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How many miles do you cover?, and do you tow a caravan or horse box?. Because I'd only be thinking diesel if I covered the miles to justify it, or needed a turbo diesels torque to tow something heavy.
Despite their desirable image, Land Rover/Range Rover products are not very reliable on the whole, though I'm not sure specifically about a Freelander of that age.
The Lexus is a tricky one as they are generally very reliable. But at that age and with that miles, I think I'd probably give it a miss.
Assuming your budget to be around £8.5k, I'd be thinking along the lines of a Honda CR-V or Toyota RAV4, both with 2.0 petrol engines. For your budget, you'd get into a 2012 CR-V or a 2011 RAV4 with circa 70-80k miles. These are both relatively simple and very reliable.
Seat comfort, sadly, is something you just need to suss out yourself. It is a very personal issue so a car which you find the seats comfortable, I might not and vice versa.
I do also have a 'wild card' to suggest, which could suit depending on how much space you need, the Vauxhall Mokka X. For your budget, you could get into a 2017 1.4t petrol auto*. The original Mokka had a reputation for having terrible ride comfort, but this was improved (to what extent, I'm not sure) for the facelifted Mokka X. We used to have a Vauxhall Meriva, and while I wasn't overly keen on the car, I did find the seats very comfortable.
*202012096913976
BTW, if you do feel diesel is with taking a chance on, as well as the Hyundai Santa Fe, you may as well also consider its sister car, the Kia Sorento (which is mechanically identical).
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Thanks for this. Totally get that the seat issues is mine to assess. Ruled out an asx already due to awful seats.
Mileage is average, c10k, and mainly urban. Husband has a manual CRV at the moment so was hoping for something different! Qasqai is another option but can't get excited by nissan, though may need to think again
I've never found a vauxhall I like, either to be in or drive, but never looked at a mokka specifically. Would have to check the ride height too as they strike me as pretend SUVs.
Had wondered about a sorento but not found one locally.
All the covid restrictions aren't helping with assessing seats or doing test drives either
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“Mileage is average, c10k, and mainly urban. Husband has a manual CRV at the moment so was hoping for something different! Qasqai is another option but can't get excited by nissan, though may need to think again”
I’d forget diesel if most of your mileage is local plus petrol models are generally much more reliable these days thanks to the far greater complexity of modern Diesel engines. I’d also forget the Nissan which is nothing more than a Renault Megane on stilts with all the reliability woes associated with French cars as they age.
Here’s a few I’d take a look at. I’d include a CRV but if you don’t want one then there’s no point. The 2.0 petrol is however utterly reliable and the 1.6 diesel is outstandingly economical and is one of the only modern DPF equipped diesels I’d recommend here.
Toyota RAV4 2.0
Hyundai Sportage 1.6
Hyundai ix 35 1.6
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Thank you.
Will see if I can find a local RAV4. Have previously looked at the ix35 and we ruled it out as suitable for my husband to drive if he needed to as I had the bigger car, but at this point, I need to look at everything I can I think
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Just realised you need an auto. That hugely complicated things and dramatically reduces your options. Most SUV autos will be diesel or hybrid and both at this money will be older and up in the miles. I’d look at the Hyundai but factor in that older DPF equipped diesels will be a pain as they age, especially if you only do local running. A CRV 2.0 auto is probably the most plentiful and reliable petrol engined auto SUV at this price point.
Be careful when buying a modern automatic as many are troublesome and hugely costly to repair. Don’t touch anything fitted with VW/Audi’s DSG or Ford’s Powershift automated manual gearboxes and leave Nissan’s CVT box well alone. All three are notoriously fragile and any major issues will write the car off. Honda, Mazda and Toyota all make robust automatic gearboxes for their SUV’s but the Mazda CX-5 2.0 petrol auto is out of your price range.
A Suzuki Vitara and the Vauxhall Mokka both use reliable gearboxes too and are available in numbers. They are a bit smaller but neither is a struggle to get into.
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Thanks for the advice
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Stick a Subaru on your list, Forester or XV. Choice will be limited, but you should find one that is well looked after.
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Stick a Subaru on your list, Forester or XV. Choice will be limited, but you should find one that is well looked after.
Will take a look
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I've never found a vauxhall I like, either to be in or drive, but never looked at a mokka specifically. Would have to check the ride height too as they strike me as pretend SUVs.
