Outgrew current cars - suggestions welcome

[Eddytheeagle]

Hi All,

Looking to replace both cars in the household as circumstances have changed and expecting to outgrow our current car in the next 12-18 months.

Our current setup:
2013 Golf GT TDI - owned for 8 years and has been an excellent all rounder. Just ticked over 115K approx and has had a new clutch, tyres and disks and pads all round in the last 8 months.

What we love about the golf is it s a good spec for our usage, nippy, looks good and comfortable with a fair amount of space.

What we dislike is how low it seems to sit and when driving at night it s blinding from front and back. The lack of road presence has caused some near misses even when driving defensively. Some rust starting to appear on all the arches.

Estimated value going from WBAC £3000/3500.

2016 VW Caddy 2.0 TDI - Owned for 6 years
Again has been an excellent all rounder, was bought for mountain biking and a side hustle of delivering goods to client sites (just hand able items in boxes) but both of these have been paused for the past 12 months or so.

I like how much space the van has, it s nippy, presentable and excellent running costs.

I dislike how it has no isofix and when not being used as a van is loud/unrefined. 80% of my current driving isn t using it as a van so to speak.

Estimated value £9000

Usage profile:
We have a 1 year old daughter and the lack of isofix in the van means whoever has her uses the golf which can then cause issues swapping over for work etc.

Car 1 covers approx 5K miles a year with trips round the doors and work is a 4 mile round trip.

Van covers around 15k miles a year but do expect this to drop to 10-12K. Work is a 40 mile round trip on A roads but I do have a motorbike for the dry weather.

We have a budget of around £40K and are looking for the following:

Car 1 priorities:
Safety/ISO Fix
Reasonable performance - thinking quick for normal day to day driving rather than all out performance
Good road presence
Excellent space for family duties
4 doors

Car 2 priorities
Safety/ISO fix
Comfort
Reasonable performance
4 doors

I m a bit sick of looking at cars at the moment so hoping a fresh set of eyes/suggestions will be what we need to make a decision. Current identified options are:

30-35K G05 X5/ keep the golf
25K X6/ 20K Model Y
25K X6/ Jaguar XJ or 530 GT

Edited by Eddytheeagle on Saturday 9th May 17:24

[Davie]

Stand out from that would be whilst the van has seen a pause in usage, would having something with a lot less practicality be an issue down the line? I say that as I've upsized as the kids grew and now have a Transporter. Some days I think it's a waste of space and others, I genuinely wonder how I'd cope going back to a conventional estate or SUV based set up. I also mountain bike and I also paused when mine were young and time was very precious, but past couple of years it's been a brilliant tool. But I totally agree, when not using a van as a van... they can be pretty tedious to live with as a car.

[Eddytheeagle]

Cheers for the insight Davie, got to admit it’s something that has crossed my mind as even now we’ve been trying to get a baby into a coat/outdoor clothing in a hurry. A bigger van I imagine is lovely to get ready in and step out ready to go.

Think the reason I hadn’t explored it too much is for a transporter I would want I wasn’t sure if we would still have enough in the pot for a good main car

[ZX10R NIN]

S Max h Titanium, it can do all the handy stuff its a decent steer (you can still get the mountain bike in) & a great family car:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202605082...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202603220...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202602109...

Kia Stinger:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202505212...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202505212...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202604271...

[Doesitdrive]

Your valuations are a bit wild.

I just sold a 2013 Golf Tdi, 113k, new brakes all round, new clutch cylinders, very nearly retail ready, odd little mark, NO RUST. FULL SERVICE HISTORY.

Advertised at 2995, after 2 weeks took 2500.

Can't see 9k in that Caddy Either. Wouldn't ask that for my 70k full service history 21 plate Connect Limited.

[InitialDave]

Doesitdrive said:

Can't see 9k in that Caddy Either. Wouldn't ask that for my 70k full service history 21 plate Connect Limited.

I don't know what it's worth, but VW van prices always seem very punchy.

OP, how about a Skoda Yeti as a do-everything car, and something fun alongside it?

[Quattr04.]

Model Y for the van stuff, model 3 for everything else

Pocket the savings on fuel and maintenance

[Pica-Pica]

InitialDave said:

Doesitdrive said:

Can't see 9k in that Caddy Either. Wouldn't ask that for my 70k full service history 21 plate Connect Limited.

I don't know what it's worth, but VW van prices always seem very punchy.

OP, how about a Skoda Yeti as a do-everything car, and something fun alongside it?

No way you’ll get that for a Caddy. (Youve had a 2016 car for 12 years ?)

[Eddytheeagle]

Doesitdrive said:

Your valuations are a bit wild.

I just sold a 2013 Golf Tdi, 113k, new brakes all round, new clutch cylinders, very nearly retail ready, odd little mark, NO RUST. FULL SERVICE HISTORY.

Advertised at 2995, after 2 weeks took 2500.

Can't see 9k in that Caddy Either. Wouldn't ask that for my 70k full service history 21 plate Connect Limited.

Cheers doesitdrive, it was just a quick WBAC estimate more than anything else incase people started suggesting putting one vehicle down as a PCP deposit etc.

[bigmowley]

How about this for a left field suggestion. ID Buzz for the main family duties and occasional van use.They are circa £30K now but there are plenty to choose from with extended warranty. They are sold thorough VW commercial dealers, no idea why, this could work well for trading in the Caddy you should be in a position to haggle a good deal there I feel.

You can keep the Goilf for a short while whilst you bed into the Buzz. That leaves £10K ish budget to replace the Golf. The Golf will be an easier sell as its the cheaper of the ones to get rid off. The lower running costs of the Buzz could be factored into the Golf replacement somewhere down the line?

[Eddytheeagle]

InitialDave said:

I don't know what it's worth, but VW van prices always seem very punchy.

OP, how about a Skoda Yeti as a do-everything car, and something fun alongside it?

Think that’s the sort of route I’m aiming for with a do it all family car and another car that’s a bit smaller but still decent performance and a good steer. Hadn’t considered the yeti and it looks good from a safety point of view but would the boot be much bigger than the golf currently? Stats look like 380L for the golf and 510 for the yeti but unsure if all that extra space is at the roofline etc?

[Eddytheeagle]

Pica-Pica said:

No way you ll get that for a Caddy. (Youve had a 2016 car for 12 years ?)

Any ideas where I can get a semi accurate valuation? Happy to provide full details and pics

Good spot I’m getting my purchase dates mixed up with the bike, caddy has been with me for 6 years or so now and was initially great but not just being used as a car which is a struggle at times. Never realised I could miss an arm rest so much!

[Belle427]

I would second the S Max as a very good family car that can do everything.

[ABMA]

I can see you have put down the X6 as an option.
From experience, it will tick the road presence box but not the practicality box. The X5 is more practical but both car will cost more to run than a VW or a model Y as other suggested.

[Black_S3]

Doesitdrive said:

Your valuations are a bit wild.



Can't see 9k in that Caddy Either. Wouldn't ask that for my 70k full service history 21 plate Connect Limited.

Yeah, not to just try to piss on things but I was quite surpised having to let a tidy 18 plate caddy on 60k miles go for less than 5k over a year ago. I had expectations of 8-9k.