10k budget

[snitcher]

I need a daily/weekend car though mostly for weekends as I use tube for most of the week.

Primary requirements:
- Must be very very comfortable to drive, particularly on long journeys (2 hours+) as me and missus do a lot of road tripping on the weekends.
- Needs to be fairly practical (Saloon, Crossover or Large'ish coupe)
- Needs to be fairly economical, though not a huge deal as driving will be limited to mostly weekends as I mentioned. I expect maybe 5-10k miles per year.
- Automatic slushbox but would be nice if there were paddle shifters for a bit of fun on country roads.

Cars I've considered are:
- Audi A5 / A5 Sportback / A4 (2008-2010) 2.7D as the 2.0D and TFSI's seem to be much more expensive
- BMW 520D (2008-2010)
- Lexus IS250 (2008-2010)
- Mini Countryman / Cooper S (2008-2010)
- Nissan Juke (2008-2010)

Problem is, each review I read notes some glaring problems with all of these cars either in transmission, reliability or consumption.

Any suggestions?

the is250 is confortable car to ride in with the automatic. have used for motorways for 45 mins and it is reasonably confortable + you dont see that many on the roads. choose the SE or SEL trim which come with the sat nav.

 

[tek2k]

guys

what are your opinions on a 2.0TDI Passat CC? I test drove the 3.6 V6 a few years back and thought it was great but haven't had any experience with one since and haven't tried the 2.0TDI.

Are these reliable/value for money? I read that they are potentially prone to DSG failure. Is that true?

 

[rodenal]

No more than any other vag car with dsg - the cc is a nice all rounder imo. Not so sure on the diseasel aspect but you seem to be looking at other diesels anyway, they aren't going to be significantly better/worse imo

 

[tek2k]

No more than any other vag car with dsg

Sorry but could you elaborate please? Is that a good or bad thing generally?

 

[rodenal]

There are areas of the box that can fail (mechatronics is the usual culprit I think), but it seems that the earlier cars (so think around 2005/6ish) are affected far more than later ones like you'll be looking at.

I'm not up to speed on it to be perfectly honest, but there's tons of info on the different iterations of box and what cars they're in / when (wet/dry clutch etc). If they're serviced properly then I guess there's no good reason to worry about it more than any other automatic or automated manual but I'd say read up on the box at the specific year(s) you're looking at and make up your own mind on it.

For what it's worth it's a fantastic thing to use - remember it's not a true automatic but it still does a decent enough job if left in auto mode

 

[Akagi]

Nissan Juke, Mini Cooper S and BMW 520D are all on your conciderations list? Are you sure you know what you want, or that your requirements are actually requirements?