Rural bumpy rough roads – would MPV or SUV be most suitable?

Hi

I’m after any thoughts or suggestions on what car/vehicle to get, please, and thoughts on MPVs vs SUVs…

Here’s the low-down:
- I live in a very rural area where the roads are in bad condition
- It’s used mainly for short journeys of just a few miles
- But a couple of times a year or so it will be needed for a motorway run of a few hundred miles
- Annual mileage around 8k

It would be good to have:
- A decent mpg (petrol)
- Good road clearance
- Good boot capacity
- Budget = around £12k.
- No frills. I’m not bothered with any fancy stuff, so the more basic the better. Certainly don’t want to be paying extra for anything that’s fancy.


I had a Skoda Fabia Estate before, and now have a Corsa D. Both seem to forever have problems with: wishbone bushes, CV joints, drop links, shock absorbers, anti-roll bushes/links, suspension arms, etc… Are MPVs and SUVs likely to better in this respect? And if so, which of the two would be the best and not need frequent repairs?

Regarding SUVs, am open to suggestions but would be leaning towards a Dacia Duster…

Any thoughts or comments much appreciated.

Many thanks

I'd go for the slightly jacked-up estate, e.g. Subaru Outback (2005-2010), XC70, A6 Allroad.

They have a great ride quality, proper estate quietness and comfort, but without being big uncomfortable SUVs.

e.g. The Mrs had this generation of the 2.5 and it managed 38mpg quite happily: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202404238...

Volvo with 2.0 T5: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202403047...

Bit out of budget but this Allroad is rather nice in facelift form: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202404078...

From your description my immediate thought was Duster, so you seem to be on target already. I can't think of a single person who's bought one and regretted it. Good reliably scores as well.

£12k should get a newish, low-mile 4wd example; anything else with similar capabilities will either be more money or leggier. None seem to get sold with anything but 60+ profile tires, so good for poor roads. Shouldn't be much less economical than a hatchback.

The only reason I might err towards an MPV is if I regularly needed to use the back for >3 people or needed to pull the seats to have an ersatz van. Otherwise the regular ground clearance and lack of 4wd options would put me (or, me if I was you) off.

It would be interesting to know why you've been eating suspension components; old/high mile cars? Magooing potholes? Live down an unmetalled road?

One of the smaller KIA or Hyundai SUVs maybe, like Hyundai Tucson. But I think you've probably cracked it already with the Duster.

Or maybe Dacia Sandero Stepway.

RAV4 or Honda CRV maybe? Bit big, perhaps.

I would also agree with the Duster. It's simple and basic which makes it light and reliable (or cheap to repair and maintain).

There is less wear and tear damage with a lighter vehicle on those kind of roads.

Didn't Skoda do a sort of "Allroad" version of the Octavia?

Skoda Yeti is excellent, you can get them with 2.0 petrol so better for your short journeys (I'd be wary of diesel with your use case due to DPF issues)

Main thing is going to be sensible wheel/tyre combo, with decent tyre walls.

As others have said, tyres with a tall side wall are probably the single most useful feature.

We're rural and surrounded by a lot of lanes that are "going green" in the sense that they're permanently flooded and losing most of their tarmac. Also steep and never ploughed or salted in the winter.

Our cars: Leaf for local journeys in good conditions. It has elastic band tyres and we've had two flats in three years as a result. One from a pothole, the other from the tyre getting pinched as it rode up the side of a brick-sized stone on the driveway. Peugeot 508 RXH (roughly equivalent to an Audi Allroad, so it's got sort of 4wd courtesy of electric motor, increased ground clearance and tallish tyres) used for long distance driving and can cope with local conditions 99.9% of the time. Until recently we had a Toyota Hilux Surf on A/Ts as our "go anywhere, no bother" vehicle ... low ratio box, masses of ground clearance, hugely strong mechanicals ... loved it, but it was ancient and body panels were rusting through having been parked outside for 30 years. "Replaced" the Surf with a little Daihatsu Terios. It doesn't have a low-ratio box like Surf, nor anything like the grunt of the 3L turbo diesel, but I've already used it to fish a 2wd Duster out of a wet field which is our standard "has anyone got a 4x4?" problem. It shows every sign of being a useful little mudplugger for local journeys in the cack and driving up the field when there's a tree across the driveway. Needs some more aggressive tyres. It's properly under-geared for cruising at 60 or higher anyway, so having less of a road tyre is going to make sod all difference. Lack of low ratio box and driver talent leads me to think the clutch may become a consumable, but the thing cost £1500 ...

Thank you so much for the many and very helpful replies Great stuff.

Just a quick thought... When I said MPV I was particularly referring to the van based ones like the Berlingo, Combo Life, etc. Would that change anything or does all of the above regarding MPVs still apply?

Thanks again

The Berlingo was what came to mind initially; the previous generation cars seemed like tough, utilitarian things and it was rare to see one without mega-miles on it.

The problem arises from them (almost) all being diesel, and it seems the relatively popularity of the two previous generations hasn't carried forward to today - I can't think of the last time I saw one! Hence a petrol engine that isn't very old and leggy is a grade-A unicorn.

Subaru Outback or Forester

With the miles you do MPG shouldnt be a big factor.