New car advice - Exec saloon £18-20k range

[Altissimus]

Hey all,

So my Audi A6 went under a lorry a fortnight ago, and I've got just under £20k worth of insurance payout to find a replacement.

While that's a nice position go be in (or at least a better position to be in then I was two weeks ago), I'm scratching my head as to all the options available now.

Apologies, I like numbered lists.

Basically, what I'm after is:

• A decent saloon car
• Is automatic
• Does 0-60 in <9 secs
• Is affordable for <£20k
• Isn't more than 3 years old, and ideally 2
• Has under 30k miles on the clock, and ideally under 20k, and finally
• Has a decent sat-nav system on it (this is pretty important).

So I've looked at:

1. Audi A4 '08 / Audi A6 pre-2012 - I love Audis, but the satnav lets them down. Is there any way of getting them to take a 7 digit postcode? Not that I know of!
2. Volvo S60 2010+ - great toys, fast, not sure about the Sat Nav, reviews of automatic gearbox make it seem quite dodgy, and the satnav on Volvos historically has been absolutely dire
3. Merc E-class '09 - possibly a nice car, but I think the styling is kinda drab. Know nothing about the sat nav in mercs.
4. BMW 3 series E90 (2005+) - used to have one of these, but it was years ago (pre-2005) and it was too small. Is the cockpit bigger on the newer versions? What's BMW sat-nav like in the not-quite-latest iterations?
5. BMW 5 series - looks like a great car all round, but the F10 (2011) is *just* out of my price range, and the E60 (2003+) seems not-quite-as-good. Same question about the BMW sat-nav - any good? Also, read a comment that the wing-mirrors whistle and the windscreen wipers smear on the driver's side...any truth?
6. Jag XF '08 - Looks great all-round, really good sat-nav. Running costs seem highest on this list. Insurance group highest on this list. Some user reviews say it breaks when it's looked at.
7. Lexus IS 250 - reviews seem to say really good things then give really low scores. Don't get it? Anyone got one of these? Is the 250 C viable?

There's too many options!!

Can anyone help push me towards/away from any of the above? Please don't all push me away from all of them?

Is there anything else I should have on my list?

Really appreciate any and all help!!

Many thanks,
A.

[HeatonNorris]

A £100 TomTom is an infinitely better SatNav than anything the manufacturers stick in their cars, so why is it so important to have an integrated system?

Another to add to your list:

Passat CC TDI-170 GT DSG.

[CraigyMc]

HeatonNorris said:

A £100 TomTom is an infinitely better SatNav than anything the manufacturers stick in their cars, so why is it so important to have an integrated system?

If OP does anything like me his job involves driving to new places a lot (incidentally, I'm not a rep).

Setting tomtom up and taking it down is a chore if you have to do it multiple times a day every day.

A good in-car nav is often better than a separate tomtom (I have both).
The in-car nav knows when you've stopped in a tunnel, because it's got access to the cars' wheel speed sensor.
It can have a compass too (Tomtom has to guess which way it's facing).

The first reason I gave is why I don't use my tomtom (or indeed google nav on my smartphone) unless in someone elses' car.

Back to OP: I know it's boring, but my opinion is that an E90 5-series seems the way to go for you. The BMW sat nav is actually two navs: the standard (smallish) one (about 5"), or professional nav, which is about a 8" screen. The eletronics are the same, but the larger nav integrates much more nicely (you can select splitscreen with map/turn directions or not, as you prefer).

Cheers.

C

[Deerfoot]

HeatonNorris said:

Passat CC TDI-170 GT DSG.

+1. A colleague of mine has one. It's a lot better than I expected it to be.

[HeatonNorris]

My last company car had navigation.

It was rubbish - and around 6 years out of date when it went back. Didn't do 7-digit postcodes, either.

I now have a Brodit Proclip for my iPhone, and run Navigon on that - it's cheap, up to date, doesn't take time to 'set up', and does full postcodes.

[Sukh13]

The Jag!

