I'm planning to retire next year and am looking to buy another car as part of my assimilation into the Silver Surfer brigade. The Fabia vRS will be 8 and a bit years old by then so will be sacrificed on the part exchange altar. But what to buy? The simplest choice is a Golf R Estate as it ticks all the boxes, but it is actually more car than I need and despite many hours spent on the internet I always end up with the Golf or a VAG alternative. So what else is out there that I should be looking at?

 

My requirements are:

 

Petrol - There will be more short journeys than long journeys once I retire so it must be petrol.

Automatic - Mrs T and I much prefer a modern auto and have become lazy in our driving habits.

Estate - We have a large dog, a daughter that will be at uni by then and, hopefully, grandkids at some point in the future, so it needs to be able to carry a reasonable load.

Size - Not too big; no larger than an Octavia.

Performance - Needs to be able to pick up her skirts and show a clean pair of heels when required.

Comfort - We are retiring so we are getting on a bit, so it needs to be relatively softly sprung. We also live in rural Lincolnshire where the roads are **** and full of potholes so it needs to be able to cope with that as well.

Running costs - Must be reasonable. And I am, by definition, a tight git so hate spending money, so £500 a year on road tax will NOT happen!

 

So, what are the options? Grateful for any advice, preferably with experience.

Toyota Auris Touring 1.8 Hybrid.

 

SEAT Leon ST 1.4 TSI 150ps DSG

SEAT Leon ST 1.8 TSI 180ps DSG.

Edited 24 July, 20187 yr by Offski

Honda hrv arriving soon with a 1.5 L 190 bhp turbo/auto

Fails on the 'estate' bit. 

Mini Countryman Cooper S with sports auto box.

Good luck with your search.

Get the Golf R.  Whatever you buy that isn't a Golf R, you'll always regret not getting the Golf R.  

 

 

Tesla 3 series,

I am retiring next year and that's what I am Getting, the only compromise is the estate.

No more visits to the petrol station,

135 mpg relative - real

No Road Tax for the moment,

Hardly any servicing costs,

0.60 in under 5 secs

Automatic

All the toys

about 35K

 

Edited 25 July, 20187 yr by Suuntobob

A Kodiaq 2.0 TSI DSG ticks most if not all of your boxes. Plenty of room for the grandkids, comfortable, higher up (easy to get in/ out) £140 road tax. Mine certainly fulfills all of my “ retired” duties. 

Sorry, can't help. Spent my military retirement cash on a house instead of a car.

320i Xdrive Estate

 

Bigger engines are rwd.

 

330e Estate if you can live with winter tyres

7 hours ago, Suuntobob said:

Tesla 3 series,

I am retiring next year and that's what I am Getting, the only compromise is the estate.

No more visits to the petrol station,

135 mpg relative - real

No Road Tax for the moment,

Hardly any servicing costs,

0.60 in under 5 secs

Automatic

All the toys

about 35K

 

 

In the UK, 3yr+ wait time, sky high insurance, and nearest dealer service how many miles away? About 35k? highly unlikely by the time you actually get it.

15 hours ago, xman said:

 

In the UK, 3yr+ wait time, sky high insurance, and nearest dealer service how many miles away? About 35k? highly unlikely by the time you actually get it.

 

15 hours ago, xman said:

 

In the UK, 3yr+ wait time, sky high insurance, and nearest dealer service how many miles away? About 35k? highly unlikely by the time you actually get it.

Whatever you say must be right.... I'll cancel my reservation !

On 24/07/2018 at 22:00, tweenster said:

 

 

My requirements are:

 

Petrol - There will be more short journeys than long journeys once I retire so it must be petrol.

Automatic - Mrs T and I much prefer a modern auto and have become lazy in our driving habits.

Estate - We have a large dog, a daughter that will be at uni by then and, hopefully, grandkids at some point in the future, so it needs to be able to carry a reasonable load.

Size - Not too big; no larger than an Octavia.

Performance - Needs to be able to pick up her skirts and show a clean pair of heels when required.

Comfort - We are retiring so we are getting on a bit, so it needs to be relatively softly sprung. We also live in rural Lincolnshire where the roads are **** and full of potholes so it needs to be able to cope with that as well.

Running costs - Must be reasonable. 

Octavia 1.5 SE estate DSG with rough road package? Good balance of economy and performance. Biggest capacity in its class. All Octavias should be cheap to run long term. 

On 25/07/2018 at 09:18, Suuntobob said:

Tesla 3 series,

I am retiring next year and that's what I am Getting, the only compromise is the estate.

No more visits to the petrol station,

135 mpg relative - real

No Road Tax for the moment,

Hardly any servicing costs,

0.60 in under 5 secs

Automatic

All the toys

about 35K

 

hope you've got your deposit down---if there's any benefit to a referal drop me a PM    

Hi,

I've been on the list 2 years, not sure if a referal is relevant for the model E but thanks for the offer I'll be in touch if it does ;-)

me neither but if you get yours first   I may need your number

p.s.  just found there is a referal programme for M3   in the USA   no details yet

Once they get the Tesla Estate cars on the go they can do a Hearse version because they might wait all their retirement years and never get their Tesla 3, at least they can have their last run in one then the boss can fire their ashes off to outer space.   Or to just simplify things and the cremation can be in Tesla.

https://www.teslarati.com/tesla-model-3-referral-program-rollout/

Is Elon Musk earning well off those links and the spam advertising that comes up on them for illegal devices that SKY certainly will not be approving?

Mrs T has suggested a Nissan Juke or a Kia Stonic. I'm sure they are both good cars but I am going to try and persuade her into a Skoda Yeti 170bhp diesel with all the trimmings. Misses my original 'Wants List' in many areas but has got to be better than those offerings!

 

And to all you Tesla folk, get your own room! :-)

 

Jukes are Marmite, personally I think they are hideous but I know a few owners who love theirs. But it'll have the same small capacity high pressure turbos that the Qashqui has which you should drive under varied conditions. Again personally I dislike the character of these engines and their eco credentials are exaggerated.

 

If you want the soft-roader idea a Honda CRV 2wd might be a better option.

Surely anyone that likes a Juke would fail the eyesight requirements for a driving licence. And the new Kia look ripped off from Citroen isn't much better.

On 28/07/2018 at 21:52, tweenster said:

Mrs T has suggested a Nissan Juke or a Kia Stonic. I'm sure they are both good cars but I am going to try and persuade her into a Skoda Yeti 170bhp diesel with all the trimmings. Misses my original 'Wants List' in many areas but has got to be better than those offerings!

 

And to all you Tesla folk, get your own room! :-)

 

A yeti 170 Diesel will undoubtedly have had the fix done. Short journeys with failed regen’s will lead to no end of problems with dpf and egr faults, although I do believe that if the fix has been carried out Skoda provide some assistance on dpf and egr failure. I would stick to your original plan and buy a petrol car for short journeys. 

On ‎24‎/‎07‎/‎2018 at 22:20, Offski said:

<SNIP>

SEAT Leon ST 1.8 TSI 180ps DSG.

This. 

I had a LEON ST 1.6TDi DSG for 3 years / 47K miles and it was great. Go for the 1.8 petrol as that gets the multi-link rear suspension which is more comfortable than the torsion beam set-up in lower powered versions. In Excellence spec it comes with all the toys. Build quality on my car was exemplary, easily as good as my new Skoda.

I think you will regret the Golf R if comfort is a priority, it will be rock hard and fidgety on broken surfaces. I tried a LEON Cupra (similar to GOLF R) and found it WAY too hard on the road for our lanes.