Another what car should I get thread. Now with added NCD.

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  • exocetexocet Frets: 1948
    Dominic said:
    boogieman said:

    If you are in London , Mitsubishi Outliander PHEV. Not an estate but not a huge SUV.  Get the higher spec models and all the kit you want and more is on there.  No tax and probably no conjestion charge.  
    I had a look at Honest John reviews and the Outlander doesn’t look that great in real life. £130 road tax after the first year. It also weighs two tonnes and the real life mpg is nothing like the manufacturer’s claims...mid 60s rather than 145. We get 55 out of the Jag at the moment and that’s a 3 litre v6. The driving experience isn’t great either with a noisy unrefined engine and so-so interior. 
    We looked into the Outlander PHEV in massive detail ............seems ideal BUT they are riddled with problems and complaints
    lots have had fires but most importantly once you decide to accept the plasticky interior fittings and that you have to go top of range to get satnav etc (which is the most non user friendly on the road) the big disappointment is that the mileage and range claims are a big fat lie .........they achieve about 50% of the claimed range under normal use.
    They're pretty useless for long journeys. A friend of mine has one. It's been very reliable over the 2 years that he's had it BUT the battery pack means that the petrol tank is very small (6 gallons or so) and once the battery has exhausted, he gets around 30 to the gallon on a motorway so needs to refill every 200 miles or so.
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  • strtdvstrtdv Frets: 2356
    edited November 2018
    If I lived in London I'd be going for one of the approved PHEVs, my pick would be the Passat GTE or the Mercedes C350e.
    Both are available as estates and you can get a 2017 example of either for under £25k, and both are congestion charge exempt.
    Both are also well equipped and a bit "premium".
    Robot Lords of Tokyo, SMILE TASTE KITTENS!
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  • ToneControlToneControl Frets: 11790
    If you live in London, I'd say avoid diesel. What's the point? it's for 100 miles a day commuters surely?

    My Mrs has a V70 diesel auto. It's OK, and acceleration is OK, but frankly the leather seats are very uncomfy, and it's very rough driving over any uneven roads and speed bumps compared to my car. She had an XC90 once, which was much smoother, and had excellent seats.
    So- don't assume Volvo seats will be comfy, ours does my back in after 30 mins

    Is a C class Merc too big?

    I have never been impressed with 3 series BMW sizes
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  • strtdvstrtdv Frets: 2356
    C class isn't any bigger than a 3 series
    Robot Lords of Tokyo, SMILE TASTE KITTENS!
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  • ToneControlToneControl Frets: 11790
    edited November 2018
    strtdv said:
    C class isn't any bigger than a 3 series
    used to be, AFAIK

    saloon boot space seems similar now, but I never used to easily fit in a 3 series, and I've hated the 3 series courtesy cars I've had, whereas the C classes have had more space around the front seats
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  • boogiemanboogieman Frets: 12314
    MX5? 




    ;)
    Ha ha. I would if I could. We’ve got a new grandson who we’ll be having one or two days a week when his mum goes back to work. Which means needing space for a buggy, child seat and all the other assorted crap that babies need. 

    Thanks for the other suggestions, looking into them. 

    @ToneControl. What age is the V70? Surprised to hear the seats are uncomfortable. Most reviews I’ve seen say the Volvo seats are one of its best features?? 
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  • ToneControlToneControl Frets: 11790
    boogieman said:
    MX5? 




    ;)
    Ha ha. I would if I could. We’ve got a new grandson who we’ll be having one or two days a week when his mum goes back to work. Which means needing space for a buggy, child seat and all the other assorted crap that babies need. 

    Thanks for the other suggestions, looking into them. 

    @ToneControl. What age is the V70? Surprised to hear the seats are uncomfortable. Most reviews I’ve seen say the Volvo seats are one of its best features?? 
    I was surprised, it's over 3 years old  now. I hate going places in it because I always get backache, but when we need the estate, we have to use it. I know Volvo make excellent seats, but they put crap ones in ours
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  • LodiousLodious Frets: 1942
    I saw a post on a BMW forum about emissions issues with the new 320i engines. I didn't pay much attention but worth investigating if your considering one. 

    My wife has a 3 series touring (335d), and it's OK. It's quick but boring as you like to drive. The ZF gearboxes BMW use are really good though. 

    Unless you are up to speed with the options packs on German cars they can be a massive pain when buying secondhand, as some non standard options can be rare but really important. 

    If I was only doing 7K, i'd lease and choose whatever is cheap at the time (check on Pistonheads car buying forum or start googling and see what shows up on your fb adverts). There have been some really good deals on Golf R Estates etc. 

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  • KoaKoa Frets: 120
    Audi A4 Allroad is a fantastic car and a great used buy, £40k new but half of that at 3 years old and a lot of car with the S Tronic auto gearbox 
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  • DominicDominic Frets: 16013
    The A4 is a great car ,well built and great engineering but whatever spec you get they are very much a drivers car from the suspension aspect...........a very firm ride , consequently great handling but most middle aged people find them very hard to the point of uncomfortable especially if you use a lot of potholed/non A road routes.
    Tha Allroad is no exception.
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  • prowlaprowla Frets: 4896
    I've got a BMW 320 saloon - it's a nice car and I'll probably replace it like-for-like next year. I quite like the estate (sorry, "Touring"!) too.
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  • ToneControlToneControl Frets: 11790
    My other advice is:
    look at this site:

    https://broadspeed.com/

    take your shortlist, and see which brand and model is offering the best discounts