[belleair302]

The Lexus is too small and too underpowered. You want to set up into the GS or LS range. The GS and LS cars are fully loaded, beautiful to own but not the most attractive vehicles to drive if you want thrills.

[mercfunder]

CraigyMc said:

(incidentally, I'm not a rep).


C

Yeah, 'cause that would be terrible wouldn't it.

[LooneyTunes]

CraigyMc said:

Back to OP: I know it's boring, but my opinion is that an E90 5-series seems the way to go for you.

...but there is that worrying thread in the BMW section about later models (around the age the OP is looking at) with people reporting that their cars have gone walkies without the keys being taken.

[b19rak]

As soon as I read your post I thought a Passat CC 170 tdi GT DSG.

Ticks everybox except rear headroom.

[Strawman]

Older than you want, and slightly over budget, but very roomy inside and less than 4000 miles.

http://beta.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/...

Comfortable thing to drive.

[williamp]

I have a 61 Merc whise has the comand system: this does have full postcode search, and a crosshair to manually point to a location anwhere in europe. It does the voice recognition gtoo. Its a far better system then in my wife's 59 plate a6. The merc also comes in colours other then black or silver (!!)

But from that list I would have the XF. Shame it has to be so new. Therre are some very exciting cars around for £20k. Even a Porsche with lots of toys, etc...

[Altissimus]

Thanks all. Amazing responses so quickly. Great forum!

Re: the Passat CC 170 - thanks for the suggestion. Didn't know it existed (only looked at the Passat and that can't hit <9 seconds without a strong tailwind down a steep hill). Another option! Oh no! Looks good though. Read headroom not a priority.

Re: the satnav - in-car sat-nav a must for me, I'm afraid. Too many miles etc. Can't abide tom-toms. Too fiddly, not enough controls, screen too small, gets in the way, gets in the way, gets in the way.

Re: the Lexus - cool, will check out the models suggested. Are Lexus getting a rum deal on reviews, or are they actually rubbish?

Re: the S-class - would be nice, if I had a very large garage to park it in and could afford one a couple years old.

Re: the age - Sure I could get something 5 years old in the Porsche range, but I *need* to know the car is going to be reliable. Hence within warranty is a plus, low-mileage is a must. I can't be wondering if my car will have problems every morning.

Thanks again for all the feedback!

A.

[cslwannabe]

Not the Jag - great when working but in the process of terminating our 3 year lease early owing to almost weekly trips to dealer (ours is a 59 plate). Also very heavy on tyres/ brakes compared to all the other cars we've owned previously (including similarly powered BMWs).

[Schuey M]

Passat r36 and accord type r are both worth considering too.

[craigjm]

The sat nav on the XF is not "really good" it is awful and by far the worst system I have used. My 08 Jag was rubbish and the worst car I have ever owned for reliability, live near a Jag dealer if you want one and I hope you don't find my old one! Out of that list I would go for the IS250 and seek out an SE-L so that you get all of the toys. Not the most lively of performers but this is made up for by quality and the toys.

[Howard-]

HeatonNorris said:

A £100 TomTom is an infinitely better SatNav than anything the manufacturers stick in their cars, so why is it so important to have an integrated system?

Because these days it does so much more than just navigation.

[HeatonNorris]

Howard- said:

HeatonNorris said:

A £100 TomTom is an infinitely better SatNav than anything the manufacturers stick in their cars, so why is it so important to have an integrated system?

Because these days it does so much more than just navigation.

As in what?

I have some fancy Dynaudio thing in my current car, which does iPod / iPhone integration (using dock connector), reverse camera etc., but doesn't have navigation.

The iPhone does 'an awful lot more' than any integrated navigation system, and offers cheap map updates, so I really can't see the advantage of integrated navigation (not at the price charged) - especially as most of us will have a car cradle installed in business cars anyway.

[HeatonNorris]

Schuey M said:

Passat r36 and accord type r are both worth considering too.

Oh look, you've posted inaccurate rubbish again.

He's not doing 'qualifying laps' at the 'ring, you know.

[raptor600]

Schuey M said:

accord type r are both worth considering too.

Surely this is manual only?