Which mid sized SUV for reliability?

[Speed addicted]

We’re currently on holiday with the in-laws, as they were dropping off their discovery 4 for its bi-annual massive repair bill there was a loud bang and parts of the engine appeared on the ground.
It’s got 208k miles on it so isn’t worth throwing any more money at, certainly not new engine sort of money.

So they need a car. for about £10-13k It’s get to be 4wd, automatic and reliable. As they’re both retired something that’s not too low or high is required. They don’t want PHEV or electric, don’t really care about gadgets apart from heated seats and don’t want a tiny engine.

I’ve been telling them to go Japanese or Korean for years for minimum hassle motoring.
They live in Shetland and have been taking the Landrover to Aberdeen for all of its many issues so something they can service up there would be sensible!

I’m thinking Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, Honda CRV, Toyota RAV4 or Mitsubishi outlander.
Personally I’d avoid the fords, JLR and Vauxhalls for reliability reasons ( colleagues have had issues with both) and the German stuff for being over complicated reasons.

I’d also stay away from the likes of Infiniti or similar as the mechanics in Shetland couldn’t service a Discovery, let alone anything unusual!

So the question (eventually) is are these cars decently reliable, are any better than others and what would you recommend knowing if anything ever goes wrong with it you get the blame?
I’m leaning towards the outlander simply because there’s loads available at lower prices than the Honda or Toyotas and my own L200 has been good.

TLDR mid size SUV, £10-13k, maximum reliability.

[Huzzah]

Freelander 2, your budget gets a good understanding.

V popular around these parts.

[Quattr04.]

You re probably not far off with a Honda CRV or rav4, plenty of petrol ones around or a bit more plush with whatever Lexus offer in that segment

Skoda yeti or karoq in the mix too with the 1.5TSI 4X4

Dacia duster

Subaru forester

Suzuki vitara or SX4

Mitibushi eclipse or outlander

Mazda CX5

Mini countryman


Looking at Autotrader with 4 wheel drive, auto, petrol under £13k selected the CRV Is by far the most popular one on there

Edited by Quattr04. on Saturday 11th October 13:05

Edited by Quattr04. on Saturday 11th October 13:09

[OutInTheShed]

X3?

[Bighoose]

Hyundai Tucson or Kia Sportage, we're on our second Tucson and they've been faultless.

[ThingsBehindTheSun]

Infinity is all Mercedes running gear so cannot see why it would be a problem getting it serviced?

[sparkythecat]

The Mitsubishi Outlander isn’t a bad shout. It’s also badge engineered as the Citroen C Crosser and the Peugeot 4007.
The 2.2 PSA diesel lump in them is a pretty good engine and is also found in the Freelander 2, arguably Land Rovers most reliable car.

[A500leroy]

Subaru forester/ legacy
Volvo xc60

[leef44]

Another vote for the Suzuki Vitara. It's cheap and basic with hard plastics which means it is hard wearing no nonsense and very reliable. It's so basic that there is plenty of room in the engine bay which makes it easy to work on and cheaper mechanic bills for servicing.

[Sheepshanks]

Shetland is one place where I’d have expected to be able to get a LandRover repaired. How limited are garage facilities on Shetland? If very limited, what do the “go to” garages suggest?

Edited by Sheepshanks on Saturday 11th October 16:11

[occasionalranter]

RAV4 all day. My son and his friends, all in their 20s, have started buying 10-15 year old ones as reliable runarounds. So uncool that they're cool, in a Skoda yeti sort of way.

[andy43]

occasionalranter said:

RAV4 all day. My son and his friends, all in their 20s, have started buying 10-15 year old ones as reliable runarounds. So uncool that they're cool, in a Skoda yeti sort of way.

Yup. I have relatives in the arse end of nowhere up there and various versions of a Rav4 are the only cars they’ve had for years.

[OutInTheShed]

Sheepshanks said:

Shetland is one place where I d have expected to be able to get a LandRover repaired. How limited are garage facilities on Shetland? If very limited, what do the go to garages suggest?

Edited by Sheepshanks on Saturday 11th October 16:11

Pushing it over the edge and buying some thing decent?

[Speed addicted]

I’ve asked and the garages thing got a very vague answer, so I’m not sure if it was a can’t fix it, won’t fix it, or didn’t like the garage type issue. Either way the discovery came to Aberdeen at least twice a year for repairs from a specialist here!

I’ve run some options past them, so far the Outlander and Tucson are currently winning.
It’ll come down to what’s available locally as they won’t have a car to get home in otherwise.

At least the Landrover didn’t die after getting the latest repairs done I suppose.

[Sheepshanks]

Speed addicted said:

I ve asked and the garages thing got a very vague answer, so I m not sure if it was a can t fix it, won t fix it, or didn t like the garage type issue.

Sorry, I meant which are the makes that seem to have good support from Shetland garages?

[Speed addicted]

Sheepshanks said:

Speed addicted said:

I ve asked and the garages thing got a very vague answer, so I m not sure if it was a can t fix it, won t fix it, or didn t like the garage type issue.

Sorry, I meant which are the makes that seem to have good support from Shetland garages?

There seem to be a few dealers, which is pretty good going for a total of 25k people.
Kia/Hyundai are ok, the Mitsubishi dealer now sells something else but still look after them.
Obviously there may be issues with which garages they like as it’s all very strange and memories anbout who owns what are long but I’m not getting into that side of things.

[Russet Grange]

Another RAV4 vote. I'm on my third, they don't go wrong.

[Matt_T]

I'd suggest also looking at KGM / Ssangyong Korandos. You can get a 2023 with 25,000 miles for £13k.

They have a good dealer network in the UK so you can just get any parts you need shipped to Shetland.

And their reliability scores are about the same as Kia / Hyundai.

[RedLightGreenLight]

Another Toyota RAV4 vote…The Mitsubishi already mentioned is also a very good option too

[Speed addicted]

Sheepshanks said:

Speed addicted said:

I ve asked and the garages thing got a very vague answer, so I m not sure if it was a can t fix it, won t fix it, or didn t like the garage type issue.

Sorry, I meant which are the makes that seem to have good support from Shetland garages?

There seem to be a few dealers, which is pretty good going for a total of 25k people.
Kia/Hyundai are ok, the Mitsubishi dealer now sells something else but still look after them.
Obviously there may be issues with which garages they like as it’s all very strange and memories anbout who owns what are long but I’m not getting into that side of things.