Spec vs badge in a family car
Spec vs badge in a family car
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tiger roll

Original Poster:

32 posts

69 months

Looking for a family car to replace our much-loved 2014 Skoda Yeti. We went on a route 66 road trip in a hire car over the summer and realised that for long trips having adaptive cruise control and carplay are now things we don’t want to go without.

Our budget is a moving target because I’m trying to figure out where the value for money / diminishing returns point is nowadays but we probably want to spend £25k ish.

Went to a Lexus dealership this morning and looked at RX and NX, then a Toyota to look at Rav 4.

Then I went to a BMW dealership and looked at X3 / X5 only to be told that adaptive cruise is a ‘rarely specified option’ in those cars and that we would be lucky to find one at our budget level.

Am I right to think that at this sort of budget level you have to pick between spec and badge, is that what is going on?

Asking as I’m surprised to see cars at the £25k budget with much lower spec than my runabout 2018 Nissan Leaf Tekna, a car that can currently be bought at auction for £5k. Which has 360 camera, adaptive cruise, lane keeping, heated seats and wheel, decent Bose stereo, carplay, decent leather seats.

Would welcome thoughts on ‘spec heavy’ options for a £25k family car as I seem to care about this much more than badge (assuming passable economy and performance). Next on my list to look at will be:

Model Y
X-trail (this is what we had in the US but it’s called a Nissan Rogue over there)
Disco sport
XC60

Any obvious ones I’ve missed?

Jamescrs

5,530 posts

83 months

I suspect that 25k won't get you much X3 or X5 in a BMW dealership where they don't really want to stock anything over 5 years old generally.

I think you would have to look at older models from a non franchise dealer or look at other marques. Kia and Hyundai are doing some very nice cars these days and undoubtedly you would get more for your money than the German brands

samoht

6,706 posts

164 months

I think it's probably true that the German companies still tend to make base models with as little spec as they think they can get away with, and charge handsomely for each additional feature. OTOH the other brands tend to be a bit more generous. On the used market this means if you want a German car with specific options it can be a bit of a unicorn hunt.

I also think that EVs have tended to be relatively high spec, as they were the more expensive option until recently, and perhaps appealed to early adopters who wanted these sort of assistance features.

So one option is, if you want a German car, look up what each brand calls adaptive cruise, and add that to your AT search, eg
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-search?channel=ca...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-search?channel=ca...

and then be prepared to travel; the options often don't lift the price that much, but narrow your options.

Otherwise look at the cars you mention plus perhaps Hyundai/Kia/Genesis (especially EVs). A Polestar 2 with Pilot pack has ACC, if it's big enough as a family car.

sunnyb13

1,149 posts

56 months

you'll need to up your budget.

OutInTheShed

12,328 posts

44 months

What's wrong with the Yeti?
I fancy one of these, but it seems everyone who has one is getting rid of it for some reason?

If you want modern 'stuff' like ACC, more than badges or power, then a new or nearly new car on finance can make your budget go a long way.
It's not me, but I see it working well for many people.

ZX10R NIN

29,527 posts

143 months

I'll always pick spec over the badge as having the spec means I'll enjoy the car more than I will in a base car with the badge.

OutInTheShed

12,328 posts

44 months

ZX10R NIN said:
I'll always pick spec over the badge as having the spec means I'll enjoy the car more than I will in a base car with the badge.
Spec as in BHP and cc's, yes.
Spec as in bells and whistles, nope.

jamest1988

159 posts

150 months

if your happy to look at Model Y, the previous gen Skoda Enyaq might be worth a test drive.

I've just got a new model as a company lease, its the base spec but has loads of options compared to my old car. Ours has heated seats and steering wheel, adaptive cruise with lane assist, road sign recognition etc etc. The older models might have a bit less but I'm sure you could find the spec you want within your budget.

Edited by jamest1988 on Monday 6th October 21:00

ZX10R NIN

29,527 posts

143 months

OutInTheShed said:
Spec as in BHP and cc's, yes.
Spec as in bells and whistles, nope.
Spec as in bhp/bells & whistles.

Sheepshanks

38,049 posts

137 months

ZX10R NIN said:
I'll always pick spec over the badge as having the spec means I'll enjoy the car more than I will in a base car with the badge.
In a company car fleet of around 100 vehicles I was one of only a couple of drivers who took Peugeot 406 Exec - I liked that it had no option list at all, even metallic was standard. The heated memory power leather seats were brilliant. Everyone else drove boggo A4's and 318's.


OP: to get the spec you're looking for you're going to have to get something like Ultimate trim level on a Hyundai, and even then leather is an option. Or Tekna on Nissan, of course. smile

Something like a BMW is going to need to have had a lot of options thrown at it. We looked at used iX1's (new are completely bonkers prices) and I gave up as most were stupidly basic and a couple I looked at didn't have the correct spec in the advert.

Quattr04.

