which car should i buy for my wife ???

[Deleted member 11979]

We've got an XC70 and it is a great car, albeit very thirsty even in diesel form, and boy do Volvo know how to charge when things need doing. On our old XC70 a new exhaust was the best part of £800 with no cheaper option as it's bespoke to XC70, might be patterns parts available now. Allroads are great too, but the suspension can be fiersome to replace if knackered, which happens.
IMHO opinion drivers of 4x4's now look like they have been left behind by the times, and I have a Range Rover so I'm not 4 x 4 bashing. They're also not automatically safer, and are a realy pig to park!

 

[kwakdonut]

We've got an XC70 and it is a great car, albeit very thirsty even in diesel form, and boy do Volvo know how to charge when things need doing. On our old XC70 a new exhaust was the best part of £800 with no cheaper option as it's bespoke to XC70, might be patterns parts available now. Allroads are great too, but the suspension can be fiersome to replace if knackered, which happens.
IMHO opinion drivers of 4x4's now look like they have been left behind by the times, and I have a Range Rover so I'm not 4 x 4 bashing. They're also not automatically safer, and are a realy pig to park!

Wow, with that kind of review, I'm off to buy me an XC70!!






































NOT!

 

[Deleted member 11979]

I don't think you read the post with as much care as you could have, maybe your visor had a fly splat on it, or your eyes are still vibrating after a trip in the A class

 

[Rory]

I personally woud like to have a car with some power under a bonnet so i would consider E55 or C36/C43. She is scared about driving such a big car like E55 and mentioned 4x4 to me. I am not completely convinced about ML range and would probably go with X5 or maybe S4 estate with 4,2 engine. I am thinking about spending £10k max but anything cheaper would be better especially with current climate and more expenses coming my way.
Any advise or thoughts are more than welcome.

I would love to have the balls to spend £10K (or even a bit more) on that sort of car rather than a brand-new supermini for Mrs R but I'd be terrified that the repair and maintenance costs could be absolutely horrendous.

I dread to think what a sub £10K X5 could be like.

 

[hygt2]

I'll second on the Subaru Legacy Outback with the 3.0L flat-six engine or Volvo V70 D5 185 or if your budget allows, the XC90 or XC60.

 

[hawk20]

Well. I'll support your wife's desire for a 4x4. They are not large. Some are very small indeed. Even the ML is not as long as an E class. They are high but not long.

And high is good when getting babies in and out without too much bending. Plus you are 50 times less likely to be killed in a 4x4 than in the average saloon. Why put your eggs in any other basket?

People in 4x4s are 50 times less likely to be killed in crashes with another car than those of small and medium-sized cars, according to the Department of Transport.
The safest cars for drivers are the Land Rover Defender, Mercedes ML class, Toyota Landcruiser and Isuzu Trooper.
The cars with the worst records for driver deaths and serious injuries are the old-style Mini, the Fiat Panda, pre-1993 Nissan Micra, Daewoo Matiz and Suzuki Swift.
The DoT looked at police reports of more than 138,000 crashes from 2000 to 2004. Drivers of small and medium-sized cars involved in collisions with another car had a one in 200 chance of being killed, compared with fewer than one in 10,000 for drivers of people-carriers and 4x4s.
Just three per cent of 4x4 drivers were killed or seriously injured in collisions, compared with seven per cent of small-car drivers.
The figures were published on the DoT's website but the study has not been publicised.


Problem is with ten grand to spend you could get a newer, lower mileage and less costly to run conventional car. Choices, choices.

 

[lynall]

Safest answer is to let her choose what she wants, no comebacks for you

Lisa has always chosen her cars she pays she gets what she wants, she purely buys on the prinicple of ooohh i like the look of that.

Wheras as i do research etc and she always has less hassle than me


Quote, What about an A/B Class?

5 doors, as much internal space as an S Class

Your kidding right?


Lynall

 

[Rory]

Safest answer is to let her choose what she wants, no comebacks for you

Agree with that - especially if you want her to feel any care for the car.

Women seem to have very polarised views of 4x4's - a colleague in the South has a Touareg and loves it, but his wife hates driving it as whenever she does she gets hassle from the anti-4x4 brigade and from other motorists in general. It's not easy to park either - length isn't a problem but that class of car is wide and is a struggle in supermarket and multi-storey car parks.

On the other hand the wife of a business acquaintence commented that she loves driving hers and likes looking down and saying "out of my way, little people" - unfortunately I think most people think that's how women driving 4x4's think of the other motorists.

 

[hawk20]

There are lots of small 4x4's. Lots of medium ones (freelander, Honda, Nissan, Rav 4 etc etc) and some quite big ones (X5, ML, Lexus etc but none are as long as my E class estate and are very similar in width).

People like the high driving position in 4x4's, the ease of entry and exit, the safety, the estate car room, the style and the ease of getting children in and out of car seats without too much bending.

