£20k - Which SUV/Big Estate - 60 mile commute

[Tom_Spotley_When]

Afternoon people of PH.

Could do with a bit of advice/sounding board.

I'm currently driving an M135i. It's been a daily driver for the last 3 years but a change in commute (from 0 miles to 60/day) the acquisition of a Golden Retriever who refuses to stop growing and a move to the Countryside means I'm contemplating a new car.

I'm comfortable with what I'm paying at the moment (circa £700/month for car + fuel) and want to stick about the same level. Tried to discount depreciation as much as possible. I'm likely not going to change for the next 4 years, so anything with about 80k miles on it will have lost a lot.

Things I'm after.

1. Comfort (Decent stereo, big comfy seats and a good amount of space, with Bluetooth phone and ideally radio. Leather interior etc)
2. 4 seats (Dog generally goes on the back seat, so need space for him there)
3. All-weather capability (every likelihood it'll be going to France for skiing in March)
4. Automatic. (Can't face being sat in traffic every day with a manual.)
5. Not VAG
6. >4 cylinders (exception being a new XC90)
7. No Brent specials (3 series, C-Class etc)

So-far, I've looked at Range Rovers (4.4 L322) and Discovery 4's (HSE).

I was thinking about a Cayenne or the left-field suggestion of a 6 series Gran Coupe (which has neither all-weather capability but nothing a set of winter tyres couldn't solve)

Anything new and interesting is out of the question - the mileage excess makes it farcical.

Am I missing anything obvious or should I look at older e-class/A6 Avants.

[300bhp/ton]

Does that £700 a month include fuel or not? Wasn't sure on how you had written it.

And I assume that's 60 miles a day total, not each way?

At say 22mpg that'll be around £410/month on fuel alone.

28mpg would bring it down to approx £322/month.

IMO few 4wd capable 4x4's that are Range Rover/Discovery sized are going to struggle to truly average more than 25mpg. I know some of the newest ones claim good mpg. But I don't know if they really attain it. But I have my doubts. If your journey is mostly cruising at steady speed then 30mpg might be possible.

[Tom_Spotley_When]

£700 all in, yes. (Give or take a couple of quid here and there)

30 miles each way. 5 of that is single carriageway road. 15 of that is dual carriage way, 10 is traffic.

I get 31mpg at the moment.

Mathematically, there's no difference in outgoings between a car that costs £20k and does 25 mpg and my current car.

[Ecosseven]

Jeep Grand Cherokee would be my choice based on your criteria.

[Defconluke]

Something out of left field but how about THIS Land Cruiser Amazon.
Not the most modern of vehicles but it gives the impression that it will conquer anything you need it to do.

[ZX10R NIN]

SUV wise the Grand Cherokee are worth a look I think this vintage used the Mercedes ML running gear.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

ML350 Sport

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Estate wise:

CLS350cdi

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

[Register1]

Ecosseven said:

Jeep Grand Cherokee would be my choice based on your criteria.

Good call.
From 2009 onwards, with the updated front, and should be Overland spec.

[Willy Nilly]

Tom_Spotley_When said:

3. All-weather capability (every likelihood it'll be going to France for skiing in March)

You would be almost guaranteed to get to a ski resort in your current car. The last time I went we were collected from the airport in a Merc Sprinter mini bus. I've done about 10,000 miles around Europe on my CBR600 mostly around the alpine regions and have seen very few 4 wheel drive cars even in the ski areas.

[Tom_Spotley_When]

Willy Nilly said:

Tom_Spotley_When said:

3. All-weather capability (every likelihood it'll be going to France for skiing in March)

You would be almost guaranteed to get to a ski resort in your current car. The last time I went we were collected from the airport in a Merc Sprinter mini bus. I've done about 10,000 miles around Europe on my CBR600 mostly around the alpine regions and have seen very few 4 wheel drive cars even in the ski areas.

I have indeed driven to the alps in my current car. It didn't crash and even on normal tyres the world didn't end.

I prefer big 4x4s though.