What car do I need?

[a311]

Hello PH

I’ve been mulling over car options and could do with a sense check.

I’ve leased the main family car for over 10 years, generally managing to get what I’d consider decent deals each time.

Current car is an ID.7 which goes back in October unless I extend. As a family car it’s been absolutely fine. Big, comfortable and plenty of tech, even if some of it can be a bit irritating. The EV side wasn’t a big draw for me originally but in reality it’s been easy enough, charged at home 99% of the time and only the odd inconvenience on longer trips.

Situation has changed slightly now the kids are 7 and 10. We’re doing more days out with bikes, and with two dogs as well it’s becoming a bit of a juggling act fitting everything in. A boot rack isn’t ideal with the dogs, and a roof rack isn’t realistic for my wife to manage on her own. Tow bar isn’t an option on the current car.

We do around 8k miles a year, mostly local stuff. A few times a year we’ll do a fully loaded 6 hour run to visit family which the ID.7 has coped with, but it’s definitely on the limit space wise and that’s only going to get worse as the kids grow.

I wouldn’t rule out leasing again, but I’m leaning towards buying something this time around. Currently considering:

Skoda Superb Estate

Volvo V90 (had both an XC60 and V90 previously, liked them, nicer interior but maybe not quite as usable space-wise as the Skoda)

BMW 5 Series Touring (possibly a PHEV, although aware of the boot compromise)

I'd have to look at the numbers with a PHEV vs just ICE. We have a Volvo PHEV and the majority of our use was on EV only.

Left field option is going down the van/MPV route like a Tourneo or Traveller. We’ve got 4 weeks off this summer and are planning a road trip through France, Switzerland and Northern Italy, so the idea of something you can just throw bikes, dogs and kids into is appealing.

My hesitation is whether that’s solving a problem I only really have 5% of the time, and making day to day life harder the other 95%.

Interested to hear if anyone has been in a similar position and what they ended up doing. Budget 25K tops I'd say.

[andy43]

I'm using my first PHEV covering maybe 8-10k per year and I still had some spanish fuel in the tank at Xmas two months after it was filled up.
I'm doing 35 miles per charge with closer to 50 in summer, plus I've got roughly 500 miles of range if I need it for long trips.
It really is the sweet spot between EVs and ICE.
Skoda Superb is the standard answer for a family holdall but I'm not sold on the poxy 1.4 litre PHEV engines in those..

[ZX10R NIN]

Mazda CX-60 2.5e nice size boot & you'll still have 3 years of manufacturer warranty:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202601299...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202603060...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202602260...

E200:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202602069...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202601309...

530e:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202512018...

Passat:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202602260...

Arteon:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202601068...

[a311]

andy43 said:

I'm using my first PHEV covering maybe 8-10k per year and I still had some spanish fuel in the tank at Xmas two months after it was filled up.
I'm doing 35 miles per charge with closer to 50 in summer, plus I've got roughly 500 miles of range if I need it for long trips.
It really is the sweet spot between EVs and ICE.
Skoda Superb is the standard answer for a family holdall but I'm not sold on the poxy 1.4 litre PHEV engines in those..

Cheers agree the PHEV is a good option for thisnsort of use. The Skoda is an interesting one on paper, still over 200bhp. I think the Volvo I had was well over 300bhp but never really liked being pressed or felt quick maybe it was the gearing. The 530e has far more power and expect the better drive but smaller boot to begin with and compromised further on the PHEV verison.