New car for Brother - Advice Please - SUV or Estate

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My brother has/had/has a Hyundai IX35 - on a 14 Plate.
All was well to be fair, until he thought the clutch had gone. He's had a Hyundai main dealer take a look at it and they have said it'll need clutch.....and a new gearbox, been quoted in the region of £3k for the repair.
He has said he will go an get additional quotes - but conscious he needs a car for work and for holidays. He's supposed to be going to Cornwall on Monday, I've said he shouldn't be rushing car purchases!

It's him and his wife, two kids (6yr old and a 1yr old). So there is always a fair amount of stuff whenever they are travelling and especially so if they are staying away from home.
I don't think he's particularly fussed SUV or Estate - I think he lived the idea of small SUV last time, but realised that maybe it wasn't offering particularly mush more capacity to carry.
So I'm thinking of pushing him towards estate where he should get more for his money.

He's thinking he either spends £9k - £10k on something or pushes the budget to £13k - £14k and gets something newer, nicer and hopefully last that little longer.

Any recommendations from the far more knowledgeable. I genuinely don't know what to recommend to him. Me, I'm a Skoda fan - on my third Octy vRS in a row. I know all about them - but outside of that, not really sure what is nice to drive, reliable etc.

Currently trying to put him off going out and about tomorrow looking (I cannot get the time off work to keep an eye on him). But the least I can do is throw him some suggestions.
 
Does he need off roading ability?
If not, estate all the way. Less weight, less complexity, lower centre of gravity etc
 
None whatsoever - so will push him towards estate.
So, I ask the wisdom of the crowd:

If you have a £9k - 10k budget for an estate car for a family of 4, what do you go and look at?
If you decided your budget was actually £13k - £14k would your choice remain the same?

Cheers all.
 
Audi A4 - More expensive
Skoda Octavia
VW Golf
Mazda 6 - More expensive, bigger
Ford Focus
Vauxhall Astra
Seat Leon - Although I've driven one and didn't like the driving position because it felt slightly offset.
BMW 3 Series - More expensive
 
Does he need off roading ability?
If not, estate all the way. Less weight, less complexity, lower centre of gravity etc

The fasionable SUV/crossover things are useless off road. Don't buy for that reason. The Korean ones are especially rubbish :p
 
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Heading back towards 12k - 14k per year now he's back into work properly.

What about having him look at something like a Kia Optima. Could get him a 2017 or 2018 model with reasonable mileage for around 12k.
 
What about having him look at something like a Kia Optima. Could get him a 2017 or 2018 model with reasonable mileage for around 12k.

Must admit that isn't a model that would have even crossed my mind. Looks like it comes in Diesel and Petrol/Plug-In Hybrid flavours. I don't suppose Hybrid has crossed his mind, he'll probably favour the diesel though.
 
The fasionable SUV/crossover things are useless off road. Don't buy for that reason. The Korean ones are especially rubbish :p
I've always thought the same, but one of my neighbours has a Kia Sorrento 4x4 with off road tyres and it actually does pretty well. I'd imagine the smaller 2WD Qashqai type things are pretty useless though.
 
I've always thought the same, but one of my neighbours has a Kia Sorrento 4x4 with off road tyres and it actually does pretty well. I'd imagine the smaller 2WD Qashqai type things are pretty useless though.

Depends a lot - some of the higher spec models of the Tiguan and Qashqai, etc. have reasonable 4x4 functionality and with the right tyres do decently off-road but it isn't a capability shared over all models/specs - some will fail miserably.

The 2017 facelift model onwards of the Qashqai look a bit less like a car for people who've given up on life but the engine choices sadly are still lacking in conviction.
 
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Well he is off, out & about. I'm unfortunately stuck at work - don't for a second pretend to know loads about cars, but like to think I would have been some help to him.
I know he was going to look at an Optima - there was one at a dealership 20 minutes away which ticked most of the boxes - 2018, Diesel, 35k miles......he's not a "badge snob" so will buy on what he likes
He did also say there were a couple of Qashqai's he wanted to look at as well - no idea on their specification.

I feel like an expectant uncle - what is he gonna come away with.
 
Volvo V60 maybe, good estates but the interior is very dated, (who needs a num pad in 2018). Space won't be an issue though.
 
Volvos are solid.

The point of the number pad and larger buttons was so you can use it with thick gloves on in a Scandinavian winter.
 
To add one counter to the estate vs suv camp, I have a 3 year old and have a Mondeo Estate. The wife has a Mazda CX-5. Even I have to conceed getting my little on into the Mazda is much easier. The extra height of the door and seat just makes getting a little one in a breeze, paticularly in that awkward age where they cant quite climb in themselves.

Beyond that, everything said is fair enough, but its just worth keeping in mind that I think that's one of the reasons so many people currently prefer the SUV, with the size of modern car seats they really do make the loading / unloading easier.

It doesnt bother me, as the short trips where he's hopping in and out normally get done in rthe Mazda, where as the longer trips are in my Mondeo so its less often. But if this is a one car household and it is doing the school / nursery runs etc that alone might be reason to shift back to an SUV.
 
So he's just been in contact with me - his picked a Nissan Qashqai 1.2 DIG-T Acenta - 67 Plate, 20k miles, £11.4k paid.
Kind of coughed when he said it was a 1.2 Petrol, but having done some reading it seems to be quite well received. Wasn't going to question him on size of the vehicle - the whole family have seen it and sat in it.
So long as he does know that both a 6yr old and a 1yr old will get bigger :)
The Radio/CD Player looks rather dated in my eyes - I do like a nice size panel with at least some SatNav (or ability to mirror your phone ability), but otherwise it doesn't look too bad.

He seems happy with it which I guess at the end of the day is the important bit. Quick Google and I don't think he's overpaid for it.
 
The fasionable SUV/crossover things are useless off road.

Honestly I'd have thought the same, when my ex's folks had the farm they used to have a modified A4 Allroad which was pretty good for most things that didn't need a tractor. When they started to wind down the farm they got a fairly basic Tiguan (with 4motion) and put good off-road tyres on it. Honestly, I was utterly amazed at where that car could go.

Nissan Qashqai 1.2 DIG-T Acenta

Oh dear. But as long as he's happy with it all good I guess :)
 
So he's just been in contact with me - his picked a Nissan Qashqai 1.2 DIG-T Acenta - 67 Plate, 20k miles, £11.4k paid.
Kind of coughed when he said it was a 1.2 Petrol, but having done some reading it seems to be quite well received. Wasn't going to question him on size of the vehicle - the whole family have seen it and sat in it.
So long as he does know that both a 6yr old and a 1yr old will get bigger :)
The Radio/CD Player looks rather dated in my eyes - I do like a nice size panel with at least some SatNav (or ability to mirror your phone ability), but otherwise it doesn't look too bad.

He seems happy with it which I guess at the end of the day is the important bit. Quick Google and I don't think he's overpaid for it.

It's a good engine but takes its time doing anything - would be excellent paired with hybrid though to give it a bit of extra poke shame they've not done that. Tekna trim level is a big jump over Acenta would have tried to hold out for that myself but dunno what price/availability is like.
 
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