fabia/Arona/troc/308/corsa/C3/whatever - what next..petrol 1 or 1.2 tsi ish small "suv"

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Fri 14 Jun 2024 21:02
fabia/Arona/troc/308/corsa/C3/whatever - what next..petrol 1 or 1.2 tsi ish small "suv" - expatsFL

Looking to buy a small ish crossover/smallish SUV. Sort of Fabia estate/ C3 aircross/Arona etc. That sort of sized car. We do low mileage but need a decent boot, the car will replace an old Civic and a BIG subaru forester. So we have to compramize. Fabia estate...a bit bland, 308/corsa meh. C3 a gamble. We do 3000 miles a year, local 25 miles at a time...

Whats your opinion!!!!!

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Sat 15 Jun 2024 07:46
fabia/Arona/troc/308/corsa/C3/whatever - what next..petrol 1 or 1.2 tsi ish small "suv" - badbusdriver

What do you mean by BIG Subaru Forester?. Unlike some SUV/Crossovers, they (AFAIK) only come in one size (which isn't really that big)

The only specific requirement you mention is a big boot but you haven't mentioned the age of your old Civic and (BIG) Forester for comparison. But assuming the old Civic is 8th gen (2005-2011), that means 485 litres. The Forester?, well assuming wherever you are (expat?) there isn't a bigger Forester that didn't come to the UK, you'd be looking at a little more than 500 litres.

You have not mentioned age or budget if car you are looking at but your references confuse the issue. You mention the Arona and C3 Aircross, both of which were launched in 2017, but you also mention 1.2TSI, a VAG engine (which never featured in the Arona) and which (in the Fabia anyway) was replaced by the 1.0TSI in 2017.

Also confused by the fact that your thread title suggests you want an SUV/Crossover, but your own suggestions include the Fabia estate and 308, neither of which are an SUV/Crossover?

Given the requirement for a decent boot size, I'm frankly baffled at the inclusion of a Corsa in your suggestions with (for the current model) a relatively paltry 309 litres?. Out of your other suggestions, the only car with a properly big boot is the Fabia estate with 550 litres. The rest are in the 400-420 litre area.

So some clarification on just what you want would be helpful. But if the SUV/Crossover question is removed, the Fabia estate would appear to be the obvious choice, ATM anyway!.

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Sat 15 Jun 2024 11:11
fabia/Arona/troc/308/corsa/C3/whatever - what next..petrol 1 or 1.2 tsi ish small "suv" - SLO76
Got a driveway? Budget around £10-£12k? Don’t go further than a 60 mile radius? Buy a Nissan Leaf 40kwh. No more expensive trips to the filling station, no funding evil regimes in the Middle East. Plug it in at home and enjoy stress free low maintenance driving for buttons. The boot is very decent, we find ours to be a very practical family car. But we do have a petrol car too for long distance runs due to the cost and poor reliability of public chargers in the UK. Ours is solely charged at home on cheap off peak electricity.
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Sat 15 Jun 2024 11:29
fabia/Arona/troc/308/corsa/C3/whatever - what next..petrol 1 or 1.2 tsi ish small "suv" - Big John

We have a similar dilemma in downsizing to one car from a Skoda Superb and a Fiat Panda - our problem is we are used to a 595 litre boot which is great going camping etc. Most small SUVs seem to have rather small boots in comparison. We also need to avoid touch screens for basic functions (eg heating) so that rules out the latest Octavia - Mrs BJ is a fully paid up member of the Luddite society. Our current shortlist seems to be changing daily but am considering Skoda Scala, Kia Xceed and the Suzuki S Cross(or Vitara?) which whilst not as big have reasonable space / boots. My other criteria is fitting me in , at 6ft 4" and large I seem to struggle in some cars which would otherwise fit the bill - eg Suzuki Swace(huge boot).

Edited by Big John on 15/06/2024 at 11:35

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Sat 15 Jun 2024 11:35
fabia/Arona/troc/308/corsa/C3/whatever - what next..petrol 1 or 1.2 tsi ish small "suv" - RT

We have a similar dilemma in downsizing to one car from a Skoda Superb and a Fiat Panda - our problem is we are used to a 595 litre boot which is great going camping etc. Most SUVs seem to have rather small boots in comparison. We also need to avoid touch screens for basic functions (eg heating) so that rules out the latest Octavia - Mrs BJ is a fully paid up member of the Luddite society. Our current shortlist seems to be changing daily but am considering Skoda Scala, Kia Xceed and the Suzuki S Cross which whilst not as big have reasonable space / boots. My other criteria is fitting me in , at 6ft 4" and large I seem to struggle in some cars which would fit the bill - eg Suzuki Swace(huge boot).

