Can't decide on car

sx_turbo

sx_turbo

sx_turbo

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10 Sep 2022
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1,486
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essex
Have max of circa 20k (ideally less)

I want to replace my Kia ceed GT for something nicer.

I've an old Audi a4 as the family car and the build quality was fantastic for its time and still drives lovely being almost 20 years old and it's been reliable.

I need the car for everyday use, commuting 40 mile a day.I need something with 4 doors big enough for a family and plan on taking it to France in the summer.

My mates just bought a 2015 Audi A7 bitdi and my word it's a lovely thing, everything I want in a car tbh, he got it cheap as the bodywork needed a lot of work and the miles were fairly high.

Anyway I definitely want auto, and I'm pretty settled on the zf 8 speed box, seems reliable and plenty of people can fix it if goes wrong, unlike the Merc and Audi s tronic boxes.

I want an Audi but can't decide on which one, and the ones with the zf boxes seem to be very expensive especially considering the age of them, looking at BMW 440d also but not sure I'm not really a big fan of bmw:s not to keen on the interior.

Was looking at jag xf/xe also but only the 3.0 s ones, which is doable but concerned re the running costs.

I think settling on the zf box is probably limiting my options.

Reliability is a plus point. I'm not averse to diesel if it's the right choice.

Fords, vauxhalls,. Peugeot, Citroen's etc don't really interest me, I find they all drive awful, and i wont have a korean car again, the current kia has been far from stellar and the dealerships locally are terrible to deal with.

I have thought about lexus IS but they aren't as powerful as I'd like, not for the speed but the ease of driving. And I'm concerned I'd hate the CVT box.

Looked at the Alfa giulietta nice cars, but again expensive for what they are and can't help feel it would be a financially ruiness exercise (which I guess the Jag will be also )

I'm not usually this indecisive about cars, but it's a lot of money if I get it wrong, so I'm second guessing myself, but also feel I may be missing an alternative.
 
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Can you charge at home?

If so there are loads of good PHEV or electric options at this price point. Full electric pricing is similar to ICE cars in the used market and will cut running costs for that daily commute.
 
b0rn2sk8 said:
Can you charge at home?

If so there are loads of good PHEV or electric options at this price point. Full electric pricing is similar to ICE cars in the used market and will cut running costs for that daily commute.
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yeah i can, but might be difficult to do so where we are staying in france, i'd have to do a bit of research, if i were just going to and from work then it be fine, but even just thinking about it gives me range anxiety, which may well be unfounded, but i dont feel i'm ready to make the plunge to electric yet
 
Look at the Lexus GS300h or ES300h. Yes, they are CVTs but they seem to be nice cars for comfort and luxury. Something that stands out amongst a sea of German cars. :)

IIRC Lexus offers a 10 year warranty on their cars and 15 year warranty on the hybrid system as long as the car is serviced at the dealership.
 
sx_turbo said:
yeah i can, but might be difficult to do so where we are staying in france, i'd have to do a bit of research, if i were just going to and from work then it be fine, but even just thinking about it gives me range anxiety, which may well be unfounded, but i dont feel i'm ready to make the plunge to electric yet
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The U.K. is pretty good for charging these days and charging in France is a doddle, their networks are leagues ahead of the U.K.

Even in rural villages in the middle of nowhere you’ll find rapid chargers.

The drive on all EVs is very smooth and far better than ICE will deliver. The only drawbacks is some cars have overly firm suspension but if you are looking at Audi, you’ll be fine.

Even smaller cars like the Cupra Born are massive inside compared to their ICE equivalents (e.g. a Golf) because they don’t have to house an engine upfront.

All I’ll say it take a couple out for a test drive and give it a go, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Even if you don’t go the full electric, PHEV is a solid option and you’ll do a lot of miles on full electric with a 40 mile commute.
 
Yeah I would say even 40 mile a day commute a full electric will be fine.

Particularly if you are keeping your other Audi A4 anyway.

You'll save a lot of money in running costs if you can charge that at home particularly on an cheap overnight tarrif or whatever.

I'm still 50/50 on a full electric car if you are a 1 car family, but living in a rural area we need 2, and having one electric and one ICE is perfect in my opinion.
 
BUDFORCE said:
Yeah I would say even 40 mile a day commute a full electric will be fine.

Particularly if you are keeping your other Audi A4 anyway.

You'll save a lot of money in running costs if you can charge that at home particularly on an cheap overnight tarrif or whatever.

