Most economical, comfy but engaging family car for £5-£10k?

[RoVoFob]

So, my car-swapping urge has returned, only this time with a bit more of an economy and reliability/low-maintenance focus. I’d benefit from something a bit more frugal than my current 2007 A6 4.2 FSI (but still decently refined on the motorway), since the vast majority of my driving seems to be in urban/suburban London sadly, and the economy I get is pretty bad as a result.

What’s the best, practical family-friendly automatic car that has a 400+ litre boot but is notably more economical for urban and busy 40mph roads, while being somewhat interesting. Doesn’t need to be sporty at all, but has to have a reasonable balance of comfort, performance and control, preferably an interesting engine, plus decent seats and speakers…

My ideal would be 30mpg+, but something that does 25mpg+ in busy suburban driving is probably more realistic.I have a one-year-old son and sometimes need to transport his large pram, but a saloon with a reasonably wide opening should just about be OK. Here are my ideas:

£9,000-£11,000: Skoda Octavia 1.4 TSI SEL (would want optional xenons and Canton sound system)
£5,000-£6,500: Lexus RX400h SE-L (concerned about catalyst theft - because London…)
£4,000-£5,000: Lexus GS300
£5,000-£8,000: Lexus GS450h (later 2010- versions have a 330-litre boot, but imagine this will still be too small)
£6,000-£8,000: VW Passat CC 3.6 V6 (my previous R36 estate was notably more economical than my current A6…)

Any thoughts on those options/others you’d recommend? Thanks.

Wishlist:
25-30mpg+ suburban economy and ideally £360 or less to tax
ISOFIX and sufficient rear-seat room/access for large child seat
Big, pram-friendly boot (c. 400+ litres, hatchback useful but not essential)
ULEZ exempt petrol/hybrid
Comfy seats (prefer sports seats, but anything other than flat, lumbar-less seats is OK)
Decent speakers
Decent headlights
Decent automatic

[RoVoFob]

ZX10R NIN said:

You'll probably end buying another VAG maybe with a 6.0 W12 :big laugh: but I thought I'd give you some alternatives

Thanks ZX10R. Much appreciated.

Ha. If I didn’t have £600-per-month of nursery fees starting this month (Jeremy Hunt’s “free childcare” is nothing but pre-election propaganda rather than a meaningful policy), something silly might be quite appealing, but I am far more sensible than you’d expect any V8 driver to be… Can’t deny that I would like another R36/Passat CC 3.6, though! Love, love, love VR6s.

I knew there’d be at least one Infiniti in there! Wait a minute, that Lexus GS250 is a non-hybrid? I had no idea there was a non-hybrid 2.5 V6…It should appeal but I prefer the look and interior of the older GS450h and the better performance and mpg - just need to gauge how workable the 330-litre boot is in 2010-ish models.

Have considered a number of E350s/E350 CGIs. Would really want an estate version, though, or a CLS350 CGI…Any experience with these? Four seats and no folding rear seats is annoying, but I understand they’re less unreliable than the W211 of the time…

The BMW makes a lot of sense but just doesn’t appeal. The S60 boot is way too small, methinks. Loved my old five-pot T5, however.

I was half expecting you to recommend an M/Q50/Q70 hybrid. My mileage/typical journey length is way too low for a diesel but the M hybrid is more economical, faster and bigger booted than the Lexus GS450h…Went to a two-day Infiniti event in 2014/2015, and drove a number of hybrid models between the Red Bull F1 team base and Nissan’s design hub in London. I have no recollection of what the car was like to drive, though, which isn’t a good sign…

[RoVoFob]

SlowV6 said:

Lexus RX450H. Ticks all your boxes and much less chance of cat theft than the earlier 400H.

Really? I thought cat theft was equally likely with both? My insurance quote for the RX450h was £400 more than for my A6 and around £200 more than for the RX400h, so I assumed that was down to the cat theft risk…

Moving from cats to mice, I also hate the mouse for the 450h media system and wasn’t sure it warranted a higher price compared with the RX450h. More than willing to be proved wrong, though.

[RoVoFob]

RoVoFob said:

£9,000-£11,000: Skoda Octavia 1.4 TSI SEL (would want optional xenons and Canton sound system)
£5,000-£6,500: Lexus RX400h SE-L (concerned about catalyst theft - because London…)
£4,000-£5,000: Lexus GS300
£6,000-£8,000: VW Passat CC 3.6 V6 (my previous R36 estate was notably more economical than my current A6…)

Realise my selection is a bit random but anything else I’m missing that fits the bill particularly well? I’m not as familiar with pricing for the small-engined end of the market but everything seems expensive compared to the big-engined stuff. Would ideally stay sub-£8k, but as always I want a lot, so that may not be plausible…

Have been half thinking about the Lexus RX450h, but don’t think it justifies the extra cost over the RX400h for me and the awful mousepad thing for the media system puts me off.

Would consider a late W211 or W212 E350 CGI, but would really want an estate and they’re much harder to find.

Would be a lot easier if I wasn’t so picky!

[RoVoFob]

Macron said:

Big tax, squidgy goodness.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2022112820...

Much less tax, serene comfort. Defo interesting.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2022070474...

Ha. What a contrast. Didn’t expect number two after number one.

Talking about number twos, I have driven an Insight of that generation before and it did make me think of a number two.

