Which SUV or estate with good rear headroom?
Discussion
Hello all!
My 2016 S-Max (bought new) has now rolled over 110k miles and is getting expensive - bills this year are around £4K having replaced water pump, cambelt, thermostat, heater box, EGR cooler, oil cooler (after a gallon of oil was injected into the coolant) - the list goes on!
The little dudes are now a bit bigger, and coming from a family of tall folk I’m anticipating needing to fit a couple of strapping six-footers in the back fairly soon. As such I’ve been looking at SUVs and larger estates and seeing how I fit in the back of them (spoiler alert - I don’t in most….I’m 6’3” and all body / short legs). Budget is £40-45k ish, and I do around 12k miles each year, of which around 7k are motorway. Much of the non-motorway miles are very short distance, so I’m fairly open to a plug in hybrid as long as motorway mpg isn’t absolutely horrific. I also suffer from a minor case of badge snobbery, but not too much! Finally a big boot is a must, due to various sporting things I need to be able to carry the equivalent of a couple of golf bags fairly regularly.
I’ve sat in and test driven a few options - thoughts on each as follows;
Q7 - big, loads of room, very relaxing ride. I drove the 50 TDI which has loads of power but the delay from the gearbox when flooring was really noticeable (and unpleasant!) - though maybe I’d get used to it.
Lexus RX450h - not enough headroom in the back, by a good 2” or so. Nice relaxing drive, albeit filled with beeps and bongs telling me off continually…..
BMW X5 45e (edited - X5 not X4!) - loved the driving ergonomics and cabin design, the drive itself felt a bit disconnected- which on reading hasn’t been the experience of others! Mrs P has a minor issue with the image (on which, same applies to the RR / RRS, plus standard JLR reliability concerns). Rear headroom just about OK.
XC90 T8 - decent, Mrs P’s favourite. Felt quality but not special to me, minor concerns over reliability and the infotainment felt quite outdated on 2-3 yo cars. Not enough rear headroom with panoramic roof, and models without it are compromised on kit (same with the Lexus actually).
Kia Sorrento - filled in two online forms, made four phone calls, and visited a dealer in person - no one available to talk to me and never called back. As such, no chance they’re getting my money if they don’t want it!
Although the good lady wife would prefer an SUV, as it’s for me I’m coming more round to the idea of a big estate - I’ve had an A4 Avant and V70 in the past and liked them. Plus - more economical, hopefully a better drive, etc etc. On checking the prices for the G31 5-series touring are really reasonable - a 24 plate 530e with decent kit and under 10k miles is in the £40k area, so having sat in one and liked it (and the rear being big enough) I’ll be test driving one of those shortly. TBH I always wanted an E39, and the aesthetics of the last gen cars seem (to me at least!) to be its spiritual successor visually!
So - with apologies for the huge post - any other options outside the usual suspects of E-class / A6 / V90 I should consider?
My 2016 S-Max (bought new) has now rolled over 110k miles and is getting expensive - bills this year are around £4K having replaced water pump, cambelt, thermostat, heater box, EGR cooler, oil cooler (after a gallon of oil was injected into the coolant) - the list goes on!
The little dudes are now a bit bigger, and coming from a family of tall folk I’m anticipating needing to fit a couple of strapping six-footers in the back fairly soon. As such I’ve been looking at SUVs and larger estates and seeing how I fit in the back of them (spoiler alert - I don’t in most….I’m 6’3” and all body / short legs). Budget is £40-45k ish, and I do around 12k miles each year, of which around 7k are motorway. Much of the non-motorway miles are very short distance, so I’m fairly open to a plug in hybrid as long as motorway mpg isn’t absolutely horrific. I also suffer from a minor case of badge snobbery, but not too much! Finally a big boot is a must, due to various sporting things I need to be able to carry the equivalent of a couple of golf bags fairly regularly.
I’ve sat in and test driven a few options - thoughts on each as follows;
Q7 - big, loads of room, very relaxing ride. I drove the 50 TDI which has loads of power but the delay from the gearbox when flooring was really noticeable (and unpleasant!) - though maybe I’d get used to it.
Lexus RX450h - not enough headroom in the back, by a good 2” or so. Nice relaxing drive, albeit filled with beeps and bongs telling me off continually…..
BMW X5 45e (edited - X5 not X4!) - loved the driving ergonomics and cabin design, the drive itself felt a bit disconnected- which on reading hasn’t been the experience of others! Mrs P has a minor issue with the image (on which, same applies to the RR / RRS, plus standard JLR reliability concerns). Rear headroom just about OK.
