Car advice please....

Tappers1979

Hi, first post so please be gentle.

Recently got new job and had a Nissan Qashqai that I really liked but after 2hours of traffic (1into and 1out of work) every day I would get home stressed, tired and angry and not to mention in a bit of pain in my knee because of the clutch up and down :-(

My far too kind parents agreed to swap cars as they rarely use their second car.

I currently have a BMW 530D auto, but am doing about 1000 business miles a month and a approx 300 personal miles.

Since having the auto life is much much better!

I will hopefully get through probation in 2 months and have the option of keeping running my own vehicle or get a lease car.

The BMW is great and beautiful to drive but ... ( and I know some will see this as crazy) but when he weather gets even remotely bad the BMW is slippy on the back end.

Personally I love big 4x4s but not sure it is sensible for the miles i do. And... If we could avoid bashing me for my love of 4x4s it would be appreciated and yes when I had one in the past I used it off road a lot!.

I have though about something like an Audi allroad but would only have approx £10k to spend, I like these as they are a mix. I looked also for a Skoda but couldn't find anything in my price range that was a 4x4 estate and auto.

The other option is to go with a lease car through work as I think I can get a Skoda Octavia 1.6tdi dsg estate and would then just risk the snow or not depending how bad it got.

What are people's thoughts?

Apologies for length....

Stooby2

Tappers, have a look on auto trader or the like - something the Toyota Rav 4 or the Honda CRV might suit you. I like Discoveries, but they can be money pits if you don't know what to look for.

Subaru make some nice 4x4's which may also suit you. The Honest John website gives good reviews so having a look around and getting some test drives might be the way to go.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Tappers it doesn't matter which wheels drive the car, the correct tyres of decent quality make all the difference, in poor conditions in snow and ice my old Mercedes is about the only 2WD car to make it out from where i live, purely down to running the correct tyres for the seaon and nothing to do with my ham fisted driving.

Nothing wrong with 4WD if you want it, but remember that proper 4WD's are usually heavier of fuel than similar 2WD's, and anything with a proper TC gearbox will be heavier on fuel than one without...but it will, unless you bought some horrid FWD tin can, be pleasant to drive, which you have found in your parents proper car.

remember too that 4WD cars, whilst having more traction only stop the same as 2WD, again the right tyre choices make the difference here.

If that E39/E60 is skittish in rain, we've had no snow, then its on rubbish tyres, i will absolutely guarantee that.

Tappers1979

Hi All,

Thanks for the replies.

Scooby2 - thanks for your support on the previous post, which was unnecessary. Rav4 is a good car and one I have thought about Subaru too and the honest John website is great. Would love a Land Rover especially a Defender but more an a second car for off roading which I can't stretch too at the moment sadly.

Gilbert and sullivan : thanks, I did wonder if it might by tyre related. I do find it funny when people drive 4x4s at full speed in the snow as I do wonder what their plans are for stopping!!

I am not after a 4x4 because of the weather as I think that is a crazy reason to purchase one and perhaps something I should have worded better above and therefore prompting Mark_Mark's unnecessary rely but I actually prefer the off road looks in cars and motorbikes, we all have our different taste.

I will therefore apologize for the above and perhaps re-think the advice I was looking for by posing the question a new way....

I prefer the off road style cars and would if possible like 4x4 to do light green lane at the weekends but need something reliable and comfortable and above 30 mpg if possible.

The thing is I do approx 1300miles a month.

Should I look to get a private car e.g. Rav4 , Audi Allroad, Subaru or something similar...

Or

Lease car e.g. Skoda Octavia...

My preference for a variety of reasons would be an auto...

Many thanks for any constructive thoughts and comments.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Even mild off roading isn't kind to a vehicle, for a start you need the correct tyres which don't translate into good on road tyres, and unless you drive on damp tracks only then sooner or later you'll do some damage and get stuck possibly causing more damage.

For that type of fun, you'd be far better off buying a MOT failure Vitara or similar, and a small enough trailer to carry it and take it to organised play days, lots of fun that way and it doesn't matter if you roll it or it runs into a tree stump and you won't have to spend 3 hours trying, in vain, to get all the crud out of the nooks and crannies.

There's dozens of cars that could suit your road purposes, from Subaru Forester/Legacy Outback to Hyundai Santa Fe's, all of them reasonably capable of gentle off roading if you wish to.
For serious green laning these cars do not have the approach angles or axle articulation needed, and likely at you budget to be too nice to be grounding out on hard packed rubble to get through.

Audi All Roads and Volvo's big 4x4's might look the part and will do what you want but should they go wrong then eye watering bills will follow, i dread to think what the cost would be of finding a partially hidden tree stump sticking up 8" at 20mph in an Allroad.

---lee---

Sounds like your tyres are useless to me. I've got a 530D and it's fine in the wet.

That engine puts out a lot of torque and it's a big heavy car, if the tyres are marginal, it will show quickly.

Tappers1979

Thanks lee. It has happened a few times but if your not having the same problem it must be the tyres or my foot but to be honest I don't hook around in it as don't want a big repair bill! In the dry no problems at all even with a slight bit more acceleration!

Cheers again Gilbert and Sullivan, unless I could get a second car for off-roading it would be only very gentle off roading.

Wondering if I might be better going for lease through the company or personal lease?.???