Which car to do anything and everything?

[SpikyMikey]

@Bobby Dazzler has his own designated bay at his local.

Ah yes, but doesn't he save up all his stuff for the tip until he gets a courtesy vehicle when he has one of his fleet in the shop?

 

[Dryce]

My current car is an aging basic Touareg 3.0 diesel. It does lots of things.

- It's comfortable - in the back as well as the front
- It's reasonably refined
- It's reasonably brisk - the suspension setup (springs not air) is a reasonable compromise
- It's got ground clearance to deal with the odd occasions it needs to go offroad (aka ... climb a verge)
- It sits high and is easy to traverse single track roads with hedges
- It has poor fuel consumption - but a very large fuel tank - so range of 650 to 740 miles - so manages trips to remote places and back
- It has reasonable luggage capacity
- It has rails on the roof so just needs bars to stick a box or bike rack up top
- It has a 'proper' 4x4 setup (though no locking diff) .... did I mention poor fuel consumption and climbing the odd verge?
- It has a stalk based cruise control that is nearest I've seen to the old Mercedes stalk based system
- It's a bit more understated than other SUVs

I haven't got a towbar. So it won't quite do everything.

It has Michelin Crossclimates fitted - so in practical terms can manage just about anything in the way of UK conditions.

And it seemed to stop depreciating a year or two ago.

I'm very very happy with it. I'm not really a fan of SUVs and got this one more by chance than design. I've already kept it longer than originally planned.

 

[Londonscottish]

MLs (and SUVs in general) praised here for versatility especially space and driving position, the V8 estates primarily for their drivetrains.

From my POV it's not just drivetrain in a V8 estate I like; it's also the tradeoff between space and cornering. Not that an E Class estate is a back road scratcher but it's decent enough on fast sweepers, especially on air.

When it's fully loaded I can pitch it into the bends at (very) high speed with impunity. If I try the same with 4 bikes up top the difference is marked. Like VERY different.

I personally like to sit nice and low and like to have the centre of mass nice and low too. Throw in the bonus of small frontal area and low drag coefficient and I also get 30mpg on motorway. Not that I every buy a car for empegees but I do get vaguely excited when I see a number that starts with a 3.

I'm not dissing other people's choices at all but for me a powerful estate is an ideal all-rounder. Money no object I'd have one of the last Alpina estates. That's peak car for me. Fast, smooth, luxurious, capacious, great ride, good in the bendy bits.

 

[Bellow]

From my POV it's not just drivetrain in a V8 estate I like; it's also the tradeoff between space and cornering. Not that an E Class estate is a back road scratcher but it's decent enough on fast sweepers, especially on air.

When it's fully loaded I can pitch it into the bends at (very) high speed with impunity. If I try the same with 4 bikes up top the difference is marked. Like VERY different.

I personally like to sit nice and low and like to have the centre of mass nice and low too. Throw in the bonus of small frontal area and low drag coefficient and I also get 30mpg on motorway. Not that I every buy a car for empegees but I do get vaguely excited when I see a number that starts with a 3.

I'm not dissing other people's choices at all but for me a powerful estate is an ideal all-rounder. Money no object I'd have one of the last Alpina estates. That's peak car for me. Fast, smooth, luxurious, capacious, great ride, good in the bendy bits.

But I'd not see over the hedges in one and the nearest motorway is 100+ miles away (not that much in the way of dual carriageway either). Horses for courses...

 

[Skd884]

From my POV it's not just drivetrain in a V8 estate I like; it's also the tradeoff between space and cornering. Not that an E Class estate is a back road scratcher but it's decent enough on fast sweepers, especially on air.

When it's fully loaded I can pitch it into the bends at (very) high speed with impunity. If I try the same with 4 bikes up top the difference is marked. Like VERY different.

I personally like to sit nice and low and like to have the centre of mass nice and low too. Throw in the bonus of small frontal area and low drag coefficient and I also get 30mpg on motorway. Not that I every buy a car for empegees but I do get vaguely excited when I see a number that starts with a 3.

I'm not dissing other people's choices at all but for me a powerful estate is an ideal all-rounder. Money no object I'd have one of the last Alpina estates. That's peak car for me. Fast, smooth, luxurious, capacious, great ride, good in the bendy bits.

Well said suv are horrid.

 

[Darrell]

Not my best car, that title is a toss up between my Corrado and the current Lexus, but probably the best all rounder was a Lexus RX300.
Reasonably quick with the 3.0 V6, smooth, handled surprisingly well - I would even say nimbleView attachment 148542View attachment 148543, luxurious with all the toys, brilliant nappa leather, on a long journey Mrs Ted would climb into the back and go to sleep.
Loads of room to carry stuff and with the seats down, more space than I could ever need.
Build quality was amazing - I can still remember wondering what the damping method was for the boot floor cover until I realised that the fit was so good that the last centimetre slowed right down to let the air out.
If it was a car I’ve never owned, it would have to be a Macan. I’d even take a diesel.

