SUV advice please

[andy tims]

We'd been thinking about upgrading the wife's 2014 BMW 120d Sport for a little while & she's insistent on an SUV this time. I dodged that bullet last time, but having just treated myself to a newer Exige, I kind of have to let her have her way this time.

Shortlist is Tiquan 2.0TDI 190, Evoque 2015-2018 model TD4 180, Volvo XC40 D4 or BMW X1 2.0D M-Sport

We've discounted the Audi X3 due to the high boot floor & the load lip which makes getting heavy stuff in & out just that bit more difficult than the rest.

We're going approved used late 2018 / early 2019 cars to avoid the initial depreciation.

Has anyone any direct experience of these cars, or been through a similar selection process recently?

Test drives already arranged.

[sish101]

My wife has a 2017 Disco Sport (the 150 bhp model). It returns around 39MPG around town and on long runs she gets 50+ (she is light footed as her employer is stingy with the mileage payments).

The only issue was at 30,000 it needed new discs at the front (a known issue with a certain batch of Discovery and Evoque models). Other than that its been fine and with the seats down, we've been able to get kids university stuff crammed in. The Discovery Sport is a lot roomier and lighter inside than the Evoque and I suggest you test drive both to compare if you go down the JLR route.

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[Foxy100]

Can you make her park it up the road so no one thinks it's yours?

[Captaincook]

No direct experience myself, however my father-in-law went through a similar process recently and ended up with the X1.

[andy tims]

Can you make her park it up the road so no one thinks it's yours?

I doubt any of our neighbours will think it's mine

[hilly10]

My wife as the Mercedes GLC 2.0 Petrol 4 Matic she loves it, and to be honest the more I drive so do I.

The Tiguain makes a lot of sense perfect car for the lady. Evoque we had one from launch while stylish servicing and parts are expensive.

My son in law and daughter have both had new XC40s last week and they are a nice piece of kit, so much so the wife as said she would like one next

[adrianw]

why did you not put Lexus, RX or NX on the list?

[julian2002]

I'd be tempted to add the Lexus UX or NX to that list and if you want all the kit for half the cash a Hyundai Kona. The wife has a Kona and she loves it and it has more toys than Hamleys, it's not got any 'badge kudos' though

[andy tims]

why did you not put Lexus, RX or NX on the list?

Hideously ugly (in our opinion)

[sish101]

We had looked at the XC60 in February as the Disco was coming up to three years old but they were a) expensive for anything like a decent equipment level and b) almost impossible to get hold of. That may have changed somewhat now.

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[adrianw]

Hideously ugly (in our opinion)

I can see that, we have an Ipace, the Jags seem OK

[Robsmck]

I had a older model evoque, the 190 who diesel engine, and it was much more reliable than the replacement 180 bhp disco sport. I would avoid any JLR product.

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[canuck]

We have an xc90 and it’s very good to drive in whatever condition. Snow, rain mud and around the city. I’d look at the Volvo lineup. I guess it depends a lot on the seating position she wants. The Volvo still feels like a car to drive whereas a lr would be more upright seating position if that makes sense.

In my opinion the lr had too many trips to the garage for me compared to the Volvo.

[JonRA]

Our neighbour had an evoque - too unreliable so replaced with a BMW

[Skyman]

Defender aka new Grenadier.

[shoppy]

My wife loves her RR evoque, looked at replacing with a Tiguan but it just felt cheap and plastic, looks nice on the outside. Ruled out an xc40 as it was to small. She will either for for a discovery or the Velar next.

[Bluemoon7]

I have a Volvo XC60. Really impressed with it.

[Jeremy67]

Hideously ugly (in our opinion)

Using those criteria if it's a list of SUVs it will be an empty one.

[sish101]

Hideously ugly (in our opinion)

Bentayga, anyone? Or that equally hideous Rolls Royce offering.

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[Skyman]

G Wagen.

- - - Updated - - -

Skoda Yeti.

[Skyman]

Dacia Duster.

[Skyman]

All IMHO beat your current shortlist, at varying levels of affordability and some are even petrolhead favourites.

[chrisparker]

I’ve had an X1 for 3 years, and my dad’s had one for the same amount of time. The Q3 Roof was too low for me and the boot useless.

The Evoque’s boot was also useless too but the latest version is bigger and better and could be my next car. The VW was ugly and the Volvo wasn’t out at the time.

Before the X1 I had a 3 series touring so was used to a decent amount of space. The X1 rear seat moves forward, boot floor and parcel removes to give us the space a family of 4 need for a Cornish holiday.

