Girlfriend wants a new (to her) car - £8k-12k

[Vsix and Vtec]

If she is familiar with the XF, why not a V6 Petrol version? My partner also drives a 3.0 TDV6 XF and adores hers, but often wonders about swapping it for a Petrol 3.0 V6 or V6 Supercharged.

[Rotary Potato]

scot_aln said:

Has anyone suggested or have you looked at Volvo. I thought they tended to have a bit of different colour palette to some others.

I think Superb was mentioned above but didn't the Octavia come in a Laurent Clement (or something like that) spec that was light inside.

With children though I do get why most of the cars end up with dull dark interiors. If only you could jet wash them too

Edited by scot_aln on Thursday 25th April 17:16

We looked at Volvo. The S90 got a big thumbs up, but unfortunately just a bit of a push on budget for something with the right miles and spec for her.

Skoda was deemed acceptable ... but just weren't able to find the right combo of colour, spec & mileage when we were looking.

[Rotary Potato]

Vsix and Vtec said:

If she is familiar with the XF, why not a V6 Petrol version? My partner also drives a 3.0 TDV6 XF and adores hers, but often wonders about swapping it for a Petrol 3.0 V6 or V6 Supercharged.

My other half has no interest in speed, performance, smoothness or sound. To her, an engine is just a big box of noise to make the car move forwards (and backwards! ). For her, the attraction of a car is how it makes her feel being sat in it.

As such, the extra purchase price, tax, insurance and fuel for a V6 over the 4 pot is something she sees as unnecessary.

Having read up on the 2L diesel engine, it does sound like there are the potential for issues. However, it sounds like a lot of them can be mitigated by proper usage case (not using a diesel for lots of short journeys) and being on top - or ahead - of the maintenance schedule. It also sounds like the XF has one of the better installations of the engine, minimising the risk over say an Evoque. However, we haven't really discussed risk appetite (I ran an M5 to 160k miles, and owned both a cheap RX8 and a cheap 986S Boxster with no record of either IMS or RMS being looked at - so my personal approach to risk is fairly relaxed) so what seems like "something to bear in mind" to me might well be a "don't touch with a 10 foot barge pole" to her.

[Summit_Detailing]

I'd avoid the 2.0d in any Jaguar/Land Rover product.... 2.0t petrol is ok however.

My first thoughts were -
Lexus IS300h
Mazda 6
Volvo S60 - rare with light interior but they are out there.
Mondeo in Vignale trim
BMW 4 series gran coupe - looks like a saloon but is a hatch...more likely to get a light interior in Luxury trim.

Cheers,

Chris

[Rotary Potato]

Summit_Detailing said:

I'd avoid the 2.0d in any Jaguar/Land Rover product.... 2.0t petrol is ok however.

My first thoughts were -
Lexus IS300h
Mazda 6
Volvo S60 - rare with light interior but they are out there.
Mondeo in Vignale trim
BMW 4 series gran coupe - looks like a saloon but is a hatch...more likely to get a light interior in Luxury trim.

Cheers,

Chris

Both the Mondeo and the 4 series GC had slipped under my radar, but got a thumbs up for her. Thanks for the suggestions.

[robemcdonald]

I never understand these threads. if she doesn’t accept your ideas why would she listen to randoms off the internet.

Let her choose her own car.

[Fermit]

robemcdonald said:

I never understand these threads. if she doesn’t accept your ideas why would she listen to randoms off the internet.

Let her choose her own car.

Yeah, but it could be that the OP doesn't particularly know cars, it could be that she doesn't know about the thread, and she's hearing 'his' ideas?

[macron]

When you say "light interior" do you mean "seats", or does that mean a general feeling of light, eg a big sunroof and pale headlining would suffice?

There are, of course, lots of combinations of these, and things like the 4GC when it has pale leather is.... as little of the interior as BM could get away with changing, so it's not far off the seat facings.

[DodgyGeezer]

You've mentioned a merc e-class as a possibility - I'd have thought that a c-class would be better bet sizewise? Or, a derivative thereof, a GLC in either 'estate' or 'coupe' format. Big plus - panoramic roof is common. Big negative - German cars tend to be tomb-dark.

Other than that...

Genesis do a, rare, exec model which might work?
Kia Stinger?

[Rotary Potato]

robemcdonald said:

I never understand these threads. if she doesn’t accept your ideas why would she listen to randoms off the internet.

Let her choose her own car.

I'm not so big headed as to think my knowledge is encyclopedic ... especially when her tastes are so different from my own. So I listed her preferences to see if the PH collective could think of options that I had not.

They did.

She will choose her own car, but her knowledge is far from complete, so she is more than happy to listen to suggestions that she can look into and choose from.

[Rotary Potato]

macron said:

When you say "light interior" do you mean "seats", or does that mean a general feeling of light, eg a big sunroof and pale headlining would suffice?

There are, of course, lots of combinations of these, and things like the 4GC when it has pale leather is.... as little of the interior as BM could get away with changing, so it's not far off the seat facings.

Ideally, seats. However, if the rest of the cabin feels light and airy then darker seats would be a consideration.

[Rotary Potato]

DodgyGeezer said:

You've mentioned a merc e-class as a possibility - I'd have thought that a c-class would be better bet sizewise? Or, a derivative thereof, a GLC in either 'estate' or 'coupe' format. Big plus - panoramic roof is common. Big negative - German cars tend to be tomb-dark.

Other than that...

Genesis do a, rare, exec model which might work?
Kia Stinger?

She definitely prefers the size (and quality) of the E over the C ... but that's not to say a C class wouldn't be considered if the right combination of spec and price came up. However, as you point out, the majority of them do not cater to her style preferences.

Neither the Stinger nor a Genesis are in budget (at least, not that I've been able to find).