Which C-segment/small family car for motorways? - Page 1 - Car Buying

Fresh Prince

Original Poster

537 posts

193 months

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Thursday 27th December 2018

Hi all. I'm looking for a C-segment car primarily for going up and down motorways, budget £10-£15k. Conventional wisdom suggests something like an early Mk7 Golf GTD. However I took one for a test drive recently and although I liked the radar cruise, I wasn't particularly impressed by the NVH at motorway speeds, it didn't seem any better (and possibly worse?) than my 13-year old Renault Laguna. It could be due in part to tyres, but I also tried a 2017 Mk3 facelift Focus Zetec Diesel and to me it seemed slightly better. Someone has also suggested a 2014-onwards Peugeot 308 but I haven't tried one yet.

In an ideal world I'd go for an old barge (I really miss my old E39 528i) but my wife isn't keen and prefers something smaller, and I can't afford more than one costly to run car in the household. Of the newer cars I've tried recently, I was most impressed by the W205 C-class but it is out of budget and also still a bit on the larger side. Any experiences and opinions welcome.

AndrewGP

2,077 posts

183 months

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Thursday 27th December 2018

I’m going through a very similar process to you right now and asked the same question last week, so watching with interest. My budget is slightly higher than yours (but only fractionally) and I think my thread is on page 2 or 3 if you want a read.

With Christmas etc I’ve not done much looking so far, but I’m off to look a 1 and 2 Series tomorrow as well as test drive a 218d. I am also considering a Golf GTD Mk7, but read that the DSG is inferior to the ZF8 boxes in the BMW so it will interesting to compare.

jamei303

3,043 posts

177 months

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Thursday 27th December 2018

A V40 would probably be the most comfortable in that class.

ZX10R NIN

29,860 posts

146 months

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Thursday 27th December 2018

talksthetorque

10,821 posts

156 months

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Thursday 27th December 2018

AS well as the usual excellent suggestions by ZX10 - You mentioned a C-class- Is an IS300h too big for your OH?
These are in your price range now.

FlatToTheMat

1,426 posts

184 months

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Saturday 29th December 2018

I’ve just spent a fortnight In a v40 D2. I really didn’t expect much from it but i really liked it. Nice motorway cruiser, very economical I got over 600miles from a tank. Good lights, decent stereo and once warm and moving I couldn’t really hear the engine.

Twig62

761 posts

117 months

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Saturday 29th December 2018

[quote=Fresh Prince]Hi all. I'm looking for a C-segment car primarily for going up and down motorways, budget £10-£15k. Conventional wisdom suggests something like an early Mk7 Golf GTD. However I took one for a test drive recently and although I liked the radar cruise, I wasn't particularly impressed by the NVH at motorway speeds, it didn't seem any better (and possibly worse?) than my 13-year old Renault Laguna. It could be due in part to tyres, but I also tried a 2017 Mk3 facelift Focus Zetec Diesel and to me it seemed slightly better. Someone has also suggested a 2014-onwards Peugeot 308 but I haven't tried one yet.

I have a 5 month old Peugeot 308 1.5 diesel with their EAT8 Auto gearbox and it is an excellent motorway cruiser. It is very smooth and quiet and averages around 70mpg despite being driven fairly swiftly !

Croutons

12,574 posts

187 months

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Saturday 29th December 2018

If primarily motorways, why not a slightly larger car?

Focus will depreciate like a stone with the new one having just come out- or at least use that as a bargaining chip.

A class boot doesn't fit a modest fart.

Octavia? Esp if NVH an issue.

FlatToTheMat

1,426 posts

184 months

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Sunday 30th December 2018

Croutons said:

Octavia? Esp if NVH an issue.

I find this Octavias especially bad with this, engines never shut up. Gearknob vibrates and constant road noise. The v40 I suggested is head and shoulders better in this regard

Edited by FlatToTheMat on Sunday 30th December 04:48

Croutons

12,574 posts

187 months

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Sunday 30th December 2018

The V40 I had, an R Design Pro, had totally unacceptable road noise. I assume they're 18" alloys on it, but honestly I could not believe how bad it was. 4k on the clock when I picked it up, 14 when I gave it back 3 months later, tyres weren't overly worn, no tracking issues, just really f

king noisy inside!

Perhaps the dinky wheeled versions are better (seats were typical Volvo loveliness mind).

FlatToTheMat

1,426 posts

184 months

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Sunday 30th December 2018

Croutons said:

The V40 I had, an R Design Pro, had totally unacceptable road noise. I assume they're 18" alloys on it, but honestly I could not believe how bad it was. 4k on the clock when I picked it up, 14 when I gave it back 3 months later, tyres weren't overly worn, no tracking issues, just really f

king noisy inside!

