Small "luxury" SUV/crossover?
Discussion
Really struggling to find something small, fairly tall, reasonably quick, comfy, and a bit "upmarket-looking" inside.
Also, no "over £40k road tax premium", so if it cost over £40k, needs to be electric.
Size: preferably less than 4.4metres long
Sub 8 seconds to 60 for safe overtaking
At least as comfy as my C3 Aircross. This is proving to be hard....
Decent interior, with heated seats, leather, and a reasonable mix of proper buttons and fancy displays.
Petrol, BEV or plug-in hybrid, willing to consider all these.
Budget, £35k. Could stretch a bit.
Kia Niro in "4" spec probably gets the closest to meeting my requirements.
Ioniq 5 is a bit big, and not convinced about the interior.
Volvo EX30 ruled out because it doesn't have an instrument cluster.
Lexus LBX ruled out because it's too slow
Also, no "over £40k road tax premium", so if it cost over £40k, needs to be electric.
Size: preferably less than 4.4metres long
Sub 8 seconds to 60 for safe overtaking
At least as comfy as my C3 Aircross. This is proving to be hard....
Decent interior, with heated seats, leather, and a reasonable mix of proper buttons and fancy displays.
Petrol, BEV or plug-in hybrid, willing to consider all these.
Budget, £35k. Could stretch a bit.
Kia Niro in "4" spec probably gets the closest to meeting my requirements.
Ioniq 5 is a bit big, and not convinced about the interior.
Volvo EX30 ruled out because it doesn't have an instrument cluster.
Lexus LBX ruled out because it's too slow
clockworks said:
Really struggling to find something small, fairly tall, reasonably quick, comfy, and a bit "upmarket-looking" inside.
Also, no "over £40k road tax premium", so if it cost over £40k, needs to be electric.
Size: preferably less than 4.4metres long
Sub 8 seconds to 60 for safe overtaking
At least as comfy as my C3 Aircross. This is proving to be hard....
Decent interior, with heated seats, leather, and a reasonable mix of proper buttons and fancy displays.
Petrol, BEV or plug-in hybrid, willing to consider all these.
Budget, £35k. Could stretch a bit.
Kia Niro in "4" spec probably gets the closest to meeting my requirements.
Ioniq 5 is a bit big, and not convinced about the interior.
Volvo EX30 ruled out because it doesn't have an instrument cluster.
Lexus LBX ruled out because it's too slow
Lexus UX250h F Sport Design:Also, no "over £40k road tax premium", so if it cost over £40k, needs to be electric.
Size: preferably less than 4.4metres long
Sub 8 seconds to 60 for safe overtaking
At least as comfy as my C3 Aircross. This is proving to be hard....
Decent interior, with heated seats, leather, and a reasonable mix of proper buttons and fancy displays.
Petrol, BEV or plug-in hybrid, willing to consider all these.
Budget, £35k. Could stretch a bit.
Kia Niro in "4" spec probably gets the closest to meeting my requirements.
Ioniq 5 is a bit big, and not convinced about the interior.
Volvo EX30 ruled out because it doesn't have an instrument cluster.
Lexus LBX ruled out because it's too slow
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202208068...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202308040...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202309071...
F Sport Premium Plus:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202309252...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202306018...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202308130...
A few things put me off the Lexus:
Not a looker
Not that quick
Poor rear and boot space
CVT gearbox
Some pretty poor reviews
I've spent an hour getting to grips with Volvo's naming strategy for the various drivetrains in the XC40. From what I can make out, the "T5" is the top petrol plug-in hybrid, and "Inscription" is the top trim level?
It does seem to tick most of the boxes for me.
There's 2021 T5 inscription at my nearest Volvo dealer, so I'll pop in and have a look.
Anything I should look out for with these?
Not a looker
Not that quick
Poor rear and boot space
CVT gearbox
Some pretty poor reviews
I've spent an hour getting to grips with Volvo's naming strategy for the various drivetrains in the XC40. From what I can make out, the "T5" is the top petrol plug-in hybrid, and "Inscription" is the top trim level?
It does seem to tick most of the boxes for me.
There's 2021 T5 inscription at my nearest Volvo dealer, so I'll pop in and have a look.
Anything I should look out for with these?
DS3 Crossback does look quite nice. Is it that much better than my C3 Aircross though?
Same platform, same engine, less space.
To get more performance than my current car means going full electric (over £40k for the top trim), or a 2019/20 petrol to get the 155bhp 1.2.
Look like decent value secondhand for the petrol versions, and I'd be tempted if I didn't already own a 2022 Aircross in top trim.
Same platform, same engine, less space.
To get more performance than my current car means going full electric (over £40k for the top trim), or a 2019/20 petrol to get the 155bhp 1.2.