I'm still 50/50 on a full electric car if you are a 1 car family, but living in a rural area we need 2, and having one electric and one ICE is perfect in my opinion.
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That's what we've done, I have a petrol and the wife has a full electric, with Eon EV tariff it's 6p per kwh between midnight and 6 am, costs around £2 to got from 20(ish)-80% whenever I need to charge, also helps I get 45p a mile as well for business miles so winning all ends up
 
LowEndTorque said:
Look at the Lexus GS300h or ES300h. Yes, they are CVTs but they seem to be nice cars for comfort and luxury. Something that stands out amongst a sea of German cars. :)

IIRC Lexus offers a 10 year warranty on their cars and 15 year warranty on the hybrid system as long as the car is serviced at the dealership.
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Yeah that's right. I've always liked the lexus, just really concerned if I get it I'd wish I got something with more pep and drivability.

I've regretted getting the Kia pretty much since the day I bought it and don't want to do it again.

I believe there is a reason the German cars are so popular even if they aren't as reliable as they once were.

I'll look at EVs Tesla are definite no go. And my work colleague has an Audi e-trin, 3 years old and now everything is starting to fail on it, and Audi are refusing to cover anything under warranty. The electric motor went on one of the wheels, then the charging port failed on the side she doesn't use, then she had months of them chasing an electrical gremlin, and to top it off the local Audi dealership have to ship it 40 miles away to another dealer because they don't have the ability to work on it.

Very odd state of affairs.

A BYD has just opened up round the corner to where I work, but still not sold on Chinese cars
 
BUDFORCE said:
Yeah I would say even 40 mile a day commute a full electric will be fine.

Particularly if you are keeping your other Audi A4 anyway.

You'll save a lot of money in running costs if you can charge that at home particularly on an cheap overnight tarrif or whatever.

I'm still 50/50 on a full electric car if you are a 1 car family, but living in a rural area we need 2, and having one electric and one ICE is perfect in my opinion.
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Yeah we're rural aswell and need the 2 cars (though we got 3 now as her mum gave us her old car which is used by the wife to do the 4 mile commute as it wasn't doing the Audi any good)
 
Sorry this doesn't really help your car hunt but would you mind sharing what you're not liking on the Ceed? I've half an eye on my next car (- warmish hatch up to ~20k) and I've always liked the look of the Ceeds... Your experience is putting me off somewhat!
 
sx_turbo said:
but even just thinking about it gives me range anxiety,
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Well if you've already got range anxiety just thinking about it then you should 100% buy this, or something like it. :D


Lovely cars for the money these days if you want something German - think this was circa £73k new. I know a few people in the EV thread have had them and loved them for comfort and quality, I'd ensure you have an Audi warranty on it though for the non-battery parts.
 
Fluke? said:
Sorry this doesn't really help your car hunt but would you mind sharing what you're not liking on the Ceed? I've half an eye on my next car (- warmish hatch up to ~20k) and I've always liked the look of the Ceeds... Your experience is putting me off somewhat!
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For me it started with the dealer, constant lies and broken promises just getting them to do what they promised.

Then they said they done things and charged me for them but didn't actually do them, promised me hire car, then left me stranded and paying taxis.

But then the car, it's very very cheaply made, the rattles and bangs which no one seems to be able to diagnose, the poor quality of the paint, open all hours had a comedy sketch of the old boy trimming the ham as thin as he could to make more money... that's the paint on the Kia, and it's not even hard, chips, peels and scratches far to easily, even a microfiber cloth scratched it when polishing.

the road noise and engine noise into the cabin is horrendous and it's not much better in the new ones.

I service mine every 5k miles, I bought the car with 50k on the clock I've put 30k on it, it's had new headlight washer jets (luckily I managed to get them replaced under warranty as Kia wanted £600 to replace them), reversing camera failed, front wishbones, rear trailing bushes, rear lower arm bushes, rear shocks, hand brake cables, the cabin filter assembly shattered and had to be replaced, coil packs and ignition condenser, front calipers seized, issues with headlights (wiring), boost solenoid.failed 3 times, diverter valve split so I replaced with an aftermarket one, hose clips rotted away.

Now I know the above is mostly attributed to wear and tear and age, but it's been 3 years of constant repairs, it's put my work colleagues off kia's, but comparing to the Audi, which is double the mileage and twice the age it hasn't had half of what the kia has had, whenever I work in the Kia, something else always breaks because everything it made so cheaply, the Audi I can just fix what needs fixing with causing myself further work. The Audi is so much quieter, smoother, rides more comfortable (and that's with lowering springs fitted)

During my many many trips to the dealer I had the pleasure of driving their latest ceed and Kia rio, and tbh they're much the same, imo it feels cheap, they place decent switch gear and stuff to make it feel up market, but the cabin noise is still excessive, the engines still aren't particularly smooth or graceful and intrude the cabin too much, the body has to much flex in for the stiffness of the suspension meaning it kind of shuffles over bumps, when going round country lanes they didn't feel planted and were wafty/wallowy yet stiff at the same time.

