Grumpy's New Car

Grumpy_chap

So, back in 2020, I'd started looking for a new car.  Then COVID happened and never did change.

Pre-COVID, I was doing well over 35k miles per year.  My default car would have been a Mondeo - they are safe, spacious, comfortable, well-equipped, reliable, highly adaptable / flexible and drive well - pretty hard to beat really.  I was also assessing EV options as alternatives, but none were really suiting with range limitations and cost to buy. 

I had always deemed I needed the practicality of a hatchback.  With COVID, I am now doing far fewer miles, around 12.5k per year, but that include most of the mileage on my once-per-week commute, 140 mile round trip.  I like a comfortable and high-spec car (adaptive cruise and blind spot indicators would be nice to have), but the reduced mileage over the past years shows that I could get away with less practicality than I'd always assumed.  The Mondeo would still be an excellent choice of car, but Ford have discontinued it and there are not a particularly high number of later models in the used market either (reduced sales during COVID times I suppose).

I now need to get a new car as I gave the Focus to my Nephew in November and sold the non-ULEZ Fiesta on Friday.  I can still borrow my wife's 2016 Fiesta but there are times when we both need to go to work on the same day plus she will not thank me if I start to rely on her car.

I could get an "it'll do" car:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303085013924 (though they seem to be painfully slow)
Or, an "it'll do" car with the extra toys that I'd like:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202212312866675 (still very slow)

There is a massive choice of ICE's, obviously.  If I end up with an ICE, the local LEXUS dealer has an ES on the forecourt which sets the upper-bound for what I'd pay as, if I reached this price-point in finding the right car, I'd just get this:
https://twickenham.usedcars.lexus.co.uk/en/used-lexus/Lexus/Es-Saloon/300h-Premium-Edition-pbc4a6p
(though it's over-priced as, in Sept 2021, the same Dealer offered a brand new of the same model and trim at £32k)

Then comes the exploration into EV options and whether I can make it work financially.

The bench-mark EV is, obviously, the TM3 / TMY.  Both are £50k new, so that sets an absolute upper limit, which is rather more than I really want to pay.  It rules out the Mercedes / Audi / BMW offerings.

A few weeks back, we looked at MG and did like the MG5 but then found it has a ZERO NCAP rating (which is disgraceful that any car would be launched with such a disregard for safety).

The iPACE is an attractive alternative and used prices are rather lower than other similar brands.  I have to admit I am wary of a used EV because of the unknown status of the battery plus the media reports falling prices but I don't seem to find that.  Anyway, there are reasonable examples available:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202204064369741
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202302244604541

Then, again, they are no more favourable than TM3:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202304066019171
https://www.tesla.com/en_GB/m3/order/5YJ3F7EB4LF605238#overview

I have considered the Kia / Hyundai EV's which have good range, but the price point does not make sense against the Tesla's at the moment.

The C4 EV is quite a stylish option, but small battery and short range.  Fairly similar with the Megane.
The iD3 is quite a poor build quality when we saw one a month back - nothing to compare with a Golf

Is there an option we've missed?

If we end up with another ICE, do we go for the good car we like, or the cheaper stop-gap until a suitable EV is possible?

Martin_the_Unjust

The electric Kia and Hyundai seem to be far better cars than the Tesla, not sure why you appear to be are holding them up as the ‘gold standard’ of EV’s.

Grumpy_chap

I did not say Tesla are the "gold-standard" but that they are the "bench-mark" - comparable to my "bench-mark" ICE being the Mondeo.  Any alternative has to be "better" and "better" can be achieved by quality (Rolls Royce beats Mondeo) or value (Skoda beats Mondeo).

Tesla do have the Supercharger trump card, thus eliminating range anxiety.

We were in an EV Kia on Friday, and it was really nice.  We plan to visit a Kia showroom, but the pricing is absurd right now against the TMY.

EDIT - thinking about what is the "gold-standard" for EV's?
If money was no object, I'd probably buy one of these two:
https://www.audi.co.uk/uk/web/en/models/etrongt/audi-e-tron-gt.html
https://www.mercedes-benz.co.uk/passengercars/models/saloon/eqe/overview.html

MikeJXE

Grumpy_chap said:

I did not say Tesla are the "gold-standard" but that they are the "bench-mark" - comparable to my "bench-mark" ICE being the Mondeo.  Any alternative has to be "better" and "better" can be achieved by quality (Rolls Royce beats Mondeo) or value (Skoda beats Mondeo).

Tesla do have the Supercharger trump card, thus eliminating range anxiety.

We were in an EV Kia on Friday, and it was really nice.  We plan to visit a Kia showroom, but the pricing is absurd right now against the TMY.

My preferred make throughout my long driving life (60 years) was always Ford, from the early Zepher to the last Mondeo until 

In 2019 I decided a change was the way I wanted to go with a bit more luxury. Because i was born to drive an Electric will never fit the bill until they will do 500 miles on a charge, I like to drive the long open roads

I bought a 3 year old Jaguar XE Portfolio auto with 22,000 on the clock, the best car I have ever driven. It seems to drive itself, 50mpg 20,000 miles between services 

2/3 years after Jaguar stop production  I will buy another to last the rest of my life 

Grumpy_chap

@MikeJXE - funny enough, we looked at an XE Portfolio in the summer.  It was a lovely car but we felt it may have been used as a taxi so didn't go ahead.

It will be an option if we end up with an ICE.

MikeJXE

Grumpy_chap said:

@MikeJXE - funny enough, we looked at an XE Portfolio in the summer.  It was a lovely car but we felt it may have been used as a taxi so didn't go ahead.

It will be an option if we end up with an ICE.

I chose mine from Jaguar approve used with 1 year manufacture warranty 

£16,000 but now the same might cost £18,000

daveyjp

If you have looked at Lexus consider a Camry.

Not many about as they are now discontinued, but bulletproof and very well equipped.

Petriix

The MG5 doesn't have a zero n-cap rating; it just hasn't been tested. In any case, most cars over 4 years old would score zero on the current test.

baser999

We’ve been forced through Khans forthcoming ULEZ expansion to offload our fabulous, much-loved, practical for us, regularly serviced but diesel Land Rover Freelander. We’ve gone down the route of a Skoda Karoq. I’d shortlisted the bigger Kodiaq but will never use the seven seats and the Karoq will provide us with a suitable alternative. Pick it up Wednesday, p/ex the LR. We can’t have an EV where we live so going petrol was really our only option. If Khans going to get away with these expansion plans, what’s to say he doesn’t decide to outlaw diesel cars altogether? 

Grumpy_chap

Well, I've been looking around and if I stick with petrol, it's possible to do much better than the Lexus.  This Volvo is currently leading the ICE pack (although possibly too far away):
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303175346648

I am also trying to understand how anyone with an EV manages charging if there is no access to the Super-Charger network.  That seems to be a killer parameter for any other brand of EV, unless the car starts from a significant price advantage which there doesn't seem to be.

At present, compared to £22k for an ICE, it seems as though a comparable EV would be north of £33k.  It's a big capital delta and not sure the maths can be made to work.

JKenH

That’s a lot  of car for the money. I had 2 Volvo V70s in succession as company cars and during retirement I bought one privately and loved them all.   For long distance travel they are superbly comfortable but the S90 is a big car - 4969 cm (longer than a Mondeo estate!) - and if you are doing a lot of shopping trips, driving round multi storey car parks etc it could be a pain (especially after running around in a Fiesta). The standard UK parking space is 4.8m