So the 3.2 was driven off with it's new owner, I no longer have one after owning 2 as my main drivers since 2005. Took my 2.2 to 194k on it's original head gasket, which was rare! Lost my 3.2 to HG which had a rare failure!
The problem came with replacement, my budget was £10k. The issue is, there is nothing out there. Nothing. Two cars came close:
2009-15: Jaguar XF. Problem was, I would need the XF-S version. The standard ones just lacked those little touches, plus I would have wanted the toys. Another problem was the boot, it was just super small, you could barely fit anything it. Our pram could not fit for starters, let alone other stuff it would carry some times.
Then there was the price, £10k for something 8 years old and having 100,000 miles on the clock.
2010+ Jaguar XJ, had the bigger boot (just) but finding one with dark interior and low miles was hard, but again. 10 years old and 100k miles? No thanks!
The only thing that came close was a 2016 newer shape XF-S 3.0d, I found that to be very nice. But I need £18k, infact I needed to double my budget to £20k to actually find something I really liked. Looked at Volvo S90's but needed the posher ones with better seats again, £20k.
Every BMW I sat in/drove had utterly appalling ride. (inc 4's 3's, 5's) felt no better build wise that the Omega either.
£10k budget Mercs gets you the crap era, with serious ugly cars with appalling seats, crap fuel use given 4 pot diesels as well. Glad I ran MotherT's 2014 EClass for a while, as it enabled me to rule them out. I could barely crack 40mpg in that, cracked my back in the seats though!
--------------
I then had to put my sensible hat on, MrsT is expecting Little Miss or MrT No3, and is quite poorly. It's not just morning sickness, it's night/morning/day/afternoon/evening. (history suggests this lasts the whole 9m) So a few changes took place, I now drive every day but still car share (to be able to park!) as I drop little MissT off at breakfast club before school.
So I began driving the 2014 Zafira Tourer we have as a daily, plus this summer I drove it over 2,000 miles around Ireland. I found it a comfy, capable, quick enough, economical enough cruiser. The MV6 Cloth style seats, with extending thigh support make it, sorry to say actually more comfy than the Omega. The cabin has less noise as well, no doubt due to age/seals. But at 75mph it's a nice silent place to be. As I found on the long drives to and around Ireland. So I decided I would take this on and I would by MrsT another one, but this time a petrol one as she only does town stuff.
So this is now mine....
It has 400Nm of torque (165bhp) so once rolling it never feels lacking in power, join motorways/leave around-about and it gets up to 80 quick enough for me. Recently went to Cambridge in it with just BabyT and quite enjoyed the country drive. I got 470 miles to last tank as well, so happy with that vs 280 in the 3.2.
And this is for MrsT.
It's a 2016 1.4 Petrol Turbo SE so higher spec, has auto dipping mirror, auto lights, auto wipers, ambient lighting, climate control, bluetooth etc. It has just 16,000 on the clock and it was £10k.
Captain sensible now with a mummy and daddy bus, but they are easy to service which was another factor. I can do oil change, filters, fuel filter, pollen etc. The little 1.4 looks a gem to work on, the oil filter is actually easily accessed from above!
Both cars, being able to take all 5 of us was a factor as well.
Although I could have spent £20k, I feel I can spend that £10k saved on better things for the family......