I cannot stress how much I dislike them and I cannot fathom how their cars are so popular, maybe I'm odd and notice these things, reading reviews of them I felt there was something wrong with me or maybe the cars I do happen to have driven were the Friday cars built when people chipping off early to go to the pub, but then I read a Jeremy Clarkson review and he had exactly the same complaints as me, so there is a chance I'm just an old laggard oath of a man. Or maybe the general public just really don't care and are happy to put up with the rubbish because they are cheap (though I wouldn't say they really are these days), or people just don't notice, or they've been fed this lie by the general motoring press.

I did test drive the car , and if I'm honest I was desperate for a car.as my nissan at the time was poorly, it was literally just up the road so was convenient, I took the wife and child with me it was stupidly hot day and I felt I could look past it's foibles, but I was wrong, and it's been an expensive lesson, never buy a car in desperation.

I've ranted a lot here and I'm sorry, I think really you should drive one and compare with other vehicles and see what you think, there is every chance I'm a bitter idiot.
 
Journey said:
Well if you've already got range anxiety just thinking about it then you should 100% buy this, or something like it. :D


Lovely cars for the money these days if you want something German - think this was circa £73k new. I know a few people in the EV thread have had them and loved them for comfort and quality, I'd ensure you have an Audi warranty on it though for the non-battery parts.
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They really are nice, but girl at work got one, and I think the depreciation is so high for a reason.

I do feel I'm best waiting just a few more years for electric cars, so much tech is being developed new cars are obsolete before they've been released (looking at you jaguar)
 
If I were buying any car for 20k, and I wasn’t fussed about whether it was an electric, it would be a G20 330i.


I think it’s peak BMW with a very comprehensive standard spec, and as a car it drives very well.


The ZF8 is tuned incomprehensibly better than Audis, having owned an S5 with one myself.


If I didn’t personally value EVs for low running costs and lack of a gearbox, it’d be the car I bought.
 
MrRockliffe said:
If I were buying any car for 20k, and I wasn’t fussed about whether it was an electric, it would be a G20 330i.


I think it’s peak BMW with a very comprehensive standard spec, and as a car it drives very well.


The ZF8 is tuned incomprehensibly better than Audis, having owned an S5 with one myself.


If I didn’t personally value EVs for low running costs and lack of a gearbox, it’d be the car I bought.
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Thanks that's actually not a bad shout, I don't really like BMW but that is actually rather nice
 
sx_turbo said:
I do feel I'm best waiting just a few more years for electric cars, so much tech is being developed new cars are obsolete before they've been released
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If you are waiting, and your budget is 20k still, then it'll be well past 2030 realistically to see any fundamental change that you'll be able to afford 2nd hand.

sx_turbo said:
They really are nice, but girl at work got one, and I think the depreciation is so high for a reason
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They are very inefficient, but other than that are a good car. The depreciation is something you are benefiting from rather than something to be concerned about, not like you are looking at a Fisker. Hard pushed to find anything so well appointed that's on 22/23 reg.

One thing I'd say regardless of your choice, if you haven't already, go and test drive something (s) electric in this class, I'd be surprised if you ended up with a overall negative viewpoint. I am sure others would recommend doing the same.
 
Journey said:
If you are waiting, and your budget is 20k still, then it'll be well past 2030 realistically to see any fundamental change that you'll be able to afford 2nd hand.


They are very inefficient, but other than that are a good car. The depreciation is something you are benefiting from rather than something to be concerned about, not like you are looking at a Fisker. Hard pushed to find anything so well appointed that's on 22/23 reg.

One thing I'd say regardless of your choice, if you haven't already, go and test drive something (s) electric in this class, I'd be surprised if you ended up with a overall negative viewpoint. I am sure others would recommend doing the same.
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I think electric car will be next after this one.

Chances are next time I'll have more than 20k.

Im not fussed about the depreciation of electric cars, it's more I feel they are still fairly new tech and there is still a lot of work to do on the used car side of things, in terms of repair network, spare parts availability and supply not necessarily OEM but aftermarket etc. I don't want to have to rely on a main dealer for servicing and repair work, my experience of dealers isn't really great, and I don't trust them.
 
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