time to change cars but need some advice please.
Discussion
Hi,
I am ready to upgrade my Car and get another 4x4 for the multipurpose use of family use, towing use and social use. I currently own and run a 2006 jeep Grand Cherokee with the 5.7 hemi, its been fine with towing the heavy stuff but is very thirsty at doing it.
what i am looking for in its replacement is something a bit more comfortable, with better fuel consumption for doing the long trips towing (30mpg). family friendly and isofix points, no older than 5 years, budget is up to £30k but would be hoping to keep it closer to 25k, millage not that big of a deal, not too fussed about what options it has just looking to be practical really. i have been looking at bmw x6's x5's x3's, newer jeep grand cherokee, wv toureg, land rover range rover, merc ml's, audi Q5 & Q7.
i am leaning towards the x5 as there seem to be an abundance of choice near me in north cheam Sutton, but having not owned any of the others apart from the jeep i don't know what to go for to be fair so any advice would be appreciated.
nick
I am ready to upgrade my Car and get another 4x4 for the multipurpose use of family use, towing use and social use. I currently own and run a 2006 jeep Grand Cherokee with the 5.7 hemi, its been fine with towing the heavy stuff but is very thirsty at doing it.
what i am looking for in its replacement is something a bit more comfortable, with better fuel consumption for doing the long trips towing (30mpg). family friendly and isofix points, no older than 5 years, budget is up to £30k but would be hoping to keep it closer to 25k, millage not that big of a deal, not too fussed about what options it has just looking to be practical really. i have been looking at bmw x6's x5's x3's, newer jeep grand cherokee, wv toureg, land rover range rover, merc ml's, audi Q5 & Q7.
i am leaning towards the x5 as there seem to be an abundance of choice near me in north cheam Sutton, but having not owned any of the others apart from the jeep i don't know what to go for to be fair so any advice would be appreciated.
nick
Hi Nick
Apologies, I am afraid I can't add anything useful in terms of advice on your search beyond understanding your dilemma but I was rather hoping you might share your ownership experiences of the 5.7 with me.
I am a long time American car fan and have owned a number of Camaros and Mustangs over the years. Until now I have been lucky enough to run an additional family car alongside the yank but this is no longer the case and I am looking to combine my need for a V8 with the need for a capable family car able to do occasional towing. The 5.7 Grand Cherokee seems on paper to be the closest to ticking all the boxes but information on them seems limited (having had a number of BMW's I have also contemplated one of the X5's but to be honest they don't really do much for me.)
Any feedback, good or bad would be gratefully received.
Many thanks
Mark
Apologies, I am afraid I can't add anything useful in terms of advice on your search beyond understanding your dilemma but I was rather hoping you might share your ownership experiences of the 5.7 with me.
I am a long time American car fan and have owned a number of Camaros and Mustangs over the years. Until now I have been lucky enough to run an additional family car alongside the yank but this is no longer the case and I am looking to combine my need for a V8 with the need for a capable family car able to do occasional towing. The 5.7 Grand Cherokee seems on paper to be the closest to ticking all the boxes but information on them seems limited (having had a number of BMW's I have also contemplated one of the X5's but to be honest they don't really do much for me.)
Any feedback, good or bad would be gratefully received.
Many thanks
Mark
Hi Mark
I was rather hoping i would get some input from ph as its usually a fountain of knoweldge on everything car related but on this occasion nobody seemed to offer up any advice, possibly due to not enough people seeing the thread or not of any interest to most.
I went ahead and replaced the jeep with a 09 plate b,w x5 30d M, my first impression of the car is that it ticks every box i wanted. I will get back to that in a moment, but firstly i will elaborate on my ownership of the jeep. my jeep was a 5.7 hemi 06 plate, picked up on october 2013 for £8500 with 45k miles on the clock and a good service history and general good condition in and out. i owned it for a little over 15 months and put 20k miles on it, had a interval service done in feb 2014 as i had done about 8k miles in a short space of time and noticed a few areas that needed looking at. serviced again in late 2014 for a full service which took on a new set of rear tyres and all spark plugs changing, costing close to £600. the things that went wrong during my time with the jeep:
- rear lights, brake ligt failed on one side 50k miles
- egr valve at 60k miles
- motor in drivers side wing mirror died at 60k miles
- door locking mechanics died and alarm system kept going off every time you tried to lock with the button 60k miles
- suspension felt rough and bouncy which led to me replacing the front bushes, this got rid of the crunch noise on the down phase of a road hump 60k miles.
