I'm a plastic-Geordie from Yorkshire transplanted to the beautiful North East and I'm seriously considering a Superb III L&K 150 DSG in Candy White with black leather and the stock anthracite wheels. As a family, we've got to this stage as our heretofore reliable 5 year old Lexus is beginning to show its age, not only in the grubby handprints and plastic bottles kept everywhere, and the intermittently infuriating keyless system, but also in the lack of advanced, active, safety features. 

 

We seriously considered getting another Lexus, but the only way we could get our mitts on ACC was to first buy the Premier model, then another 1900 nicker on top of that for a model which hasn't enjoyed the advances in engine its sister (Toyota Prius) has, or a good looking update... Essentially, it's the same car as the one we bought 5 years ago. So despite a stellar service from the lads at Lexus, it was into the world of... GEEZ I DUNNO WHAT CAR WE NEED!

 

I did my usual trick of building a spreadsheet, marking down the features I wanted to ensure the car had... ACC, BLIS, Lane departure, low-speed colliision avoidance, climate control, self-parking, auto (so that ruled out run-of-the-mill mid-range cars in the main... but possibly a V40 Volvo?); the nipper wanted something with a bit more room in the back so his growing legs didn't end up round his ears... (so that ruled out the Volvo), the significant lodger... significant other wanted white and with ambient lights... So we naturally came upon the...

 

Kia Optima 4.

 

However, they've removed that from sale (no wonder, it's only sold somewhere in the region of 50 models since the update last year). So that was a no-no. The missus refuses to countenance a Vauxhall or a Ford... A Citroen nearly killed us all on a couple of occasions... And BMW's service up here is shi... terribly patronising to say the least, not to mention the horrors we had during the Winter of 2010 in ours.

 

So... Tearing out what remained of my hair, we had a test in a Mazda 6. Not the Sport Nav I wanted but a boggo one. It was lovely. But...

 

I'd spent some time on configurators this past couple of months. I'd seen a car... read reviews... watched the German fellas and the Irish fellas and the UK rags absolutely rave about a certain car which, if I could just persuade my better half... We could actually countenance.

 

It was a hard sell. 

 

Actually, no it wasn't. She fell in love with it when we saw it in our local garridge. Worried about the size of it. So am I... But the space of it. The ambient lights. The safety features... Yeh, it's more polluting than our old car, but will most likely trounce it in the MPG stakes. So, we're here, about to push the button on it. Flippin' hell, who'd have thought I'd have considered a Skoda 30 years ago, as a young lad, reading The Good, The Bad and The Ugly in CAR magazine (actually, they always quite liked the Rapid... ) not me, but here I am. 

 

Great forum by the way, I've been reading loads. Some really knowledgeable posters and some great tips. Even if I can't agree with you all about cats.

 

 

Hi there and welcome.  I think the Superb ticks most of the boxes for you based on what you're looking for.  Good luck with your decision. 

Thanks for the greeting... We're pretty certain (at last) - the only thing I'd miss (from the Optima 4...) would be the surround camera (which would be lovely) but the Superb is, otherwise, a much better car! And from the Lexus? The electric whirr as you drive off...