Mid-sized family cars with refinement & impressive interiors?

HangTime said:
XC60 is on the short list, for some reason I hadn't considered the V60 but seems reasonable aside from reviews picking up on the cheap plastics in the cabin.
G31 has the annoying combination of being both >£40k list price for anything but the absolute base model and >March 2017 registration, which means you get shafted with an extra £310/year tax. I know that shouldn't be a deal breaker, as what matters is the overall cost of ownership, but it does grate a little if I'm not going to be completely blown away.
F-Pace when released did get my attention, seems to be holding its value a bit too well however to make it that appealing a secondhand buy as everything on AT within 60 miles is over £31k and that's on a 2016 reg - to be honest I'd probably look for a decent offering from a broker on a brand new one.
E-Class Estate can be had cheap at the moment (£28395 brand new) and compared to most others I've looked at seems to have a decent amount of kit as standard. I just think the length of it might be a bit too much for my wife to handle, as it were.

If I was buying something without any size restriction I could see the E-class wagon potentially being the one I'd go for. Maybe just have to get the missus to sit in one and witness the active park assist!
I suspect I may end up in a situation where to get the level of interior I am craving for I'd have to pay an excessive premium and that's not something I'm prepared to do. I don't have a set budget per se so could go over £40k for something truly special but equally don't fancy paying say an extra 10 grand for a slightly prettier interior that might look dated in a few years anyway.
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G31 530i M Sport is £39,392 on drivethedeal.
 
The list prices of both the G31 and S213 Merc will see you over £40k for any spec you'd reasonably want to own, even with reasonable levels of standard kit, so I'd quickly decide whether or not this (fairly arbitrary in the scheme of things) VED charge is really going to be a deal breaker, if you can get ~20% broker discounts on new vehicles!

In my admittedly biased opinion, the interior of the E213/S213 is, in the right spec, the best in its class, if you like the S Class anyway.

Regarding the length of the vehicle, again this seems a little arbitrary to me, but if both these are insurmountable then the Q5 in your first post is a reasonable shout, as you're clearly keen on SUVs and the Q5 is very well screwed together, if not ultra luxury.
 
Also look at the new audi A6 avant. The reviews I have watched/seen put it ahead of the e class and 5 series and the only issue is the touchscreen infotainment but the voice controls are very good to get around this
 
[TW]Fox said:
Yes, a 10 year old Maserati Coupe with a dull black interior. Clearly an ideal choice for someone who has asked for a brand new estate.
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Also one that appears to have used the old Ford book of design - an individual plastic button for everything.
 
Shivy011 said:
Apart from the interior :p
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You think? I think they have lovely interiors :)
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We had a 4.7m length limit too and started looking at E-Pace and XC 40. Jag was too expensive when kitted out, XC 40 was on long lead time when we'd sourced the funds. We went bigger and went Q5, nearly new, S-line TFSI tech pack. 100 miles on the clock 6k off list. Sadly we do pay the extra road fund even though we paid less than 40k, but it is brilliant.
Andi.
 
Let me know if you have any questions, I have both the A4 Avant and Q5.

I personally prefer the A4 Avant. Both have the 252ps TFSI engine.

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IMO the Audi interior is steps above what BMW are knocking out on the mainstream models. If it was my choice though, the XC60 would be top of the list.
 
Is MPG important here ?
was reading some xc40 d5 comments, I would be cyring at low 40s (ok - brick like and what do you expect for a higher powered, mostly under-exploited, engine)

LiE said:
I personally prefer the A4 Avant. Both have the 252ps TFSI engine
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what is the differential between these ? 55 vs 40 ?
 
Although we do fairly high mileage (20-25k/year), it's not a deal breaker, traded a 50mpg (73 official) car in for a 40mpg (56 official) one last time out.
 
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