After some advice from those of you who have mid/large SUV or estate cars as your daily driver. I’m looking to change my everyday car which is currently a mk7 Golf estate, we’ve had it for a few years and it’s been very reliable with only normal maintenance needed apart from one ABS sensor in 162,000 miles!
I don’t really want to change it but I’m running out of rear seat space, we have two boys that are very tall and they have grown out of rear legroom in the Golf
We visited x14 garages on Saturday to sit in various SUV’s or estate cars checking out the rear legroom once I adjusted the driver’s seat to my position. Lots of cars were mediocre and not worth considering including two of my favourites - the Stelvio & the CX-5. So far the ones that seem to have enough rear leg room and still have a good boot (the Golf estate is 615 litres) are the VW Tiguan, Skoda Kodiaq, Volvo XC60 and Jag F-Pace. I’ve test driven the Tiguan and the F-pace, The Tiguan seemed extremely dull to drive and had a slightly awkward driving position, although I haven’t tried an R-Line yet which might be a bit more exciting. The F-pace drove really nicely and felt involving to drive plus boot & legroom were all good, however it seems to have really poor reputation for reliability with numerous customer feedback about almost everything going wrong (especially electrical)
Anyone have an F-Pace and like to share your experiences with it? or other recommendations
Bit of a mental block with BMW’s as so many idiots at work have them but good call on the 6 estate I don’t think I saw one at the garage on Saturday. In fact can’t remember seeing one on the road for a while!
edit: just looked up the 6 estate and it has a smaller boot than the Golf and rear legroom looks tight according to WhatCar
So many SUV drivers cannot see MX-5’s, yet quite a few MX-5 owners also own an SUV. That puzzles me.
Shame the Giulia isn’t selling, Alfa might have made a Sportswagon of it…
I would look at a year or so old Mercedes C-Class or E-Class… Or the Peugeot 508 estate.
Always go for the Skoda version of any VW car. They are better value and often have some very nice features (“Simply Clever”). Skodas have also come out very well, if not top in recent “Reliability” surveys.
We have an F-Pace, having traded in our Land Rover Defender 2 and Mercedes E-Class Estate when we retired. We wanted something to replace both i.e. the comfort and features on the Merc with the seating position and off-road capability of the Freelander. The F-Pace provided both. We did test drive the Kodiaq and were very tempted until we drove the F-Pace. The Kodiaq was brilliant value for money in comparison. We also looked at the E-Class Estate 4WD but it was withdrawn from marketing before we had a chance to take a proper test drive.
However, our F-Pace experience has not been without its difficulties. Nothing major but in the early days it went back to the supplying Jaguar dealer many times and we had so many loan cars the neighbours teased us about not being able to make our minds up. The dealer really didn’t have much of a clue and in the end we took the car to another dealer 30 miles away and they were brilliant - they sorted all the problems under warranty (including a couple created by the first dealer) and now we enjoy the car as we should have done from the start. That having been said ours was an early car and Jaguar seemed to fix the issues as time went on. They launched a new model recently and the main issues with these seem to be associated with the in-car entertainment/navigation system and associated software updates. Happy to answer specific questions - PM me if you want.
As an aside, Jayne had a Golf Mk.4 estate for 12 years. Brilliant car.
Well, that just about summarises anything from JLR.
You’re getting rid of the Golf at the right time. The ABS sensor failure is only the beginning of the electrical issues that beset VAG vehicles once they get a few years on them.
I’m not really into SUV’s. To me, they represent a failure of imagination, and /or, just for those who wish to make some kind of (un)muddied lifestyle statement. Sorry.
Have you considered a Transit van. Couple of old armchairs in the back for the kids. Comfort. Plenty of leg room…
Generally the SUVs don’t drive as well as the estates, you will notice the body roll if you get move on, physics isn’t it.
Skoda Superb hatch or estate has loads of rear legroom as much as a Rolls Royce! Octavia is also good, both available in VRs or Sportline trims of you like that kind of thing.
A lot of it will depend on what you can get, supply is limited ATM.
I’ve had a CX-5 for 2 years, it’s not that big, but ok for us ATM. I do notice the body roll and lack of pace when I’m on my own.
It’s well equipped for the money and a quiet cruiser, absolutely no problems also.
I will probably go back to an estate next time.
As always check for discount levels on www.broadspeed.com and www.carwow.co.uk, there is some 0% and low rate finance around also, Mazda for example.
I currently drive the Skoda Karoq which is ok for leg room in the back but for maximum legroom you can’t beat a Skoda Superb estate. You can stretch your legs out and you still have an enormous boot. You need to go to a Merc E class estate to get anything similar.
Thanks for replies, yes we looked at the CRV but they are all auto and I would prefer manual, plus the rear headroom was very poor with the panoramic roof in the dealership. I agree on the SUV side but that seems to be what’s mostly out there on the market these days. Superb prices seem to be a lot more realistic than the Kodiaq second hand. Ideally a bigger version of my Golf Estate with 4WD would serve me well as we spend a lot of time round the B roads of Devon which in the winter can get pretty slippery with mud/gravel dragged on from farmers & trees. Hence looking at a 4wd SUV.
The Passat Allroad sounds perfect but they seemed to stop making then a couple of years ago and the only used ones are low spec or high mileage. We sat in an Octavia Scout but it has no more room than the Golf.
I have an Audi Q5 and love it to bits, I appreciate that I don’t sit in the back, but I’m not 6ft+ either so the seat wouldn’t be back as far, but it’s great to drive and plenty of room in the back.
I guess not the cheapest of options, but depends how old you are going?
Our daughter has a Skoda Kodiak and it is brilliant in every way. Apart from a 1 year service she has not seen the inside of a showroom since. We have friends with a Discovery and an F pace who rarely see their cars as one of them is always going back for yet another fault.
Kodiak every time
Yes I rather think it’s looking that way… the F-pace is a friend’s that has just finished a four year lease so the concept of buying one without a warranty worries me…
Believe everything you read about poor JLR reliability, they really are dreadful, with some really bad engineering choices and many serious issues.
The consensus among friends with JLR (Land Rover in particular) is to buy at around a year old, by which time the niggly faults will have been fixed by the previous owner, and don’t keep past 3 years old, unless you factor in a cast iron coverall warranty.
Also bare in mind that unless you drive across fields a lot, most of the so called 4wd cars are actually 2wd for 99% of the time, as even in the event of the front wheels losing traction, electronics will brake the spinning front wheel to improve traction on the other one before clutching in drive to the rear wheels, almost as a last resort. In normal driving, in a non sports car, on the road, it rarely gets utilised, so you’re just carrying around 100kg plus of deadweight.
I have heard that a set of all season tyres on a 2wd car is more effective than the normal summer tyres on a 4wd one for keeping you moving, although haven’t experienced it.
Saying that, wife is on her fifth CX5 - 4wd, road tyres, auto, diesel, same as the ones one before, and she does drive across fields and hasn’t got stuck yet.
From what you’ve said, as other have intimated, Skoda Superb would be good, although it’s just a long Golf under the skin, so the drive is nothing special.
Good luck with your search!
Don’t get me wrong, the golf based cars are very good, (except for zero steering feel) but for me they’re just the white goods of cars.
If you’ve driven a Stelvio, and compared it with other vehicles of a similar type you may get what I mean.
To me best doesn’t always mean fastest, as with MX5’s.
The Octavia is a stretched Golf. Before I selected a Skoda Superb Elegance as my company car I tried 3 series BMW, C Class Merc and an Audi A6. The Superb was by far the best. I did 75,000 miles in 3 years and just needed servicing and tyres.
