Another What Car - Large family long distance cruiser
Discussion
Our baby is now 15 months old and we can start doing some longer journeys in and around Switzerland. The grandma will be accompanying us some of the time, so the big requirements are:
- Space
- Long distance cruising comfort (suspension, seats, noise level). We used to have a Citroen with HP suspension which spoiled us.
- Nice midrange power delivery and torque (auto box is a must)
- Decent mpg, more for the range rather than just the cost.
- 4WD would be nice for the winter
Budgetwise I am looking somwhere up to about 10k-15k, but obviously the cheaper the better. Am open to all suggestions (petrol, diesel, SUV/MPV, sedan/wagon). Some cars that I have looked into:
- Saab 9-5 Estate: can be picked up cheaply, drove one a couple of years ago and both myself and my wife were pleasantly surprised with the seats, smooth engine and drivetrain. Don#T know about reliability and availability of parts now that Saab is under water.
- Volvo V70: drove my sisters S80 for a long time, so I would fancy something else.
- Subaru Outback: especially as 3.0R is an impressive product, the last generation were in my eyes also pretty looking cars (rather exeptional for Subarus).
- Merc E-Klass estates: in this price range the W211 as an earlier model, heard about tons of reliability issues with these.
- E39 Estate: used to run a 528 and a 540, lovely cars but a bit on the small side.
-E60 Estate: suspension is to hard
- VAG estates (A6, Passat/ Skoda Superb): again, I find the suspension setup too hard
- Range Rover: awesome, don't know if I should go fullsize yet. Also am not sure about how it drives. Discovery has also come onto the radar screen.
- Merc R-Klasse: was a passanger in a long wheelbase model, absolutely brilliant ride comfort. These vehicles are seriously underrated in my opinion (yeah, I know...I am one of the few that actually likes the look of these).
- Ford S-Max: a good product, but maybe not ready for the MPV thing yet.
Secretly I admit that a Citoren C5 estate (the older model, as the new one is too small inside) fits the bill, but the thing is horrible to look at.
Thanks everyone in advance.
Regards from Switzerland
P.S. Don#t want to overdue it on my first day here, but a second "What second "daddys fun" 2+2 car" is in the pipeline.
- Space
- Long distance cruising comfort (suspension, seats, noise level). We used to have a Citroen with HP suspension which spoiled us.
- Nice midrange power delivery and torque (auto box is a must)
- Decent mpg, more for the range rather than just the cost.
- 4WD would be nice for the winter
Budgetwise I am looking somwhere up to about 10k-15k, but obviously the cheaper the better. Am open to all suggestions (petrol, diesel, SUV/MPV, sedan/wagon). Some cars that I have looked into:
- Saab 9-5 Estate: can be picked up cheaply, drove one a couple of years ago and both myself and my wife were pleasantly surprised with the seats, smooth engine and drivetrain. Don#T know about reliability and availability of parts now that Saab is under water.
- Volvo V70: drove my sisters S80 for a long time, so I would fancy something else.
- Subaru Outback: especially as 3.0R is an impressive product, the last generation were in my eyes also pretty looking cars (rather exeptional for Subarus).
- Merc E-Klass estates: in this price range the W211 as an earlier model, heard about tons of reliability issues with these.
- E39 Estate: used to run a 528 and a 540, lovely cars but a bit on the small side.
-E60 Estate: suspension is to hard
- VAG estates (A6, Passat/ Skoda Superb): again, I find the suspension setup too hard
- Range Rover: awesome, don't know if I should go fullsize yet. Also am not sure about how it drives. Discovery has also come onto the radar screen.
- Merc R-Klasse: was a passanger in a long wheelbase model, absolutely brilliant ride comfort. These vehicles are seriously underrated in my opinion (yeah, I know...I am one of the few that actually likes the look of these).
- Ford S-Max: a good product, but maybe not ready for the MPV thing yet.
Secretly I admit that a Citoren C5 estate (the older model, as the new one is too small inside) fits the bill, but the thing is horrible to look at.
Thanks everyone in advance.
Regards from Switzerland
P.S. Don#t want to overdue it on my first day here, but a second "What second "daddys fun" 2+2 car" is in the pipeline.
Matt...thank you for the welcome greeting and the fast reply.
The Forester also has a wooden suspension. The Range Rover is very tempting in deed, but the mpg and reliabilty questions (had a friend who owned one and he was consntantly being towed from the side of the road). Don#T the diesel versions have a BMW straight 6 diesel in them?