    Remember to check one or two models up in the range as well, sometimes they have massive discounts.
    I can remember a 730d being only £4k more than a 330d one year
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  • rlwrlw Frets: 4671
    Dominic said:
    The A4 is a great car ,well built and great engineering but whatever spec you get they are very much a drivers car from the suspension aspect...........a very firm ride , consequently great handling but most middle aged people find them very hard to the point of uncomfortable especially if you use a lot of potholed/non A road routes.
    Tha Allroad is no exception.
    They might have firm suspension but there’s few drivers cars in the Audi range as they all seem to steer like tankers.
    Save a cow.  Eat a vegetarian.
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  • LodiousLodious Frets: 1942
    My other advice is:
    look at this site:

    https://broadspeed.com/

    take your shortlist, and see which brand and model is offering the best discounts

    Remember to check one or two models up in the range as well, sometimes they have massive discounts.
    I can remember a 730d being only £4k more than a 330d one year
    Same for 640d's. They were banging them out at sub 40K and they are a hell of a lot more car than a 3 series. Big though. 
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  • boogiemanboogieman Frets: 12314
    edited November 2018
    Pretty sure I can’t get anything brand new on my list for £25k ? I know bigger cars get knocked down a lot, we got our XF for £14k off the list price when it was five months old with only 3k miles on it. They do have downsides though. We really want something a bit smaller because it’s a struggle getting into parking spaces with a bigger car.  I’m pissed off with people slamming their doors into our car because the spaces are so tight. 
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  • ToneControlToneControl Frets: 11790
    boogieman said:
    Pretty sure I can’t get anything brand new on my list for £25k ? I know bigger cars get knocked down a lot, we got our XF for £14k off the list price when it was five months old with only 3k miles on it. They do have downsides though. We really want something a bit smaller because it’s a struggle getting into parking spaces with a bigger car.  I’m pissed off with people slamming their doors into our car because the spaces are so tight. 
    my point was different to that:
    some manufacturers subsidise certain models at different points in the car model lifecycle
    With the BMW 7 series, as far as I can tell, they have large market share in China and the middle east, and in Europe, and want to challenge the Merc S class. Consequently, buying a new 7 series was possible below used prices, in fact the car  was still worth the price paid after 2 or 3 years
    This is how the maker can preserve the RRP and the residual value but still offer a discount

    Just wade through that site and see if any cars catch your eye

    Cameras and such can help with parking
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  • boogiemanboogieman Frets: 12314
    boogieman said:
    Pretty sure I can’t get anything brand new on my list for £25k ? I know bigger cars get knocked down a lot, we got our XF for £14k off the list price when it was five months old with only 3k miles on it. They do have downsides though. We really want something a bit smaller because it’s a struggle getting into parking spaces with a bigger car.  I’m pissed off with people slamming their doors into our car because the spaces are so tight. 
    my point was different to that:
    some manufacturers subsidise certain models at different points in the car model lifecycle
    With the BMW 7 series, as far as I can tell, they have large market share in China and the middle east, and in Europe, and want to challenge the Merc S class. Consequently, buying a new 7 series was possible below used prices, in fact the car  was still worth the price paid after 2 or 3 years
    This is how the maker can preserve the RRP and the residual value but still offer a discount

    Just wade through that site and see if any cars catch your eye

    Cameras and such can help with parking
    No I do get your point and I can see why manufacturers would subsidise certain models.

    We still don’t want a big car anymore though. Parking the thing isn’t really an issue in terms of physically getting it into a parking spot, we both manage that just fine with mirrors and rear sensors. It’s the size of parking slots that’s the issue, they’re just too small for bigger cars. Our current car is forever picking up marks and dings on the doors because people parking next to us don’t have enough room to open their doors properly (or don’t care more likely). 
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  • SnapSnap Frets: 6256

    All petrol estates - 3 series, c class, audi a4 - all good, the rest is personal choice.

    7k a year, diesel is pointless.

    Hybrids - false economy if you do any sort of motorway driving. Its all a myth (the economy argument) as a lot of the time you are lugging a heavy vehicle with a petrol engine. I really had convinced myself that my next car would be a hybrid until I looked into their useless motorway and real world MPG.

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  • ToneControlToneControl Frets: 11790
    boogieman said:
    boogieman said:
    Pretty sure I can’t get anything brand new on my list for £25k ? I know bigger cars get knocked down a lot, we got our XF for £14k off the list price when it was five months old with only 3k miles on it. They do have downsides though. We really want something a bit smaller because it’s a struggle getting into parking spaces with a bigger car.  I’m pissed off with people slamming their doors into our car because the spaces are so tight. 
    my point was different to that:
    some manufacturers subsidise certain models at different points in the car model lifecycle
    With the BMW 7 series, as far as I can tell, they have large market share in China and the middle east, and in Europe, and want to challenge the Merc S class. Consequently, buying a new 7 series was possible below used prices, in fact the car  was still worth the price paid after 2 or 3 years
    This is how the maker can preserve the RRP and the residual value but still offer a discount

    Just wade through that site and see if any cars catch your eye

    Cameras and such can help with parking
    No I do get your point and I can see why manufacturers would subsidise certain models.

    We still don’t want a big car anymore though. Parking the thing isn’t really an issue in terms of physically getting it into a parking spot, we both manage that just fine with mirrors and rear sensors. It’s the size of parking slots that’s the issue, they’re just too small for bigger cars. Our current car is forever picking up marks and dings on the doors because people parking next to us don’t have enough room to open their doors properly (or don’t care more likely). 
    I was looking for a big car, so can only provide examples from that perspective, it's worth checking to see if any smaller ones have big hidden discounts, the site I sent shows the unadvertised secret discounts

    Having said that, I didn't see such large discounts for smaller cars when I looked a few years ago

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  • NelsonPNelsonP Frets: 3347
    Not sure how they are doing it but the VW Golf is claiming a massive boot these days (>600 litres)

    Might be worth having a look at them? Golf R estate within range for your budget.
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