Moving from 128ti to family car with a fun side-suggestions? - Page 1 - Car Buying

Original Poster

4 posts

1 month

Tuesday

Hi all,

I have been picking my brain for a while now and can t seem to settle on a car I d be happy with for:
1. Transporting wife, kid and a German Shepard (sometimes all at once)
2. Not feeling cheap or as a compromise
3. Good spec with good sound system, at the very least a reverse camera. Leather memory seats are a big bonus
4. Reliable (relatively, won t cost a kidney to fix if something breaks
5. Good clearance for trips out (SUV preferred)
6. Good value for money (open to new and used)
7. Petrol or petrol hybrid (daily commute is short , 13 minutes each way but don t have a home charger for an electric car)
8. Having fun driving when circumstances allow

Currently drive a 2023 bmw 128ti, had 2x e92 335i s, Leon cupra 290, c300 and now the 128ti. Have been eyeing the X3 M40i s with interior refresh (late 2019 ish) but never found one with the right spec, history and price. Especially now they seem too expensive for a 6-7year old cars. Did look into 2020 Tiguan 2.0 petrol which wasn t that exciting but was decent enough (really enjoyed dynaudio subwoofer in that one lol). Nearly pulled a trigger on the X3 20 (my 2025) with great spec but it was too slow. Really wish they d offer X3 30 (non plugin hybrid like in the US)

I m open to all options I.e. leasing, pcp (if the right deal) or cash.

Budget: wouldn t want to go anywhere above £40k realistically.

Would love to hear your thoughts and deals you ve come across

Many thanks !
Alex

scot_aln

768 posts

229 months

Tuesday

May feel a little too much like sitting in a higher up version of what what you already have but what about something like the BMW X1 M35i xDrive.

Original Poster

4 posts

1 month

Tuesday

Good shout, family member has the new shape X1 kitted out and it’s properly nice, always been fond of the X1 but previous shapes seemed to fall behind in the optional kit department.

Biggest concern with new X1 35i is residual value being similar to the previous gen X2 35i (depreciating heavier than rivals, due to not being too popular) given I can find one within budget

ZX10R NIN

30,581 posts

155 months

Tuesday

Josemartinez

863 posts

20 months

Tuesday

I'd be looking at the F Pace or Stelvio as suggested.

ZX10R NIN always has great suggestions on threads like this.

Would an estate not work though? A M340i touring will probably drive better than the X3.

scot_aln

768 posts

229 months

Tuesday

Josemartinez said:

Would an estate not work though? A M340i touring will probably drive better than the X3.

The dog will thank you for that suggestion. There's many a dog that needs some lifting up into SUVs.

Original Poster

4 posts

1 month

Yesterday (19:04)

Thank you all for your replies and ZX10R NIN thank you for the list, it is much appreciated smile

JLR car insurance prices are ridiculous atm unfortunately and to my knowledge out of warranty repairs prices on newish JLR’s are too frown

Re. Mercedes options - they do indeed tick all the boxes in Premium Plus trim, but for some reason I couldn’t really get along with my previous c300 although gear stalk was a nice feature.

Did consider an m340i touring too, but ultimately the ride height increase is needed, safer and better visibility on long trips, and I’ve scraped creeping slowly too many times on trips out, especially at night with later complementary Christmas lights on the dash (looking at you, my old e92 335i)

Great point on the dog lifting, trying to slowly incorporate dog ramp right now. Keen to test drive Tiguan R to see if suspension is too crashy but haven’t seen leather seats on those yet.

Heaveho

7,519 posts

204 months

Yesterday (19:36)

Probably not on the radar for you, but I've been tasked with looking for a car for the relative of a friend, and have stumbled across the Hyundai Kona. The smallest engined one fits the bill for her requirements, but there's a couple of larger engined options and the reviews, both of reliability and driving experience of the 1.6 are encouraging. The 2.0 sounds like one to avoid unless the problems apparent on the early ones have been addressed on the latest model.

ZX10R NIN

30,581 posts

155 months

Yesterday (20:46)

swisscheese said:

Thank you all for your replies and ZX10R NIN thank you for the list, it is much appreciated smile

JLR car insurance prices are ridiculous atm unfortunately and to my knowledge out of warranty repairs prices on newish JLR s are too frown

Re. Mercedes options - they do indeed tick all the boxes in Premium Plus trim, but for some reason I couldn t really get along with my previous c300 although gear stalk was a nice feature.

Did consider an m340i touring too, but ultimately the ride height increase is needed, safer and better visibility on long trips, and I ve scraped creeping slowly too many times on trips out, especially at night with later complementary Christmas lights on the dash (looking at you, my old e92 335i)

Great point on the dog lifting, trying to slowly incorporate dog ramp right now. Keen to test drive Tiguan R to see if suspension is too crashy but haven t seen leather seats on those yet.

If a Tiguan is on the cards then the RSQ3 could work for you:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202609095...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202610066...

SQ5:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202608195...

X2 35i:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202610066...

Macan GTS but these are very spec dependent:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202511288...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202607144...

macron

13,378 posts

196 months

Yesterday (22:24)

ZX10R NIN said:

RSQ3 is cool as f

k, but the boot is shockingly small.

scot_aln

768 posts

229 months

Yesterday (23:28)

Cupra Ateca? Same platform and engine as Tiguan but a little smaller.

Original Poster

4 posts

1 month