What Car To Buy For Wife, Any Advise Appreciated

[Adriano]

Its getting time to buy my wife a replacement car from her Mitsubishi RVR Supersports. I get a great deal on diesel, so petrol is out of the question. There are so many cars that sort of suit the criteria, but having been out of the trade for 5 years, i dont have a lot of experience with these newer cars.

Not looking for anything small-must fit 3 baby seats,but not massive(ie not a Prado) and prefer somthing highish for safety visability.

Second hand, but under about 5 years, will spend up to 30, but prefer about 20k

Some of the options:

Captiva 7

Hyundai IX 35

BMWx3

BMW 320d

Skoda Octavia

Volvo v70 diesel(only seen 1)

Hyundai I30 wagon( A bit small)

VW Passat wagon

Nissan xtrail

Peugot 407 Wagon

Cherry(not)

Kia(also not too keen)

Audi A4 wagon

Audi Q5

Audi Allroad 2004

Ford mondeo TDCi wagon

Hyundai Santa Fe

Citroen C5(eek)

Any Advise appreciated

[BoyWhoCriedWolf]

Leave the Audi Allroad alone, slow as all get out.

The Audi A4 with the 3.0TDi is a fking cracker, I was very impressed with it.

My wife has a Jetta 2.0TDi, goes great and is excellent on fuel. The missus loves it.

The Audi will be worth more when you come to trade it.

Do not do anything with the Citrus, fkn shit heap.

Forrester TDi or an Outback?? Get a lot of car for the money.

[conan7772]

I'd go Audi or BMW, if that's your short list, but only is she deserves it.

Audi have really come a long way with technology, performance and reliability.

They're such a large company now, brilliant cars.

I'm looking at Alfa Romeos for my wife.

Alfas have also improved a lot, however their electronic transmission hasn't.

The 159 wagon looks good.

Always had a small spot in my heart for Alfa, after having a Sprint and GTV.

Always nice to drive.

[FrangaR33]

Its getting time to buy my wife a replacement car from her Mitsubishi RVR Supersports. I get a great deal on diesel, so petrol is out of the question. There are so many cars that sort of suit the criteria, but having been out of the trade for 5 years, i dont have a lot of experience with these newer cars.

Not looking for anything small-must fit 3 baby seats,but not massive(ie not a Prado) and prefer somthing highish for safety visability.

Second hand, but under about 5 years, will spend up to 30, but prefer about 20k

Some of the options:

Captiva 7

Hyundai IX 35

BMWx3

BMW 320d

Skoda Octavia

Volvo v70 diesel(only seen 1)

Hyundai I30 wagon( A bit small)

VW Passat wagon

Nissan xtrail

Peugot 407 Wagon

Cherry(not)

Kia(also not too keen)

Audi A4 wagon

Audi Q5

Audi Allroad 2004

Ford mondeo TDCi wagon

Hyundai Santa Fe

Citroen C5(eek)

Any Advise appreciated

Mate if your after a <5 year old car, then some of the cars on your list will be more than 30k. Audi A4 Diesel Wagon is 32k, Q5 diesel is 60k, current shape Mondeo TDCi wagon is 33k. If it were my money I would go the VW Passat wagon if it had to be a diesel under 30k, heres a car sales link to a good one. I wouldnt bother with the Captiva of all the people i knew who had them they all had problems and in my experience are POS.

[GTR-N1]

Forester 2.0D with good resale value at the other end.

[Adriano]

No auto alas, otherwise it would be a mazda6 if manual was an option

[tweety bird]

my mum has a holden cruze diesel auto and she love's it.

[Adriano]

Other than being slowish, (9.5 0-100) The audi allroad looks like a good thing, dont really care about performance though. They are $110,000 new

Edited May 28, 2011 by Adriano

[t_revz]

we have a 2010 2.4 petrol suzuki vitara and love it. not sure how the diesel goes. good on fuel and excellent on the beach

[BoyWhoCriedWolf]

Other than being slowish, (9.5 0-100) The audi allroad looks like a good thing, dont really care about performance though. They are $110,000 new

Say that to yourself when you want to overtake something, seriously, dont do it.

[BoyWhoCriedWolf]

I'd go Audi or BMW, if that's your short list, but only is she deserves it.

Audi have really come a long way with technology, performance and reliability.

They're such a large company now, brilliant cars.

I'm looking at Alfa Romeos for my wife.

Alfas have also improved a lot, however their electronic transmission hasn't.

The 159 wagon looks good.

Always had a small spot in my heart for Alfa, after having a Sprint and GTV.

Always nice to drive.

They are awesome at catching on fire.

[ARTZ]

oddly enough, just out of the ones you listed Id be tempted to take the Mondeo. they're butt ugly but are very useable..

or I would look for a forester as well, great little all round car for the money and fun in gravel or a little off roading..

[Silvia GTR]

Safe and diesel

Edited May 30, 2011 by Silvia GTR

[JAS-25T]

I have very similar requirements for our new car and the test drive list was something like this:

Skoda superb

BMW X1

Nissan Xtrail

VW Passat

Passat wins.

Differences were that we are buying new, and it only has to fit 2 baby seats.

all the rest aren't worth the money or are crap rolled in sprinkles.

[jaxt]

I would still revisit the prado (esp for the 3 baby seats) ...the 80/100 series landcruiser are the bigger of the 4wd for yotas

internally they look visibly narrower than an allroad.

avoid santa fe (unstable on highways imo) and captiva (build quality issues)

foresters will be a squeeze (from my experience) for 3 baby seats (unless someone coughs up with internal dimensions)

Edited May 30, 2011 by jaxt

[ARTZ]

oh i missed the bit about 3 kids.

Another option I considered for the missus was getting a crewcab 2wd hilux. They have plenty of go, plenty of room inside plus a huge tray for a boot and they look sweet with 20 inch wheels of a falcon on them. Problem is at 700km a tank they're no more economical than most petrol sedans.

[JAS-25T]

oh i missed the bit about 3 kids.

Another option I considered for the missus was getting a crewcab 2wd hilux. They have plenty of go, plenty of room inside plus a huge tray for a boot and they look sweet with 20 inch wheels of a falcon on them. Problem is at 700km a tank they're no more economical than most petrol sedans.

plus they bounce around like all fark because they are designed to carry a work load not children. Hardly a safe alternative.

[GT-R32]

Mates, colleagues and family members (one who runs a fleet of 1k+ cars) have had nothing but trouble with VWs and Audis. I like them, but I'm not sure if I'd like to own one.

My BMW is sweet.

No matter which way you go, be wary of particulate filter problems in diesel models of various manufacturers.

And generally speaking, I've found the Japanese stuff better on maintenance overall.

[simpletool]

you're not the only one who finds jap stuff more reliable than European. But when it comes to oilers they make good ones (if you give them the right fuel).

I'd go with Polo 1.9 for cheap.

[Mayuri Krab]

Other than being slowish, (9.5 0-100) The audi allroad looks like a good thing, dont really care about performance though. They are $110,000 new

Say that to yourself when you want to overtake something, seriously, dont do it.

My dad's auto Corolla is even slower (0 - 100, 11.4 seconds) & I've have no problem overtaking...

I30 is my pick, basic A - B transport.