Perhaps the dinky wheeled versions are better (seats were typical Volvo loveliness mind).

Ive heard that fortunately the model I was driving had the smaller 17s and an SE (16s are the key im sure) on so wasnt so bad but better than a 17plate Octavia I recently rented on the same roads

Fresh Prince

Original Poster

537 posts

193 months

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Sunday 30th December 2018

AndrewGP said:

I’m going through a very similar process to you right now...

Thanks for highlighting your thread - very useful. I'll keep an eye on your progress too.

jamei303 said:

A V40 would probably be the most comfortable in that class.

Thanks to you (and FlatToTheMat), but I had a passenger ride in one recently and although the seats and stereo were brilliant, there was quite a lot of tyre roar/road noise. Perhaps it's spec dependent? The one I was in was an R-Design T3. Maybe I'm strange, but I don't mind engine noise and I don't think there's anything these days which drones or sounds strained at motorway speeds like in the old days. In smaller modern cars I find road and wind noise far more fatiguing. Don't mind it in my MX-5 or Boxster when I'm out for fun, but not when I just want to cover 150 miles without fuss.

ZX10R NIN said:

Lots of useful suggestions

As always ZX10R, thanks for your very helpful suggestions. Agree on the DS5 but that is a D-segment car, and my wife is adamant she wants something less than 4.5m long so she can park in London when she needs to. This highlights my problem; for my tastes I think D-segment is an acceptable compromise (e.g. the IS300h which was suggested - thanks talksthetorque) but these are slightly too big for my wife and it will primarily be her (and the kids) car. I mentioned the C-class as I thought it was very good - a compromise from there would be fine given how good I found that car (base-spec 18-plate C200). Will take a closer look at the Infinity.

Twig62 said:

I have a 5 month old Peugeot 308 1.5 diesel with their EAT8 Auto gearbox and it is an excellent motorway cruiser. It is very smooth and quiet and averages around 70mpg despite being driven fairly swiftly !

Thanks - I'll have a look at these in the next couple of weeks. Some have complained about the large boot taking space from the smaller rear cabin, but for us with a 2yr old and a 7 month old, and buggies/prams etc this could actually work better for us than a car with a slightly larger rear cabin and smaller boot e.g. Focus/Golf/A3.

Croutons said:

If primarily motorways, why not a slightly larger car?

Excellent point, however this is my wife's car and she has imposed the size limit. The money was initially intended to replace my daily driver (the Laguna mentioned previously). However, at 267,000 miles it shows no signs of impending doom (touch wood). So my wife's car will get replaced instead. My plan is to replace my Laguna (probably in 2020 now) with something of a similar size or larger - maybe even an old barge if I feel brave enough.

Interesting comments above - maybe things are becoming more spec/wheel dependent? FWIW I was in a non-S-line Audi A3 with small wheels yesterday and I thought that was pretty good, so it goes on the shortlist. Thanks all!

ZX10R NIN

29,860 posts

146 months

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Sunday 30th December 2018

Fresh Prince said:

ZX10R NIN said:

Lots of useful suggestions

As always ZX10R, thanks for your very helpful suggestions. Agree on the DS5 but that is a D-segment car, and my wife is adamant she wants something less than 4.5m long so she can park in London when she needs to. This highlights my problem; for my tastes I think D-segment is an acceptable compromise (e.g. the IS300h which was suggested - thanks talksthetorque) but these are slightly too big for my wife and it will primarily be her (and the kids) car. I mentioned the C-class as I thought it was very good - a compromise from there would be fine given how good I found that car (base-spec 18-plate C200). Will take a closer look at the Infinity.

Croutons said:

If primarily motorways, why not a slightly larger car?

Excellent point, however this is my wife's car and she has imposed the size limit. The money was initially intended to replace my daily driver (the Laguna mentioned previously). However, at 267,000 miles it shows no signs of impending doom (touch wood). So my wife's car will get replaced instead. My plan is to replace my Laguna (probably in 2020 now) with something of a similar size or larger - maybe even an old barge if I feel brave enough.

There's also the DS4 which has the same drivetrain as the DS5:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

The Q30's with the Mercedes drivetrain are hard to find but worth seeking out:

Now when the time comes to replacing the Laguna then I'd suggest seeking out one of these:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

They're very hard to find but worth seeking out if you're looking for a bit of luxury without (think Lexus) ruinous running costs as they normally have a couple of years warranty left on them which you can extend.

They come with everything but the kitchen sink & have normally been owned by Hyundai for their execs so always have FSH, I've supplied two & both are very happy with them I will say they're better with the lighter coloured interiors. but with so few for sale you may not get the luxury of picking.