Small(ish), yet refined?

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Trying to help my dad find a new car. He wants to downsize from his 2007 E-class estate, but without losing much in the way of quality and refinement. Has to seat four adults in comfort. Budget is £20k, but it must be under 5 years old/40k miles.

I've just taken him to see an F31 335d Luxury, thinking it would be ideal. Sadly not - lots of road noise and the engine, which I thought as a six cylinder would be vastly superior to the four pot, wasn't great either. Seemed no more settled than my old E39 530d!

We've also been to look at the Lexus CT200h, which might've won out on NVH, but we didn't even get as far as test driving due to poor rear seat space/access.

So, any ideas?

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Dr Jekyll said:

Yearly mileage?

10-15k. If this is leading you on to recommending a petrol instead, then fear not, we're considering petrols too. He wants a significant improvement on his E500 though, and that manages over 30mpg on a motorway run...

yajeed said:

Jag XF (though rear headroom wasn’t great on the previous model and I’m not sure you’ll get a newer one).

My XJ is noticably quieter than my 330d (inside and noticably from outside); starting them both when nose to nose and standing behind the jag, I can only hear the 3 series.

Lexis is a decent shout - maybe one of the larger models for rear space - an IS?

XF is too big, sadly. It needs to be XE/3er/C class -sized maximum. Something even smaller (Golf sized) earns it more points still.

Forgot to say, needs to have a hatch. No saloons. Sadly that rules out the IS300h as it never came as a wagon.

Wooda80 said:

Part of the issue with your search is that your dad will have become so accustomed to his Mercedes, which in turn will have worn and softened to fit around him.

It's rather like replacing your favourite old shoes with a new pair which, whilst much more smart serviceable and durable, pinch and rub uncomfortably until you have worn them in. Unfortunately you are not going to overcome this on any kind of test drive.

It might be worth setting your dad's expectations regarding this before he rules out any more contenders.

335 Lux is probably going to as good as anything else on offer saloon wise. Things like Jeep Grand Cherokees are big lazy comfy things you don't mind an SUV

Love the 'old shoes' analogy - shall pass that on!

Jeep GCs are too big sadly, although the raised rise height is a nice to have.

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Wow, thanks for all the responses. A bit too many to quote but I'll try to address all the cars put forward:

New Mercs (C-class, B-class, GLA, etc) - We find the interiors a bit gaudy
Mondeo - Too long
Golf - Assumed it wouldn't have the refinement of it's posher A3 sibling
A3 - Had the saloon as a company car last year. Didn't find it much to write home about
A4 - Good shout - borrowed my bosses one and loved it. Dad's previous DSG car needed a new 'box at 40k miles so that always puts us off VWG stuff if auto is a must, but might be worth giving one a second chance, we were probably just unlucky last time
Model 3 - Loving the lateral thinking, but nowhere to change it as no off-street parking (hence wanting a shorter car...)
Note - Errr, moving swiftly on
2 Series Active Tourer - much quieter than the F31?
Skodas - Won't have the NVH of the Audi, surely?
Evoque - Too flashy
V40/V60 - I like these, but the interiors look cheap in the photos. Maybe better in real life?
DS5 - Ugly (sorry)

Apologies if that all sounds a bit dismissive. Just trying to be realistic about what my dad will think of them.

In summary, I think the B9 A4, and possibly the Volvos are worth a look/drive. I've also discovered the Peugeot 3008 (ventured outside of my German barge comfort zone!) - anyone had one?

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poing said:

Synchromesh said:

I've also discovered the Peugeot 3008 (ventured outside of my German barge comfort zone!) - anyone had one?

Far better than most on here will give them credit for, a really comfy long distance car. Not particularly quiet and the boot is a good size but silly design with the lower half folding down but being really cheap feeling. The recent facelift is a good looking car.

Haven't tried the new petrol engines in them though so can't be sure what they are like, the faster diesel has a decent turn of speed in the real world but not sure if that's still available.

I'm talking about the new model (believe it's all new rather than a facelift). No split tailgate as far as I can see.

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By way of a conclusion, in the end he went for a BMW M140i. Perhaps a bit sporty for his liking (although he spec'd adaptive dampers so the ride is pretty good), but the only way of getting a something modern and Golf sized with more than four cylinders. Shame there's no non-M 140i really - that drivetrain with SE suspension but minus the big wheels and aggressive styling would've be perfect.