The term SUV doesn't really mean anything specific in relation to the car it is attached to, I mean 'sport utility vehicle could be applied to anything', same as 'MPV' (multi purpose vehicle), which marketing bods decided would be best applied to something like a Vauxhall Zafira when in fact it could, and perhaps should, be better applied to a Land Rover Freelander or Honda CR-V. Most SUV's these days don't even have 4wd, it is just an image thing. Point is, a Vauxhall Mokka X is no less an SUV than a CR-V or RAV4, it is just a smaller version of the same thing, i.e, a taller car with vaguely off-road looking styling cues (regardless of size).
As for the height, The Mokka X is pretty much the tallest car of its size, so shouldn't be any issues there (the CR-V is only fractionally taller). This may sound like I'm trying to push you towards the Vauxhall, but it's more that I don't want to see you discount it for reasons like 'I just don't like Vauxhalls' or 'it's not a real SUV'. If you try it and don't like it, fair enough, but as far as I can see by what you have given us so far, all you actually need is comfortable seats and a decent amount of ground clearance. And as your husband already has a family sized SUV, maybe something a bit smaller than what you had been looking at would make more sense?.
BTW, I wouldn't bother with the Qashqai, not that reliable.
Edited by badbusdriver on 03/01/2021 at 10:17
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Surprised no one has mentioned Volvo XC60 if seat comfort is a priority.
I wouldn't get too worried about dpf, none of the cars listed are particularly known for issues.
I'd steer away from the Freelander myself. They can and do start generating some large bills once past 6 years or so.
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Surprised no one has mentioned Volvo XC60 if seat comfort is a priority.
I wouldn't get too worried about dpf, none of the cars listed are particularly known for issues.
I'd steer away from the Freelander myself. They can and do start generating some large bills once past 6 years or so.
Wouldn't the Volvo have the Geartronic automated manual box?
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Surprised no one has mentioned Volvo XC60 if seat comfort is a priority.
I wouldn't get too worried about dpf, none of the cars listed are particularly known for issues.
I'd steer away from the Freelander myself. They can and do start generating some large bills once past 6 years or so.
Wouldn't the Volvo have the Geartronic automated manual box?
"Geartronic" is the general name Volvo give to automatics - many models use the Aisin torque converter autobox.
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Surprised no one has mentioned Volvo XC60 if seat comfort is a priority
Will take a look. XC90 is no good as to get in a good driving position, I then have no head height. I'm only 5'3" so have to be up and in, which usually means in more car style driving positions, I'm too close to the wheel, the roof or the windscreen. Hence usually looking for the upright driving position.
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Surprised no one has mentioned Volvo XC60 if seat comfort is a priority.
I wouldn't get too worried about dpf, none of the cars listed are particularly known for issues.
I'd steer away from the Freelander myself. They can and do start generating some large bills once past 6 years or so.
£11k is the entry point for a decent XC60. I think these all use a torque converter box but some smaller Volvos did use Ford’s Powershift box so homework needs done. I have an XC60 D5 auto and it’s a nice big car but it took nearer £15k to get a good low mileage approved used example.
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Surprised no one has mentioned Volvo XC60 if seat comfort is a priority.
I wouldn't get too worried about dpf, none of the cars listed are particularly known for issues.
I'd steer away from the Freelander myself. They can and do start generating some large bills once past 6 years or so.
£11k is the entry point for a decent XC60. I think these all use a torque converter box but some smaller Volvos did use Ford’s Powershift box so homework needs done. I have an XC60 D5 auto and it’s a nice big car but it took nearer £15k to get a good low mileage approved used example.
True, budget might be a bit tight for a good one. I think I am right in saying that the XC60 never got the Powershift box. It did crop up in the 1.6 versions of the V70/S80 but I don't think the XC60 ever went below the 2.0 with the regular automatic.
(and, yes, to the posts above - "Geartronic" in Volvo speak just means a regular gearbox and is just another term for Tiptronic, Steptronic, Tip-Shift or any other of a multitude of names which just means you can lock in/out of individual gears and pretty much all autos have).
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, but as far as I can see by what you have given us so far, all you actually need is comfortable seats and a decent amount of ground clearance.
You're quite right. High ground clearance and seat comfort are the top two priorities along with auto, which I appreciate drastically reduces options and will increase age and mileage for my budget of up to £10k.
I have a fiat 500l at the moment which is not high enough, hence the faux SUV comment though agree that marketing terminology doesn't necessarily mean much. 4x4 not essential, I just need to not bottom the car every time I drive to my house!
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