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Help with replacement car choice - Nomag

Need the help of fellow backroomers. I am a long time lurker but infrequent poster.

Four years ago I moved to a rural spot and my property is located at the end of a half mile long rough farm track covered periodically with used road plannings. When we moved I replaced my then car with a Hyundai ix35 4wd 2.0 diesel which is now coming up 6 years old. I bought the Hyundai as I did not know what winter weather would bring and wanted to have one 4wd car in the household with raised ground clearance to assist in getting down the track in tricky conditions.

Since then, we have had no really significantly bad weather and the 4wd has not really been necessary. My wife has now replaced her S-Max with a Kia Sorrento so we currently have two 4wd in the household. I am inclined to replace my Hyundai with something smaller and more fuel efficient for the daily grind. I fit winter tyres and steelies from November to March and would probably do this with any future non-4wd vehicle also.

My car use consists almost exclusively of my daily commute which is 25 miles each way along a mixture of fast B roads and the A1. The Hyundai has averaged 36mpg which is a little disappointing, but bang on the “Real mpg” average, and I do drive enthusiastically and like to make progress.

The bulk of the time there is only me or me and one child in the car, but I have three young daughters and very occasionally may need to ferry all five of us, including if the wife’s vehicle is out of action. For this reason I don’t really want anything smaller than Golf-sized.

My annual mileage is 15k and I am starting to question whether replacing with another diesel is the way forward. Increased ground clearance is beneficial more for the comfort it brings with the longer travel suspension so guess I could go for a 2wd crossover but think I’d be happy in a hatch with suitably high profile tyres (must be at least as deep as the 225/55 on the Hyundai on alloys, my winter tyres are 215/70!)

I would like something that will achieve 45mpg and realise this may not be possible with petrol, I have looked at vehicles with the VW group 1.4TSi ACT which seem well regarded, e.g. Leon, Octavia, but still have concerns over long term reliability of a small turbo petrol – I buy nearly new and keep 5 years. I would also prefer chain cam if possible. I wonder whether I should really consider a Civic with the 1.8VTec but having tried one and being used to a turbo diesel, I rather missed the lack of torque at low revs. Has anyone (other than HJ) tried a 1.2 PureTec 308 and like it?

Perhaps I should be looking at diesels- we have had two with DPFs and had no emissions systems problems and I will be getting rid at c. 75k-80k miles perhaps before any problems would emerge? The Hyundai has been generally reliable with only two faults fixed under warranty, a failed propshaft bearing and failed reversing camera.

What would the backroomers choose in my situation?

Help with replacement car choice - skidpan

The 1.4 TSi with or without ACT is a superb unit. I currently have a 140PS Seat Leon which has been 100% perfect for almost 4 years and on March 01 I am getting a Skoda Superb fitted with 150PS version with ACT.

Chain cam or belt makes no difference provided you allow for replacement costs when you buy. The belt on the TSi is basically change after 5 years or 120,000 miles so easy to figure in your costs.

My Leon has averaged 45 mpg (calculated) while I have owned it so IMHO the economy is magic, had thirstier diesels. It will do almost 55 mpg on a coast run.

Tried a Civic 1.8 in the past and as well as the engine being very much lacking in torque the ride was on the bad side of attrocious, not good for your track. We tried another to make sure and it was just as bad in both respects.

We went to look at a 308 with the 1.2 puretec but it never left the forecourt. We were concerned having read about the need to access heating controls through the screen and in reality it was terrible. But the real bad thing about it was the lack of rear seat legroom. At the time we had a 2007 Micra and that had more space behind the seats.

Try a 1.4 TSi and make up your own mind, we love them.

Help with replacement car choice - RaineMan

Have you considered a Subaru as you will then have the backup of 4WD.

Help with replacement car choice - Engineer Andy

Odd how you thought the Civic (outgoing model or the 'previous 2006 version?) rode badly - I thought the ride was a good feature, according to HJ's review. Maybe its ok on tarmac roads and not so good on really poorly surfaced country roads.

Might be worth the OP looking at cars similar to the iX35 but just 2WD versions, then at least (with the addition of winter tyres or CCs) with the better ground clearance and view of the (rural) roads, this might suit them, as long as they can find ones that blends the more 'rugged countrified' features with a decent ride and reasonable handling.

Perhaps the sibblings or cousins of the Leon might be more suitable, such as the new Ateca (same engine and interior, though it appears not on new versions - maybe the change to the 1.5TSi is imminent) or Skoda Yeti (1.2 or 1.4 [but that's only available in top spec 4x4). Note that HJ's review has knocked a star off the Yeti's review for poor reliability, which could affect the Ateca (in theory all MBQ platform cars from VAG firms).

Perhaps the Maxda CX-5 2ltr petrol SE-L Nav (run-out version [not the Sport with the low profile tyres], new one around the corner) might do, if a tad bigger (though no more than the iX35). The reviews say its has a good ride and like all Mazdas is good at handling. The engine should give 40mpg according to the 'Real mpg' page and is reasonably quick too, probably needing to be thrashed less than the 1.8p Civic as a result of the higher capacity, though probably not as nice as the 1.4 TSi 140/150 from VAG for mid-range pickup.

