What executive type car for commuting miles?

I think the steel wheels and tyres for my car were going to be about £1500 (which is less than I spend on servicing and tyres in a typical year), plus I’d need to store them.

Wife just inherited a Volvo V60 Sportswagon with the D4 engine as a company car in her new job. She claims to hate it, though she reluctantly admits it’s fantastic to drive. I think it’s a superb car. Lovely inside, loads of power, brilliant cruiser and tons of space in the back despite the reviews claiming it’s not a proper estate.

I think the steel wheels and tyres for my car were going to be about £1500

Do you drive a monster truck?

Just did a quick search for the Passat, can easily get wheels and tyres fitted and balanced for £120 each.

It’s just a little Mercedes Coupe but has quite wide tyres. Looks like it’s £1250 if I went for slightly narrower tyres or £850 for a set that’s a lot narrower.

It coped fine in the snow without them though!

Awww, does poor little Mercedes get cold tootsies? Bless him.

Citroen C6 if you want to waft in complete comfort. There are more efficient cars out there though.

My dad has a v70 which he uses to cruise up to aberdeen weekly. He loves it. Most comfiest seats ever, uber quiet inside and an all around beast.

Any big cotroen with the silly suspension as above a c6 or the newer c5 exclusive are within your budget.

You tight wads with your tyre socks/ chains/ two sets of tyres- just admit it you actually wanted 4 wheel drive but your inferior cars came without it 😆

Audi A8 6.0L

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/audi/a8/audi-a8-6-0-quattro-lwb-tip-auto-fully-loaded-w12/1343031

Or slightly more sensible…

A8 3.0L

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/audi/a8/audi-a8-3-0-tdi-quattro-sport-4dr-tip-auto/1919045

I would look at a Mondeo or Passat, both very good mile munchers. You should get more toys for your money too.

Don’t go for big flash alloys they will make the ride harsh. I’d get an automatic too.

Look at service costs too and cost of tyres, that is what will cost you the money.

Alfa 159 diesel.

Used to use a Merc E-class 320cdi at work, new back in 2006, very quiet inside, quick progress, easy. Downside is it got to the limiter too quickly and the quiet cabin gives no sensation of speed, just how other cars seem to be reversing down the motorway.

edit: far cheaper to run than the E55 AMG it replaced, and not much slower once above 40mph

Suggsey – Member
You tight wads with your tyre socks/ chains/ two sets of tyres- just admit it you actually wanted 4 wheel drive but your inferior cars came without it

4wd? 4 wheels spinning as for your other wisdom, I got to over 250,000 without looking after a turbo with no real issues (the rest of the car was falling apart first). No need for a massive engine just the one the right side.
As for nipping off onto the side road when the motorway is snarled that generally involves following a couple of thousand others who’s sat nav says turn left here. If one of them makes a mistake in snow/ice then even is a landrover (proper one) your going nowhere.

I remember a boss who turned to an employee who was so proud of getting through hideous weather to get to an important meeting and calling him an idiot in front of the office for putting himself at too much risk.

I’m not convinced how much help many 4×4’s are in really bad weather – I drove round quite a few stuck quattro’s in my Merc when it had the autosocks fitted. I’ve also seen quite a few 4×4’s in ditches in snow or icy conditions ’cause their owners didn’t appear to understand that while the 4×4 system gave them more traction to pull away it didn’t actually give them any more grip when going round corners or when trying to stop!

For pure comfort and quietness i would go for a BMW or Mercedes. VW and Audi are ok options but no where near as refined

Nonsense. Depends entirely on which models you are comparing. To demonstrate my point, compare a BMW A1 to a Audi A8 or a VW Phaeton and tell me which one is more refined.

Surely, since this is motorway miles, performance and cornering are pretty much irrelevant.

Most important things are the seats and the suspension. So avoid anything sporty, with low profile tyres or run flats.

Go sit in a few and see what feels good. Merc and Volvo have always impressed me more than anything.

If it was my money a Subary Legacy diesel. I remember a cross continent trip Top Gear did in one in a 3-car shoot out and at the end (almost missed) all three recommended this as clearly the best allrounder. My Legacy was planted, quiet, unfussy.

Either that or a D5 V70 IMO.

Epicsteve- I like the look of your Compact. Always fancied one of those and loads of high mileage C180’s knocking about so they can’t be bad.
This is the start of the show- before the bloody verdict at the end

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM8ztuo3jdY

Nonsense. Depends entirely on which models you are comparing. To demonstrate my point, compare a BMW A1 to a Audi A8 or a VW Phaeton and tell me which one is more refined.

Surely we’d be comparing like for like? Otherwise we might as well compare a Caterham with a Phantom.

the problem with mondeos, passats and vectras is they don’t really fulfil the ‘executive’ bit

Some german or potentially swedish is more likely to hit that

In your budget there are loads of options, might be easier if you specify what sort of spec, space, condition, age and mileage you’re after

Surely we’d be comparing like for like? Otherwise we might as well compare a Caterham with a Phantom.

er, yes, my point exactly. Unfortunately no evidence was given in the post that like for like were being compared.

To highlight my point I find the current A8 and the Phaeton to be more refined than the current 7 series.

Epicsteve- I like the look of your Compact. Always fancied one of those and loads of high mileage C180’s knocking about so they can’t be bad.

It’s a nice little car – very comfortable for long motorway trips as well, despite the wide low profile tyres. Not sure I’d want a C180 though, and the diesel is also a bit slow. Mine is a C230 – the 2.5L V6 one, not the Kompressor. The can be had very cheap although they’re not cheap to run.

How about one of these?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201402021493934/sort/pricedesc/usedcars/keywords/legend/radius/1500/make/honda/page/1/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/postcode/hg29jg?logcode=p

I use an SLK to commute in, great fun, no matter what the weather.

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SLK-4.jpg[/url] by ian_warnes[/url], on Flickr