Car failure - looking for a replacement family SUV
Discussion
We currently have a 2017 Seat Ateca 1.4 tsi 150bhp manual which has had intermittent clutch issues for 3 years now, ranging from a full clutch kit repair at Seat to various repairs to the hydraulics over the last 18months, just this morning we've waved goodbye to it on a recovery truck destined for the garage, other than that the car has been perfect for us but we’ve now lost faith with it having had it in the garage so often since we purchased it.
We’re coming to the conclusion that it’s time to part ways and would like some recommendations of known reliable family cars in terms of Make/Model and Engine/Gearbox.
Criteria would be:
- To keep the car for around 6-8yrs
- Up to £18K
- Petrol (150bhp or more would be nice but not a deal breaker)
- Auto or Manual
- SUV
- Ideally a 2021/22 onwards
- Ideally less than or up to 55K miles
We’re looking to keep our purchase for the long and are willing to consider all cars, with reliability being our no1 factor, so any tips on what to opt for or avoid in terms of engine/gearbox pairing and so forth would be much appreciated.
Thank you!
We’re coming to the conclusion that it’s time to part ways and would like some recommendations of known reliable family cars in terms of Make/Model and Engine/Gearbox.
Criteria would be:
- To keep the car for around 6-8yrs
- Up to £18K
- Petrol (150bhp or more would be nice but not a deal breaker)
- Auto or Manual
- SUV
- Ideally a 2021/22 onwards
- Ideally less than or up to 55K miles
We’re looking to keep our purchase for the long and are willing to consider all cars, with reliability being our no1 factor, so any tips on what to opt for or avoid in terms of engine/gearbox pairing and so forth would be much appreciated.
Thank you!
RAV4 - I'm on my third. They don't go wrong because Toyota make them.
Huge load capacity, seats fold totally flat, very spacious throughout. Not the last word in technology perhaps but that kind of stuff goes wrong. Mine is a 2017 diesel, manual. 50MPG without breaking a sweat. VED and insurance sensible prices.
Huge load capacity, seats fold totally flat, very spacious throughout. Not the last word in technology perhaps but that kind of stuff goes wrong. Mine is a 2017 diesel, manual. 50MPG without breaking a sweat. VED and insurance sensible prices.
Nickp82 said:
Interesting about your Ateca, we have one with the same engine which has an intermittent loss of pressure in the clutch pedal.
In terms of recommendation, Mazda CX-5 petrol
Thanks, are the automatics generally reliable do you know?In terms of recommendation, Mazda CX-5 petrol
This sounds very similar.
Sounds similar to how ours started when we purchased from Seat, we initially had intermittent pressure loss in the clutch pedal which as diagnosed s a faulty slave cylinder, this was replaced however shortly afterwards the issue came back, another slave cylinder was replaced but the issue persisted so the clutch and flywheel were replaced. The issue went away for a while and then came back again, whereby the slave cylinder was replaced along with the master cylinder, issue went away and now we’re back to having a tow truck pick the car up!
I believe this is a fairly common fault and from what I understand there is possibly a known issue with the slave cylinder overextending. All very frustrating for a car we genuinely are happy with otherwise.
Russet Grange said:
RAV4 - I'm on my third. They don't go wrong because Toyota make them.
Huge load capacity, seats fold totally flat, very spacious throughout. Not the last word in technology perhaps but that kind of stuff goes wrong. Mine is a 2017 diesel, manual. 50MPG without breaking a sweat. VED and insurance sensible prices.
