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Sat 26 Oct 2024 09:17

Buying used diesel midsize SUV - Daniel Easton

Hi All,

Would first like to say a big thank you for your spare time if you’re reading/replying, will try and keep it short and sweet.

Looking for some advice on buying a ‘sensible’ SUV.

Requirements:
Budget 12k
At least midsize (boot to fit 2 spaniels or suitcases or tools
Very frugal choices preferred - good reliability, good mpg, low road tax etc
Diesel is a must - expected 20k miles a year (work commute 60 miles daily)

As you can see I value low costs and comfortable first, with a touch of style for the budget I’ve got

Cars I’ve taken an interest in:
XC60
Qashqai
Sportage
Tucson

Again, thank you for your precious time!

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Sat 26 Oct 2024 09:51

Buying used diesel midsize SUV - badbusdriver

Cars I’ve taken an interest in:
XC60
Qashqai
Sportage

Tucson

In principal,

XC60?, no, not very reliable, Qasqai?, ditto

Sportage and Tuscon (same car under the skin)?, yes, but there is a big caveat in the form of the DPF.

Yes, you may well be doing the mileage and journey type to keep a DPF healthy, but what about the previous owner/s?. You may end up buying something who's DPF is on the cusp of a very expensive failure without knowing. I'm not sure if there is anyway to tell if this is the case, and also don't know if your high mileage will "cure" an ailing DPF, but you need to be aware of the risk.

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Sat 26 Oct 2024 21:02

Buying used diesel midsize SUV - SLO76

I’d leave the XC60 and the Qashqai out, neither is particularly robust. If you absolutely must have the Volvo stick with a manual 2wd car and the older PSA 2.0 diesel motor. I don’t rate them to drive at all and our 2.4 twin turbo D5 wasn’t a good car. The Hyundai and its close relative the Kia are both fine in 1.7 diesel form. Decent economy, reasonably comfortable and mechanically tough. The biggest issues I encountered when looking at them previously was poor quality paintwork. They seem to chip and paint peels more than rivals so check it carefully and give it a regular coat of polish to preserve it. Otherwise good news these, but as with any modern DPF equipped diesels you can suffer emission control issues as they age and/or if it doesn’t see regular longer runs.

Another option you’ve missed is the Honda CRV 1.6 DTEC. These are huge inside, will do over 50mpg with ease and they’re generally very robust if looked after. Again we were looking at these recently, but I couldn’t find a good one. Many are utterly neglected and as with the Kia and Hyundai the paintwork isn’t the best. If you can find a good 2wd 1.6 DTEC with sensible (genuine) miles up and a fully stamped service book (a rarity) then have it rust proofed underneath and keep it til it dies. You won’t find a more useful big family wagon that can do 50mpg plus.

We also owned a Honda HRV 1.6 DTEC which was a very good car. Small on the outside but surprisingly big on the inside. Outstanding fuel economy, we easily hit 60mpg on a run and it went very well indeed. The 1.5 petrol is great on fuel too and ultimately has less to go wrong, but it lacks the power of the turbo diesel on the road. We had no trouble with ours, it was only sold when SWMBO decided that she must have an electric car.

Edited by SLO76 on 26/10/2024 at 21:04

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Sun 3 Nov 2024 10:28

Buying used diesel midsize SUV - Daniel Easton

Thank you both for your valuable feedback.

Definitely made me wiser to the dreaded DPF risks. Combined your comments, some other threads and done some more digging. It seems to me I was veering off track and you’ve rolled me back on.

Don’t think I’ll move away from looking at Japanese cars now, looking at the sheer scale of the word ‘reliability’ associated with them. Toyota (RAV4). Honda (HRV / CRV). Lexus (NX) I could go on.

I am not diving in head first though. I understand the car HAS to be well looked after before anything else. Even if like SLO76 says, pursue another model/brand if you cannot find the right gem.

I would say I have demonstrated this principle on the current car I have, when I bought it. Ford focus 2011 1.6 petrol titanium. 1 owner (older lady). FSH all completed at the local main dealer. Solid MOT history. Everything documented. Averaged roughly 8k miles a year.

The reason I am searching now is at 13 years old 120,000 miles it is starting to pick up more problems. I have looked after it, but not quite as good as the previous owner. Long story short I appreciate how important it is that a car is well maintained.

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Sun 3 Nov 2024 16:17

Buying used diesel midsize SUV - movilogo

Is estate a consideration?

Estate can offer bigger boots and you can get few more models.

Kia Optima
Skoda has some good estates
Honda Accord estate

Outside warranty any car is gamble. So get one with full service history + high mileage (good for diesel). Just avoid obvious problem make/models as already discussed.

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