Best 2nd hand fuel-efficient luxury mid-size SUV ?

BOWFER

Herzlos said:

Sandtree said:

Bluebell1000 said:

2019 Kia e-niro is about £30k.

When did Kia make it to the luxury list?

Are you confusing luxury with prestige? A top spec Kia is probably a nicer place to be than a bottom spec BMW, but less likely to impress the neighbours.  I say this as someone who went from old Jag to new Skoda; there was some difference (particularly in the ride quality) but nothing like as drastic as you'd expect, the Skoda has more toys, too.

Define 'nicer'
I've owned a top spec ( spec level 3) Kia Sportage and several BMWs.
Yes the Kia will have more toys and it was perfectly fine in terms of build quality, but every time I get in a BMW I'm reminded of the jump in build quality and refinement.
Then there's the engines, Kia's are hopeless, I would say they are easily 10 years behind BMW in terms of power, efficiency and refinement.
I'm not say Kia are rubbish, but they're cheaper than BMW for very tangible reasons and any Kia owner that scoffs at a BMW is very, very wrong.
We've gone to an Evoque which has less toys than the Kia, but it's more refined, faster and better on MPG.

motorguy

happyc84 said:

to the OP - I would say that the 2 priorities luxury and fuel efficiency are in most cases not compatible. Either one or the other. I drive a Nissan  X-trail 2018 model; plenty of toys and does 40mpg. Not flashy but easy to drive and get in and out off.

Theres any amount of 2.0TDI Q5s and X3s about that would meet that brief.  Theres also a 2.0TDI 

Theres a four pot X5 25d that seems to get around 35-37MPG and theres also a hybrid variant.

Also those Lexus Hybrids would be there or there abouts also.

Petriix

BOWFER said:

Herzlos said:

Sandtree said:

Bluebell1000 said:

2019 Kia e-niro is about £30k.

When did Kia make it to the luxury list?

Are you confusing luxury with prestige? A top spec Kia is probably a nicer place to be than a bottom spec BMW, but less likely to impress the neighbours.  I say this as someone who went from old Jag to new Skoda; there was some difference (particularly in the ride quality) but nothing like as drastic as you'd expect, the Skoda has more toys, too.

Define 'nicer'
I've owned a top spec ( spec level 3) Kia Sportage and several BMWs.
Yes the Kia will have more toys and it was perfectly fine in terms of build quality, but every time I get in a BMW I'm reminded of the jump in build quality and refinement.
Then there's the engines, Kia's are hopeless, I would say they are easily 10 years behind BMW in terms of power, efficiency and refinement.
I'm not say Kia are rubbish, but they're cheaper than BMW for very tangible reasons and any Kia owner that scoffs at a BMW is very, very wrong.
We've gone to an Evoque which has less toys than the Kia, but it's more refined, faster and better on MPG.

I think you're confused here. Kia are about 10 years ahead of BMW when it comes to the transition *away* from engines. Once you've driven a vehicle powered by the immediate torque of an electric motor, anything with an engine will seem pretty primative.

AdrianC

Petriix said:

BOWFER said:

Then there's the engines, Kia's are hopeless, I would say they are easily 10 years behind BMW in terms of power, efficiency and refinement.

I think you're confused here. Kia are about 10 years ahead of BMW when it comes to the transition *away* from engines. Once you've driven a vehicle powered by the immediate torque of an electric motor, anything with an engine will seem pretty primative.

Mmm. That's a... generous interpretation, at best.

Kia are due to launch their first dedicated EV next year. Their first hybrid version of a predominately ICE car was launched in 2016, their first BEV was 2017. They weren't even designing their own cars until the mid-90s, just licence-building other people's tech.

BMW launched their first dedicated EV in 2013. Their first BEV version of a predominately ICE car was in 1972... No, not full production, of course - but there were a number of volume BEV trials through the 80s and 90s, with public trials of four-digit units of Minis and 1-series across two continents in the late 00s.