I’ve found BMW service plans to be great value and had no issues with the car. In hindsight I’d have got the Auto gearbox x-line version, that’s what my Dad has and it looks and drives a bit nicer than mine.

[b11ocx]

Just been going through exactly the same process for my wife.

She has insisted upon an XC40 for both comfort and usability reasons. We did the rounds of the various dealers, but nothing else made her feel quite as relaxed in the seat. What I would say is her previous Kodiak, while reliable, has been nothing but a moan fest about the seats, sat nav, radio controls.....etc.

Jon

[johnthemull]

Alfa Stelvio. You might even borrow that one.


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[Cr55eds]

We’ve had a BMW X1 for 7 years and not a single problem. C110,000 miles now.

[number2]

We’ve had a BMW X1 for 7 years and not a single problem. C110,000 miles now.

I doubt that would be big enough for some people's egos

[Seadweller75]

We'd been thinking about upgrading the wife's 2014 BMW 120d Sport for a little while & she's insistent on an SUV this time. I dodged that bullet last time, but having just treated myself to a newer Exige, I kind of have to let her have her way this time.

Shortlist is Tiquan 2.0TDI 190, Evoque 2015-2018 model TD4 180, Volvo XC40 D4 or BMW X1 2.0D M-Sport

We've discounted the Audi X3 due to the high boot floor & the load lip which makes getting heavy stuff in & out just that bit more difficult than the rest.

We're going approved used late 2018 / early 2019 cars to avoid the initial depreciation.

Has anyone any direct experience of these cars, or been through a similar selection process recently?

Test drives already arranged.

My wife has had her Tiguan 190 r line since new and hasnt let us down over the past 2 years. It came with all the gadgets drives well and fairly economical for a largish car. We went through a similar exercise of choosing the right suv and this ticked all the boxes. If we were looking for a replacement, we would strongly consider the latest facelift tiguan. The testdrives of the different cars helped us pin down the right car. Good luck.


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[Cypjon]

My wife as the Mercedes GLC 2.0 Petrol 4 Matic she loves it, and to be honest the more I drive so do I.

The Tiguain makes a lot of sense perfect car for the lady. Evoque we had one from launch while stylish servicing and parts are expensive.

My son in law and daughter have both had new XC40s last week and they are a nice piece of kit, so much so the wife as said she would like one next

+1 for the GLC. I have an ML that I have had for a long time. It's now up for replacement and we are looking very closely at the GLC too. Not too big but ticks the boxes for us.

One mans meat and all that.

[Dave+63]

+1 for the GLC. I have an ML that I have had for a long time. It's now up for replacement and we are looking very closely at the GLC too. Not too big but ticks the boxes for us.

One mans meat and all that.

I don’t like SUVs but I do enjoy driving the wife’s GLC.
With the seats down, there’s still a decent amount of space in the back if needed.

[oldoakknives]

We had a 2016 MY Evoque with the 180bhp ingenium Diesel engine and it was a nice car. Found the handling much better than the disco sport and the interior was much nicer. Went well for the size of engine I thought. Never had any problems with it, and when we traded it for an E-Pace in 2018 I was sorry to see it go really.

[woodacre1983]

It would be worth looking at the Kia range. We have a 7 seater Serento and that is amazing. They all come with a full 7 year warranty which is hard to beat.


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[sweets]

Good luck oin your search Andy, I simply do not understand SUVs

Any 4wd capability does not have to fitted to a truck wannabe, so icy/muddy road or towing capability can be had elsewhere.
Okay, you do need ground clearance off road, but most never go there, ever.
Load carrying is always greater in an estate, and at a lower, more convenient height.
If you ever use a roofrack the SUV is a pain, unless you are over 6'6" you can never reach.
SUVs are just a way of persuading you that you are either safer in a "truck" (you are not, NCAP ratings are the same and injuries often worse in an SUV), or more important for riding higher up than the commoners.

At the cost of lugging an extra 2/4/600kg of metal around the place. Weight that needs fuel, and is more dangerous for you and others in the event of a collision.

Such a waste of resources.
So my advice would be don't do it, but I guess that ship has sailed.

Dave

[simoscribbler]

Good luck oin your search Andy, I simply do not understand SUVs

Any 4wd capability does not have to fitted to a truck wannabe, so icy/muddy road or towing capability can be had elsewhere.
Okay, you do need ground clearance off road, but most never go there, ever.
Load carrying is always greater in an estate, and at a lower, more convenient height.
If you ever use a roofrack the SUV is a pain, unless you are over 6'6" you can never reach.
SUVs are just a way of persuading you that you are either safer in a "truck" (you are not, NCAP ratings are the same and injuries often worse in an SUV), or more important for riding higher up than the commoners.