- suspension still rough and bouncy possibly needed new springs and shock absorbers (i saw the cost of this and decided not to do it and just put the car in trade as part ex).
these could all be regular problems with the jeep or just mine, reading the forums on jeep sites and the locking, egr and suspension problem seem to be something that have happened to many others. the car is expensive to tax at £500, it guzzles fuel at an average of roughly 13 mpg town driving stop start all the while. the tank is not particularly big either so expect to fill up regularly. the interior is not too bad i liked the leather seats and found them comfy and supportive. the sat nav was ok and the cd/radio was good also. heating and air con all worked flawlessly, as did the electric seats however the memory settings did fail but this is likely a fuse needing changing nothing else. the towing worked well but was not a factory fit bar it was an aftermarket kit previous owner had installed. however when towing the fuel consumption was even worse as expected, but quite laughable at around 10-12 mpg doing 55-60mph on the motorway. the power was very good for towing mind and it never failed on hill climbs with a load on the back.
all in all it was not the best experience i have had of owning a car but it was good enough to do the job, my reasons for changing where to move into a more comfortable and better car for long trips.
the BMW X5 is miles better in many ways, the fuel economy is far better and the tank is larger meaning less trips to the pumps. the interior is much nicer as you would expect, with the seats and car being fitted with nicer leather and more adjustment settings to the seats position. the i drive on these cars is brilliant and everything is accessible even letting you know when next service is due on brakes, fluids, engine, ect. I have only had the car a few days but find the drive on the road much better and the power delivery is good too, even if it is a diesel turbo engine. this car had the bmw tow pack added on at time of order so the rig has a detachable tow set up with all the recommended upgrades to the alternator, suspension, cooling ect which i will need when it comes to driving my trailer around loaded with precious cargo. road tax is half what the jeeps was, service is recommended every 2 years not every year, the look of the car is much nicer for my opinion and the lights are far better. the jeeps head lights were quite dim and unless you drive with high beams on seem a little lacking in power.
time will tell if the x5 is cheaper to run than the jeep was, my advice would be to avoid the hemi as it is not the best option and will put a hole in your pocket. if you are looking to combine the two cars into one then maybe better off looking for something more like the audi rs4 avant. getting the v8 with the extra space but compromising on not going for the suv. i hope some of this helped you.
nick
I was rather hoping i would get some input from ph as its usually a fountain of knoweldge on everything car related but on this occasion nobody seemed to offer up any advice, possibly due to not enough people seeing the thread or not of any interest to most.
I went ahead and replaced the jeep with a 09 plate b,w x5 30d M, my first impression of the car is that it ticks every box i wanted. I will get back to that in a moment, but firstly i will elaborate on my ownership of the jeep. my jeep was a 5.7 hemi 06 plate, picked up on october 2013 for £8500 with 45k miles on the clock and a good service history and general good condition in and out. i owned it for a little over 15 months and put 20k miles on it, had a interval service done in feb 2014 as i had done about 8k miles in a short space of time and noticed a few areas that needed looking at. serviced again in late 2014 for a full service which took on a new set of rear tyres and all spark plugs changing, costing close to £600. the things that went wrong during my time with the jeep:
- rear lights, brake ligt failed on one side 50k miles
- egr valve at 60k miles
- motor in drivers side wing mirror died at 60k miles
- door locking mechanics died and alarm system kept going off every time you tried to lock with the button 60k miles
- suspension felt rough and bouncy which led to me replacing the front bushes, this got rid of the crunch noise on the down phase of a road hump 60k miles.
