SUV advice please

[oldoakknives]

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.

We bought the service plan, which is a good deal if you keep it long enough.
I thought about the Stelvio as well as the new Evoque when we traded in the E-Pace. Didn’t drive the Stelvio in the end because there are no dealers anywhere near us.
This time we went for the F-Pace which so far seems pretty good.
I didn’t like the all touchscreen centre part of the dash in the new Evoque which I thought would be hard to use while driving. Shame because it seemed pretty good apart from that.

[oldoakknives]

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).

Sent from my GM1913 using Tapatalk

Heard some had dpf issues luckily ours never did.
Agree about the boot but we knew that before we bought it, it was ‘one spaniel’ size which suited us!
I know what you mean about snooty dealerships, although it’s often just a couple of the salesmen. I walked out of a Jaguar dealership because of an unhelpful salesman and bought one the same day from a different dealership with a more helpful salesman. I wanted to buy a Jaguar and he really wanted to sell me one. Which worked for me!
Also tried to buy a Mercedes GLC but couldn’t order one with the spec and colour I wanted, even with 4 months notice, so walked away. Something to do with their build system according to the salesman!

[CriticalMass]

What I like about the JLR range is the ability to select exactly the spec you want from all the extras so you can end up with a unique car. With so many marques ( eg Mercedes, BMW) too many of the options are linked so that for example you can only have a heated steering wheel with a £1500 tech pack, only have AWD with a diesel etc

[Boss13]

What I like about the JLR range is the ability to select exactly the spec you want from all the extras so you can end up with a unique car. With so many marques ( eg Mercedes, BMW) too many of the options are linked so that for example you can only have a heated steering wheel with a £1500 tech pack, only have AWD with a diesel etc

Completely agree with this. The way Mercedes and BMW have gone recently with their packs is absurd. If you want memory seats in a Mercedes you must add a premium pack which is maybe 3k. Sunroof, you need 5k premium plus...and it continues.

I get that it may be cheaper for them to bundle and a neat way to make customers spend more, but it is very annoying. I guess it also helps them have cars in stock waiting as the combos are so limited.

[Caruso]

I got myself a BMW i3 and now I can't stop my wife from using it at every chance. Rides high like a mini suv, but is much fun to drive and a lovely place to be. Holds value well too.

[Omegamanic]

I looked at a Tiguan, X3 and a Q5, and found the Tiguan to be the nicest drive - but surprisingly I didn’t like the drive of the Skoda Kodiak as much as the other alternatives, and hated the cruise control compared to the Tiguans.

[oldoakknives]

Completely agree with this. The way Mercedes and BMW have gone recently with their packs is absurd. If you want memory seats in a Mercedes you must add a premium pack which is maybe 3k. Sunroof, you need 5k premium plus...and it continues.

I get that it may be cheaper for them to bundle and a neat way to make customers spend more, but it is very annoying. I guess it also helps them have cars in stock waiting as the combos are so limited.

This was exactly what I found with Mercedes, even down to colours. If I could have ordered what I wanted (4 months in advance for March) I would have bought it. The salesman said he could probably get one in the colour I wanted, but couldn't guarantee it until it would be too late to order from other makers. So it might have been a colour I didn't want. And I would be paying £55k+ for the privilege.

If you check the Mercedes website they just point you to cars already built and in stock.

Bit like 'well you can have what we can get for you'. Actually, no I won't.

[yumma]

Of what the OP listed I’d go X1. But I’d actually be looking at Lexus’.