That's comparing apples and pears! The Skoda Superb is a large saloon/estate, by European standards so only fair to compare it to large SUVs like the Skoda Kodiaq with it's 910 litre boot in 5 seat form - rather than compact or mid-size SUVs

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Sat 15 Jun 2024 12:37
fabia/Arona/troc/308/corsa/C3/whatever - what next..petrol 1 or 1.2 tsi ish small "suv" - Big John

That's comparing apples and pears! The Skoda Superb is a large saloon/estate, by European standards so only fair to compare it to large SUVs like the Skoda Kodiaq with it's 910 litre boot in 5 seat form - rather than compact or mid-size SUVs

Tell me about it - I love the Superb but Mrs BJ finds it toooo big for day to day driving. I was pretty impressed with the Scala to be honest. For the size of car (much smaller than the Superb) it's amazingly roomy inside both for people and luggage (467L seats up). The performance of the 1.5tsi is "lively" with 0-60 in just over 8 seconds! At about a year old it seems pretty good value as well. I've always liked the small VAG tsi engines. Even in a large Superb my 1.4tsi pulls really well and always averages late 40's mpg - sometimes even 50+.

I tried the Suzuki Swace but I find the roof line too low for my size. Suzuki S Cross seemed comfortable for me but I haven't driven yet - reviews are middling though.

Edited by Big John on 15/06/2024 at 12:42

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Sat 15 Jun 2024 11:53
fabia/Arona/troc/308/corsa/C3/whatever - what next..petrol 1 or 1.2 tsi ish small "suv" - Adampr

We have a similar dilemma in downsizing to one car from a Skoda Superb and a Fiat Panda - our problem is we are used to a 595 litre boot which is great going camping etc. Most small SUVs seem to have rather small boots in comparison. We also need to avoid touch screens for basic functions (eg heating) so that rules out the latest Octavia - Mrs BJ is a fully paid up member of the Luddite society. Our current shortlist seems to be changing daily but am considering Skoda Scala, Kia Xceed and the Suzuki S Cross(or Vitara?) which whilst not as big have reasonable space / boots. My other criteria is fitting me in , at 6ft 4" and large I seem to struggle in some cars which would otherwise fit the bill - eg Suzuki Swace(huge boot).

Without wishing to go full hijack, how about one of the van-based MPVs (Berlingo, Rifter, Combi Life, Doblo)? Tons of room in those.

I had an Xceed as a hire car a while ago. It was fine, but the rear visibility is poor and it does have the Kia Curse of endless binging and bonging.

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Sat 15 Jun 2024 11:54
fabia/Arona/troc/308/corsa/C3/whatever - what next..petrol 1 or 1.2 tsi ish small "suv" - Adampr

I agree with SLO. If you have a drive, this screams EV. Maybe an MG5?

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Sat 15 Jun 2024 13:12
fabia/Arona/troc/308/corsa/C3/whatever - what next..petrol 1 or 1.2 tsi ish small "suv" - Bromptonaut

The Fabia estate isn't an SUV, it's a small conventional estate car. I believe it's nearer in size to a Polo than a Golf.

The boot is huge for the size of car but comes at the expense of very limited leg room in the rear. We very rarely use ours if there is likely to be a need for more than two of us; the other car is a Berlingo so seats 5 in comfort. A colleague I gave a lift back from a work event, a woman approaching 6 feet, struggled to get herself comfortable in the back.

However, if it's the two of us it's an absolutely super car. Comfortable, quiet at all legal speeds and bit over on the M/way. No sports car when it comes to handling holds the road adequately and drives well.

Took us from the Midlands to the Western Isles and back with full luggage and a large cool box in the boot. Two Brompton bikes would have fitted but then the 30 side of the 30/70 rear seat would have needed folding down.

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Sat 15 Jun 2024 17:04
fabia/Arona/troc/308/corsa/C3/whatever - what next..petrol 1 or 1.2 tsi ish small "suv" - John F

Suggest look at a Peugeot 2008 1.2 EAT6. After nearly 5yrs ownership from new we are still very happy with our 2019 'old shape' car. I have no idea how many litres the boot holds, we never fill it with liquid. What was far more important when looking to replace our Focus Estate was how high the boot opening was (it's lower than most SUVs/crossovers) and whether or not there was a lip (there isn't). This makes it easier to load shopping and the occasional bulky thing, e.g.mower, bike, fridge. It also has a spacesaver spare, not just a probably useless can of gunge.

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Tue 18 Jun 2024 07:06
fabia/Arona/troc/308/corsa/C3/whatever - what next..petrol 1 or 1.2 tsi ish small "suv" - maz64

Looking to buy a small ish crossover/smallish SUV. Sort of Fabia estate/ C3 aircross/Arona etc.

Very happy with our Arona - it's a 1.5, but the 1.0 engine (I'd go for the 115ps) is supposed to be good. Feels roomy, decent boot, but only 4.14m long - a Focus is 4.38m.

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