I've just ordered a vauxhall grandland X ( works car and I can only select Vauxhall's ). It's 32k for the upper models.
Who in their right mind would ever buy a vauxhall for 32k !!!
As has been mentioned, the Hyundai Santa Fe is worth a look. Big, decent looking and solid, Five year unlimited mileage warranties, and the Premium SE model has so much kit as standard that the Hyundai website doesn’t list a single option you can select to add. And new, it comes in pretty much bang on you budget.
I've just ordered a vauxhall grandland X ( works car and I can only select Vauxhall's ). It's 32k for the upper models.
Who in their right mind would ever buy a vauxhall for 32k !!!
What about an Alfa Stelvio?
Way below £40k but another vote for the Sorrento. Room for a family of 4 plus 3 dogs and the best after sales care I have ever had.
I’ve got a one year old Touareg R Line Plus I’ve had from new as my daily driver.
Positives - very well built, comfortable, powerful, not too flashy, lots of toys.
Negatives - very thirsty. I’m averaging 23mpg of diesel.
Twisted Defender 110 (albeit the V8 would break the budget).
They are not really defenders anymore as they are generally stripped back and rebuilt with upgraded parts at will.
They also remove spare bolts, screwdrivers and whatnot the original build may have left under carpets etc 😳 It's nice that they also make sure the panel gaps are minimised and consistent...
Unless you trick it out and paint it gopping it's going to stay firmly under the radar too (but still a target for thieves)
Gray
brother in law has the gl500, what a ride (and space!), we could fit the whole family in there with 7 suitcases when we needed to drive to the airport and could still run a marathon inside!
are people seriously considering the CR-V a 'large SUV'? it's honestly one of the most uncomfortable cars I've ever been in, mainly due to my knees ending up somewhere in the glove box compartment
might as well recommend a Suzuki Jimny while you're at it
Ahh, The Alfa Stelvio was just mentioned. Just got back from some clay Pigeon shooting tuition and one of the guys had a Stelvio. Cracking looking thing with real presence and class.
Citroen C5 Aircross seems to tick all the boxes.
Had a few Q7,s and cracking cars.
The 3ltr V6 matched with the 8speed auto box is superb and more economical than you would think.
Puts to shame RR build and reliability!
Buy personally now I do quite like the XC90, a lot of car for the money.
I got an XC90 just over a month ago after 3 consecutive Range Rover Sports. Can’t recommend it highly enough. Early ones of the current shape (2015) start well below £40k on the approved used website.
Gulp
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Genuinely I think it is a combination of a couple of factors - my commute is only about 13 miles, but at least half of the time it takes is slow urban driving, and I do concede that I put my foot down firmly where it is safe to do so. I've also switched off the stop/start feature because it is too annoying.
It's a 3.0 litre V6, and develops about 270bhp with a lot of torque (there's a fun video of the same Touareg on Youtube when Fifth Gear towed a 747 with a standard one). It is a large vehicle, and fairly heavy, plus manufacturers economy figures are, without exception, complete fiction.
For the first time ever, when I choose my next car later this year, economy will be a factor. It costs nearly £120 to fill the Touareg, and I get around 380miles for that. I really like the idea of a fully electric car, and recently tried out the Jaguar iPace.
So clever my foot fell off.
With economy like that, you may as well be driving around in an M5 and getting the enjoyment that goes with 23mpg! Seriously, I would have expected a petrol Toureg to get near to the economy you are seeing, I am really surprised its so poor. I am guessing it weighs aound 2000kg so should be better.
A fully electric SUV must be heavy and if it is as inefficient on energy use as your Toureg then you will be stopping often.
My 2.5 tonne electric SUV gives me a realistic range in the summer of 260 miles and 200 in the winter. I have chargers at home and at work plus free supercharging for life from Tesla. A full charge costs me approx £13. Coming up to 4,000 miles and my total fuel spend is £207.
So far I've criss crossed the country without any range anxiety or issues. Love it but it isn't cheap and not on a quality level of the Q7 that's for sure.
Not sure if it is ‘big enough’ but my car in Cape Town is a 7 seat X-Trail. It’s coped with just about every scenario we’ve thrown at it. Have never owned a Nissan previously but would definitely recommend.
To put the Toureg's 23 mpg in context, I bought a 50th Anniversary Defender 5 years ago. The maximum I got was 11 mpg and it was in perfect tune, although an lPG kit had been fitted. Hated it and passed it on within 4 months.
