Change from A6 to.....

Lightscribe

Looking for some advice or opinions. My father is approaching 80. He is currently driving a 16 A6 saloon 190bhp. He's finding it very long and more difficult to park and is interested in a change.

He thinks he'd like something with an elevated driving position (he mentioned a Hyundai Tucson but I told him he'd never forgive himself if he made that change)

Does anyone have any tips or suggestions. I'm aware of Audi Q3/5 but wouldn't know the comparative Merc models etc.

Thanks for any advice.

freddieot

The Skoda Kodiaq 190 has reasonable power output compared to what he has now, higher, reliable, good spec etc.

I've been driving an auto 190 4WD style for the best part of two years and can't fault it.

Buddy Bubs

Pretty much every manufacturer has the boxes ticked here to be honest.....I normally try to talk down the SUVs but I get it your father is 80 so fair enough, my own father thinks my A6 is too low and he is 67. And I witnessed an 80 odd year old man slightly tip my car trying to reverse into a spot recently (no damage so all good, bumper to bumper tip)

Some longer than others but all are more elevated than an A6

Audi Q3/Q5 as mentioned....Q5 defo shorter than an A6 because I know a guy than went from A6 to Q5 and says he cant get something int hat used to go in A6 lengthways

BMW X3

Skoda Kodiaq/VW Tiguan or even the smaller variants (Karoq/KamiqT Cross/T roc which would be a bit shorter

SEAT variants of the above.....Ateca springs to mind

Hyundai Tucson

Kia Sportage

Toyota Rav4

Nissan Qashqai

Merc GLA/GLB/GLC

Mitsubishi Outlander

bazz26

If the OP's father is finding an A6 too long and more difficult to park then I cannot see a Kodiaq being any better. The Kodiaq is still a big vehicle. It sounds like something shorter as well as more elevated should be considered.

Lightscribe

Yeah I've been checking dimensions and the A6 is 4.7m long, the Kodiak is very similar.
Looking at Q3 possibly or the R-Line Tiguan looks good

Casati

Lightscribe wrote: »

Yeah I've been checking dimensions and the A6 is 4.7m long, the Kodiak is very similar.
Looking at Q3 possibly or the R-Line Tiguan looks good

A6 must be longer than that? Is it not over 4.9m?

Buddy Bubs

Casati wrote: »

A6 must be longer than that? Is it not over 4.9m?

Just did a bit of googling.....A6 is 4.9m long....q3 is 4.3m and q5 is 4.6m so they are a bit shorter alright

Kodiaq seems to be 4.7m

Lightscribe

https://www.carsireland.ie/2769391

Any one got any opinions on these, in general, not specifically the one linked.

Buddy Bubs

Lightscribe wrote: »

https://www.carsireland.ie/2769391

Any one got any opinions on these, in general, not specifically the one linked.

Plenty of people have very strong opinions about them, and they aren't good.

Plenty of threads on here absolutely slating mazda diesels if you do a search. One particular thread springs to mind but I cant remember the posters involved.

bazz26

Lightscribe wrote: »

https://www.carsireland.ie/2769391

Any one got any opinions on these, in general, not specifically the one linked.

I wouldn't. They are not know for their reliability.

Have a look at the Seat Ateca, this one has the same engine and gearbox from his A6 and is well speced:

https://www.carsireland.ie/2770516

forestgirl

Have a look at the vw tiguan it has a nice elevated seat and its very well finished and a good solid car,also the 2 litre diesel is very economical and resale on those are excellent

Greenlights16

What sort of mpg returns are you talking for the tiguan @forestgirl?

Mazda CX5 (and its diesel engine) reliability is fine. People refusing to update opinions that are over a decade old is a bit silly. Do a brief google search and you'll find no shortage of consumer surveys+reliability reports that ranks CX5 amongst the the top for the 2017-onwards model.

kermitpwee

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Mazda CX5 (and its diesel engine) reliability is fine. People refusing to update opinions that are over a decade old is a bit silly. Do a brief google search and you'll find no shortage of consumer surveys+reliability reports that ranks CX5 amongst the the top for the 2017-onwards model.

The 2.2 is still causing issues in the diesel

rn

Greenlights16 wrote: »

What sort of mpg returns are you talking for the tiguan @forestgirl?

Returning between 6.2 and 7.5 l per 100km on one we have. At the moment generally short journeys.

Greenlights16

Below 6l/100km would be considered “good” from what I read?

punisher5112

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Mazda CX5 (and its diesel engine) reliability is fine. People refusing to update opinions that are over a decade old is a bit silly. Do a brief google search and you'll find no shortage of consumer surveys+reliability reports that ranks CX5 amongst the the top for the 2017-onwards model.

Mazda make nice cars, petrol cars..... Diesel is something they need to step away from, they're absolutely dirt.
I would never buy a Mazda diesel ever.....

logie101

Range Rover Evoque. There is a new electric/petrol hybrid one out

bazz26

Deleted User wrote: »

Mazda CX5 (and its diesel engine) reliability is fine. People refusing to update opinions that are over a decade old is a bit silly. Do a brief google search and you'll find no shortage of consumer surveys+reliability reports that ranks CX5 amongst the the top for the 2017-onwards model.

