Buying a small SUV - advice please

haminka

I am looking at small SUVs and was having a look at Nissan Juke, Mazda CX3, Suzuki Vitara or Ford Ecosport.
I do both, motorways and some bendy backroads and I prefer a firm suspension with a decent feedback from the surface. I am looking at petrol engines and PCP (Vitara with 1.0 Boosterjet, Juke with 1.2 Petrol, CX3 with 2.0 and Ecosport with 1.0). 
Which car would you recommend?

Fiskar

Drove a CX3 demo a year ago and for me the 2.0 litre petrol would be the one to go for. Very popular car worldwide and has decent handling and feedback. Looks better as well.
Would buy one if they did a scrappage deal!

Let us know what deals are out there

bazz26

Nissan Juke is being replaced by an all new model later this year. Ford EcoSport is a terrible yoke imo. Honda HRV might be worth looking at too.

R.O.R

Opel Mokka was decent enough to drive in the diesels I drove. Handled well due to the big wheels & tyres.

Don't know if the MokkaX is the same as the Mokka.

bazz26

MokkaX is really just a facelifted Mokka. They have a CrosslandX now too which is some other sort of other small MPV/SUV crossover.

colm_mcm

The ecosport is basically an Indian spec car with a European price tag.

They dropped the comical spare wheel stuck on the back recently, but it's still a side-hung door. If you want something that doesn't drive like crap, then buy something else.

The Crossland X is a funny one, it's basically the same price as the Mokka, but it's based on the Peugeot 2008 and is more of a mini MPV than a mini SUV.

haminka

I finally went for the Mazda CX3. Love the way it handles and drives, I was looking for a firm drive, precise handling and responsiveness and the CX3 does all three. Very very happy so far.  
I also had a quote for Ecosport . The specs are rather low and you have to pay for far too many extras which are standard on other cars already. We rented out Mokka in December and while I liked some aspects of it, it wasn't exactly a car to pine for, unless you are an Opel fan, I think. 
Thank you for the advice.

AMKC

haminka wrote: »

I finally went for the Mazda CX3. Love the way it handles and drives, I was looking for a firm drive, precise handling and responsiveness and the CX3 does all three. Very very happy so far.  
I also had a quote for Ecosport . The specs are rather low and you have to pay for far too many extras which are standard on other cars already. We rented out Mokka in December and while I liked some aspects of it, it wasn't exactly a car to pine for, unless you are an Opel fan, I think. 
Thank you for the advice.

Lovely car with a great looking interior too. Well wear you picked the best small SUV I think.
The Ford Ecosport is just terrible with a terrible low rent interior too and as you said badly specced roo. Be glad you did not end up with one. Can see them being very hard to sell secondhand too unless they sell them very cheap. Ford should really drop it from there line up

Nuw

Can I ask why you went for the SUV type instead of a regular hatchback (say mazda 3)? It's a genuine question, I'm not trying to be smart here, but given your use and the fact that you were looking for something nice to drive, I'm curious.

haminka

Hi Nuw, it may sound funny but I'm small (barely over 5 feet) and for once I wanted a car where I will actually have a good visibility of the road ahead  At the same time I was looking for the capabilities of a well-made regular car and I got it.
I can honestly tell you that it can be tedious not to be able to see as much as a "normal" person when on the road. Love the higher seating. Sometimes I also drive bad backroads and it's nicer to drive something that can negotiate potholes better than a regular car.

Fiskar

Hi Hamika, where dd you purchase it in the end?

haminka

Fiskar wrote: »

Hi Hamika, where dd you purchase it in the end?

The CX3, Fiskar. It's really great.

fepper

haminka wrote: »

The CX3, Fiskar. It's really great.

The poster asked you where you bought it

haminka

fepper wrote: »

The poster asked you where you bought it

One shouldn't answer small screen without reading glasses.
Joe Duffy Mazda in Dublin