Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[countrywoman]

5th gear rated the Skoda well in a back to back test.

[Mr Skrunts]

Still looking and not had any test drives yet.

Volkswagen Tiguan caught my eye is a search.

Has anyone got one or driven one.?

Contenders list

Skoda Superb/Kodiac
Audi A6/Q series
BMW 5 series/X series
Merc E Class

All cars as estates

[Doctor Gollum]

The only Q that could reasonably be considered a true estate is the Q7. Similarly the X5/7 but only because they're all the size of a house.

Kodiak better value than a Tiguan.

On your list, Skoda over Audi... Why pay a premium for what is essentially the same thing.

Mercedes E for all round practicality and durability/longevity.

5 Series for driving.

That said, considering the ambiguity of the whole proposal, whichever one you can get for the least amount of money*

In which case, I very much doubt that you'll better this: https://www.thetaxicentre.com/new-taxi-sales/skoda/superb/se-technology/296471/skoda-superb-1.5-tsi-e-tec-se-technology-5dr-dsg-petrol-estate/

* I know that it's irrelevant on paper because it's a business expense, but you want to be on the hook for as little as possible until you can buy it outright.

[TheBoy]

Volkswagen Tiguan caught my eye is a search.

Has anyone got one or driven one.?

Only a bog standard diesel one from around 5 or 6 years ago.

Dull, boring, overpriced, but does the job of carrying little baskets to their McDonalds party.

Personally, I found they aggravated my (previously buggered) back after around an hour, but then many cars do.

[Sir Tigger KC]

Volkswagen Tiguan caught my eye is a search.

Has anyone got one or driven one.?

My mate who is an Estate Agent had a new one on lease in 2015 and bought it when the lease expired. I guess he does a fair amount of miles every year with his work and he seems to like it, and it certainly seems OK, if a bit dull, when I've been in it. 

[Mr Skrunts]

At the end of the day I think it will come down to the comfort.

Planned one route, Sheffield, London, Birmingham back home some 360 miles but maybe sitting waiting in London (Heathrow) and 6.5 hours driving, 60 MPG or better would be nice. 

So still no rush.  Plus age maybe easier access in and out for car maybe puts the SUV's higher on the list.

[Doctor Gollum]

At the end of the day I think it will come down to the comfort.

Planned one route, Sheffield, London, Birmingham back home some 360 miles but maybe sitting waiting in London (Heathrow) and 6.5 hours driving, 60 MPG or better would be nice. 

So still no rush.  Plus age maybe easier access in and out for car maybe puts the SUV's higher on the list.

And possibly Sat Nav if you think Heathrow and Lundun are the same place

Joking aside 60mpg + SUV = fantasy...

You'll die of boredom long before it gets close.

Also, ease of access is a customer consideration. Being sat in the back of a jacked up Golf (aka Tiguan) for 6.5 hours may not be conducive to passenger comfort.

Our opinion is just that, opinion. They only way you're going to be able to answer the question is by going and looking. Find a suitable Car Giant type place and try anything that might be a candidate. Then buy it from somewhere else.

[Doctor Gollum]

https://www.bigmotoringworld.co.uk/used-cars/

They have a site in Sheffield and whilst they don't necessarily have any estates or Superbs in stock they do have much of your wishlist in stock for convenient comparison. I wouldn't buy from them, but they're perfect for window shopping.

[Mr Skrunts]

Never been to Heathrow before but understand your point, my visit will be to collect GF from T5 and plan to park up so she can find me.  (Thinking what 3 words would serve us proud)  She fancies a C class so maybe an E class may help to change her mind and get my choice instead of hers.

The dealer in Sheffield I think was the place I visited when they 1st opened (Maybe as a different company) didn't like the was I was herded over to see how much fiance they could screw out of me.  but then maybe all dealers are the same.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

At the end of the day I think it will come down to the comfort.

Planned one route, Sheffield, London, Birmingham back home some 360 miles but maybe sitting waiting in London (Heathrow) and 6.5 hours driving, 60 MPG or better would be nice. 

So still no rush.  Plus age maybe easier access in and out for car maybe puts the SUV's higher on the list.

How much do you have to spend, Skruntie?

[Doctor Gollum]

Never been to Heathrow before but understand your point, my visit will be to collect GF from T5 and plan to park up so she can find me.  (Thinking what 3 words would serve us proud)  She fancies a C class so maybe an E class may help to change her mind and get my choice instead of hers.

The dealer in Sheffield I think was the place I visited when they 1st opened (Maybe as a different company) didn't like the was I was herded over to see how much fiance they could screw out of me.  but then maybe all dealers are the same.

Like I said, I would never buy a car from them, but it's handy for trying various makes/models.

Have bought a car from Europa in Sheffield and would recommend them from that experience.

Also, re T5, you can use the park and ride for collecting/dropping off free for 29 minutes.

[Mr Skrunts]

At the end of the day I think it will come down to the comfort.

Planned one route, Sheffield, London, Birmingham back home some 360 miles but maybe sitting waiting in London (Heathrow) and 6.5 hours driving, 60 MPG or better would be nice. 