In my Q7 3.0d I get mid thirties and that’s not hanging around, unless I put it in sport and hammer it but not really fun, I still only just go in to the 20’s. But I had an x5 4.8litre petrol was a great car, but mid teens at best and put your foot down single figures and just felt like £10 notes were disappearing. I am pretty set on the XC90 next had a drive yesterday and think it’s the best option of, style, comfort and financial reasons.
Some good deals on GLE’s as the new version is on it way. New Touareg is cheap on lease at the moment sub £400 for the R line.
Yes, I have the DSG auto - I don’t think it is available with anything else?
I am also absolutely certain about the 23.7mpg average I get - it seems very consistent at this between fill ups and the overall mpg since I took delivery you can access on the info screen.
I also agree it does seem very low...
Going back a few years I had an Audi TT V6 3.2 petrol that did a bit better - and I drove that quite hard.
I do think the figures quoted for large SUVs are pretty misleading though - the Lexus RX Hybrid I had before the Touareg averaged about 27mpg over time.
Maybe it’s my driving style?
Last edited by TheFlyingBanana; 17th February 2019 at 10:45.
Thats not too bad actually. This week we had to travel to Glasgow, a trip of 280 miles each way, how would you undertake such a trip? Are there charge points mid-way you can you use to recharge and how long would you be waiting? For comparison we made one stop each way anyway.
Cheers
No mention of the Jeep Grand Cherokee? Bullet proof and better looking than most on the list. Great used buy too. 3 litre diesel or hemi V8. Your choice.
There are Tesla Superchargers all over the main motorway network and many hundreds of destination chargers at hotels etc.
Here are the current locations, ones in Grey are under construction
The route planner, putting in my vehicle, ambient temperature, headwind etc gives the following journey profile, assuming you have no where to charge in Glasgow, I would just charge a but longer to give me a greater remaining charge at destination to enable me to get to Abingdon to recharge for the journey home.
Arrival
ChargeDepart
ChargeCharge
DurationDuration Drive
DistanceTotal
DurationLlandudno LL30 100% 02:58 195 miles Gretna Green 18% 46% 00:15 01:18 85 miles Glasgow 10% 413 Wh/mi 00:15 04:16 280 miles 04:32
before I bought the Tesla, I used "abetterrouteplanner" to calculate the journey profiles of every long journey I had made in the previous 12 months plus any regular long distance journey and on each occasion the additional stops were not out of routine or of negligible bother.
Last edited by JC180; 17th February 2019 at 12:57.
That's pretty cool, I didn't know you could plan as definitively as that but I guess with modern apps it shouldn't come as a surprise. It will be interesting to see how the charging network copes with the increased use of electric vehicles, this has to reach a breakpoint whereby a few chargers installed at each services is no longer sufficent. At some point a very significant investment will be needed.
It feels like we are just one step change in battery efficiency away from electric vehicles being viable for most people.
I don't think the DS7 has been mentioned yet. We wouldn't want a car left out... (cracking looking thing too)
Just checked my Touerag, 22.2mpg
It’s 2 years old and 20,000miles on the clock.
Mine is on a lease deal as well.
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Taking a step back, it’s not good is it?
Given that diesel is now significantly more expensive than petrol it makes it even worse.
I do have a weekend car for fun, and have always enjoyed powerful daily drivers as well, but I am now starting to get a bit fed up with the frequent expensive visits to the petrol station.
I am contemplating a radical rethink of my daily driver - 90% of its use is just trundling to and from work at mostly low speeds, so provided it is comfortable I really don’t need something huge and thirsty.
I am increasingly inclined toward something all electric, or much smaller engines like a Peugeot 3008 SUV.
That said, I have been looking at Velars this afternoon, so I’ll probably stay true to form and get something stupid in the end...
So clever my foot fell off.
Not good doesn't really begin to cover it I'm afraid.
If you’re happy with something just a little smaller, our GLC220d averages over 40mpg.
Mine is used for the 3 miles to my wife’s work and back during the week and about 130 miles at the weekend, 65 each way up the North West coast, I like to have the 4 x 4 with the amount of stags in the winter, just that bit of extra assurance and the Touerag is a tank.
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Update so fqr
Liked
Touraeg
Q7
Test drives booked
Didn't like
XC90
Thanks for all the comments
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Well as a long standing Range Rover owner, I’ve had nearly 8 years of pretty much stress free motoring.
1 car I did have as a hire car was a Nissan X-trail, which was nice.