Cheers
The Forester also has a wooden suspension. The Range Rover is very tempting in deed, but the mpg and reliabilty questions (had a friend who owned one and he was consntantly being towed from the side of the road). Don#T the diesel versions have a BMW straight 6 diesel in them?
Cheers
Good morning and thanks to everyone for the suggestions.
The Insignias boot is a joke...it is always a mytery to me how so many modern estates can be so large on the outside and the space just seems to disappear on the inside (the newer body C5 Tourer also suffers from this Insignia syndrome). Would the new C5 have more boot space it would have been allreadyin the garage. Old Vectras are nice (there is an honest look about them) but for good speced facelift models the prices are not that attractive around here.
V70 vs. 9-5
The Insignias boot is a joke...it is always a mytery to me how so many modern estates can be so large on the outside and the space just seems to disappear on the inside (the newer body C5 Tourer also suffers from this Insignia syndrome). Would the new C5 have more boot space it would have been allreadyin the garage. Old Vectras are nice (there is an honest look about them) but for good speced facelift models the prices are not that attractive around here.
V70 vs. 9-5
Edited by flatso on Friday 19th July 07:43
The 3-series is really too small. The problem is the baby pram that eats up a lot of space. This here looks interesting:
http://www.autoscout24.ch/de/d/saab-9-5-kombi-2003...
The price is attractive in deed.
http://www.autoscout24.ch/de/d/saab-9-5-kombi-2003...
The price is attractive in deed.
The S-Line and Sportline packs on Audi cars have probably one of the worst suspension setups for a streetgoing car. How in the world these totally unrefined and ridiculously hard setups ever made it into production is beyond me. This guy can probably do a MUCH better job than the engineers responsible for those suspensions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkU6rv9fl74
The Superb is certainly worth a look. I heard that Skoda management actually had to take some heat from their VAG superiors in Wolfsburg about building such a good car and therefore threatening their Passat sales. They were asked to never repeat this! I can actually get a great deal on a new one, as I am befriended with a Skoda Importer in eastern Europe.
I actually had a Citroen and it was a very reliable car, exept consumables the thing just kept going. The C6 is in my eyes one of the most beautiful cars built in Europe in the past 15 years. The trunk space is small, but other than that it is destined to be a future classic.
This has to be one of the best automotive boards around. Thanks to everyone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkU6rv9fl74
The Superb is certainly worth a look. I heard that Skoda management actually had to take some heat from their VAG superiors in Wolfsburg about building such a good car and therefore threatening their Passat sales. They were asked to never repeat this! I can actually get a great deal on a new one, as I am befriended with a Skoda Importer in eastern Europe.
I actually had a Citroen and it was a very reliable car, exept consumables the thing just kept going. The C6 is in my eyes one of the most beautiful cars built in Europe in the past 15 years. The trunk space is small, but other than that it is destined to be a future classic.
This has to be one of the best automotive boards around. Thanks to everyone.
Bonefish Blues....thanks for the heads'up on that Saab!
Landcruiser...legendary but perhaps a bit rustical on the highway? A Range Rover or Discovery is a bit more appealing in this category.
Subarus are highly respected and hugely popular around these parts. Some Police cares are Outback H6 cars.
Superb...will take a closer look at these. They look good and roomy.
Saw an R-Class this morning in AMG Trim. Its a big hunk of metal, but the pre-facelift model seems to hide its proportions fairly well (from back and front view). Its based on an M-klass chasis.
Landcruiser...legendary but perhaps a bit rustical on the highway? A Range Rover or Discovery is a bit more appealing in this category.
Subarus are highly respected and hugely popular around these parts. Some Police cares are Outback H6 cars.
Superb...will take a closer look at these. They look good and roomy.
Saw an R-Class this morning in AMG Trim. Its a big hunk of metal, but the pre-facelift model seems to hide its proportions fairly well (from back and front view). Its based on an M-klass chasis.
Looking into this one:
http://www.autoscout24.ch/de/d/subaru-outback-komb...
One owner, supposedly fully serviced at Subaru. Facelift model with paddle shift. Are these high mileage machines, or better to stay away from them?
Regards
http://www.autoscout24.ch/de/d/subaru-outback-komb...
One owner, supposedly fully serviced at Subaru. Facelift model with paddle shift. Are these high mileage machines, or better to stay away from them?
Regards
Test drove a V70 (2005) D5 yesterday and honestly I was not that impressed. The suspension was a lot harsher than I expected...the seller mentioned that its set up for heavier loads and therefore when the car is empty it tends to be a bit stiffer. The Outback that I tested 10 days ago was a bit more refined. Maybe my Citroen spoiled rear end is too pretentious.
The search goes on.
The search goes on.
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