Are these cars any good?

 

[Ted]

Are these cars any good?

Which ones?
The RX300 was a fantastic all round car with perfect reliability.
The Corrado was an amazing drivers car with brilliant handling and left you wanting to drive it more and more.
The Lexus is just sublime and does everything brilliantly.
Not the best handling or the fastest but overall just brilliant.

 

[Darrell]

Which ones?
The RX300 was a fantastic all round car with perfect reliability.
The Corrado was an amazing drivers car with brilliant handling and left you wanting to drive it more and more.
The Lexus is just sublime and does everything brilliantly.
Not the best handling or the fastest but overall just brilliant.

The Lexus.

 

[Will]

The Lexus.

I think the only maintenance issue on these is replacing the catalytic converter when it gets stolen

Not helped on the RX with the increased ground clearance - I don’t think they even need a jack.

Lexus in general = very well built cars though

 

[Scooby_Doo]

Got to agree with post 80 , the Macan in S / GTS format.

Big enough to be practical for most , fun to hustle around , quick off the mark with the PDK box , enough "badge" to make it feel special every time it is driven , solid build quality.

Only downside is running / servicing costs but they come with the territory.

K

I bought the Macan in full knowledge of the "higher" running costs. I probably cover 5500-6000 miles PA. In comparison to my C250d @ 38mpg and the Macan @ 26mpg my fuel bill is up about £500 per year. On the servicing side the C250 was an annual service irrespective of mileage , service plan was £1800 for 4 services , the Macan is a full service every two years, (oil change dependant on mileage, so 12000 miles should be OK for bi annual) at circa £1100. Front tyres 19" on the C250 and 20" on the Macan are about £80 per pair more expensive but should last 18000 miles
So fuel and servicing and tyres is an extra £625 per year, or £12 per week , which I don't think is too excessive.

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Ah yes, but doesn't he save up all his stuff for the tip until he gets a courtesy vehicle when he has one of his fleet in the shop?

@Bobby Dazzler has his own designated bay at his local.

Come you two, you know that’s o my mostly true

 

[rich1068]

Lexus in general = very well built cars though

Agreed. Build quality is staggering. Had a '97 LS400, '02 IS300, '02 GS300, '06 RX400h all in the last 6 years. Even the ones that may have had a hard life were supremely reliable. Nothing broke.

 

[ALFAitalia]

......but my God they're so boring....to drive and (with one or two exceptions) to look at.....and attract owners like this!!!

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[DSM10000]

Our current RR is probably the best overall car we have owned.

Supremely comfortable, fast, surprisingly agile, spacious, can tow, climb over many obstacles, ford deep water etc and contributes hugely to Government revenue through fuel duty

 

[Fastcar155]

Hi , I still have my Mitsubishi 1995 2.8 long wheel base truck.

It's a real go anywhere car and it's reliable but as it's a diesel not very green.

In Malvern we have volunteers who help out when bad weather hits the county , as an example collects doctors and takes them to various hospital throughout the area , helps out the fire brigade etc etc.

These cars are being forced off the road !

 

[ALFAitalia]

View attachment 148733

If I was relying on a car to be my one and only car.....that one would be close to the bottom of my list. They (just like most other RR products) are just way too unreliable. But sure if they kept going you have the versatility of a big estate with classy (and classless) good looks. My boss must have had 10 or more of them before he finally admitted defeat and went German. He does about 40k a year......when he was driving RR much of it was in courtesy cars!
Oh and of course they don't properly fit in our 1960s size parking spaces....always a pain when I was using it.

 

[DSM10000]

If I was relying on a car to be my one and only car.....that one would be close to the bottom of my list. They (just like most other RR products) are just way too unreliable. But sure if they kept going you have the versatility of a big estate with classy (and classless) good looks. My boss must have had 10 or more of them before he finally admitted defeat and went German. He does about 40k a year......when he was driving RR much of it was in courtesy cars!
Oh and of course they don't properly fit in our 1960s size parking spaces....always a pain when I was using it.

It is our second RR. The first 42 SC one had covered well over 130,000 miles with the previous one owner and it had only let him down once when the alternator failed at 9 years old.

Never had a problem with either apart from regular visits to the the local fuel station.

 

[Spider10]

Ive had mine since jan 3.6 TDV8 had no issue's apart from the center bearing on the propshaft, I would totally agree that the 3L are rubbish the crankshafts like to do this

 

[rich1068]

......but my God they're so boring....to drive and (with one or two exceptions) to look at.....and attract owners like this!!!

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Couldn't disagree more. And I do put some value in actually arriving at my intended destination.

 

[Will]

It is our second RR. The first 42 SC one had covered well over 130,000 miles with the previous one owner and it had only let him down once when the alternator failed at 9 years old.

Never had a problem with either apart from regular visits to the the local fuel station.

You’d have to acknowledge that this is not typical of the ownership experience of the marque?