Thanks, do you know if the petrol versions are generally reliable too? Have overlooked these as they appear to bit a little older in our price bracket however, reassuring to hear that you've found them to be reliable so perhaps an older version may be suitable for us still.Huge load capacity, seats fold totally flat, very spacious throughout. Not the last word in technology perhaps but that kind of stuff goes wrong. Mine is a 2017 diesel, manual. 50MPG without breaking a sweat. VED and insurance sensible prices.
tredd said:
Sounds similar to how ours started when we purchased from Seat, we initially had intermittent pressure loss in the clutch pedal which as diagnosed s a faulty slave cylinder, this was replaced however shortly afterwards the issue came back, another slave cylinder was replaced but the issue persisted so the clutch and flywheel were replaced. The issue went away for a while and then came back again, whereby the slave cylinder was replaced along with the master cylinder, issue went away and now we re back to having a tow truck pick the car up!
I believe this is a fairly common fault and from what I understand there is possibly a known issue with the slave cylinder overextending. All very frustrating for a car we genuinely are happy with otherwise.
How soon did it start after purchasing from Seat?I believe this is a fairly common fault and from what I understand there is possibly a known issue with the slave cylinder overextending. All very frustrating for a car we genuinely are happy with otherwise.
You've had this same ongoing problem for the past three years that they've tried to fix, but not been able to fix?
Trevor555 said:
How soon did it start after purchasing from Seat?
You've had this same ongoing problem for the past three years that they've tried to fix, but not been able to fix?
The initial clutch problem happened several months after the purchase, during which time Seat went through the process of replacing slave cylinders and then the clutch/flywheel at their cost. We then must have gone through an 14-18month period where all was ok, only to then start having issues again.You've had this same ongoing problem for the past three years that they've tried to fix, but not been able to fix?
tredd said:
Trevor555 said:
How soon did it start after purchasing from Seat?
You've had this same ongoing problem for the past three years that they've tried to fix, but not been able to fix?
The initial clutch problem happened several months after the purchase, during which time Seat went through the process of replacing slave cylinders and then the clutch/flywheel at their cost. We then must have gone through an 14-18month period where all was ok, only to then start having issues again.You've had this same ongoing problem for the past three years that they've tried to fix, but not been able to fix?
Sorry to hear you've had those problems.
As said above, buy a Rav 4, or the Suzuki version that's based on the Rav.
tredd said:
Nickp82 said:
Interesting about your Ateca, we have one with the same engine which has an intermittent loss of pressure in the clutch pedal.
In terms of recommendation, Mazda CX-5 petrol
Thanks, are the automatics generally reliable do you know?In terms of recommendation, Mazda CX-5 petrol
tredd said:
Thanks, do you know if the petrol versions are generally reliable too? Have overlooked these as they appear to bit a little older in our price bracket however, reassuring to hear that you've found them to be reliable so perhaps an older version may be suitable for us still.
I'd assume they'd be at least as reliable when we consider the PH 'Holy Trinity' of 'Japanese, petrol, manual'. Won't be as economical but I've owned Toyota cars of various flavours since the late 1980s, and I have never had a single non-consumable/wear and tear cost. They just don't go wrong.tredd said:
Thanks, do you know if the petrol versions are generally reliable too? Have overlooked these as they appear to bit a little older in our price bracket however, reassuring to hear that you've found them to be reliable so perhaps an older version may be suitable for us still.
The cx5 was my first thought too. Or the cx30 if the cx5 is too big. https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202603130...
The skyactiv G (2.0 120 bhp) engine is as reliable as you get these days. The skyactiv X (2.0 180bhp) slightly less so.
The cx5 will be slow and heavy with that skyactive G engine. The mazda 3 is sluggish and much lighter.
The sport model should have a lot of toys you may not expect.
I've heard that Mazda diesels are far less reliable than petrol's
Edited by Torquey on Thursday 30th July 21:52
If it isn't too small, I would recommend a CX-30.
For your budget, you should be able to get the newer 2.5 petrol which I have in mine. It's rated at 145bhp out of the factory which I find hard to believe, Autocar figured it at under 8 seconds to 60mph which is quicker than the more powerful SkyX engine. It feels as fast as my old supercharged MINI Cooper S up to about 80-90mph, and that car had 163bhp and weighed about 1200kg.
