You need to drive all these as they are quite different cars. I had an automnatic i30 as a loan car when I took my daughter's i10 for servicing: perfectly adequate but in no way was it an exciting drive.

I haven't tried a Vitara 1.4 but by all accounts it's much better to drive than most SUVs. Only you can tell whether it's got enough room for your children and stuff. I'm surprised that the boot is smaller than the i30's.

There should be people along soon who have experience of the CR-V: I can't remember any adverse comments about its reliability, even the diesel.

I recently checked out both these vehicles when making a recent change, also my brother has the Suzuki 1.4 but in manual form. Firstly the Civic is only available in auto form with the petrol engine. Having said that the Honda diesel is renowned as one of the most reliable and economical so I would not be concerned on that point. However I went for a petrol, not a Civic, due to dieselgate. The Civic estate is enormous but the view from the rear windows is a little claustrophobic which may not be helpful with young children on a long journey for example. One of ours tended to get car sick. The Suzuki is on the smaller end of the SUV spectrum, but with good usable space and the engine is very good, giving something over 40mpg and perhaps ever so slightly better than the Honda petrol.

Are you sure that you can get a Suzuki 1.4 auto for 3.5-4k less than the 65 reg Honda?? A 2015 Honda auto runs out at at 9k+ with another 1k or so for the estate, whilst the cheapest Suzuki 1.4 auto on autotrader is 16k and they are only availbale from 66 reg onwards.

My brother likes his Suzuki but he is in the trade and got it for a very low price. He reckons the build quality is not that great and the prices remain high due to the popularity of the 1.4 boosterjet engine, the 1.6 petrols are very stodgy but much cheaper. He certainly would not pay the sort of money they retail for. Having looked hard at both cars my choice would undoubtedly be the Honda.

Having said that when I eventually made my decision I actually bought an Avensis estate with the 1.8 petrol engine and auto box. My reason being that it offered slightly better value, was more accommodating to rear seat passengers, has bullet proof user experience and feedback, and I have an excellent Toyota dealer nearby. I have no reason to regret my purchase, a 65 reg Business Plus, and enjoy the car that I anticipate keeping for some time.

Edited by SLO76 on 17/04/2018 at 15:59

I'd go for the EX spec even if it means getting a slighter higher mileage one. The 2.0 petrol auto is very refined and near silent. The 2.2 iDTEC can be quite loud with the windows down and a fair amount of turbo lag, although easily sorted with a remap. There's quite a few reported DPF problems with the 1.6 diesel, some will blame the driver but the 2.2 diesel doesn't seem to have the same problems.

I had an autodata subscription and looked up the Vitara as I was considering one myself but there are a lot of TSBs. The CRV had a few but it was mainly just software updates required.

The CRV 2.0 petrol is n/a but it can still shift when you put the loud pedal to the floor or pop it in sport mode - it's just more linear without that misleading diesel shove. Turbos are more complex with more to go wrong with repairs usually being quite expensive.