Luxury barge, opinions welcomed

[Greenstreak-Andy D]

Love our X5 too. Impressive performance for a large SUV. 

Does short runs most of time, not missed a beat in the year and half of ownership.

Good hunting 

[corsechris]

The SUV/big engine fix comes from our Grand Cherokee with the 5.7 Hemi, although it's not exactly refined, we like it for what it is. Running it on LPG makes it bearable too, plus the government gives us a huge £15 p.a. discount on the RFL.....

List is looking as follows at the moment.

GS450h

A8 hybrid (with petrol an option as the hybrid seems somewhat too much economy biased on paper at least).

5 series hybrid

XF V6 possibly.

Mercedes pretty much dismissed based on no petrol hybrid option and some concerns about reliability and costs.

If the Premium bonds come up, then it'll be a shiny new Tesla S of course.....

 

Looks like Ike it'll be a few long days trawling round the dealers. When the decision is made, I'll reveal the winner for your comments

[TAFKARM]

Mercedes C350e is a petrol hybrid. 

[Geoff101]

I drive an E-Class. It's the boggo 220d SE from the shape that's just been replaced. Apart from the fact that the engine sounds like a canal boat, I like it a lot. It's a company car so I don't have to be concerned about reliability, but no problems in the last year (just over 20K miles).

It's extremely comfortable, very well equipped for a base model and goes a lot better than you'd expect from a modest diesel in a big car.

Luke (if he still comes on here) drives lots of big cars so is probably best placed to advise. He has a 5 series but drives mercs (E & S) as well. He says the gearbox is much better in the BMW and they obviously have a sportier setup than mercs. 

[corsechris]

7 hours ago, RussH said:

Mercedes C350e is a petrol hybrid. 

Ah, thank you, hadn't seen that one. That might be pushing the budget a bit though....but worth looking into - cheers.

[Ian Podmore]

If you got a 5 series give me a shout about a little mod you should do to stop it filling the nearside rear footwell with water from the front bulkhead.... Not one of Germany's finest design moments shall we say.  

[corsechris]

Well, the winner is......

 

.......Mercedes C350e.

Tried the Lexus GS450h. Very nice but a tad big for us. BMW330e was good, but not "special" and you could feel the transitions between power sources. Wildcard Jaguar XE V6 almost stole it mainly due to the ride and the fact we both thought it was bl**** gorgeous inside and out but the Mercedes won out by virtue of being cheaper to buy and run than the Jag, having better tech onboard, having an almost as good ride while still being a good looking car and it also feels "special".

We still want a Jag now though, so best keep buying those tickets.

 

Thank you to all those who offered thoughts, very much appreciated, particularly the pointer to the Merc. Just need to find a good home for the trusty old Alfa now.

Sadly, the Tesla has been relegated to the "it'll have to wait until the big lottery win arrives" list. Just too spendy for us by the time you get to the spec you want.

[TAFKARM]

Do you need my address to send the prize money?

[corsechris]

14 hours ago, RussH said:

Do you need my address to send the prize money?

Is not the kudos and a nice hug enough??

 

But seriously, thanks for the pointer on the Merc. Or, damn you, if we hadn't seen and liked the Merc, we'd have an XE V6 now.....

[iain m]

After BMWs for 30 years a I bought a Mercedes  4 years ago, Build quality good except for the electrics, the dealers and the servicing costs, MB recovery is brilliant. I was plagued with ignition electrical problems usually resulting in non starting away from home. I covered 15,000miles in 4 years and with the servicing based on time and not mileage cost £1200 in servicing costs which is essential to maintain the recovery service. So back to BMW, bought a M sport gran coupe 420d 5 weeks ago, greatly reduced servicing cost and mid 50s mpg no matter how it's driven.

BMW cars in the 70s and 80s were not popular with other road users and apparently never indicated!!!, it did not worry me as in the 50s I had seen bricks thrown at VWs. In the 90s we were regarded as bad drivers and this accolade now seems to be transferred to Audi drivers!!

 

BMW  drivers are now often referred to as " smug gits " for a very good reason.    

[Kevin (Mr T)]

Fully loaded Skoda Superb and spend what's left on the Westy!

[corsechris]

It's probably just me, but I can't help thinking that calling it the 'Superb' is a bit presumptuous. Even though it probably is superb.

Bit like a Ford making a '******' Fabulous'  

I'm not used to paying for servicing at all so anything is going to be a shock to the system. Their service 'package' looks like it'll cost me £1300 for 3 years. Ouch. Might get one-off pricing for a service before I sign up to the 3 year thing. The price is held for the term regardless of part price changes so that might be worthwhile anyway. I'd be getting it serviced to maintain the warranty anyway.

Ultimately, there is an element of luck with these things too. Alfa have the reputation for being unreliable. I've had a few now and never once been let down. The 15 year old 166 is still utterly reliable. Hopefully the new one will be OK.......  

 

[Kevin (Mr T)]

1 hour ago, corsechris said:

It's probably just me, but I can't help thinking that calling it the 'Superb' is a bit presumptuous.

 

Just a little harsh. It's a model name they first used in the 1930s, before they justifiably earnt their reputation for building absolute shockers! Just part of their history. Sorry, but I'm a modern day fan!

[corsechris]

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I'm in no way having a pop at modern Skoda's, they do indeed make an excellent car these days. For a long time I considered a Leon and I know plenty of people who have had them and loved them. It was just the name was all.

[corsechris]

Only done 70 miles so far, but very much liking the new barge. Bit unkind calling it a barge really - it corners very flat with the air suspension. Not even switched it to 'Sport' mode yet. Need to get it run in so will probably set up the user configurable drive mode to comfort suspension and steering, but sport engine & gearbox to try and persuade it to keep the engine running rather than switching to electric power at every chance it gets.

Missus went off to work in it this morning - spooky watching it waft away in almost total silence.