I have a VW Touareg, very comfy, leather electric heated seats(5 settings!) comfort cabin lighting, very quiet, and all the toys. But not 40mpg I'm afraid, more like high 20's to low 30's. Test drive one, cheaper than a Porsche Cayenne or Audi Q7 on the same platform ;-)
Fiat clearly don't use the same styling department as Alfa. Mind you, after the Multipla, could it get any worse?
All the boxes apart from style, remember, what ever you buy will sit outside your house. Imagine waking up and seeing that on your drive each morning!
multipla grows on you. driving one compared to what was around when they first came out, light years ahead.
It won Car of the Year, or something, didn't it? But there is no getting away from the fact that it was massively hideous. What fin's recommendation needs is a huge cardboard box to cover it up, with holes cut in it for the windscreen, windows and headlights.
doblo's are cool. best diesel, easy 50mpg van derived car as apposed to car derived van (durable) flip up the backseats, got your self a van. the old yins love it for the entry height. and super sexy looks.
Currently own a 63plate focus 1.6D. Good car and ticks lots of boxes. Good fuel economy and some nice gadgets like stop/start and it parks itself, which is fun for a bit. But it is a ford so a little bland and a bit meh. Previous was a 08 A3 2.0D I had from new as well. MUCH better car. Gave it to my mum and it still feels more solid now at 120k mls than the Focus on 15k. Very good fuel economy too. I would swap the Focus for the A3 if I could even though its worth less and older, just a better car. Most fuel economy seems dependant on the weight of your right foot in my experience.
thanks for the suggestions so far, i appreciate that choice is a subjective thing, but i am trying to narrow down the time wasted by looking at stuff that may appear to fit all the boxes, but then makes you feel like you have had 20 minutes in a spin dryer after a drive, interior noise & comfort are rarely commented on in car magazine tests.
I have a feeling I'm the same as you. Cars are tools as opposed to bikes which are toys. My tool has to carry a family of 4 in comfort along with all out clobber and be cheap to run and maintain. Our Octavia ticks all the boxes I need and the dealer network seem excellent. There's a reason Skoda always come out well in the JD Power surveys. We always get a courtesy car or they pick up and drop off at service time. My wife teaches music at different schools and they have been happy to collect from 1 school and drop off at another whilst she uses the courtesy car to go between the 2. It always gets a clean as well. I really can't fault it as a tool. Sure, my heart doesn't skip a beat when I see it but that's not what it's for. Good luck with your choice. It's nice to have so many options these days!
I'm guessing that you bought the Qashqai new... I looked at them after recommendation from friends who have been happy with theirs, but boot on standard model looked small. The dealer said that the spec which interested us, that being the big boot (which means 7-seats) and 4WD, was unusual and that 2nd hand ones were like hens' teeth, hence I ended up looking at CRVs. The Qashqai is another made in UK car too, which is nice (although it would not swing a purchase decision for me).
Subaru legacy estate new model. I need an unpretentious mile eater with 4 wheel drive fully loaded seats 5 adults huge boot I have the petrol but diesel is nearly as quick and more economical. Nearly bought a skoda superb estate preferred the scooby. Prefer driving it to the wife's merc ml or even her previous Audi Q5 and A5
Don't overlook Volvos. After 3 BMW's I had one of these for a change and have been really impressed. Great 5 cylinder engine, quiet, 44-48mpg (done over 700 miles on a tank a couple of times), quick and fun to drive. REALLY comfortable, best car seats I've ever been in. Great sound system. Taken the family skiing with ease. After nearly 100K miles still feels like new, tyres last 40K set, bulletproof reliability, Services every 18K. Works on snow and ice (unlike beemers!), loads of clever safety features; hazard lights on when you brake hard, auto brake under 30mph if you are going to hit something (saved me once in London traffic). R Type suspension may be a little hard for you so look at an SE. Avoid D2 as very underpowered and horrible gearbox. And matches the Ducati
Audi A4 Avant, qvality, if not so soft suspension, great 2.0 litre diesels, which is a pity as diesels are now faux pas, actually it's not a pity they're hateful things, but these are good, if that makes any sense. Above typical Germanic build quality and good-ish residual value. Not a lot not to like really, pity you can't get 50-60mpg out of the petrol variant. Nicer than a Passat although it's more or less the same thing ...
Honda Accord Tourer Diesel. Will do everything - is very comfortable - and will, without any doubt, be 100% reliable.
It was 10 months old when I brought I didn't realise how rare they were at the time. I was actually trying to buy a brand new one for the missus for her 30th but the dealer never got back to me. So had a quick look on auto trader and came across a 10 month old one with 4wd and a 7k saving I was really looking forward to the dealer ringing for me to place the order so I could tell them where to go, they never did
Have a look at the skoda yeti. Seriously, it's got every box ticked. Try the DSG too, it's an amazing box.
