2.0 CRDi Premium (4WD) 5dr 4 X 4

Does what is says on the tin

I came to the IX35 from an Audi A5 coupe Quattro petrol. I expected to be disappointed. However, the car does pretty much exactly what I want it to and with only minor niggles.

I needed something suitable for my 50 mile round trip commute but that would get me down the 1km long rough track to my property on a daily basis. I looked at larger 4x4s like the Santa Fe and everything in this size bracket - CRV, Sportage, Qaskai, Kuga, Yeti. The IX was well reviewed and offered the best price/spec balance.

I bought mine used and unseen from a well known Derby-based supermarket with 11k miles and 22 months old. The car feels well screwed together and although there are no soft touch plastics to be found, there are no rattles and it feels like it will stay that way. Generally it's reasonably refined I find the ride comfort quite acceptable on 18" wheels but will step down to 16" steels with winter tyres for Nov to Mar. Performance is acceptable. The engine is a little gruff compared with my wife's 4year old S-Max 2.2 diesel but this could probably be resolved with just a little more sound deadening. Gearbox/clutch and all major controls fine.

The sound system is acceptable (I have the media pack with subwoofer) but not a patch on my Audi's B&O system. The sat nav is pretty useless compared with a basic Tom Tom or similar as it doesn't take full postcodes and the mapping is a little out of date. Keyless entry is brilliant and bluetooth works fine with my HTC One V (even though it said it wouldn't). Actual mpg measured brim to brim has been between 37 and 39mpg. That's fine by me as it's what I expected from the "real mpg" pages here, but you would be disappointed if you compared with the official figures. I drive at 80mph where poss on motorway, stick to speed limits elsewhere.

Overall I think it represents good value for money especially the five year warranty which is what swung it for me. Insurance is also very cheap (£250 for a 33 year old with 10 years no claims, fully comp and business cover for 15k a year)

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