New car advice

[Abyss]

We can get a pram and a full shop in our standard seat leon with 1 child, he is 2 so still use a baby seat.

So I can't see how the current car you have isn't big enough :s

I sense you just want a new toy

Since when is an A4 estate too small for a 1 child family

^^^ This.

My sister has 2 young kids, and the "big" family car is an A4 Saloon.

I found the A4 Avant had quite a small boot for a 2 small child family. Cabin space was fine unless you wanted to chuck in 2 kids and a grown person in the back.

Problem is the size of prams nowadays, they are sodding huge!

And car seats, at least whilst they are rear facing.

Obviously it's possible to get by just fine with the likes of an A4 (we fit toddler and dog in the focus estate and would manage another proper baby seat if need be) but it's not difficult to see why the op might fancy a bigger car

I've always been used to having bigger cars (Toyota Avensis, Volvo S60, Honda Accord Tourer, Audi A6, Audi A4). I've therefore become accustomed to having plenty of space and not having to cram everything in.

With now having a child the A4 is "tight". The pram will only just fit in the boot with the parcel shelf down and it means forcing the top half and base in next to each other and the wheels scuffing/dirtying the top. I then have to put the other bits in the boot inside the pram and take them out / put them back in every time I get the pram out. The baby seat in the back seat means moving the passenger seat forwards quite a bit and the access on the rear doors is low and quite narrow to get a car seat in and out. It's also a real squeeze to get 2 passengers in the back with the seat even on short journeys.

Ultimately the A4 avant isn't that big for an estate. A friend has an Octavia hatchback and wanted to look at mine. We both agreed he has as much space in the Octavia.

I absolutely don't need to change my car but I will use any excuse to change to a new toy . The excuse this time round is in the first 4 weeks alone I've got fed up of having to cram things in the boot.

 

[Abyss]

If you have £500 per month to burn through then why not consider a lease? £300 per month amortised would get you something very nice for a couple of years.

I have been keeping an eye on the leasing thread on Piston heads but nothing has floated my boat yet. I'm picky on options that I want which writes off most cars as the base specs are usually terrible. I would have gone for the V90 deal that was floating around but I missed out on the really good prices and the mileage excess ramped up after a certain mileage.

£500 amortised over 2-3 years generally gets you something nowhere near the 6 series so it's reliant on rare very cheap deals coming along.

 

[Abyss]

I don't know if it's changed from the 5 GT, but the rear seat squab in that car is at a very steep angle to make it more comfortable for rear passengers. I noticed that this made rear-facing car seats more upright than usual.
On long journeys, our little one's head would fall forward far more often than in any other car into which we stuck our rear-facing seats.

Something to consider @Abyss.
The car itself is brilliant, well the F07 was anyway.

Cheers. Had a test drive on Saturday and it looks like the 6 series is better as I didn't notice any issues with the car seat. Might be one worth me checking again though.

How about a Jag XF or F-pace?

I do love the F-Pace, but think the boot might be a bit short and I can't find one as yet within budget.

 

[jigger]

I did look at this and considered a base model Kodiaq or the previous generation XC60. The main problem is she loves her car (Mini countryman JCW) and it won't scratch my car itch so I'll only end up changing mine in 6 months or so anyway so having to change 2 cars!

I really liked the Kodiaq and come very close to buying one. If Skoda offered the more powerful engines in manual I would have.

The higher end VW Tiguan's might be worth looking at. The Alfa Romeo Stelvio and Mazda CX-5 are well worth looking at too.

 

[mjt]

Cheers. Had a test drive on Saturday and it looks like the 6 series is better as I didn't notice any issues with the car seat. Might be one worth me checking again though.

This was in a Concord Reverso Plus, not a Group 0, so YMMV.
Also note that the slope of the rear hatch means it's not *that* practical. 5 Touring has more boot space with the rear seats up, 5 GT had more space with them down.

Either way, great car. Haven't driven a 6 GT so can't comment, but the 5 GT was great for wafting, and it handled pretty well with the trick suspension and gearbox in Sport+

 

[Abyss]

This was in a Concord Reverso Plus, not a Group 0, so YMMV.
Also note that the slope of the rear hatch means it's not *that* practical. 5 Touring has more boot space with the rear seats up, 5 GT had more space with them down.

Either way, great car. Haven't driven a 6 GT so can't comment, but the 5 GT was great for wafting, and it handled pretty well with the trick suspension and gearbox in Sport+

Thanks. I'd be perfectly happy with the 5 tourer, but one option that I won't compromise on is adaptive cruise/lane assist ("driving assistance plus" for BMW and "Touring pack advanced" for Audi) and it was pretty much never specced on the 5 tourer for some reason. If a 530D M-sport tourer with a high spec and adaptive cruis popped up for low £30ks I'd be snapping it up.

 

[Abyss]

I really liked the Kodiaq and come very close to buying one. If Skoda offered the more powerful engines in manual I would have.

The higher end VW Tiguan's might be worth looking at. The Alfa Romeo Stelvio and Mazda CX-5 are well worth looking at too.

I was impressed by the Kodiaq, better than I expected. What puts me off if I had one as my car is the Skoda dealer in Nottingham is horrible and certainly not a place I'd be able to take the car for servicing / have a coffee / work etc. I'd also need to go new/nearly new to get the right spec (Edition 190PS with adaptive cruise / lane assist) which means spending £30k on it. I'd worry a £30k Kodiaq would lose more money in 2 years than a £36k 6 series GT.

I looked at the Tiguan but didn't like the interior. Will look at the Alfa / Mazda now, thanks.

Edit: Alfa boot is too small

 

[Tinders]

I went from a A4 avant to a XC60, and the boots no bigger in reality.

 

[Mike1983]

What were your issues with the Merc E class multimedia out of interest? I ask as its on my list of possible future cars. Thanks

 

[Abyss]

What were your issues with the Merc E class multimedia out of interest? I ask as its on my list of possible future cars. Thanks

I didn't get on that well with the position of the dial with the touchpad covering it and just didn't find it as slick as the Audi or BMW systems.