Another What Car - Large family long distance cruiser

[flatso]

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.

[Matt UK]

Welome to PH

If you can get past the 'MPV tag', a Ford S Max is a fine car.

Or throw caution to the wind and get the Range Rover.

Leftfield choice - Subaru Forester?

[GreatGranny]

V70 D5 auto with the best spec you can find (R Design/Premium/Premium Lux).

You won't find a better long distance cruiser.

[flatso]

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

[flatso]

V70 is indeed interesting. The older design (until 2008 I believe) is prettier. Anybody have any experience with AWD or XC70 versions? Do the D5 engines and autoboxes stand up well to high mileage?

[s_zigmond]

Insignia tourer 4x4 either in 2.8 elite or 2.0 or save a load of money and get a Vectra estate (massive boot) and both very comfortable for long journeys (i'm talking doing 1000 mile trips with just stops for fuel and the loo) with loads of room.

[CYMR0]

I think the late W211s are okay on reliability.

This might be a little underpowered (but not compared to a C5 - it's all relative): http://www.autoscout24.ch/de/d/mercedes-benz-e-200...

[NiceCupOfTea]

This has got 9-5 Aero Estate written all over it!

[RegMolehusband]

Everybody will have a different POV but two days ago I bought a BMW 330D M Sport estate auto. 57000 miles £12K.

Lovely, absolutely lovely. I couldn't want for more, highly recommended.

[flatso]

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

Edited by flatso on Friday 19th July 07:43

[Bill]

You get the Xdrive 3 series in Switzerland. So, on the basis that a friend pick 3 of us up from Zurich airport with camping and climbing gear in an auto one of those the other day, I'd suggest that. If you think you need something bigger than a car that carried 4 blokes and a st load of camping and climbing gear in (admittedly slightly crowded) comfort then get a 5 series.

[flatso]

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.

[Bonefish Blues]

NiceCupOfTea said:

This has got 9-5 Aero Estate written all over it!

It has, and OP will get the very best for less than the bottom end of his budget.

OP, no issues at all with spares for Saabs - a separate company was set up to maintain OE supply, and as with other vehicles, significant pattern parts also exist.

[anonymous-user]

Audi Allroad should definitely be on the list! It has a much better ride than the standard car

[flatso]

Bonefish Blues...sorry if I sound ignorant, but what does OP stand for? Original Parts?
A6 Allroad...need to look into the ride comfort. Are they softer?

Edited by flatso on Friday 19th July 07:45

[Prawo Jazdy]

Skoda Superb 170 TDI DSG 4x4 (and breathe in).

I keep looking at them and having 'want'. I don't have a family, but I imagine life inside one of these is like a permanent British Airways advert from 10 years ago.

ETA: Sorry, I hadn't seen the VAG part of your list. I'm only going on reviews, as I've never driven one, so don't know whether they're comfortable or not.

Edited by Prawo Jazdy on Friday 19th July 07:45

[Bonefish Blues]

flatso said:

Bonefish Blues...sorry if I sound ignorant, but what does OP stand for? Original Parts?
A6 Allroad...need to look into the ride comfort. Are they softer?

Edited by flatso on Friday 19th July 07:45

You, the Original Poster
Of your list, the Outback's also a great car too, BTW.

Edited by Bonefish Blues on Friday 19th July 07:53

[anonymous-user]

flatso said:

Bonefish Blues...sorry if I sound ignorant, but what does OP stand for? Original Parts?
A6 Allroad...need to look into the ride comfort. Are they softer?

Edited by flatso on Friday 19th July 07:45

they are softer! Much better than on sport and s-line cars

[j44esd]

I'd definitely recommend trying a Skoda Superb, it's nowhere near as jiggly as your average Audi, in fact I'd almost say they're pliant! I have a company hack - 170bhp Elegance Estate, and it's an amazing car! Comfortable, spacious, high specced and subtle.

You'd be churlish not to have a proper look, as whilst I don't Swiss prices, here they represent exceptional value for money!

(For the record, I turned down various other VAG group cars with the same concerns as you, then tried the Superb)

[Bonefish Blues]

MonkeyMatt said:

flatso said:

Bonefish Blues...sorry if I sound ignorant, but what does OP stand for? Original Parts?
A6 Allroad...need to look into the ride comfort. Are they softer?

Edited by flatso on Friday 19th July 07:45

they are softer! Much better than on sport and s-line cars

To be fair, that's not a very high bar to clear