Look like decent value secondhand for the petrol versions, and I'd be tempted if I didn't already own a 2022 Aircross in top trim.
I'd probably choose the Niro too based on those requirements. If comfort is a main factor then you're limited to lexus, citroen and probably a jag, which means an epace. No thanks.
A few other ev potentials.
MG4 xpower - small, interior certainty better than the £35k price tag suggests, and imo the best looking mg so far, also probably the quickest 0-60 (3.5s) car £35k will buy for a new car, or indeed any other car still in warranty. Top gear magazine hates it because it doesn't have an rs badge. Bless. The regular trophy long range is decent too.
Lexus uxe. Quite nippy, but also small, excellent build quality and reliability , range not brilliant, charging speeds not great. Half arsed attempt at an EV from lexus
Byd atto 3 - decent equipment, nippy, from biggest car in the world, give it 10-15 years and they'll be a household name
A few other ev potentials.
MG4 xpower - small, interior certainty better than the £35k price tag suggests, and imo the best looking mg so far, also probably the quickest 0-60 (3.5s) car £35k will buy for a new car, or indeed any other car still in warranty. Top gear magazine hates it because it doesn't have an rs badge. Bless. The regular trophy long range is decent too.
Lexus uxe. Quite nippy, but also small, excellent build quality and reliability , range not brilliant, charging speeds not great. Half arsed attempt at an EV from lexus
Byd atto 3 - decent equipment, nippy, from biggest car in the world, give it 10-15 years and they'll be a household name
clockworks said:
DS3 Crossback does look quite nice. Is it that much better than my C3 Aircross though?
Same platform, same engine, less space.
To get more performance than my current car means going full electric (over £40k for the top trim), or a 2019/20 petrol to get the 155bhp 1.2.
Look like decent value secondhand for the petrol versions, and I'd be tempted if I didn't already own a 2022 Aircross in top trim.
Have you checked the insurance costs for the full electric version? You might get a nasty shock. Same platform, same engine, less space.
To get more performance than my current car means going full electric (over £40k for the top trim), or a 2019/20 petrol to get the 155bhp 1.2.
Look like decent value secondhand for the petrol versions, and I'd be tempted if I didn't already own a 2022 Aircross in top trim.
clockworks said:
A few things put me off the Lexus:
Not a looker
Not that quick
Poor rear and boot space
CVT gearbox
Some pretty poor reviews
I've spent an hour getting to grips with Volvo's naming strategy for the various drivetrains in the XC40. From what I can make out, the "T5" is the top petrol plug-in hybrid, and "Inscription" is the top trim level?
It does seem to tick most of the boxes for me.
There's 2021 T5 inscription at my nearest Volvo dealer, so I'll pop in and have a look.
Anything I should look out for with these?
The T5 was a pure petrol 2 litre turbo until 2020, producing c.250 bhp. It's as fast as you'd want, very comfy and spacious, but likes a drink.Not a looker
Not that quick
Poor rear and boot space
CVT gearbox
Some pretty poor reviews
I've spent an hour getting to grips with Volvo's naming strategy for the various drivetrains in the XC40. From what I can make out, the "T5" is the top petrol plug-in hybrid, and "Inscription" is the top trim level?
It does seem to tick most of the boxes for me.
There's 2021 T5 inscription at my nearest Volvo dealer, so I'll pop in and have a look.
Anything I should look out for with these?
Mr Pointy said:
Have you checked the insurance costs for the full electric version? You might get a nasty shock.
As it happens, I did a few quotes an hour ago.XC40 B4 and T5 are around £500 with a couple of extras added (business use, courtesy car, legal, protected bonus).
Peugeot 3008 GT hybrid and Niro 4 EV both a little more expensive.
Surprisingly, the MG4 XPower (far quicker that all the others) was fifty quid cheaper than the Volvo.
For all cars, I put a value of £35k, and a £250 voluntary excess. Compulsory excess was mostly £450.
My old M140i would now cost £600, for a value of £23k.
A bit more than I expected for some (mostly) pretty average cars. I'm 66, no points since I was 21, never had a fault claim, live in West Cornwall.
I did the quotes on Go Compare, and what really surprised me was the number of companies that declined to even quote. Tesco, who were the cheapest for my Aircross, wanted 50% above the cheapest quotes for anything electric or hybrid. Quote Me Happy, who were the cheapest for my Picanto Turbo, were almost as bad for electrics.
Puts it into perspective when I can run 2 cars (worth £30k as tradeins) for the same outlay as one slightly faster, but still sensible, car.
I thought swapping to one car might save me a bit. Volvo would cost more to tax, insure and service than both my cars combined. It'll probably depreciate just as fast too.
I'll still go and have a look at one, but it'll have to be good to tempt me.
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