- suspension still rough and bouncy possibly needed new springs and shock absorbers (i saw the cost of this and decided not to do it and just put the car in trade as part ex).
these could all be regular problems with the jeep or just mine, reading the forums on jeep sites and the locking, egr and suspension problem seem to be something that have happened to many others. the car is expensive to tax at £500, it guzzles fuel at an average of roughly 13 mpg town driving stop start all the while. the tank is not particularly big either so expect to fill up regularly. the interior is not too bad i liked the leather seats and found them comfy and supportive. the sat nav was ok and the cd/radio was good also. heating and air con all worked flawlessly, as did the electric seats however the memory settings did fail but this is likely a fuse needing changing nothing else. the towing worked well but was not a factory fit bar it was an aftermarket kit previous owner had installed. however when towing the fuel consumption was even worse as expected, but quite laughable at around 10-12 mpg doing 55-60mph on the motorway. the power was very good for towing mind and it never failed on hill climbs with a load on the back.
all in all it was not the best experience i have had of owning a car but it was good enough to do the job, my reasons for changing where to move into a more comfortable and better car for long trips.
the BMW X5 is miles better in many ways, the fuel economy is far better and the tank is larger meaning less trips to the pumps. the interior is much nicer as you would expect, with the seats and car being fitted with nicer leather and more adjustment settings to the seats position. the i drive on these cars is brilliant and everything is accessible even letting you know when next service is due on brakes, fluids, engine, ect. I have only had the car a few days but find the drive on the road much better and the power delivery is good too, even if it is a diesel turbo engine. this car had the bmw tow pack added on at time of order so the rig has a detachable tow set up with all the recommended upgrades to the alternator, suspension, cooling ect which i will need when it comes to driving my trailer around loaded with precious cargo. road tax is half what the jeeps was, service is recommended every 2 years not every year, the look of the car is much nicer for my opinion and the lights are far better. the jeeps head lights were quite dim and unless you drive with high beams on seem a little lacking in power.
time will tell if the x5 is cheaper to run than the jeep was, my advice would be to avoid the hemi as it is not the best option and will put a hole in your pocket. if you are looking to combine the two cars into one then maybe better off looking for something more like the audi rs4 avant. getting the v8 with the extra space but compromising on not going for the suv. i hope some of this helped you.
nick
Hi Nick
Thank you for the detailed and honest response.......Given your comments and location I think I have just seen yours pop back onto the market and it is probably what rekindled my interest to be fair as I have toyed with the idea of one off and on for a while.....but they aren't the most common of vehicles!
It always a difficult dilemma when you are try to get one thing that covers all bases and meets both mine and my wifes requirements
- much as you suggest I have looked at the Audi's and for that matter the 300c's and AMG mercs.......a common theme seems to be that the "interesting" models with the V8's aren't type approved for tow bar fitting e.g. Audi RS & S, SRT's on the Chrysler front and AMG's for Merc.......and as we both know, each have their weak points! I shall continue my deliberations!
As far as BMW's go, I am sure you will be very happy with yours - they are good vehicles.....we have had 3 now - a 3 series estate 2001, and X3 2005 and an 08 520d.......they have all been good to drive but it would be fair to say none have been without the odd problem. I have taken to getting the power steering fluid changed on occasion as it isn't part of the service and I suffered pump failure on the 3 series and the 520 has shown up a couple of electrical gremlins - in the main rear lights and battery related but they are a nice place to be and I would certainly take one over the equivalent Merc for the driving experience.
Thanks again for you input.
Mark
Thank you for the detailed and honest response.......Given your comments and location I think I have just seen yours pop back onto the market and it is probably what rekindled my interest to be fair as I have toyed with the idea of one off and on for a while.....but they aren't the most common of vehicles!
It always a difficult dilemma when you are try to get one thing that covers all bases and meets both mine and my wifes requirements
- much as you suggest I have looked at the Audi's and for that matter the 300c's and AMG mercs.......a common theme seems to be that the "interesting" models with the V8's aren't type approved for tow bar fitting e.g. Audi RS & S, SRT's on the Chrysler front and AMG's for Merc.......and as we both know, each have their weak points! I shall continue my deliberations!As far as BMW's go, I am sure you will be very happy with yours - they are good vehicles.....we have had 3 now - a 3 series estate 2001, and X3 2005 and an 08 520d.......they have all been good to drive but it would be fair to say none have been without the odd problem. I have taken to getting the power steering fluid changed on occasion as it isn't part of the service and I suffered pump failure on the 3 series and the 520 has shown up a couple of electrical gremlins - in the main rear lights and battery related but they are a nice place to be and I would certainly take one over the equivalent Merc for the driving experience.
Thanks again for you input.
Mark
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