Yeti. It was just big! Took a bike today and wandered round a few of the clustered car garages

Here’s what I learned

– The VW dealership in Hereford practices a non intuitive sales technique ‘Ignore and they annoy your potential customers’. I only wanted to look round a T6. Clearly this was far too much trouble unless I handed over the cash in a suitcase first. Otherwise could I just leave them alone as I was not worthy of their time.

– The Skoda Octavia Scout Estate won’t take a fully built mountain bike. It’s nice to drive though with the 150bhp diesel. Not sure I’d bother with the 190. Felt low tho (not as low as the standard octavia as the scout is the faux off road version) . Also felt a bit dark even with the pano roof. That’s the other thing with the Yeti, there’s a lot of glass.

– The Seat Ateca will take a fully built bike 🙂

[url=https://flic.kr/p/WHYWV3]It fits![/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/WYVtLn]Important consumer research[/url] by Alex Leigh, on Flickr

– I quite liked this. It’s the same chassis as the Karoq but the materials aren’t quite as nice. Drives well tho, did make me think of a bigger yeti. Which makes me want to drive a Karoq whatever. It’s going to be cheaper tho, so it might come down to how much I want a Skoda over a Seat.

– I didn’t like the Kuga or the new Edge. Felt smaller inside than they looked from outside and I’m not a fan of those auto boxes.

– I had a look at the Tiguan while being ignored in the VW dealership. I reckon I’m happier with a Atece/Karoq size rather than the bigger kodiaq/tiguan/etc,

– I ignored the Audi and BMW showrooms even tho they were next door. Mainly as I’d had enough of car showrooms but also because I can’t see me buying either of those brands.

Bottom line is I’m still leaving towards another SUV however ‘better value’ the estates look. Both the Skoda and the Seat dealers were fine with me stuffing a bike in their pristine show cars. Both salesmen were decent blokes as well. The other brands? Not so much 😉

Maybe worth a wander next door before signing up. 6 months ago I was after a new big estate on a 4 yr PCP, with a 20k annual mileage and minimal deposit. Superb SEL 4×4 DSG Estate was top of list, but same engine and gearbox in an A6 Avant Quattro was £40 a month less….

Interesting. When I get close to signing I’ll have a look at what offers might be on. That sounds like a cracking deal on the A6.

I had the same experience in the VW garage around the corner from me in Brizzle. Dunno – maybe they’re shifting motors at a good enough rate not to bother with a prospect enthusiastically checking out a Tiguan – not that I’d have bothered anyway – did not like the interior at all.

The Volvic dealership was much more amenable and price matched whatever ridiculous on-line lease deals I came to them with.

That Koraq wasn’t around when I was looking though. Looks quite nice – perhaps a bit Evoque-ish though?

That Koraq wasn’t around

still isn’t. December which isn’t ideal based on when my lease is due. 4 month wait list on the Atecas as well. The Skoda salesman said they were sad to see the Yeti name go and thought they’d lose some customers who were very loyal to it and didn’t want anything bigger.

I like the current styling on the Yeti and find the Korac a bit over-designed. All the cars look the same now which is a shame.

I like the more recent Yeti’s too (not the very early models), I do like the Karoq from pictures I have seen (quite similar to latest Tiguan) they key is the optional removable seats (need to see how that works) a feature I loved on the old Rav 4.

[video]https://youtu.be/eD_Rh7r6CgA[/video]

The Ateca, Karoq and Tiguan all share the same platform. The Tiguan will be slightly more upmarket inside. The Seat will be a slightly sportier drive with the Karoq being more comfort focused. Price wise I imagine the Seat and Škoda are pretty close with the VW being a step up in price.

The Ateca so far has been getting its fair share of praise over its VW sibling with the Karoq still to hit the market.

I thought the Tiguan was a bit dreary inside and pretty poorly specced at each trim entry level (for the money). I suppose that’s to be expected for a brand new model – but the model on display in the Brizzle VW I visited had seats pretty much as utilitarian as my Berlingo van. 🙂 Nice looking on the outside for sure but that feeling wears off after a few months.

Watching this thread with interest, i’m in a similar position where my Mazda CX5 goes back in November and have the same needs

Added complication that i can’t exceed 130 CO2 for my car allowanxe otherwise i’d have just ordered the new CX5 but they are 132 Damn!

Working on a “see what Alex orders” basis at the minute but other suggestions welcome

Our company has capped it at 115……

@isto if what you say is how it turns out I’d pick the Karoq for comfort as the Tiguan premium imho would not be worth it for what is basically a utilitarian vehicle. Rightly or wrongly I’d take Czech (Germanic?) build quality over Spanish (Latin?) too.

It will be music to Skoda’s ears that buyers (myself included) are considering a Kodaq in amongst 1 and 3 series BMWs, Audis and VWs

After reading the thread I did some checking on AutoTrader and Yeti’s are 30-40% less money than equivalent age:mileage Q3’s which is bourne out with the lease comparisons @ianc raised – that was always the Merc argument about total cost of ownership

Aceta is built in the same factory in Czech as the Superb I think…

I mean this in the least trolly way possible but how do you guys drive 20k a year.

I do 6k max and every mile is like life lost.

Shirley the question shoulld be how can I drive less not what car to waste my life in?

Work, family, we’re all different.,,,,