704 posts

9 months

VW Tiguan or Passat

all VWs since about 2016/2017 have ACC and CarPlay as standard

The R line trim Tiguan mk2 are very well specified, ACC, full led headlights, panoramic roof etc

£25k even gets you the 2.0 TSI with 300BHP

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2025091563...

Or certain trims of Skoda kodiaq got ACC as standard too



Edited by Quattr04. on Monday 6th October 21:24

Sheepshanks

38,049 posts

137 months

Quattr04. said:
VW Tiguan or Passat

all VWs since about 2016/2017 have ACC and CarPlay as standard

The R line trim Tiguan mk2 are very well specified, ACC, full led headlights, panoramic roof etc

£25k even gets you the 2.0 TSI with 300BHP

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2025091563...
You're still not going to get things like leather seats and 360 camera, unless they were added as options which is extremely rare.

cerb4.5lee

38,861 posts

198 months

ZX10R NIN said:
I'll always pick spec over the badge as having the spec means I'll enjoy the car more than I will in a base car with the badge.
I've always been like that too, and I always used to say that I'd prefer to have a Mondeo V6 Ghia X for example, over something like a BMW 318i in comparison. Obviously in an ideal world it is nice to have both though.

mdk1

518 posts

227 months

An 2 yr old Skoda Superb L&K will have enough toys to keep you happy, or if you want to go EV a Skoda Enyaq would be a good choice,

tiger roll

Original Poster:

32 posts

69 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
OutInTheShed said:
What's wrong with the Yeti?
I fancy one of these, but it seems everyone who has one is getting rid of it for some reason?
Nothing wrong with the Yeti, it’s a great car. It’s only the 1.2 petrol and it isn’t 4x4, but it has been faultless for 60k miles and we love it like a family pet. We bought it for £11k in 2017 and could WBAC it for £7.5k tomorrow so barely any depreciation cost.

If you could retrofit adaptive cruise into it we would be doing that and keeping it.

Also we’ve moved to the country from London and do a lot more motorway miles (and time in the car) these days

tiger roll

Original Poster:

32 posts

69 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
Jamescrs said:
Kia and Hyundai are doing some very nice cars these days
Thanks for this, I watched YouTube videos on the Tuscon in ultimate spec 2022 ish (so £25k ish) last night, looks like it might be a better car than some of what I looked at on dealerships yesterday, will seek one out to have a look.

Other idea that is brewing is up the budget to say £40k and buy a L405 approved used with a 2-yr warranty. As I say it’s less about the £ number and more about trying to find a good price-to-quality ratio somewhere


Edited by tiger roll on Tuesday 7th October 16:18

Ankh87

1,002 posts

120 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
Have you looked at the KIA/HYUNDAI models? They come with great specs for the price and usually you'll get a newer car for the same price as a 2016 model BMW.

CarlosFandango11

1,962 posts

204 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
If your considering a Rav 4, then a Suzuki Across is essentially the same but cheaper:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Quattr04.

704 posts

9 months

Tuesday
quotequote all
tiger roll said:
Nothing wrong with the Yeti, it s a great car. It s only the 1.2 petrol and it isn t 4x4, but it has been faultless for 60k miles and we love it like a family pet. We bought it for £11k in 2017 and could WBAC it for £7.5k tomorrow so barely any depreciation cost.

If you could retrofit adaptive cruise into it we would be doing that and keeping it.

Also we ve moved to the country from London and do a lot more motorway miles (and time in the car) these days
Do be careful that not all ACC is created equal

In a new VAG car it s awesome, it will slow you down, hold you on the brakes in traffic and then move off on its own within a few seconds or you press to go if longer, I recently had a new quashqui and it did the same but when you stoped it just turned off and wouldn t follow in traffic., a Kia Nero was the same.
The Ford transit I had it would just turn off at 12MPH

(All automatics btw)

tiger roll

Original Poster:

32 posts

69 months

Wednesday
quotequote all
Went on a bunch more dealership visits today. Will type up impressions on the cars later but two observations:

1. Cars have improved quite a lot since 2014. If you value the tech in cars, stuff like adaptive cruise and the 360 camera, that is. If you haven't then obviously that's a different viewpoint, which is fair enough. Each to their own. But for my preferences at least I think it has all kicked on a notch and don't really agree with the 'peak car' stuff I have been reading now I have seen it with my own eyes

2. It turns out I don't agree very much with motoring journalists. I keep reading and seeing on youtube that crossovers, family SUVs etc are 'all the same car' and it doesn't make any difference which one you go for. No! Complete bullst! How can anyone sit in all these cars, which are different in their own ways, and conclude that basically they are all the same. They are not. I'm glad I went to the dealerships and had a look for myself rather than relying on stuff I read and watch on the internet. Even though some of the staff seem to think you are a weirdo for going into a car showroom to browse for cars without already being fixated on one specifc model