I’ll pay all the tax and take the Jag! Was surprised how reasonable XF Rs were recently, but not sure it’s the best urban car. Think the non-R XF drive would be perfect, though. Shame a V6 one is as thirsty as my Quattro V8 Audi. First world problems, eh…

Edited by RoVoFob on Tuesday 28th March 00:20

[RoVoFob]

ZX10R NIN said:

E250cgi Estate:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202202102...

Have been wondering about these. As much as I dislike four-pot engines, I can see one working in a sub-1,200kg lightweight like the Octavia.

Not sure about in a heavyweight like an E-Class - could mean super refinement and/or massively overwhelmed engine. Might be worth me trying one. Thanks.

Really like the look of that generation Insignia, too.

[RoVoFob]

ilikejam said:

This happens to me sometimes

[RoVoFob]

ZX10R NIN said:

I don't feel like the Hybrid Infiniti's don't have the boot space you're looking for, the Insignia's could be the pick if one comes up.

The E250 is decent & for your urban usage it'll be fine, the midrange grunt will work okay.

M35h and GS450h boots look quite reasonable in pics, but I remember the opening/boot of a non-hybrid GS430 seeming pretty small when I looked at one a while back. It’s a little irritating getting the pram into the gigantic boot of the A6 and early GS450hs are around half the size.

Even the Infiniti boot is only around 10% bigger than my 130i’s boot, which would seem a little silly for the practical car! Will have to find one and see if it’s more buggy-friendly than it sounds.

Like the idea of a W212 E-Class right now, but MOT histories on most of them seem worse than I’ve been used to seeing with equivalent age Audis. Urgh.

Distracted by this E500 that popped up today. Must. Not. Buy. Yet. Another. V8.


https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303275...

[RoVoFob]

ZX10R NIN said:

Just Buy it already
If you think the M35h can work then yes I'd recommend taking a look at one.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303225...

I'd suggest taking a look at the later GS that 250 really fits your brief & the interior is a nice place to be.

If it weren’t waaay over budget and a teeny bit thirsty, I would have looked at that E500 estate already. Love the colour combo, but the wheels would need to be binned.

Ah, there was a tidy M35h for £9,495 but looks like that has sold. Really not sold on the GS250 - seems very underpowered for its size and luxuriousness. Meanwhile, the M35h is a rocketship. Your years of adding an Infiniti to every ‘Car Buying’ story is starting to get traction ZX10!

Half planning to put my A6 up for sale this weekend and start the ball rolling…

[RoVoFob]

flatso said:

The Citroen DS5 has a very rough ride, no connection to the Citroen tradition.

Don’t worry. I will surrender my licence before I buy a Citroen pretending to be a premium model. DS5 diesel hybrid is one of the most hateful vehicles I’ve ever driven (sorry ZX10, love your other suggestions and appear to have somehow become an Infiniti fanboy this week).

[RoVoFob]

ZX10R NIN said:

I never take offence I just offer options, I don't listen to my own advice I just over paid for a last of line CLK55 AMG but hey I wanted it so that was it.

The Infiniti brand was one that didn't work over here but does seem to have worked elsewhere.

Good man. A last-of-line CLK55 sounds like a good reason to break the rules anyway.

After sensibilising my car shortlist ahead of this thread, I’ve decided that I very much do want all-wheel-drive - having driven a lot in the rain over the weekend - as I’m still allergic to wheelspin/furiously flashing traction control lights and am not ready for a small engine, so have quarantined the two-wheel-drive options.

This was after having whatever the opposite of an epiphany is, failing to find reasons to write off a £7,500 Leaf.

Think my get-more-frugal-car-for-town-driving plan now consists of swapping an AWD V8 for an AWD six-cylinder car. I’m sure the prospect of my upcoming reducing fuel spend will have OPEC quaking in its boots…

Never realised how driver-centric the early UK Infinitis were. Sadly, most of the ones I’ve driven were later 2.2-litre diesel ones…Can see why they appeal in the US.

[RoVoFob]

ZX10R NIN said:

OPEC are cutting production as we speak

AWD you say V6 you say, I got you:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202211031...

Have been admiring this for the last week.

It’s slower, less economical - on paper - and has a smaller boot than my A6. Still like it, though.

[RoVoFob]

C G said:

One of the latest Avensises with the 1.8 valvematic engine

Makes a loooot of sense, but I’m learning that my boring car tolerance is lower than I thought!

[RoVoFob]

ZX10R NIN said:

It's a lower spec car, no air cooled seats 360 cameras adaptive cruise (how will you cope ) BUT it does have the ski hatch option

Thought so. I’ll have to take up skiing. Shame it does without the better speakers - one of the banes of my car searches.

Why can’t a decent B8 A4 Avant 3.2 FSI pop up? Seems to be my Goldilocks car, but all of them appear to be written off/awfully looked after and manuals. I seem to only like rare models.

[RoVoFob]

ZX10R NIN said:

Not a great advert & it'll need further investigation BUT I reckon you could get this at a good (as long as it checks out) price:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301203...

Erm, not sure if this is the right thread…

[RoVoFob]

ZX10R NIN said:

V6 AWD engaging steer & auto, it may have the Bose system too, yes it's a leftfield option.

Ah, OK. It’s also two-and-a-bit times my max budget. Must work harder at my haggling game/just work harder

[RoVoFob]

ZX10R NIN said:

Oooops wrong link it'll make more sense now:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303125...

Aha. That makes much more sense!

Failed to get my A6 ad live last weekend, but once it’s live I might finally go and try a VXR out. Intrigued to see whether these work in automatic form. Seem to make more sense in manual form but could be wrong…