Winter hack - Q7 / X5 or FFRR

[Joe5y]

Morning all,

Which would you choose for a winter / family hack for only a year or so?

I’ve got c£15,000 +/- of up to £2k.

Q7 would be 2010+. What options are a must? Bose, Pano? What’s it like to drive?

X5 would be 2011+ Msport with Pano roof ideally. Had a e53 before and loved it.

FFRR would be 2010+ and the 8Speed, Westminster or similar spec. Had a 59 plate Vogue before, hated it.

Any other options.

[DoubleD]

What are your needs from the car? How many does it need to seat? How many miles will you be doing? Do you need to go off road in it? Do you need to carry any large items?

[Terzo123]

Jeep Grande Cherokee?


http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2019...

[Joe5y]

DoubleD said:

What are your needs from the car? How many does it need to seat? How many miles will you be doing? Do you need to go off road in it? Do you need to carry any large items?

General short commute - c5miles. Have an 18month old with the applicable bus load of stuff that they have in tow.

Do c15000 a year but this is because I drive in France a fair bit.

Seating for 4/5.

No off-roading although if an opportunity arises.

Buggy’s. Go to France 2-3times a year needing estate sized car or similar.

Buying this as a stop gap until amass enough for the RS4/6 I actually want.

[Joe5y]

Terzo123 said:

Jeep Grande Cherokee?


http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2019...

Hadn’t considered these but I’d be concerned they’d feel cheap

[DoubleD]

Joe5y said:

General short commute - c5miles. Have an 18month old with the applicable bus load of stuff that they have in tow.

Do c15000 a year but this is because I drive in France a fair bit.

Seating for 4/5.

No off-roading although if an opportunity arises.

Buggy’s. Go to France 2-3times a year needing estate sized car or similar.

Buying this as a stop gap until amass enough for the RS4/6 I actually want.

Your best bet would be buy a roof box for what ever car you have now and save like mad for the Audi.

The amount of stuff that you will need/want to carry for an 18 month old will start to reduce quite quickly, especially when you stop using a pram.

[Muzzer79]

As a stop gap, I’d look at Q7. My old boss had one and loved it - much more than a Range Rover

[Terzo123]

Joe5y said:

Terzo123 said:

Jeep Grande Cherokee?


http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2019...

Hadn’t considered these but I’d be concerned they’d feel cheap

It's a bit of a trade off, I suppose.

[Patch1875]

VW toureg might be better value over an Audi.

[Earthdweller]

Well if you don’t need 7 seats I’d look at X3/Q5 save you a fortune and plenty of space

Or a good set of winter tyres did your current car

[ZX10R NIN]

The Grand Cherokee won't feel that cheap the interior is decent if not RR/Q7 good but then look at the spec/mileage/age of those other cars & the GC starts to look like a good buy.

[Terzo123]

ZX10R NIN said:

The Grand Cherokee won't feel that cheap the interior is decent if not RR/Q7 good but then look at the spec/mileage/age of those other cars & the GC starts to look like a good buy.

That was my thinking.

Excellent bang for buck compared to Audi, BMW, RR etc

[jamiem555]

Any car with a set of winter tyres.

[brickwall]

If you don’t need 7 seats, then I’d go for a 2nd generation (2010/11 onwards) Touareg.

They’re absolutely cracking value now. They feel much more modern than FFRR or Q7s of the same vintage. Very good infotainment, ZF 8 speed box, and with the 245 bhp diesel an acceptable amount of poke. Avoid the 200 bhp version.

Something like this:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Add a set of winter tyres (which aren’t too bad on 18s) and job’s a good ‘un.

[dmsims]

brickwall said:

If you don’t need 7 seats, then I’d go for a 2nd generation (2010/11 onwards) Touareg.

They’re absolutely cracking value now. They feel much more modern than FFRR or Q7s of the same vintage. Very good infotainment, ZF 8 speed box, and with the 245 bhp diesel an acceptable amount of poke. Avoid the 200 bhp version.

Something like this:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Add a set of winter tyres (which aren’t too bad on 18s) and job’s a good ‘un.

I am sure his family will enjoy all the N02 and PM's

[Joe5y]

brickwall said:

If you don’t need 7 seats, then I’d go for a 2nd generation (2010/11 onwards) Touareg.

They’re absolutely cracking value now. They feel much more modern than FFRR or Q7s of the same vintage. Very good infotainment, ZF 8 speed box, and with the 245 bhp diesel an acceptable amount of poke. Avoid the 200 bhp version.

Something like this:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Add a set of winter tyres (which aren’t too bad on 18s) and job’s a good ‘un.

Great shout. Having a closer look at these now.

[Joe5y]

So, PistonHeads (Brickwall) has worked wonders! Touareg is the one I think; will look good next to wife’s Golf too.

Now, Altitude spec or R-Line? What are the main differences? Any LCI updates?

[brickwall]

Standard (SE) spec had largely all of the kit required (Nav, Bluetooth, parking sensors, leather, cruise, etc.). Only thing it lacked was electric seats.

Don’t think Altitude added much.

R-Line added electric tailgate and a panoramic sunroof; though also chunkier alloys which make winter tyres more expensive.

Comparing to a Disco3, the Touareg was a LOT faster, handled a lot better, had a much mode modern interior, and was much more economical. At the margins, the ride wasn’t quite as good, neither was the stereo sound (but the connectivity was leagues ahead).

I remember cruising along at 120mph on the autobahn, doing 3k rpm. Cracking car.

[SteBrown91]

Joe5y said:

So, PistonHeads (Brickwall) has worked wonders! Touareg is the one I think; will look good next to wife’s Golf too.

Now, Altitude spec or R-Line? What are the main differences? Any LCI updates?

Iirc the altitude was the predecessor to r-line so has the same bodykit.

The only thing that lets a toureag down is the lazy box (it’s an 8 speed aisin box not the zf8) and the dated tech (the stereo is basically like using an old golf nav but with a bigger screen)

[JWH]

SteBrown91 said:

Joe5y said:

So, PistonHeads (Brickwall) has worked wonders! Touareg is the one I think; will look good next to wife’s Golf too.

Now, Altitude spec or R-Line? What are the main differences? Any LCI updates?

Iirc the altitude was the predecessor to r-line so has the same bodykit.

The only thing that lets a toureag down is the lazy box (it’s an 8 speed aisin box not the zf8) and the dated tech (the stereo is basically like using an old golf nav but with a bigger screen)

Listen to this man, he's correct that it's an Aisin box which is perfectly good but not quite as spookily mind reading as the ZF. The infotainment never changed from introduction in 2011 so is a but clunky but in my experience the stuff that matters (phone integration) is very reliable, the NAV is fine but old, just use your phone! Unless you can find one with air suspension (a fairly rare option) the ride quality is pretty average. Don't worry about the facelift, there were very few changes of any significance other than a new 3.0 diesel engine (the 262ps one) which is nice thing but reputation suggests it's only marginally quicker than the 245ps original and is less economical, although it is EU6 if that matters.

I have a 2016 Escape (the one which still has the low range box and locking diffs), its my wife's car which I borrow for towing and yanking tree stumps out in the garden. It's a bit ponderous if you try and throw it around but a very pleasant place to sit while changing location. It doesn't have air suspension so and the ride quality is very average, noteably worse than my 3 series touring. I like it, for the price second hand it's a pleasant big lump of car.