Which small SUV

[ashway]

My recently married son and his wife are just about to change their second car, a Mini One Diesel for a smallish SUV. The current shortlist includes Qashqai, Audi Q3, BMW X3 (outgoing model) and the VW Tiguan, the only test drive to date was in the Nissan which was a 1.2 petrol, my old fashioned thinking is that this is a small engine for a relatively big vehicle.

Given that budget is a consideration is there anything else they should be considering. Also what's the view on petrol v diesel given current scare mongering about diesel. The car will be used for relatively short journeys to work on a daily basis and approx 8-10K annually.

Thanks in advance

[Nickbrapp]

Either the Tiguan or if the budget stretched the new Volvo XC60 is a beautiful car, or if that's too big wait for the xc40.


How about a seat alteca. Or the skoda kodaq

All can be had with decent sized turbo petrols, I drove a 1.2 turbo Juke and it was woeful

[cuprabob]

What about the new VW T-Roc? Slightly smaller that the Tiguan.

I would also have a look at the Seat Ateca.

[Ranger 6]

I've got an X3. It's a big car compared to the others on your list. An X1 would be a more appropriate comparison and has just had a new model change so won't be 'old' too quickly.

Another thought. My wife has a Countryman All4 which is a good crossover and if they like their current Mini could be a good choice.

[Shiv_P]

New Tiguan

[ZX10R NIN]

What's your budget?

[tonyb1968]

Peugeot 3008 SUV, good choice of engines and it won car of the year (and Small SUV), well equipped and nice to drive (plus its reliable, the 1.2ltr turbocharged engine has won that category for the last 4 years), and there is also a 1.6 Petrol Turbo (THP) wtih 165ps.

[ashway]

test drive in the Tiguan and X3 this weekend thanks for your input

[cootuk]

Petrol vs diesel depends on your mileage, views on pollution, and driving type. Looks like a petrol would suit you more.
My 1.2TSI Skoda Yeti is perfectly adequate, so don't worry about smaller engines too much.
Coupled with an auto box, these are pretty relaxing.

I would shortlist the Skoda Yeti..as these are out of production you might be able to get a clearance special somewhere, and it has a decent boot capacity (416 litre)
Otherwise the Seat Ateca replacement platform (Skoda Koraq not yet released) has a massive boot space of 510 litre.

Depends if you're a "badge snob", which, given your shortlist of BMW/Audi then might be a consideration (No insult intended, but are there makes you definitnitely wouldn't want?).

[Nickbrapp]

ashway said:

test drive in the Tiguan and X3 this weekend thanks for your input

Make sure you take a look at the xc60 it's a beautiful looking thing and would be my choice over the Tiguan

[jonny70]

What's the. OP budget ?

Makes a big difference to what cars are suggested.

[Rosscow]

New Volvo XC40 on their £600 a month 'all in' deal?

[loskie]

thats very expensive

[andye30m3]

we recently bought a new qashquai as Nissan were selling off the pre facelift cars with a decent discount.

Its the 1.2 petrol as it tends to do relatively short journeys, whilst not exactly exciting it does drive reasonably well, doesn't seam all that under powered and seams well equipped to me (although I drive a 28 year old 3 series, so almost any new car seams well equipped to me)

From memory it was about £17k all in, at the time as we were on the industrial estate we looked at the comparable offerings from Honda, Kia, Toyota, Mazda etc and didn't see anything that could match the spec of the Nissan for the price.

[Rosscow]

loskie said:

thats very expensive

I think it's about on the money when you add in insurance, tax, servicing and depreciation.

[gazza5]

Can't help as we don't know the budget, are they looking at spending 30k, therefore qashqui would save them money, or are we looking second hand with a 10k budget?

Don't wish to sound rude, but we could be listing a number of cars that simply don't apply and therefore not a great help.

Automatic or manual?

I'm going to assume a 20k budget, so therefore volvo xc60 (old one) - might be some good lease deals potentially?

Personally don't understand the whole suv thing to me just because you have a kid, had this discussion with my missus a number of time who has one of the Pug 2008 suv pretend things.

[Doofus]

If you're looking for a small SUV, you can't go wrong with a Q3.

I parked next to one yesterday, and that thing is miniscule!

Looks like a clown car...

[dazwalsh]

Go take a look at the Peugeot 3008, if it weren't for the Mrs being a bit of a badge snob that would have been our daily runabout. Very generously specced, with an instrument cluster that rivals cars double its price tag.

Marmite looks but the interior is fantastic.

[joshleb]

Would a Mazda CX3 or CX5 fit the bill?

I think Mazda have smashed the styling with these! Look great!

[cuprabob]

Doofus said:

If you're looking for a small SUV, you can't go wrong with a Q3.

I parked next to one yesterday, and that thing is miniscule!

Looks like a clown car...

Q2 is smaller