XC90 T8 - decent, Mrs P’s favourite. Felt quality but not special to me, minor concerns over reliability and the infotainment felt quite outdated on 2-3 yo cars. Not enough rear headroom with panoramic roof, and models without it are compromised on kit (same with the Lexus actually).
Kia Sorrento - filled in two online forms, made four phone calls, and visited a dealer in person - no one available to talk to me and never called back. As such, no chance they’re getting my money if they don’t want it!
Although the good lady wife would prefer an SUV, as it’s for me I’m coming more round to the idea of a big estate - I’ve had an A4 Avant and V70 in the past and liked them. Plus - more economical, hopefully a better drive, etc etc. On checking the prices for the G31 5-series touring are really reasonable - a 24 plate 530e with decent kit and under 10k miles is in the £40k area, so having sat in one and liked it (and the rear being big enough) I’ll be test driving one of those shortly. TBH I always wanted an E39, and the aesthetics of the last gen cars seem (to me at least!) to be its spiritual successor visually!
So - with apologies for the huge post - any other options outside the usual suspects of E-class / A6 / V90 I should consider?
Edited by Psammead on Saturday 8th March 09:34
Edited by Psammead on Sunday 9th March 07:16
Similar issues to you myself in terms of height. Skoda superb has acres of room in the back for the size of the car. Top spec sportline 2.0tsi would be my personal choice!
Kia Sorrento are big in the back but dealers seem to be really hit and miss as you seem to have found out. My local one couldn't be more helpful, unlike my local mercedes dealer (but that's another story). However all Kia seems to do this thing when you get to top spec it comes with a sunroof and it robs head height. Couple of times now I have had to discount them because of that.
Is the Hyundai Santa fe any good?
A lot of the bigger electric cars have huge space inside but it sounds like that's probably no a goer for you and they often compromise on boot.
Kia Sorrento are big in the back but dealers seem to be really hit and miss as you seem to have found out. My local one couldn't be more helpful, unlike my local mercedes dealer (but that's another story). However all Kia seems to do this thing when you get to top spec it comes with a sunroof and it robs head height. Couple of times now I have had to discount them because of that.
Is the Hyundai Santa fe any good?
A lot of the bigger electric cars have huge space inside but it sounds like that's probably no a goer for you and they often compromise on boot.
wyson said:
How come you looked at a X4 if space is important? I would have thought X5 or X7?
Mercedes GLE and GLS are also obvious candidates.
Because I have fat fingers, sorry! It was an X5; the X4 was a hard no before getting near it!Mercedes GLE and GLS are also obvious candidates.
I forgot to mention the GLE; it ticks a lot of boxes - especially being a plug-in diesel hybrid - but tbh I just really didn’t like the dash and general styling internally. I heard it described once as ‘Dubai meets Frankfurt taxi’ and can’t disagree - great ergonomics but it just left me cold. I’m being a bit picky there I know….
drgoatboy said:
Is the Hyundai Santa fe any good?
A lot of the bigger electric cars have huge space inside but it sounds like that's probably no a goer for you and they often compromise on boot.
Electric cars not great for my use case unfortunately - I do a fair bit of pootling around town, then normally 600 or so miles in 2 or 3 days, with no charger at my destination. The cost benefits would be reduced significantly by a reliance on motorway charging.A lot of the bigger electric cars have huge space inside but it sounds like that's probably no a goer for you and they often compromise on boot.
I hadn’t considered the Santa Fe other than thinking the looks of the new one are, ahem, challenging from the rear - will take a more in-depth look though! Superb is also a good shout, thanks.
justin220 said:
Have you had a look at a Cayenne? We absolutely love ours. Drives well, and surprisingly big inside.
I have - a bit toppy price-wise for a lower mileage example I think, as of today there's only one Cayenne of any flavour under five years old, under 40k mikes, and under £45k in price. I may go and sit in one though. This is how budgets get stretched isn't it 
Not sure what rear headroom is like (we had 2 child seats in ours) but plenty of room overall in a Seat Tarraco.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2024100548...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2024100548...
Leftfield
GV80:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202402066...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202409244...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202409164...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202501248...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202502189...
Levante:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202412217...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401165...
GV80:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202402066...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202409244...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202409164...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202501248...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202502189...
Levante:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202412217...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401165...
That mileage would be a piece of piss for an EV.
