Big cars for a big city
Discussion
Currently drive a BMW 330d.
Mrs Puff has popped out baby #2.
The BMW is a bit small; it would be good to be able to carry an adult in the rear seat with 2 x baby seats in comfort, plus a bigger boot.
The BMW is about 4.5 metres long.
I'm thinking of getting something really big like a Jaguar XJ or Audi A8 (can't get excited about a BMW 7-series), which are both about 5.1 metres long or 2 feet longer than the 330d. There are also major discounts on them on Broadspeed so they hardly cost any extra than a smaller car (smaller relative to 5.1m long, not actually small) such as 5-series, A6, XF size.
I'm wondering if anyone on here can comment on a car this large A8/Jag XJ size in London.
Parking at home is not a problem, it is really on-street parking in Central London, eyeballing some of the marked parking spaces they look like the same 5.1 metre length as the Jag/Audi.....
Mrs Puff has popped out baby #2.
The BMW is a bit small; it would be good to be able to carry an adult in the rear seat with 2 x baby seats in comfort, plus a bigger boot.
The BMW is about 4.5 metres long.
I'm thinking of getting something really big like a Jaguar XJ or Audi A8 (can't get excited about a BMW 7-series), which are both about 5.1 metres long or 2 feet longer than the 330d. There are also major discounts on them on Broadspeed so they hardly cost any extra than a smaller car (smaller relative to 5.1m long, not actually small) such as 5-series, A6, XF size.
I'm wondering if anyone on here can comment on a car this large A8/Jag XJ size in London.
Parking at home is not a problem, it is really on-street parking in Central London, eyeballing some of the marked parking spaces they look like the same 5.1 metre length as the Jag/Audi.....
I ran a LWB Jaguar XJ for many years in London. Admittedly it was the X308 so a little smaller than the current gen, but not by much.
I never had a problem parking anywhere, including multi-storey car parks and congested areas. I did have to be very aware of the extents of the car, and on occasions I had to skip spaces if they were just too small. But I was always able to park close to my destination.
Cars of this size are often used as chauffeur transport in central London and they manage just fine.
Make sure you have front and rear parking sensors and you will be fine. And the LWB XJ is the best of the bunch
I never had a problem parking anywhere, including multi-storey car parks and congested areas. I did have to be very aware of the extents of the car, and on occasions I had to skip spaces if they were just too small. But I was always able to park close to my destination.
Cars of this size are often used as chauffeur transport in central London and they manage just fine.
Make sure you have front and rear parking sensors and you will be fine. And the LWB XJ is the best of the bunch
I don't find any issues driving a E61 5 series touring round London. It's a little shorter than what you are looking at (4.83m) but it's still pretty long. The biggest problem I can see you having is the length of spaces at the supermarket. The 5 series is pretty much as long as most of them...
creampuff said:
Station wagons make Mrs Puff want to upchuck...
and SUVs make me want to upchuck
I enjoy "making progress" on windy single carriageway roads here and on the continent. SUVs just aren't as much fun for that.
535 GT- Benefits of neither!!and SUVs make me want to upchuck
I enjoy "making progress" on windy single carriageway roads here and on the continent. SUVs just aren't as much fun for that.
But on the other hand- lots of car for money, good MPG and a largish boot.
It depends on where in London. Plenty of people get driven round and drive round central London in LWB S-Classes, Jags, 7 series etc. Its certainly not impossible, but a small car dose make no street parking allot easier. London generally is not a place where moving around is a problem in a big car (Unlike, say Rome or Paris), but parking could be. It all depends on how good you are at parking and how happy you are spending time trying to find a big enough space if you are parking on street in central London allot.
Just make sure you get leather seats. Much easier to clean
Just make sure you get leather seats. Much easier to clean
Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeellll.
Mrs Puff and I seem to both want a luxo-barge now, rather than a mega-hatchback like a BMW 5GT.
Audi A8 has been eliminated, as the boot is tiny. Apparently up until a few years ago, they used to put the electronics behind the back bumper. But they kept getting wet and failing. So they put them in an enclosure behind the back seat now-----> tiny boot. Audi A6 is still possible though, that has a massive boot.
Just test drove a Jaguar XJ LWB. Oooooh, it's nice. I rejected XJs before as I couldn't get along with the gentlemen's club style dashboard, but I saw a black/ivory white colour scheme and it's niiiiiiiiice.
XJs seem to come with a £13,000 discount before you even begin to ask for a bigger discount on new cars.
Or can get a < year old car advertised for £42,000..... any luxo barge experts care to suggest what you would actually pay for a used XJ if it is advertised at £42k?
Mrs Puff and I seem to both want a luxo-barge now, rather than a mega-hatchback like a BMW 5GT.
Audi A8 has been eliminated, as the boot is tiny. Apparently up until a few years ago, they used to put the electronics behind the back bumper. But they kept getting wet and failing. So they put them in an enclosure behind the back seat now-----> tiny boot. Audi A6 is still possible though, that has a massive boot.
Just test drove a Jaguar XJ LWB. Oooooh, it's nice. I rejected XJs before as I couldn't get along with the gentlemen's club style dashboard, but I saw a black/ivory white colour scheme and it's niiiiiiiiice.
XJs seem to come with a £13,000 discount before you even begin to ask for a bigger discount on new cars.
Or can get a < year old car advertised for £42,000..... any luxo barge experts care to suggest what you would actually pay for a used XJ if it is advertised at £42k?
If you're driving in tight places I'd say width is more of a hindrance than length. And good steering lock counts for a lot when parking in restricted places. And parking sensors of course.
A colleague of mine has just bought an XJ and tells me he can't get in through the width restrictors on Marlow bridge. He was fine in his previous wheels, an E Class.
Another mate had a Toureg and had problems with width restrictions and supermarket car parks. The latter switched to an E Class estate and found it much less of a hassle.
FWIW I find my E Class marginally harder to park that my Clio - it's way longer of course but that is offset to a surprising extent by a much tighter turning circle.
Having said all that I have neighbours here in London with all manner of vast machines - Rangies, Q7's etc and they seem to manage.
A colleague of mine has just bought an XJ and tells me he can't get in through the width restrictors on Marlow bridge. He was fine in his previous wheels, an E Class.
Another mate had a Toureg and had problems with width restrictions and supermarket car parks. The latter switched to an E Class estate and found it much less of a hassle.
FWIW I find my E Class marginally harder to park that my Clio - it's way longer of course but that is offset to a surprising extent by a much tighter turning circle.
Having said all that I have neighbours here in London with all manner of vast machines - Rangies, Q7's etc and they seem to manage.
aarondbs said:
Meltham Terrier said:
Possibly
I think definitely.I also heard a rumor that there is a fan of the X6 around these parts... I think it may be mythical however.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff