Estate or crossover for 100km plus daily commute?

savemejebus

Hi all, looking for some advice here.

Currently do a 110km minimum weekday commute in an 06 1.4l Mk2 Focus. Mainly secondary roads where 80km is usually safest top speed so haven't had any issues with the lack of power in the focus. In general I'm really happy with driving the car but it's getting on in years and miles and so I think i need to move up to something newer and more economical.

I'm thinking diesel because of the distance and either a crossover or an estate because I could use a bit of extra room for the days i'd be out with the family and dogs.

First thought was estate but some of the roads I'd use are prone to a bit of flooding and so I started thinking about a crossover for a bit of extra ground clearance. My budget would be, I think, between 10 and 15k so I'm trying to get something from 131 up if that's possible.

My priorities would be safetly, reliability, economy and comfort. If the car is nice on the eyes and to drive great but it doesn't need to be exciting.

The missus has a 1.5 diesel Qashqai which I quite like (wary of dpf and injector problems, and aware of timing belt needing to be done) so I'm looking at around that size in crossover.

I've been looking online at qashqais, sportages, Honda CRVs and rav 4s and am wondering if, based on what i've outlined as my needs, I'm going in the right direction or if i'm wrong and if i'm overlooking some obvious choices. (See lots of dusters and peugeot 2008s at decent prices but don't know much about them.)

In estates I've been looking at volvos (V50), hondas (civic tourers) and skodas (octavia,superb) mainly but the road flooding that i mentioned before does worry me.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

V50 is a very small estate.

You'll get a V60 for that budget to be honest
https://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/volvo/v60/used-2014-141-volvo-v60-2-0-d4-busine-mayo-fpa-201903276326782

How much flooding are we talking about?

savemejebus

Deleted User wrote: »

V50 is a very small estate.

You'll get a V60 for that budget to be honest
https://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/volvo/v60/used-2014-141-volvo-v60-2-0-d4-busine-mayo-fpa-201903276326782

How much flooding are we talking about?

Cheers for that, I'm terrible with estimations a foot to a foot and a half of flooding in a few spots. I know it went up over the bottom of the door in a C4 cactus

savemejebus

savemejebus wrote: »

Cheers for that, I'm terrible with estimations a foot to a foot and a half of flooding in a few spots. I know it went up over the bottom of the door in a C4 cactus

OK personally I would have been avoiding that in my old Santa Fe, never mind a cross over (which is just a high car IMHO)

savemejebus

Deleted User wrote: »

OK personally I would have been avoiding that in my old Santa Fe, never mind a cross over (which is just a high car IMHO)

i was avoiding it thankfully, the cactus was not me. It's not often we get it but i just figured it would be best to be a little bit higher up than the focus.

listermint

Avoid the flooded roads and drive around them. Personally i wouldnt buy a crossover for long journeys due to their air distribution.

bazz26

Have a look at the VW Tiguan. Should be able to pick up a 2014 on your budget.

If you need lots of space then Skoda also do the Superb and Octavia estates in Scout form which has slightly higher ground clearance than the normal cars.

savemejebus

listermint wrote: »

Avoid the flooded roads and drive around them. Personally i wouldnt buy a crossover for long journeys due to their air distribution.

listermint wrote: »

Avoid the flooded roads and drive around them. Personally i wouldnt buy a crossover for long journeys due to their air distribution.

Unfortunately where I live i can't do that.

bazz26 wrote: »

Have a look at the VW Tiguan. Should be able to pick up a 2014 on your budget.

If you need lots of space then Skoda also do the Superb and Octavia estates in Scout form which has slightly higher ground clearance than the normal cars.

Cheers, didn't know about the scout form.

terrydel

savemejebus wrote: »

Unfortunately where I live i can't do that.



Cheers, didn't know about the scout form.

Octavia is available in scout form, dont think superb is yet.

bazz26

I think the Mk2 Superb was available in Scout form.

Lantus

savemejebus wrote: »

Cheers for that, I'm terrible with estimations a foot to a foot and a half of flooding in a few spots. I know it went up over the bottom of the door in a C4 cactus

You'd need a very high proper 4x4 to get that level of ground clearance over water. The height of a chair seat basically which is some step up.

Fuel eff. In that vehicle will be poor.

peasant

just on the flooding issue...more ground clearance doesn't necessarily mean that the vehicle is more flood proof.
You need to look at the individual vehicle as to how high up it's air intake and sensitive electrics are.

Some cars suck air (or water ) from near the bumper or have their ECU's in the footwell / under seats / low in the engine bay

savemejebus

peasant wrote: »

just on the flooding issue...more ground clearance doesn't necessarily mean that the vehicle is more flood proof.
You need to look at the individual vehicle as to how high up it's air intake and sensitive electrics are.

Some cars suck air (or water ) from near the bumper or have their ECU's in the footwell / under seats / low in the engine bay

That's a good point alright, will bear it in mind

Shefwedfan

OSI wrote: »

Their what?

Crossovers fart a lot :P

Lantus

You've managed OK on a focus up until now so is the flooding a real issue?

savemejebus

Lantus wrote: »

You've managed OK on a focus up until now so is the flooding a real issue?

It's not a deal-breaker, one, otherwise an estate wouldn't be an option, but it is a bit of a concern so a previous posters point on air intake and ecu is very valid.

I'm getting a bit of a vibe that estates are favoured over crossovers at this point, are they much more reliable and economical?

Shefwedfan

savemejebus wrote: »

It's not a deal-breaker, one, otherwise an estate wouldn't be an option, but it is a bit of a concern so a previous posters point on air intake and ecu is very valid.

I'm getting a bit of a vibe that estates are favoured over crossovers at this point, are they much more reliable and economical?

Crossover boot is small compared to estate
Estate should be a bit more economical

Which is better, depends on requirements....I love the extra height of crossover....getting small kids in and out of a car is sore on the back