A Family wagon for £20-25k

[Lucas_Wxm]

So I’m due to come into a bit of inheritance, as a result of that, I want to use a small part of it to treat myself to a new (used) car.

I will be getting rid of my E91 335i (privately, as I imagine a dealer will give me like 2k for it ). I still want that estate goodness to haul the family around. The family consists of 2 adults and then 3 (5,7 and a big 12 year old). My work commute is about a 5 minute drive from where I’m moving to soon, so a diesel doesn’t seem the best option. Although I would be doing at least one hour long drive on motorway each week to give a diesel a run, but rather a petrol (even though options/availability of petrols in models I’ve looked at are scarce).

A lot of car reviews say the back seats are okay for carrying 3. Don’t really want to go up and have a SUV/MPV.

Cars I’ve looked at on AT are
Volvo V90 - like the look of them, not overly common.
Merc E Class Estate (S213) - massive boot, lovely interior. But now are they 3 in the back?
BMW 5 Series (G31) - rear wheel drive. Lots of physicality buttons. Meant to be bigger in back seats than the Merc?

Any other cars I should consider? The A6 Avant doesn’t really float my boat.

Any owners of the above cars shed some real world views on them, not those of the motor journalists.

[dunc69]

Skoda Superb 272 / 280 AWD estate.

Huge inside. Fast enough. Very well specced, especially in L&K trim. The SportLine models do look a little cooler.

Very popular and tricky to find one, but worth persevering.

The hatch has the same boot floor area, but slightly less space higher up, so 625L vs 660L in the estate.

[url]

|https://thumbsnap.com/Wg3AiPz8[/url]

This is mine.

[Gunk]

The Skoda always seems very long and narrow

[ZX10R NIN]

Petrol options will limit your options but you will get some very PH metal.

E200 AMG Line: This & the 5 series are the most spacious in the rear

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202208048...

CLS 63:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202205236...

Audi S6:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202207017...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202208259...

540i:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202208239...

530i

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202206287...

[Gunk]

imo for that budget a 530d xdrive would be the best option, super comfortable, probably the best Diesel engine ever made and if you get one with an extended BMW warranty miles of stress free motoring

[Lucas_Wxm]

dunc69 said:

Skoda Superb 272 / 280 AWD estate.

Huge inside. Fast enough. Very well specced, especially in L&K trim. The SportLine models do look a little cooler.

Very popular and tricky to find one, but worth persevering.

The hatch has the same boot floor area, but slightly less space higher up, so 625L vs 660L in the estate.

[url]

|https://thumbsnap.com/Wg3AiPz8[/url]

This is mine.

They do look good, my FIL had a 66 plate hatch superb a few years back. Was a nice interior. But when I had been looking, as you mentioned sportline was rare to see, compared to the Volvo in r design and the bmw in m sport.

[pti]

Lucas_Wxm said:

dunc69 said:

Skoda Superb 272 / 280 AWD estate.

Huge inside. Fast enough. Very well specced, especially in L&K trim. The SportLine models do look a little cooler.

Very popular and tricky to find one, but worth persevering.

The hatch has the same boot floor area, but slightly less space higher up, so 625L vs 660L in the estate.

[url]

|https://thumbsnap.com/Wg3AiPz8[/url]

This is mine.

They do look good, my FIL had a 66 plate hatch superb a few years back. Was a nice interior. But when I had been looking, as you mentioned sportline was rare to see, compared to the Volvo in r design and the bmw in m sport.

Came here to suggest the Superb 280. I'll be replacing my V70 with one next year.

[Lucas_Wxm]

ZX10R NIN said:

Petrol options will limit your options but you will get some very PH metal.

E200 AMG Line: This & the 5 series are the most spacious in the rear

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202208048...

CLS 63:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202205236...

Audi S6:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202207017...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202208259...

540i:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202208239...

530i

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202206287...

Cheers for these. Forget about the CLS feel they’re a good looking motor.
Totally get that going petrol limits options, but maybe a 6 cylinder diesel bmw will sway me.

Funnily enough I’ve been watching that 530i. Just a shame it’s a 4 cylinder engine now. Not sure the light interior would be good with kids?

Gunk said:

imo for that budget a 530d xdrive would be the best option, super comfortable, probably the best Diesel engine ever made and if you get one with an extended BMW warranty miles of stress free motoring

Yeah I feel a 530d would be the better option over a 520d. Not fussed on xdrive, if I wasn’t moving from north wales, I’d definitely be looking at the x drive.

One thing I really do like with the BMWs is the split tailgate. Think I’d really miss that option if I went for another marque.

[nobrakes]

That 540i xdrive looks the business.

[ZX10R NIN]

If it comes down to the 3.0d's then for me it the Mercedes offerings first.

CLS 350cdi Premium, they're hard to find though:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209169...

But if you go for the E Class you'll get the 9 speed box:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202206166...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209089...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209019...

530d SE:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202206166...

Sport:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202208208...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202206146...

Finally the BiTDI A6 is a peach but the other two get the nod for me:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202207027...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202207207...

[_Rob]

We had a Superb Sportline and a 540i at the same time, and the Superb is noticeably better for legroom, but as somebody mentioned above it is narrower, so the 5-series was better for seating three in the back, especially if you have a car seat / booster seat.

The Skoda is by far the more practical car in every other sense, and was a pleasure to drive and very cost effective to live with. The 540i was more special and premium and had better toys. Horses for courses I guess.

[Lucas_Wxm]

The wider the better for us. 9/10 there will be 3 of us in the car with me taking the kids to school and then onto work.