At the cost of lugging an extra 2/4/600kg of metal around the place. Weight that needs fuel, and is more dangerous for you and others in the event of a collision.

Such a waste of resources.
So my advice would be don't do it, but I guess that ship has sailed.

Dave

Shhhh. I dont want people to know that or the price of used estates and MPVs will go up.

One of my kids - city dweller with two small sprogs - needs to move on from the car club, and I've been pointing them at MPVs. Found a 2 year old Zafira with 7 seats and all the essentials for under 10 grand. Spend half as much again and they could have a really nice auto 3 series wagon. I would so much rather drive that than a 15k SUV. And obviously petrol only unless you do big motorway miles and don't live in or hear a big city.

But, as you rightly say, car buying is hardly a logical process, and the appeal of the SUV, wasteful and vulgar as some of us think they are, shows no immediate sign of waning.

[BillN]

similar thoughts as wanted to replace a Yeti - went for an X1 150bhp diesel M Sport at almost one year old - under 5,000 miles when bought and got a good deal from BMW, it was a BMW registered car - I think it was over £10k below the list price

Ideal size - a little smaller compared with some as my wife drives it most of the time

Very pleased would buy another

[rico]

Good luck oin your search Andy, I simply do not understand SUVs

Any 4wd capability does not have to fitted to a truck wannabe, so icy/muddy road or towing capability can be had elsewhere.
Okay, you do need ground clearance off road, but most never go there, ever.
Load carrying is always greater in an estate, and at a lower, more convenient height.
If you ever use a roofrack the SUV is a pain, unless you are over 6'6" you can never reach.
SUVs are just a way of persuading you that you are either safer in a "truck" (you are not, NCAP ratings are the same and injuries often worse in an SUV), or more important for riding higher up than the commoners.

At the cost of lugging an extra 2/4/600kg of metal around the place. Weight that needs fuel, and is more dangerous for you and others in the event of a collision.

Such a waste of resources.
So my advice would be don't do it, but I guess that ship has sailed.

Dave

Completely agree with you there!

[wileeeeeey]

Out of that list I would probably go for the Volvo XC40.

[vagabond]

One plus point for the SUVs is that getting in and out is much easier due to the height - especially as you get older ;-) Even more so, if you have to strap children into car seats etc.

I do love estate cars and do prefer generally them to SUVs - but the current crop of "crossovers" are a great hybrid between a proper 4x4 and estate, so you can enjoy the best of both worlds.

[snowman]

One plus point for the SUVs is that getting in and out is much easier due to the height - especially as you get older ;-) Even more so, if you have to strap children into car seats etc.

I don't think this is true of bigger ones.

While, at 5'9", I'm not tall, I'm not a midget either, but I find getting UP into some of my fellow divers' trucks far harder work than getting into a saloon, estate or even my Marcos (I must admit I do like my driver's seat pretty low down).

A friend has a BMW X3 that I drove a couple of times when she was away for an extended period and, aside from having very comfy seats and clever 360 degree parking cameras, I couldn't see anything good about it.

Even a friend's new BMW X5 has less area for carrying stuff than my humble Golf Estate, despite taking up similar space on the road to a Transit - It also makes him look like a wanabe rapper

M

[Kingstepper]

I don't think this is true of bigger ones.

While, at 5'9", I'm not tall, I'm not a midget either, but I find getting UP into some of my fellow divers' trucks far harder work than getting into a saloon, estate or even my Marcos (I must admit I do like my driver's seat pretty low down).

A friend has a BMW X3 that I drove a couple of times when she was away for an extended period and, aside from having very comfy seats and clever 360 degree parking cameras, I couldn't see anything good about it.

Even a friend's new BMW X5 has less area for carrying stuff than my humble Golf Estate, despite taking up similar space on the road to a Transit - It also makes him look like a wanabe rapper

M

Agree with this. My Mum struggles getting into my CR-V. Would be far easier with a conventional saloon.

[Craig]

We considered the Tiguan but were disappointed with the rear legroom when we viewed one so worth checking that out if you'll be using the rear seats. We ended up buying a Touran, not as good looking but more practical.

We found the same lack of rear legroom in the Skoda Kodiaq and Karoq.

[tomp]

We went through pretty much the same criteria. Looked at the XC40 (could only have it in boring colour combinations and the infotainment/controls were pants), the epace (didn't want a JLR product myself), the Evoque (see last comment) and the Tiguan (+ all VAG variants of the same size).