Eg. Tesla Model Y AWD LR, maybe performance if you want supercar baiting performance, absolutely cavernous inside. 250m range easily with motorway driving in summer, 220ish in winter and you aren't doing 100. Lots of bargains on the outgoing model
Will be more reliable than all the cars you've looked at, bar maybe the lexus (last year the xc90 was voted most unreliable car you can buy so scratch that off the list, that £4k in repairs will be nothing)
Eg. Tesla Model Y AWD LR, maybe performance if you want supercar baiting performance, absolutely cavernous inside. 250m range easily with motorway driving in summer, 220ish in winter and you aren't doing 100. Lots of bargains on the outgoing model
Will be more reliable than all the cars you've looked at, bar maybe the lexus (last year the xc90 was voted most unreliable car you can buy so scratch that off the list, that £4k in repairs will be nothing)
Psammead said:
RAV-4 - hadn’t really considered that just based on the (apparent) size from the exterior. Will take a look - thanks!
I'm a huge fan of Toyota in general, never had one require anything other than routine maintenance and that's over a 40 year ownership history.The seats go completely flat in the back (2017 model is what I have) which isn't something you can say for every SUV.
Space in the back seats really is very good.
Made a purchase two weeks ago so thought I’d update the thread!
As per suggestions I took a look at a RAV4, the local Toyota dealer only had one in which was the sales manager’s allocated car. Stank of fags, the driver’s door rubber was hanging off, and it was filled with rubbish - like the Tardis size-wise but I unsurprisingly had a pretty negative view after that!
On paper the Genesis GV80 ticked a lot of boxes but after an email enquiry it took their ‘local rep’ (or whatever they’re called) two weeks to get back to me, so that was a no as well.
I was then a gnat’s whisker away from buying a three year old Lexus RX-L - went as far as getting an insurance quote and it was £2.5k! Clearly the canbus exploit issue causing issues on that front. Then being a bit cross with car buying generally I took another look at the Audi website and saw a 21-plate Q7 in pretty much my perfect spec; S-Line, Navarra blue, Comfort and Sound pack, Tour pack (for adaptive cruise), and a towbar. Petrol hybrid, which wasn’t my first choice, but after having now done about 600 miles in it I reckon overall it will be a good bit cheaper on fuel than the diesel. Rise is great on the smaller S-line 20” wheels and air suspension, and overall very happy.
The only odd thing is that the S-Max I traded in has now appeared on Autotrader, being sold by a private seller, and noted as only one owner….. hmmm….. Link here; if anyone’s in the market for an S-Max be careful with this one - http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2025071745...
As per suggestions I took a look at a RAV4, the local Toyota dealer only had one in which was the sales manager’s allocated car. Stank of fags, the driver’s door rubber was hanging off, and it was filled with rubbish - like the Tardis size-wise but I unsurprisingly had a pretty negative view after that!
On paper the Genesis GV80 ticked a lot of boxes but after an email enquiry it took their ‘local rep’ (or whatever they’re called) two weeks to get back to me, so that was a no as well.
I was then a gnat’s whisker away from buying a three year old Lexus RX-L - went as far as getting an insurance quote and it was £2.5k! Clearly the canbus exploit issue causing issues on that front. Then being a bit cross with car buying generally I took another look at the Audi website and saw a 21-plate Q7 in pretty much my perfect spec; S-Line, Navarra blue, Comfort and Sound pack, Tour pack (for adaptive cruise), and a towbar. Petrol hybrid, which wasn’t my first choice, but after having now done about 600 miles in it I reckon overall it will be a good bit cheaper on fuel than the diesel. Rise is great on the smaller S-line 20” wheels and air suspension, and overall very happy.
The only odd thing is that the S-Max I traded in has now appeared on Autotrader, being sold by a private seller, and noted as only one owner….. hmmm….. Link here; if anyone’s in the market for an S-Max be careful with this one - http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2025071745...
https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/consumer/thieve...
Lexus has overtaken Range Rover as the UK s most stolen car. After JLR s recent investment in security, its dropped 52nd place.
There are 5 Lexi in the top 10, including the RX at no.2. Looks like the thieves have moved on to lower hanging fruit.
Lexus has overtaken Range Rover as the UK s most stolen car. After JLR s recent investment in security, its dropped 52nd place.
There are 5 Lexi in the top 10, including the RX at no.2. Looks like the thieves have moved on to lower hanging fruit.
Edited by wyson on Sunday 20th July 09:22
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