Which Czech estate (or alternative)?

[bobsavage789]

Mrs S is hoping to chop in her Mini hatch for a more sensible/bigger family car. So far, the favourite has been a previous-gen Octavia vRS, but the car we test drove was in a sorry state, and the only one that met her (fairly exacting) criteria anywhere nearby is being sold by a dealer with seemingly no interest in actually selling it to her.

She also likes the look of the Superb estate (in L&K) spec, but that would involve quite the haggle to get in budget.

Is the Superb worth pursuing over the Octavia? She’s not hugely interested in driving dynamics, but wants to win a few Traffic Light Grands Prix. Is there anything else she should be considering?

Budget is £20k max.

Criteria:
- <8 seconds 0-60
- 5+ seats
- enough space for baby/children paraphernalia and 2 adults over longish distances
- Apple CarPlay
- cruise control
- no older than 67 plate

Desired (but not crucial):
- automatic
- leather seats
- fancy interior lighting thingamajig

I came up with some Leon Cupras, but they were received only lukewarmly...

Thanks in advance.

Summary: £20k budget; fastish, newish family car required.

[bobsavage789]

Sorry: should have added “max. 35k miles” to the criteria...

I’ll investigate the V90 further.

[bobsavage789]

Thanks for the replies so far: I suspect the Superb might be the one to go for based on the comfort vs performance feedback.

Unfortunately, they seem to be relatively few and far between within budget, and the one I have found is “the wrong colour”! Women eh...

[bobsavage789]

J.R.B. said:

Jag XF Sportbrake?

I do like the look of these, and had the old style XF-S, which I adored.

Unfortunately there seem to be none in budget near to us... will keep an eye out though.

[bobsavage789]

amateurdad said:

I can recommend a Superb Estate. I went from a Golf GTE that the pram could barely fit in to having bags of space. I found a Sportline 280 4x4 too and it was about 21k on a 68 plate, so slightly over your 20k budget but they might be out there!

Certainly one of the 190 or 220bhp ones should be attainable and.

I would bloody love her to get the 280, but suspect we may just have to wait until something suitable comes up: only one Superb estate within budget and 90 miles!

[bobsavage789]

ZX10R NIN said:

I may sound like a broken record but test drive the Mondeo.

ZX, you are one my favourite forum members, so have my permission and blessing to repeat yourself ad nauseam.

Sadly “‘er indoors” “doesn’t like” the infotainment system in Ford’s…

[bobsavage789]

I’ve found a relatively nearby Superb Sportline with the 220 PS petrol engine.

Watch this space…

[bobsavage789]

MC Bodge said:

What's wrong with it? I have the Sync 3 and it works very well. Far better than my 2016 Octavia's was.

I haven’t the foggiest: I’m somewhat of a Luddite, I’m afraid… It’ll be the wife’s car, and she claims it doesn’t meet her technological needs (whatever the heck they are…).

[bobsavage789]

ahenners said:

Good choice! Nearly went to view one of these a couple of weeks ago with approx 7k of options. Be warned, tyre costs are quite steep on these for what they are, a full set of PS4 or F1A5 will set you back over £700.

Interesting: thanks for the heads-up. I’ve just spotted the 19” alloys. I suspect it’ll be mid-range tyres at best when/if the time comes to replace them, so not quite the cost of a full round of MPS4s or similar, but still expensive for the type of car…

[bobsavage789]

The good news is that she liked the Superb enough to enter negotiations. The bad news is that the dealer didn’t budge sufficiently to put it in budget: allegedly there’s “a lady from Liverpool” who’s very keen…

We’ll make a final offer tomorrow and go from there.

[bobsavage789]

Rather tediously (and predictably), Mrs S has decided that she didn’t want to change cars, and that her Mini Cooper S can continue to be a family car…

I give up.