It manages to pull the trick of having a relatively small footprint, but also feel very grown up. Wind noise is well supressed and it is very quiet at motorway speeds, ride is a little firm on the big wheels at low speed but it does settle at speed.
From September 2025, all Mazdas got a 6 year warranty, so you may get lucky and find one of these just about in budget.
For your budget, you should be able to get the newer 2.5 petrol which I have in mine. It's rated at 145bhp out of the factory which I find hard to believe, Autocar figured it at under 8 seconds to 60mph which is quicker than the more powerful SkyX engine. It feels as fast as my old supercharged MINI Cooper S up to about 80-90mph, and that car had 163bhp and weighed about 1200kg.
It manages to pull the trick of having a relatively small footprint, but also feel very grown up. Wind noise is well supressed and it is very quiet at motorway speeds, ride is a little firm on the big wheels at low speed but it does settle at speed.
From September 2025, all Mazdas got a 6 year warranty, so you may get lucky and find one of these just about in budget.
tredd said:
We currently have a 2017 Seat Ateca 1.4 tsi 150bhp manual which has had intermittent clutch issues for 3 years now, ranging from a full clutch kit repair at Seat to various repairs to the hydraulics over the last 18months, just this morning we've waved goodbye to it on a recovery truck destined for the garage, other than that the car has been perfect for us but we ve now lost faith with it having had it in the garage so often since we purchased it.
We re coming to the conclusion that it s time to part ways and would like some recommendations of known reliable family cars in terms of Make/Model and Engine/Gearbox.
Criteria would be:
- To keep the car for around 6-8yrs
- Up to £18K
- Petrol (150bhp or more would be nice but not a deal breaker)
- Auto or Manual
- SUV
- Ideally a 2021/22 onwards
- Ideally less than or up to 55K miles
We re looking to keep our purchase for the long and are willing to consider all cars, with reliability being our no1 factor, so any tips on what to opt for or avoid in terms of engine/gearbox pairing and so forth would be much appreciated.
Thank you!
DS7:We re coming to the conclusion that it s time to part ways and would like some recommendations of known reliable family cars in terms of Make/Model and Engine/Gearbox.
Criteria would be:
- To keep the car for around 6-8yrs
- Up to £18K
- Petrol (150bhp or more would be nice but not a deal breaker)
- Auto or Manual
- SUV
- Ideally a 2021/22 onwards
- Ideally less than or up to 55K miles
We re looking to keep our purchase for the long and are willing to consider all cars, with reliability being our no1 factor, so any tips on what to opt for or avoid in terms of engine/gearbox pairing and so forth would be much appreciated.
Thank you!
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202512188...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202605312...
CX 5 mhev adds that low down pick up that imo the standard 2.0 lacks:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202604302...
Kia Sportage GT Line:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202606263...
Tucson N Line S:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202602139...
Ultimate:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202607073...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202606123...
As above Rav4 or Suzuki across if you can scrape into one for the budget.
Hybrid petrol is about as reliable as it gets and will be both economical, durable and cheap to maintain as Toyota's hybrid system does away with most of the common ICE failure/maintenance points. As you've found out, most European stuff is a PITA to maintain in the longer term these days
The PHEV in later Rav4s and the Suzuki Across is a significant step forward in economy and to drive but probably out of budget unless you stretch a bit. Over 300 bhp and 60 in 5.5s combined with 50+ mpg and 45+ miles EV range is quite a convincing package though.
Hybrid petrol is about as reliable as it gets and will be both economical, durable and cheap to maintain as Toyota's hybrid system does away with most of the common ICE failure/maintenance points. As you've found out, most European stuff is a PITA to maintain in the longer term these days
The PHEV in later Rav4s and the Suzuki Across is a significant step forward in economy and to drive but probably out of budget unless you stretch a bit. Over 300 bhp and 60 in 5.5s combined with 50+ mpg and 45+ miles EV range is quite a convincing package though.
Edited by Snow and Rocks on Sunday 2nd August 10:51
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