help choosing a car!

[AlbisMama]

Hi,
I'm new to pistonheads and would be hugely grateful for some advice.

I am a single mum to three kids and two dogs (busy times!) and I have the choice between a 2007 Nissan Xtrail Aventura with 40000 miles or a 2011 Chevrolet Captiva with 19000 miles. They are roughly the same price and I have no idea which one to get.

I know Nissan are considered more reliable but it is obviously the older car with more miles. I have no ideas about cars and need to buy the car tomorrow as my kids are stuck home without transportation at the moment.

Any suggestions?

Many thanks!

[aspirated]

Budget? Miles/year? Regular journey type?

Our neighbour has had two Captivas from new and they're pretty decent cars, so I'd vouch for it

[AlbisMama]

Thanks for your reply. Great to know that about your neighbour.

Budget is £8500 which they both scrape in under (Nissan by a few hundred). I do a lot of day-to-day short distances ie for school run but visit family in the midlands regularly so quite a few motorway runs. Usually about 5k miles per year. The dogs are big so need a large crate which only fits in the Xtrail and Captiva alongside the pram etc. I don't have a great deal of spare cash so don't want high MOT costs etc if possible.

I've bought smaller Nissans from new and found them very reliable but obviously as 07 reg it will be getting on a bit! Never known anyone with a Captiva so feels like a big jump but the 2011 reg makes it very tempting as much newer and lower mileage.

[poing]

If it's the Nissan diesel I think they dislike short journeys, all diesels do but the Nissan more than some. Not sure about the other one though.

[ajb85]

The Chevy is based on the Vauxhall Antara, which was a fairly decent car when launched, with the Captiva coming in that little bit cheaper representing value for money. Neither cars have the last word of in driver involvement it has to be said, but I've always found the X-Trails a pretty positive drive.

If budget is a concern now then no doubt it will be when the times comes to change. In which case the Nissan will hold its money far better than the Captiva. On a reliability front; I don't know which dci engine Nissan were using back in 2007 and how good they are, but I do not that the Chevy GM units of this era suffered terribly with blocked DPF issues if you weren't using the car as intended (longer motorway runs). I'd box clever if I were you, swerve round the fear of the unknown and take a punt on the X-Trail, a safer bet.

[veevee]

Why do you need a diesel soft-roader to do 5k a year? £8500 gets you a lot of petrol estate car.

[AlbisMama]

Thanks for all the help. I was avoiding estate cars as on the motorway I prefer a higher seating position as I'm not the most confident driver. I think I'm going to go for the X-Trail and just keep everything crossed it lasts another seven years

[strath44]

the Nissan would be my choice but I think the probability of hitting some expensive repairs is very likely. I would say based on your circumstances that the Captiva is a better bet.

Play a hard game look to get some money off and anything such as a free service plan etc chucked into the deal.

Good luck

[okie592]

Quashi surely? P

[thatdude]

For diesel vehicles, consider the problems that can arise with particulate filters - if you are doing a lot of stop/start driving (i.e. town stuff) and not really a great deal of motorway use, you are probably better off with petrol. The reported fuel economy benefits are offset by the increased price of the fuel itself unless you are doing lots and lots and lots of miles.

Also consider things like service history; a 40,000 mile vehicle with a service every 10,000 miles is a potentially better prospect than a 20,000 mile vehicle with one service in it's whole life time (look up service intervals for the cars you are interested in - oil changes are important for ANY engine)

[AlbisMama]

You guys are great! Thank you! Went to see the X-Trail and decided against it, saw that the 2.2 Dci from that period had quite a few problems and an expensive repair bill is the last thing I need. On my way to test drive the Chev one last time and probably going for that.

Appreciate all the advice re. petrol. I'd be happy to have a petrol engine but none available nearby right now and I really need the car by the end of the week. The kids and I are getting a little cooped up as I sold our car last week...and the dogs are missing the local country park!

[wemorgan]

negotiate 6 months warranty as part of the deal then you can relax for a while