So still no rush.  Plus age maybe easier access in and out for car maybe puts the SUV's higher on the list.

How much do you have to spend, Skruntie?

Depends on whats left after the customs have dealt with us.   Paid in full to send via sea cargo, asked 3 times if there would be any more charges or taxes etc  oh no they said yada yada.

Only passed through 2 ports on route and they  charged us.

We covered our ourselves for things like this but until I receive the cargo then I really dont know.

We could go finance but as a new venture I think there may be problems.

£30k is realistic, maybe 35k for the Superb, but 5 series or E class would be nice depending on ease of access and comfort.

I phoned one Skoda dealership, they had 3 cars all same write up, 3 different locations and prices.  £35k/38k & 43k could have a drive in a superb but not the PHEV

So Skoda in with a chance a chance at the moment depends on what the car differences are.

So at the moment I am not sure. 

Always got the Omega for now.

[YZ250]

The only Q that could reasonably be considered a true estate is the Q7. Similarly the X5/7 but only because they're all the size of a house.

  
Very true.    The X7’s huge profile is borderline vulgar. I did consider a Q7/SQ7 myself but considering that I struggle to fit my A6 Avant in a lot of parking spaces, I dismissed that idea. 

Kodiak better value than a Tiguan.

For some reason the VW badge carries a premium, an undeserved premium most would think.

On your list, Skoda over Audi... Why pay a premium for what is essentially the same thing.

I agree, and that’s coming from someone who owns an A6 Avant.    The A6 Avant is slightly longer than the Skoda Superb but the boot space on the Superb is far more usable. The A6 boot space, albeit large, is too shallow at the rear of the boot for proper load lugging, due to the flat loading area and the steep angle of the tailgate. The Superb boot is deeper and bigger, making it more suitable if regularly loading in suitcases. Something that may be worth bearing in mind if chauffeuring etc.    Audi are also notoriously tight when it comes to toys, so you have to search hard to find one with most of the options boxes ticked.

Mercedes E for all round practicality and durability/longevity.

As previously mentioned, my neighbour has an E220d Mercedes Estate and regularly does the France run and Scotland run to visit his daughters. It has the 9 speed auto box and is probably the only car on this list that will give over 60mpg. 

5 Series for driving.

Lovely comfortable car to drive, user friendly driver interface and considerably faster infotainment/Nav system than Audi. The petrol/diesel 5’er is also one of the few BMW’s to escape from that ridiculously long dash display system. If you avoid the overpriced i5 (with the silly dash), the 3.0d should give high 40’s, possibly 50mpg on a run (34’ish around town) and the 2.0d’s should give mid to high 50’s on a run. The 3.0d’s are far more rewarding to drive though, with an almost petrol’ish sporty sound when prodded.    Be aware if looking at a 5 Series though, a 530e is not a 3 litre hybrid, it’s a 4 cylinder 2 litre petrol engine with a short mileage electric capability. The diesel is the better bet. 

[Doctor Gollum]

A mate has a '68 530d X drive that he's considering selling. It's exceptionally well specced and he looks after it like a first child, but he fancies an X5 It's a saloon though.

On a side note... A thought occurred to me earlier, there was suggestion of it a while ago but I don't know if it became law or how enforceable it is... But if you are self employed and only have one full time customer then they effectively become your employer. One way around this is to set up a company (not a sole trader) but you then become your own employee.

If it's chauffeuring you'll basically be doing then set yourself up as a private hire firm, both operator and driver, jumping through whatever hoops your local authority requires and take the old dear across the road to the shops once a month for a quid. If you have more than one customer they can't be your employer. Taxi firms and Uber etc get around this by acting as booking agencies, although it's a fine line as you're taking your work from a single source although the passengers are your customers as they're the ones recieving the service from you having themselves 'employed' an agency to arrange your provision of said service. And like wise you pay them a commission for generating the bookings. By operating the company and doing the work you cut out the middle man as you fulfil both roles.

Also, and as I said previously, the vague evasiveness surrounding the whole thing makes me think you need to be as legitimate in how you go about it as possible regardless of what you're actually up to.

Taking your GF to the airport periodically doesn't even to begin to account for what you've been asking. And again I really couldn't care less what you're actually up to, but when someone eventually plows into you at 2 am on the M1 and it all goes horribly wrong best case you'll be totally blameless but worst case you'll be uninsured and accountable and you won't know which until afterwards.

Running the car as a private hire vehicle whilst maintaining a second private vehicle, (anything with tax/MOT/insurance will suffice), makes the business vehicle and it's associated costs 100% expensable. Something I don't believe is the case with a  regular company car.

[Mr Skrunts]

Just been offered a Chevy Equinox ev

Brand new high spec from a friend, her Mum is in hospital with terminal cancer, They both live in Florida and the car is a gift from a fan but is in Germany so she asked me to try sell it but I cant help her at the moment and my cash is tied up as i maybe would have helped out and maybe bought it myself.