The 2 youngest kids are still in their high-back boosters when it is just them 2 in the back.

The 530i would be ideal. I think I’ll have to get my car from a dealer. With the idea of taking a finance deal and then paying that off once the inheritance comes through.

There’s a few E Class estates at the nearest Merc garage, admittedly out of budget, but it will give me an idea on size. Going to have a look after work tomorrow.

[Lucas_Wxm]

_Rob said:

We had a Superb Sportline and a 540i at the same time, and the Superb is noticeably better for legroom, but as somebody mentioned above it is narrower, so the 5-series was better for seating three in the back, especially if you have a car seat / booster seat.

The Skoda is by far the more practical car in every other sense, and was a pleasure to drive and very cost effective to live with. The 540i was more special and premium and had better toys. Horses for courses I guess.

Can definitely see the Skoda being more cost effective. Just seen a few sportlines in black on AT. They do look nice, especially with the 2 tone seats.

Not bought a (newish) car in sometime, am I right in thinking that if a car was sold for £40k+ that the owner has to pay £500+ on road tax for the first 5 years?

I imagine both the Merc and Bmw were sold for £40k+ when new.

[Gunk]

_Rob said:

We had a Superb Sportline and a 540i at the same time, and the Superb is noticeably better for legroom, but as somebody mentioned above it is narrower, so the 5-series was better for seating three in the back, especially if you have a car seat / booster seat.

The Skoda is by far the more practical car in every other sense, and was a pleasure to drive and very cost effective to live with. The 540i was more special and premium and had better toys. Horses for courses I guess.

The Superb is built on a stretched VAG MQB platform (Same as the Golf) that’s why the cabin width is slightly compromised

[jason61c]

I've had 3 kids in the back of an e class. there's more space than a 5 series. the a6 also works fine.

[Lucas_Wxm]

jason61c said:

I've had 3 kids in the back of an e class. there's more space than a 5 series. the a6 also works fine.

I’ve not looked at comparing dimensions of both cars.

Only issue I have with Mercedes is decoding their UI. Like seen some E Classes have Garmin and others have COMMAND? A lot of variations on the AMG line too.

Never had a car with a screen such as the bmw. See a lot of people praise the iDrive system as best out there.

My main aim for the car is to be -
Comfy
Some pace with decent handling.
Spacious.
CarPlay (would be nice)
Sunroof would also be nice.

I have predominantly drove BMW’s. Although the “newest” in terms of age was a 09 plate 120d coupe wasn’t great. Gave me
Numerous EGR problems even when I was doing 2 hour round trips on A roads.

[ninjag]

Jaguar XF 2.0i Sportbrake? The petrol is only 4 pot but churns out 250bhp.

Great handling, nice interiors and excellent sound system. Very smooth over our crap roads and rear suspension is air so can be fully loaded yet feels empty.

[Lucas_Wxm]

ninjag said:

Jaguar XF 2.0i Sportbrake? The petrol is only 4 pot but churns out 250bhp.

Great handling, nice interiors and excellent sound system. Very smooth over our crap roads and rear suspension is air so can be fully loaded yet feels empty.

I forget about these. I really liked the previous generation XF. Not really looked at the latest shape. Don’t see many of them on the road. I’ll have a look at them. See how their dimensions compare to the German marques, ( also it seems the g31 is wider than the s213)

Edit. Just checked them on AT. Not much in the way of colour choice. I just don’t want a silver car as 4 out of the 6 cars I’ve have been that colour.

Edited by Lucas_Wxm on Tuesday 20th September 07:27

[cerb4.5lee]

Lucas_Wxm said:

Funnily enough I’ve been watching that 530i. Just a shame it’s a 4 cylinder engine now.

My BIL had a 2017 model 530i(saloon) and I wasn't expecting much when I drove it(because it had the same 4 cyl engine as the MINI that I had at the time). However I thought the engine was lovely and smooth and a good match to the ZF8 auto. It was a lovely car for sure.

[jonwm]

Lucas_Wxm said:

So I’m due to come into a bit of inheritance, as a result of that, I want to use a small part of it to treat myself to a new (used) car.

I will be getting rid of my E91 335i (privately, as I imagine a dealer will give me like 2k for it ). I still want that estate goodness to haul the family around. The family consists of 2 adults and then 3 (5,7 and a big 12 year old). My work commute is about a 5 minute drive from where I’m moving to soon, so a diesel doesn’t seem the best option. Although I would be doing at least one hour long drive on motorway each week to give a diesel a run, but rather a petrol (even though options/availability of petrols in models I’ve looked at are scarce).

A lot of car reviews say the back seats are okay for carrying 3. Don’t really want to go up and have a SUV/MPV.

Cars I’ve looked at on AT are
Volvo V90 - like the look of them, not overly common.
Merc E Class Estate (S213) - massive boot, lovely interior. But now are they 3 in the back?
BMW 5 Series (G31) - rear wheel drive. Lots of physicality buttons. Meant to be bigger in back seats than the Merc?

Any other cars I should consider? The A6 Avant doesn’t really float my boat.

Any owners of the above cars shed some real world views on them, not those of the motor journalists.

With 3 kids (9,8,5) and now a dog and we do a bit of camping / bike riding etc I've just come out of my manufacturer scheme (PSA) and bought a Transporter Kombi with the car allowance, brilliant thing for all things family related I must say.

Its a highline and has more spec than my last 5008 GT had (Heated windscreen, seats etc) its a DSG model and with twin sliding doors it makes family duties really easy.

Never though I'd give up a company car for a "van" but working form home more has made it easier and the kids love it.