Used car advice

irish_goat

Hi all, looking for a bit of advice or any insight. Me and my wife have a Seat LEON at present and we now need a 2nd car as I'm starting a new job. On average, she commutes 3 days a week to Belfast (115km each way). The Leon is grand for this journey but she'd like something with a little more power and the recent weather has made her think something bigger (possibly 4WD) would be a safer option for driving over the likes of the Glenshane Pass.

We viewed a Renault Koleos 4WD 2018 (24k miles), a Hyundai Tucson(44k miles) and her dad's Audi 2011 Q7 (80k miles).

One saleman's advice was that we'd be better with a 2WD on winter tyres and said there is little advantage to the 4WD versus the amount of extra fuel and maintenance. Her dad and uncle (former car dealer) are both advising that a 4WD is the safer option, although they might be of the old school thinking.

The Koleos is the more expensive option by about £4k and would use more fuel too and I worry that there are so few of them in Ireland that getting spare parts may be an issue. It's also quite well kept and we're not car people at all and will be throwing dogs in and out of it constantly so it's not gonna be pristine for too long.

The Audi is very well kept and her da isn't going to screw us over at all. But it's a 3L engine so any savings made buying it might likely get eaten up in fuel over the next few years.

My personal opinion is if the Audi can be got for a cheap price we should take it but otherwise the Tucson is fine.

Buddy Bubs

What price are you looking at for the 3 vehicles? You can pretty easily calculate how long any savings will take to be eaten up by fuel as you know the driving she will be doing?
Audi will be the nicest machine by far but may not feel as modern inside, and also a case of deciding if she really wants anything that big, its a lot bigger than the others and a huge step up in size from a Leon

irish_goat

Renault is £18.75k and the Tucson is £13k.

Waiting to hear the price on the Audi as the idea only came up last night after viewing the other 2. Rough look onlines puts it anywhere between £8-£12k. She's borrowed her dad's old Land Rover a good few times while our car has been getting serviced so the size won't be an issue too much. I take it the age of the Audi isn't too much of a worry?

Buddy Bubs

What year Tucson are you looking at for 13k?
Just trying to gauge its value relative to the Koleos

irish_goat

Buddy Bubs wrote: »

What year Tucson are you looking at for 13k?
Just trying to gauge its value relative to the Koleos

It's 2017, slightly fewer miles actually than 44k. https://www.usedcarsni.com/2017-Hyundai-Tucson-1-7-CRDI-SE-BLUE-DRIVE-5d-114-BHP-274720706

ronaneire

Any 4 x 4 Car or jeep derived vehicle and you will be using more fuel and wear on the tyres. A front wheel drive car with decent winter tyres would be a better option. The Q7 may come cheap, however if anything goes wrong you will need deep pockets.

User1998

Doesn’t sound like you need a 4x4. A better option would be to get a 2wd and invest in a set of all season tyres or a set of winter tyres for the colder months. A set of winter tyres being used from Nov to Feb would last you 5+ years so minimal cost in the grand scheme of things.

You would be really limiting yourself in the cars available if you only look at 4 wheel drives. Pretty much any comfortable 2 litre diesel would be ideal for her commute

beauf

Extra Running and service costs with 4x4 extra weight and complexity also should be considered. How many days of the year will the 4x4 be of benefit.

That said a good system like a Quattro has benefits for general road holding even on wet days.

All you might consider all season tyres or winter tires if your route needs it.

bazz26

Unless you are driving mountain roads, investing in a set of winter tyres might be better and will be cheaper than buying in a 4wd SUV. A 4wd SUV will still struggle in snow and ice if it's driving on summer tyres.

beauf

If you have two identical race cars same tires but one is 4x4. The 4x4 will be slightly slower in the dry but a lot faster in the wet.

On the flip side the 2wd drive car will use less fuel and be cheaper to service. Which in a normal race is no issue. If you were doing a 24hr it might make a difference. Then say multiply that by a year.

Casati

beauf wrote: »

If you have two identical race cars same tires but one is 4x4. The 4x4 will be slightly slower in the dry but a lot faster in the wet.

On the flip side the 2wd drive car will use less fuel and be cheaper to service. Which in a normal race is no issue. If you were doing a 24hr it might make a difference. Then say multiply that by a year.

A higher car that has better clearance might be useful, I have a Leon and it’s fairly low to the ground so not ideal on roads with a lot of standing water which I guess you encounter. Having said that our Leon is running on Hankook All Season tyres - much better than summer tyres especially in any kind of slush or snow.

punisher5112

Buy an A6 get all weather or winter tyres of in a bad area....

beauf

I'm running all seasons myself which are rated for snow. They are better when temps are colder than summer tires. While they will deal with some snow. But I know from the heavy snow in 2018 they will struggle if there's any real depth to the snow. I pulled into the side of the road with about 6 inches of snow. While I got out, it took a few goes. On ungritted roads, with the snow falling, and only about 2~3" of snow I had no problems getting about. I certainly passed cars struggling in that.

But if it was a regular thing, I think I would want something better.

ronaneire

irish_goat wrote: »

It's 2017, slightly fewer miles actually than 44k. https://www.usedcarsni.com/2017-Hyundai-Tucson-1-7-CRDI-SE-BLUE-DRIVE-5d-114-BHP-274720706

This is only 2WD.

Turbohymac

Wouldn't be bothered with 4×4 as previous posters mentioned there's certainly heavier on fuel and as per your original post if the roads are icy or snow covered I'd be staying at home it's only a recipe for trouble..

irish_goat

Cheers for all the input, kinda confirms what I was thinking. Will run it by herself later.

ronaneire wrote: »

This is only 2WD.

Yep, 2WD plus the winter tyres would be the plan if we went with the Tucson.