Recommendations: £15k quiet comfy motorway cruiser

[thargon]

I'm going to be doing about 300 miles a week, 250 of them on the motorway, and I've decided I want something appropriate to leave me fresh after the drive to/from the office. My criteria:

Quiet
Comfy ride
Economical (diesel likely I guess) - no EVs
Auto preferable
Saloon/estate sized. Rather not have an SUV, but could be convinced
£15k ish, could go a little higher

I was thinking along the lines of 5 series, Skoda Superb, Volvo, etc. Am I missing obvious other options? Recommendations please!

[thargon]

jaydeeuk1 said:

Id just cut out the middleman and buy an ex Greenflag truck

I'm happy someone else said it. That was my worry.

[thargon]

ZX10R NIN said:

A8:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401075...

Xj Portfolio:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202402036...

XF Portfolio:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202403047...

S:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202311063...

Maserati Ghibli:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202310183...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202403187...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202308070...

CLS 350d AMG Line Premium Plus:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202310062...

E350d:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202402076...

530d GT, these for me are a nicer place to be than the regular 5 series.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401215...

530d:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202402156...

Ah yes, I like the 530 GT actually, forgot about them. Part of me likes them because of of their sheer pointlessness Reviews say the ride is disappointing though, so I'd be tempted just to go for a standard 5 series I guess.

Like the 350 too. Not sure about the giblets.

Are any of these particularly known for quietness? That's probably my top criterion.

[thargon]

NomadicTurbo said:

I recently bought a 530d for motorway miles (and ferrying the dog around)

I mainly do big miles, 400-500 miles once a week for client visits and it's been perfect for that use case.

Yeah perhaps I just go with the obvious choice. Got to be plenty to choose from.

[thargon]

E63eeeeee... said:

640d.

Go for the GC if you might want to put humans in the back.

Quick, comfortable, good range, big boot, 40mpg, ludicrously good value for what you get, lots of toys and a lovely place to sit.

Another option I'd definitely consider.

[thargon]

Vsix and Vtec said:

You'd both be wrong. Buy sensibly and you'll find owning a Jag no more costly than anything else in its segment. The petrol V8 in particular are very good, with few issues. The X351 is not your grandads 2.9 XJ40. Avoid the Ingenium 2.0 diesel and you avoid the biggest reason for any trouble. Even the 3.0 TDV6 is actually quite reliable. The EGR and DPF are no more troublesome than in a BMW or Mercedes, and the XF and XJ don't seem to stress the crankshaft as much as the Discovery so consequently the crankshaft wear issues don't appear anything like as frequently. Service it properly, spend what needs spending and you genuinely need to look at Bentley or Rolls to rival the experience.

Once you get past the tired old sniggering from decades past, and actually look at the product, you'll find the value is really rather good.

Fair enough. Not as many XJs about these days though, which is definitely what I'd want if I went Jag.

[thargon]

silentbrown said:

250 motorway miles a week is only a 25 mile commute. Hardly needs a big barge.

Actually I had my figures wrong now I check but it's 80 motorway miles each way to the office at least once a week, possibly twice a week if I choose to come home instead of staying over (in the office two days a week), hence the desire for a barge.

[thargon]

Alickadoo said:

Lexus NX or RX.

Interesting, but can't see myself in one, especially the NX which looks wise leaves me cold.

[thargon]

Mad Maximus said:

Depends on priority.

Brand new or second hand luxury
Diesel economy or petrol fun (or bev?)

My money would be on a ipace. Just about creeping to budget.

Actually we have charging at work, so maybe I should think again about an EV

[thargon]

Alickadoo said:

You are only doing 50 miles a day.

25 miles each way!

Why all the fuss?

It's not 50 miles a day. I'm in the office two days a week. It'll be either 85 miles*2 if I stay over on the first night, else 85*4 if I drive down and back both days. Best part of 3 hours for a return journey. High pressure job, anything I can do to make life easier is worth doing.

[thargon]

smn159 said:

Tesla Model S is a nice place to be

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/355460871001?itmmeta=01...

I'd be worried about battery life with a high mileage EV.

[thargon]

irfan1712 said:

i'd change that to Phaeton

Audi A8 (4.2 tdi would be the one!)
BMW 740d
Mercedes E or ideally S Class
Jag XJ

with the above, plenty of cars to be had under £15k but i think you'll need a generous slush fund to run them.

i think you'd be happy enough with something like a 530d personally. Someone mentioned a 640d Gran Coupe already, i think thats a great choice!

Of all the suggestions so far 640d GC comes out on top for me, mainly due to looks plus apparent VFM. I'll definitely try to test a sub-S class Merc though. S class screams big bills and lots to go wrong, plus I'm not quite old enough to see myself in one just yet.

[thargon]

Hammersia said:

Are you, er, sure you know where your office is?

Yes, I just overestimated the distance before I actually checked it. I'm moving somewhere new you see.

[thargon]

OutInTheShed said:

One big question with £15k cars, is what timeframe do you expect it to last for, hold value for etc etc.

Do you want it to serve you for the next 5 years, or 2 years then expect good residual value?
I think there are a lot of cars poised to lose a lot of value over the next few years.

Also the car I'd choose for 70 miles up the M5 'off peak', might be a bit different from 70 miles of M25 combat.

A 530D SE which hasn't done too many miles might be worth a look?
Assuming IULEZ doesn't apply.

Not M25 thankfully. M40 just before/after peak rush hour.

It's a good point on how long I expect to run it though. Perhaps the more bog standard option is safest, though I'd hope a good chunk of the depreciation has gone from a 640d for example, but who knows what fresh stunt they might pull to force us into EVs, fuel prices etc. In the end though that can't be anticipated very well.

[thargon]

Baked_bean said:

I was in a similar position as you, we do a lot of miles to visit friends and family on the A1, A14 etc. needed an estate for our dog.

Ended up with an E350cdi for half of your budget. Lovely car so far and pleased with our purchase.

I'd just be a bit worried about getting into bangernomics territory. Plus I can happily justify an extra £7k to sit in something I actually want, though OTOH if it's literally just for barging up and down the motorway with the cruise control on, why put the miles on something nicer? I could buy something boring, and something else for the weekend. This is how is starts...

[thargon]

autumnsum said:

You can get the super fast long range M3 for under 20K now. Some bargains to be had if you're quick.

What exact model?

[thargon]

Baked_bean said:

I was in a similar position as you, we do a lot of miles to visit friends and family on the A1, A14 etc. needed an estate for our dog.

Ended up with an E350cdi for half of your budget. Lovely car so far and pleased with our purchase.

Had a bit of a look at these and it might be spot on. Quiet, comfortable, economical, fast enough, good value. Hopefully servicing isn't murder?