The Tiguan won out for us. Well specced and went for the petrol engined variant as I don't want no dirty diesel. If they had done a Tiguan R at the time we would have gone for that. Having just seen it be announced and how happy we have been with this one, we will be going for one when the lease is up on this.

Personally, I liked the X4 but the hot version of that was another price level on. An X2 would have been ok as well but they didn't do a hot one and my wife said it was too low.

[westberks]

One plus point for the SUVs is that getting in and out is much easier due to the height - especially as you get older ;-) Even more so, if you have to strap children into car seats etc.

I do love estate cars and do prefer generally them to SUVs - but the current crop of "crossovers" are a great hybrid between a proper 4x4 and estate, so you can enjoy the best of both worlds.

this totally; I had a Cayenne for 15 years until it went to the great car park in the sky & now have a 520 estate. I really miss the ease of access of the SUV layout, so much so that even borrowing my gf's Mini Countryman this week was quite comfy and easier to get in and out of despite it being pretty awful in many other ways (I am 6'5", so appreciate i'm at the 'freak' end of the scale). But i will return to the SUV format when this lease is up; despite the extra weight, poorer economy etc.

[CriticalMass]

Another Evoque fan here. I’ve had two - first one on a 13 plate with the Ford 2L diesel and my current one on a 66 plate with the Ingenium diesel. Both have behaved impeccably and remarkably cheap to run. In both cases I bought the 5 year service deal for £500.

I’m due to change soon and will almost certainly go for another one - probably a P250 this time. But I could be temped by an Alfa Stelvio - there are some seriously good deals around at the moment.

I understand the anti-SUV arguments which have been articulated above. The main benefit from my point of view is it’s easy on my knees. Seven years ago I had real issues and was thinking I’d need a couple of knee replacements - since I’ve been climbing up into a car rather than down into it I’ve had no problems at all.

[Foxy100]

Hmm, Andy asking about which SUV to buy. We should have seen the signs...

[GraniteQuarry]

Hmm, Andy asking about which SUV to buy. We should have seen the signs...

Immediately thought that! But of course felt no reason to suspect nefarious activity.

[jon8oy]

We had a 2016 MY Evoque with the 180bhp ingenium Diesel engine and it was a nice car. Found the handling much better than the disco sport and the interior was much nicer. Went well for the size of engine I thought. Never had any problems with it, and when we traded it for an E-Pace in 2018 I was sorry to see it go really.

I had the same Evoque model, ran it for 3 years. Was nice inside and easy to park - looks big, but doesn't feel big to drive if that makes any sense. My wife initially was a bit scared to drive it but very quickly overcame that. Also pretty good on fuel.

Downsides were - small boot (not much other than a buggy went in), expensive servicing and parts, plagued with DPF issues (was towed from my home on 3 separate occasions), snooty dealership staff (may just be my local).

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[RobDad]

We considered the Tiguan but were disappointed with the rear legroom when we viewed one so worth checking that out if you'll be using the rear seats. We ended up buying a Touran, not as good looking but more practical.

We found the same lack of rear legroom in the Skoda Kodiaq and Karoq.

I’m a bit surprised at that - I’m 6’2’’ and I can get out of the drivers seat and sit in the seat behind with no problems at all. I have to say I’ve had 2 Tourans and think they are brilliant - we just do t need the space they offer now our kids are older


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[RobDad]

My wife has had her Tiguan 190 r line since new and hasnt let us down over the past 2 years. It came with all the gadgets drives well and fairly economical for a largish car. We went through a similar exercise of choosing the right suv and this ticked all the boxes. If we were looking for a replacement, we would strongly consider the latest facelift tiguan. The testdrives of the different cars helped us pin down the right car. Good luck.


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We took delivery of a new Tiguan R in February and I don’t seem to be warming to it at all sadly. Our other car is a 15 plate Golf Cabriolet and although it’s loaded with gadgets everything about the Tiguan somehow feels cheaper and tinnier than the golf - the dash plastics, the door cards, the doors themselves seem flimsy and somehow cheap. On the upside everything works, there are no rattles and it regularly manages 55mpg (it’s the tdi 150 which actually has more than enough power considering the handling of an SUV). I also find it a very dull car to look at somehow - there are so many on the road it’s a bit ‘meh’ - the alloys look good but the ‘body kit’ looks tacked on somehow. Until I wrote this I didn’t realise how underwhelmed I am by it tbh!


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[mindforge]

Anyone had the Volvo XC90? Looks huge but had amazing reviews.