People who want to hate them struggle to come up with sensible reasons. Fuel consumption? Then object to Malcolm's SL (if you dare). Or E55 etc etc. A petrol Espace or Mondeo has worse fuel economy than many of the diesel 4x4s and over 90% of X5's for example are diesel.

All cars are partly about style and what we like the look of. The 4x4 looks rugged, strong, reliable, independent, go anywhere etc etc. Why not? At least as sensible as a sports car surely?

 

[kwakdonut]

I don't think you read the post with as much care as you could have, maybe your visor had a fly splat on it, or your eyes are still vibrating after a trip in the A class

Nope, just hate Volvo's!

And there is nothing wrong with the ride in an A Class btw....

 

[xavier]

you`re not making my decision easier
i know that this is a car for my wife but i do want to have a fun in it!
i have as everyday car Vectra sri cdti and it does what is says on a tin but it is so boring. Volvo to me is same category. We are too young to drive Volvo!!!
I probably use my wife as excuse to get a new car that i would like to drive. It is sad but it`s true the more i think about it.
Most reasonable decision would be to keep her CLK and get a third car!!! Purely for me and my ego

 

[st4]

I would love to have the balls to spend £10K (or even a bit more) on that sort of car rather than a brand-new supermini for Mrs R but I'd be terrified that the repair and maintenance costs could be absolutely horrendous.

Witha good specialist not to bad. Audi S4 has a proven 4.2 engine, the manuals are okay (autos iffy) and the rest of the car standard Audi A4 fare.

I dread to think what a sub £10K X5 could be like.

Rather good value for money

 

[Tim V]

Bought my wife an ML 4 months ago (replacing a shogun) very easy to get little one in and out of plus lots of boot space for push chairs (she does seem to give lifts to other new mums a lot). Just back from a week in Devon, two adults, one baby, two full sets of dive gear, clothes, toys, carry cot etc... (oh and a 7M boat on the back). I know other 4*4's can do this but going back to the OP it was just under £10K.

 

[BTB 500]

Dunno what R Classes are down to now (price-wise), but one of those might fit the bill.

 

[N/B]

Dunno what R Classes are down to now (price-wise), but one of those might fit the bill.

If you hate your wife, and want her to be taking her car in for minor bodywork weekly, by all means buy her an R-Class.
Feckin' huge, and unpopular for a damn good reason...

 

[Rory]

Witha good specialist not to bad. Audi S4 has a proven 4.2 engine, the manuals are okay (autos iffy) and the rest of the car standard Audi A4 fare.

I know someone with an S4 (or is it an RS4??). Apart from anything else he was spending a fortune on tyres - I forget the issue but Audi kept replacing them at first but then starting refusing.

Then it got carjacked in Manchester - he wasn't hurt and they got it back quickly (tracker was mandatory on the insurance) but he got rid of it.


I was thinking something like an A8 4.2 looks amazing value though. No one seems to want them.

 

[BTB 500]

Feckin' huge, and unpopular for a damn good reason...

Have you ever been in one? My in-laws love theirs.

 

[glojo]

I probably use my wife as excuse to get a new car that i would like to drive. It is sad but it`s true the more i think about it.

I have to agree with you and I cannot recall you answering my question when I asked what type or types of vehicle does your wife like.

I fear all the posts are really about you and what you would like. Have you stated what your wife wouldprefer

saloon
estate
big car, small car
4x4
mpv

Once we know what YOUR wife would prfer we could be more realistic

What about a C63AMG estate, M3 estate or the Audi S4

 

[st4]

I know someone with an S4 (or is it an RS4??). Apart from anything else he was spending a fortune on tyres - I forget the issue but Audi kept replacing them at first but then starting refusing.

Then it got carjacked in Manchester - he wasn't hurt and they got it back quickly (tracker was mandatory on the insurance) but he got rid of it.


I was thinking something like an A8 4.2 looks amazing value though. No one seems to want them.

He'd need to join the Audi equivelent of this place but sounds like a tracking problem. Even so, its a AWD V8 engined cars, it will munch rubber.

A8 4.2 is lovely and a cracking motor. Alimunium body work would put me off as its trickier (read £) to repair. Fuel etc. Audi A6 2.0Tdis are going quite cheap and a lovely big (and cheaper to run) motor.

 

[N/B]

Have you ever been in one? My in-laws love theirs.

Yep, had custody of (and photographed) an R320 CDI press car for two days.
It impressed the local yoof when I took it for a spin to the chippy;
"Fackin' 'ell blud, izzat your car? You could get, like, five or six bitchiz in dat!"
...but it failed to impress me.
Comfy, oh yes.
Powerful enough, hell yes.
Too big for central London, most certainly.
That, and waiting god-knows-how-long for that damn tailgate to open/close kinda put it in the 'fail' category for me.

If you live out in the (spacious) sticks, have all the time in the world, and don't mind looking like an Airport Taxi Driver, then go right ahead...