Looking for some advice

[ACQPL]

Hi all - Looking for some advice please. Hopefully this is in the right place..

To give you some history, my current car is a 2013 Ford Mondeo 2.0 Dirty Diesel.
Due to ULEZ I've already been getting screwed, but now with some dodgy steering stuff happening, and smelling oil in the exhaust I think it's time to change.

Car before that was a Mitsubishi Ralliart (All the hate I know for not going full evo), and I loved that thing. Handled like it was on rails, AWD, and very practical large hatchback. The fuel costs, and the VED just killed me though, and after the gearbox went, I ended up in Mr "slowpoke" Mondeo.

I'm trying to find something fairly new (2019+) which deals well with my 15 mile commute (7 days in a row, mostly motorway with a bit of national limit C road), but I also rack up the miles going 120-200 motorway miles a day on my days off (2-3 days).
I absolutely love the mile-munching capability, comfort and efficiency of the Mondeo, but I also miss the rail like handling and outright tear your face off speed of the Ralliart (though I don't miss the suspension made out of rocks)..

I know you can't have both efficiency, handling, capacity and acceleration, but I'm tying to find a middle ground somewhere.

The big three, honestly don't interest me for various reasons, and as much as I like the Octavia VRS, something like the Supurb sportline just looks like a much more sensible idea for what I tend to do. Has practical use but also has some oomph and a bit of speed and liveliness.
Merc has just never clicked well for me, and i've drvien a few. Audi honestly i'm just not a fan of the looks and BMW the service costs are eye watering. I did play with the idea of an x-drive 345 for a while but honestly I'm not sure..

I guess the only thing aside from "who" is working out, petrol vs diesel. I average about 16-18000 miles a year, and at least two to three times a year have a long run from basically London up to Scotland, and back.

Does Diesel still make any sense at all, or in the example of the Supurb, would there be not much of a difference between the two due to my style of driving?

If I need to put in more explanation of what I need and all, let me know. I appreciate it's a bit of a "how long is a piece of string" question...

Looking ideally for something which is a large saloon type (with hatchback boot ideally). I'm not a massive fan of estates, but it's not a major thing, just preference.

If you all have some suggestions, please let me know ! Thanks !

EDIT - You've already confirmed I'm a moron Looking about £25,000. Can probably stretch a little over if it really sticks with me. Also I'd prefer second hand, maybe back to about 2018-2019.

Edited by ACQPL on Friday 6th January 22:18

[ChocolateFrog]

You haven't stated a budget.

[AlwynMike]

Do your sums on service costs, especially if you're going to keep it in the Dealer network.
From experience BMW is a lot cheaper than Merc.
A pal had a Passat, then changed to a C Class Merc. He says service costs much reduced.

[Bobupndown]

Diesel Superb, 4x4 also available, personally I'd have the estate all day long.

[ZX10R NIN]

Diesel makes perfect sense depreciation will be you're biggest cost considering you're annual mileage, with this in mind I'd look at these, as a side note a Skoda Superb isn't a better steer than the Mondeo.

There are two that I'd take a look at both are a hard find due to their high initial cost.

Insignia GSI BiTDI 210:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202212122...

Passat R Line BiTDI 240:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202211011...

Not AWD but a very good car, XF 300:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202206307...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202211181...

[georgeyboy12345]

If I were you, I'd still buy a diesel. Here are some ideas

Kia Stinger 2.2 CRDi
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202212092...


Alfa Romeo Giulia 2.2 JTD Speciale
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301063...


Volvo S90 D4
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202211091...


Jaguar XE D180
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209029...

[ACQPL]

Thank-you all for your suggestions so far.
I'm going to be test driving the Passat R line, S90 and Supurb sportline.. As well as a 330D, though the price is understandably a bit higher compared to the others for a similar year.

If I have any other questions I'll be sure to stick them here. Thank-you for your advice so far ! I'll let you know what I think of the drives !

Also, I had a good think about the mileage I tend to crank out on average, and I'm comfortable going Diesel still for the foreseeable.