That is quite a range of cars -- prices and performance wise -- will make interesting reading...
Well had a busy weekend test driving cars so thought I would share my thoughts with you I have also included the best price I could get the salesman down to for the various models. Please note these are only short 20 -30 minute drives until I get a shortlist
1. Audi A6 Allroad 2.7 Tdi Quattro £31,420
Nice car comfortable, good grip, good cornering ability with nice turn in and plenty of power, appeared very thirsty from the readout never saw it better 29 mpg even coasting nicely under light throttle on the motorway which did worry me a little, not a bad discount but poor trade in on Subaru, also £400 VED initial thoughts good performance car but overpriced and Thirsty?
2. Landrover Freelander 2.2 Td4 HSE £28,105
Nice looking demo car in lucozade orange, well spec'd interior good high driving position and functional controls all to hand not as big as I had expected, seats a little narrow on the base and performance very poor, petrol would have been better but sky high emissions and I'm trying to get better mpg from the next car. Good build quality a little small but performance from the 2.2 diesel is poor.
3. Subaru Forester 2.0 XS Petrol £20,000
No diesel option available at present (due next month maybe?) but original boxer diesel units have been problematic as dealer openly admitted. Cheapest car tested and it shows, build quality no where near that of my Outback and the thickness of the metal would be more at home on a buiscuit tin,2 litre petrol gave lacklustre perfromance and inside plastics hard and cheap quality, nice sizeable car and dealer gave me best trade in on the Outback (to be expected)
4. Ford Kuga 2.0 TDCi Titanium X with RS Pack £24,370
This car suprised the hell out of me, I expected another Mondeo derivative but not so, car is built on a reworked chassis of an ST focus and a lot of other mechanicals have been stolen from the focus st parts bin. 4 wheel drive system is a haldex clutch exactly same as the Audi interior comes in full leather privacy glass and every toy known to man, full sat nav reversing camera, you think of it and it's on there. Couple of negatives are space in the rear seas could be a bit tight with 5 up, gearlever dash mounted as c -max and leaves the gear lever in a strange position in 6th, Fuel economy guage never dropped below 44 mpg. This was a good all rounder at a good price but trade in on Subaru worst of all dealers
5. Mercedes ML 280 CDi standard £34,300
Well this one did not suprise me, the build quality and metal thickness might have improved over the 1999 - 2000 years cars but the drive certainly has not. Has the body roll and turbo lag of a cross Channel ferry, this car would put hours on my journeys when travelling B roads. Good build quality nice cockpit and good driving position poor performance and to up spec it with options would cost a fortune still not for me I'm afraid.
So far if I were to put them in a league table it would be
1. Ford Kuga (Just pipping the Audi because of price)
2. Audi Allroad
3. Landrover Freelander
4. Mercedes ML280 CDI
5 Subaru Forester
I missed an obvious choice from my list which was the Volvo XC 70 along with Jeep and the Mitsubishi Shogun, I plan to test these later in the week so will repor back then.
Thing that shocked me most was the trade in value of the subaru
Which is a 2004 Ouback and cost £26k new the offer were £5,700 - £6,500 but it does have 81,000 on the clock
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