I have about £10k to spend on a car, I like luxury interiors, not bothered about sporty handling. Mainly country roads and motorways, little town driving. Must have enough space for camping trips (current A3 Sportback struggles with my wife’s everything including the kitchen sink approach to camping.

I had a short test drive in a Exeo estate yesterday and liked it and was wondering what owners thought of them. I know that they are badge engineered versions of the previous Audi A4 but they do have the new CR engines and the ride and handling is also supposed to be improved.

What other cars with nice interiors should I be thinking about?

As you obviously like them, just get a bigger Audi. Or indeed any VAG equivalent… Passat, Octavia, Superb…

Or, don’t laugh, but I thought the Vauxhall Insignia was surprisingly good when I had a ride in my mate’s – much better than the rental-spec rubbish you get in an equivalent Ford. Admittedly he is a Vauxhall dealer, so it was well specced up but depreciation should be dreadful, so a potential 2nd hand bargain.

Had an exeo for a bit and like the audis ive owned it was an inverse tardis..big on the outside
cock all space on the inside. Bikes don’t go in easily and my young son wouldn’t fit in the back with a child seat without his legs squished against the front seats..as long as you dont want boot space or passenger space, they arw quite nice but nowt special

I don’t think the inverse tardis nature will be an issue. We don’t have kids but I just want something larger than the A3.

mike – The A6 and Superb both have nice interiors but are too large.
Had an Octavia, liked it but wouldn’t want another mk2 (can’t afford mk3).
The Insignia (and Astra) estates look nice but have had a bad experience with Vauxhall reliability it the past.
Thinking about it the idea car would be a mk3 Focus estate with a Mondeo interior.

I bought an Astra Estate recently, 2.0cdti Auto. because I was running out of space in my previous car.

For your budget you could get a decent spec ’11 or 12 I’d have thought.

I get 45mpg+ to and from work (12miles each way urban) and 60ish on a nice run out. Spec and finish is great, easily as solid as the Merc I had previously.

Road bike goes in whole with seats flat, mtb has front wheel off for ease of loading, but I bet would go whole with a bit of wrangling.

I like the look of the Astra estate and the reviews are OK, I guess I just have an aversion to the brand and they’ve produced so many mediocre and unreliable cars

I’ll chip in as I actually have an Exeo ST (2010 plate, SE Lux with 143ps CR tdi)

Good
Pleasant to drive.
Comfortable – ride’s firm enough around the twisty stuff but v smooth when it gets rough.
Xenon lights are nifty
Storage – lots of cubby holes around the cabin and load area – they don’t charge you 90 quid storage bin (Looking at you Volvo)
Toys, cruse control, bluetooth phone with voice dial all great.
Decent grunt
Flatish lip to boot area, so dog / bikes are easy to get in.
You’re not paying for a premium badge

Not so good
MPG not great. 38mpg commuting, mid 40’s on a motorway if I’m not pushing it.
Some toys dated (may be different in newer models) eg, no bluetooth media steaming to audio in mine.
Quite a few rattles from the back of mine – but I do treat it like crap

As a bike transporter it’s ok.. My XL Commencal Meta goes in with front wheel off and the seats down but certainly not super spacious. I’ve ended up with a couple of carriers on roof bars.

Regards

Jeff

Thanks Jeff
Sounds good apart from the MPG

i was thinking about similar cars the other day,
I do a fair bit of mileage and just see the same old cars all the time, these cars are dull and have nothing about them. Yes they are all good cars, I do like Audi, and bmw, and ford, and vw. But there are too many around and if youre into cars (like I am) I would rather have something a bit more interesting.
I fancy something a bit different, something you dont see too many of.

Alfa 159, a fast Saab (a real shame Saab dont exist anymore), the new Volvos are nice too. Honda accords are a really good car too although you dont see many of them.

Faced a similar dilemma recently (as in yesterday) as my trusty Passat Estate has just been retired. I ended up with a pretty uninspiring diesel Focus Estate (09). It’s not as fancy inside or as powerful as some cars that were on my shortlist, but it drives very nicely and was much cheaper to buy and keep on the road, which is all i’m after in a car.

I’ve got an ’05 A4 B7 (the one the exeo is based on).

mine is the 2.0 tdi 140bhp version, and I get late 40s mpg hooning it, or mid 50s to occasional low 60s on motorways. managed 63mpg average over the whole trip to the alps and back.

I’ve never tried to put bikes inside, I always used a towbar rack, and now I have a van aswell.

very nice car to drive – not particularly sporty, but nicely refined and quiet for churning out the miles, while still being able to handle itself around corners.

Dave

What about a Chrysler 300c estate for something a bit different.
Interior is probably less well built than lego, economy is probably shocking too and it most likely will not go round corners well but just so different from the Audi/BMW norm

Look around for one of the last Alfa 159 estates. Not huge inside, but not dull inside or out. I really like them, but my wife bought a Volvo v50 🙁

I’ve added the Alfa and the Honda Accord to the list.

Honda Accord is huge and you can pick them up for a good price.

If the V70 is too big then take a look at a V50. Very economical but the interior may feel a bit plain compared to the Audi.

Or just get a VW T5 😉

I have an exeo, like driving it and it’s been v reliable. Price was great in comparison to other badges.
The lack of space for its size is true IMO, doesn’t feel like you have a massive amount at your disposal. Mpg is fine in the hands of my wife, she commutes on the motorway and gets 50 plus nae bother, without having to pay close attention to speed.
I have no strong opinions about cars really, I’m not arsed about them by and large. So the fact that I like it might be a bad sign to someone more discerning.

I shouldn’t have looked at the Alfa 159 as I can’t see beyond it now.
I need my sensible head back!