BOWFER

Petriix said:

I think you're confused here. Kia are about 10 years ahead of BMW when it comes to the transition *away* from engines. Once you've driven a vehicle powered by the immediate torque of an electric motor, anything with an engine will seem pretty primative.

Incorrect, BMW's i3 was out long before Kia did an EV.
And is still much more advanced in terms of construction.
No idea why you've shot of in a tangent though, I was talking about their ICE engines.
Kia's ICE engines are pretty awful compared with BMW.
PS - preaching to the converted, I've been an EV owner and both our cars will be EV again as soon as we can get out of our current deals.

a_car_person

I’m at heart an EV person but ICE powered what about a Hyundai Tucson (a friend is getting 40 to 50mpg) or an Audi Q5 (badge prestige and not bad mpg).

Herzlos

BOWFER said:

Define 'nicer'
I've owned a top spec ( spec level 3) Kia Sportage and several BMWs.
Yes the Kia will have more toys and it was perfectly fine in terms of build quality, but every time I get in a BMW I'm reminded of the jump in build quality and refinement.
Then there's the engines, Kia's are hopeless, I would say they are easily 10 years behind BMW in terms of power, efficiency and refinement.
I'm not say Kia are rubbish, but they're cheaper than BMW for very tangible reasons and any Kia owner that scoffs at a BMW is very, very wrong.
We've gone to an Evoque which has less toys than the Kia, but it's more refined, faster and better on MPG.

'Nicer' is a pretty vague intangible thing to define, sadly. Whilst I'm sure BMWs are all well built and refined, any that I've been in have been pretty meh and just remind me of a Passat I had for a while. There was nothing wrong it it, but nothing great about it either, it was just 'fine'.

I'm pretty confident you could put a BMW badge on a VW or a Skoda and most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference. I just don't think they are worth the price premium especially when you see what else you can get for the same money as, say, a base spec BMW X1.

BOWFER

Herzlos said:

'Nicer' is a pretty vague intangible thing to define, sadly. Whilst I'm sure BMWs are all well built and refined, any that I've been in have been pretty meh and just remind me of a Passat I had for a while. There was nothing wrong it it, but nothing great about it either, it was just 'fine'.

I'm pretty confident you could put a BMW badge on a VW or a Skoda and most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference. I just don't think they are worth the price premium especially when you see what else you can get for the same money as, say, a base spec BMW X1.

Fair enough, I appreciate there are people out there who reach a point at which anything above a certain level is pointless as they just can't appreciate the difference.
A car, a stereo, a TV, whatever.
Driving pleasure comes into it too, as BMW are one of very few who actually strive to make all their cars enjoyable and responsive.
Kia don't, the Sportage was built for people who want a numb experience - A to B and that's that.

NaughtiusMaximus

BOWFER said:

Herzlos said:

'Nicer' is a pretty vague intangible thing to define, sadly. Whilst I'm sure BMWs are all well built and refined, any that I've been in have been pretty meh and just remind me of a Passat I had for a while. There was nothing wrong it it, but nothing great about it either, it was just 'fine'.

I'm pretty confident you could put a BMW badge on a VW or a Skoda and most people wouldn't be able to tell the difference. I just don't think they are worth the price premium especially when you see what else you can get for the same money as, say, a base spec BMW X1.

Fair enough, I appreciate there are people out there who reach a point at which anything above a certain level is pointless as they just can't appreciate the difference.

What an arrogant, condescending comment.

You could just as easily say there's an element of placebo effect with some people who think just because it's a BMW it MUST be better.

[Deleted User]

Apologies for raising this post again but the pandemic kyboshed our SUV plans and we're only now just thinking about this again.
Budget approx 20k.
We don't do huge mileage but still looking for reasonable MPG.
Comfortable interior rather than performance.
Have often bought cars via BCA so happy to visit auctions again.
Thanks in advance