May be worth a look given the new CX-5 model is just around the corner - my local dealership had recently 6s and CX-5s with over £5k off the list price for showroom versions with tiny mileages. I wouldn't recommend the CX-3, not because its a poor car (I test drove one and it was very good - on normal roads), just that it may be a bit too small and too firm a ride on rural roads, especially farm tracks like the OP's. Its also VERY expensive, often not that much cheaper than the much bigger CX-5 after discounts are applied.

Not sure about the Pug and similar - haven't driven one - best to test drive them. HJ likes them, which is almost always a good indicator of a quality car.

Help with replacement car choice - SLO76
Not sure what your budget is but I rather like the Seat Areca, it's certainly on our shortlist to replace our CRV next time. The 1.0 TSi looks perfectly acceptable on paper and I do like the offbeat thrum of a 3cyl engine. There's no DPF to worry about and the basic engine has been around in non-turbocharged form for several years with little sign of problems so far.

If you need more go then there's the stronger 1.4 which is often praised here. But I'd probably leave the diesel even though you do enough distance to warrant it, the wind is blowing in the other direction and future legislation could see it the faster depreciating option in the long run.

I'm no speed demon and value comfort and good dynamics over performance so the lightweight and more nimble petrol swings it for me but I've yet to see the new Honda CRV 1.5 turbo which no doubt will be dearer but might with Honda's strong residuals be cheaper to run than expected. Our 1.6 DTEC was cheaper to lease than many cars with far lower list prices for example.

Honda also have a new Civic out and an outstanding new 1.0 3cyl turbo petrol which would suit the HRV also if they wanted to liven it up a bit. Can't say I've found the ride too hard in any recent Civic I've driven but I'm not a fan of the lifeless steering most Honda's have.



Help with replacement car choice - SLO76
*Ateca

Fat thumbs!
Help with replacement car choice - Avant

Something not too big but with good ground clearance would suit you best I think. The Ateca is a good suggestion, as is the Skoda Yeti, but there are also two Suzukis that you could look at, the S-Cross and the Vitara, with the 1.4 Boosterjet engine, which I haven't tried but which road tests suggest is quite similar to the excellent VW Group 1.4 TFSI mentioned above.

The Suzukis are of similar size and I'm not privy to whatever reason there is for marketing them both. But being Japanese they might stand up better to your rough track and be more reliable in years 4 and 5 than the SEAT.

Help with replacement car choice - skidpan

Odd how you thought the Civic (outgoing model or the 'previous 2006 version?) rode badly - I thought the ride was a good feature

Before we test drove the 1st Civic back in early 2008 I had read reports that the ride was poor and it was best to avoid the ones with big wheels/rubber band tyres. So we went to the dealer, told him we wanted a test drive but did not want sporty model with Carlos Fandango wheels etc. Guess what, he sent us off in one with Carlos Fandango wheels, it shook our fillings loose. So off to another dealer who managed to give us a drive in one on 16" wheels but to be totally honest it was little better.

For your info we bought a BMW 118D. Despite reports saying it had a firm ride, with the 17" options and standard suspension it was perfectly acceptable, in 5 1/2 years we did not regret buying it at all. Way better than the Civic.

In 2010 when the wife was changing we looked at the Civic again since other than the ride the car still appeared to suit us. Well nothing had changed with the ride I can assure you. After a test drive getting back into our 5 year old Focus was like getting into a new comfortable car.

Why/how Honda got it so wrong i have no idea. We drove a 2005 Civic Type R when we were buying a few years earlier and the ride for such a focussed performance hatch was nothing short of amazing.

Help with replacement car choice - bazza

They fixed the ride in 2013 with fluid filled bushes, according to the reviews. Although I've yet to sample it myself.

Help with replacement car choice - Nomag

Thank you so much for the learned advice so far.

I had not considered the Vitara but will look at that - what I have found with the Hyundai has been borne out - it immediately felt much like a 90s Toyota when I got in it- "plasticky" interior but somehow felt like underneath it was well engineered. So maybe another Japanese/Korean vehicle would suit me well.

I also feel the tide is going gradually against diesel. Interestingly I had a look at some 308 prices on a well known car supermarket website and the 1.2 puretech petrol 130 is priced the same as a 1.6 HDi 120 for the same age of vehicle- so diesel (at least in some models) is no longer commanding a premium on the used market.

Help with replacement car choice - SLO76
That brings back memories. I loved Suzuki Vitaras back in the 90's when I was selling for a big Mitsubishi dealership. Our buyer would grab every one he could lay his hands on, condition rarely mattered as they were straightforward to fix.

The real joy was purely profit related as they sold like hot cakes, always to punters upgrading from a small to medium hatchback who were then horrified by the awful handling, ride and fuel economy compared to their run of the mill hatchbacks. Big percentage of them were back within months looking to buy something else so it was a double whammy for us. Thus the reason why so many MK I Vitaras had a suspiciously high number of registered keepers. They were pretty tough things but b***** awful to drive.

Nothing like the current car of course which seems to be well received by owners and press. Not sure I'd touch the Fiat diesel option though.