Their petrol engines are normally rock solid but their diesel offers are far from so.
Could we get a breakdown of Mazda diesel v petrol models in some of these reliability surveys? For example Mazda don't sell diesel versions of their cars in the US where alot of these surveys are conducted. No so much in Europe as Mazda sales in Europe are pretty small in comparison to others.

Old diesel

Might be worth looking at something in the Skoda Kamiq, Seat Arona, Peugeot 2008 type arena.

Personally as cross over type cars go - I also like the look of the VW T Roc.

punisher5112

Toyota chr....

Wife's dad bought brand new loves it.

I find it small but suits him. Definitely easier to park then the A6 but I'd honestly think anything he goes for won't be as nice to drive as what he has.. in most cases except for a few.

Lightscribe

punisher5112 wrote: »

Toyota chr....

Wife's dad bought brand new loves it.

I find it small but suits him. Definitely easier to park then the A6 but I'd honestly think anything he goes for won't be as nice to drive as what he has.. in most cases except for a few.

Thanks for all the responses so far.

I suppose this is the nub of the issue. Anything he tries won't have the refinement of the A6 and to change to a newer Q3/Q5 is going to be a very expensive change.

He'd also be more inclined towards a main dealer to purchase and I reckon he'll only be allowed €15k at most for his own despite it being immaculate with only 63,000 km and full Audi service history.

Buddy Bubs

Lightscribe wrote: »

Thanks for all the responses so far.

I suppose this is the nub of the issue. Anything he tries won't have the refinement of the A6 and to change to a newer Q3/Q5 is going to be a very expensive change.

He'd also be more inclined towards a main dealer to purchase and I reckon he'll only be allowed €15k at most for his own despite it being immaculate with only 63,000 km and full Audi service history.

I was offered 14 and 15k last year for trading my 2014 A6 against the likes of a bmw 530e. Don't know if I pushed whether I'd get anything better but maybe I would.
I also got offered 20k for it in Audi Naas against a brand new A6. Mine is S Line black edition and it had 97000 kms on it when I was offered 20k

I can see him being offered 20k anyway if he's trading in against something brand new, especially the likes of a q3 or q5. I know the 20k included 3/4/5k discount that I would get as a straight sale

Azatadine

The Honda HRV is another option. My folks bought on 6 months ago and absolutely love it.

bazz26

I just cannot see someone going from an A6 to a HRV type car.

sligopaul

Merc GLA

Depending on spec , nice cabin

colm_mcm

What sort of driving does he do? What were his last 3 cars?

Lightscribe

colm_mcm wrote: »

What sort of driving does he do? What were his last 3 cars?

I'll answer as if we're not in lockdown.

Golf club 3-4 times per week, 15km round trip
Motorway 2 trips per month, avg 250-300km per trip.
That's it really, short trips outside that to shop etc. Petrol/hybrid all the way I think.

Last 3 cars..'05 Volvo S40, '10 A4 '13 A6 & '16 A6 (that's 4 I know!)

Buddy Bubs

Has he a budget in mind?

colm_mcm

Lightscribe wrote: »

I'll answer as if we're not in lockdown.

Golf club 3-4 times per week, 15km round trip
Motorway 2 trips per month, avg 250-300km per trip.
That's it really, short trips outside that to shop etc. Petrol/hybrid all the way I think.

Last 3 cars..'05 Volvo S40, '10 A4 '13 A6 & '16 A6 (that's 4 I know!)

To be fair, a current model Tiguan would do the trick.

Lightscribe

Buddy Bubs wrote: »

Has he a budget in mind?

Hasn't been mentioned but will probably be happy to stretch for the right car.

I reckon a nicely specced Tiguan is the one to look at.

kermitpwee

kermitpwee wrote: »

The 2.2 is still causing issues in the diesel

punisher5112 wrote: »

Mazda make nice cars, petrol cars..... Diesel is something they need to step away from, they're absolutely dirt.
I would never buy a Mazda diesel ever.....

bazz26 wrote: »

Their petrol engines are normally rock solid but their diesel offers are far from so.
Could we get a breakdown of Mazda diesel v petrol models in some of these reliability surveys? For example Mazda don't sell diesel versions of their cars in the US where alot of these surveys are conducted. No so much in Europe as Mazda sales in Europe are pretty small in comparison to others.

A new 2.2d was launched around 2014. Unlike the previous 2.2d, while it still suffers from rising oil levels, it doesn't self-destruct.


From ADAC;
https://www.adac.de/rund-ums-fahrzeug/auto-kaufen-verkaufen/gebrauchtwagenkauf/gebrauchtwageninfos/details/302/mazda-cx-5-2012-2017/


Driver Power survey in the UK;
https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/mazda/cx-5/reliability


The biggest issue with that generation of CX5 was soot build-up, for which a recall was launched.


Yizzer are all acting like the guy in the pub still talking about how italian cars rust and british cars are ****e because of unionised workers and British Leyland.

v0ldeMort

Deleted User wrote: »

A new 2.2d was launched around 2014. Unlike the previous 2.2d, while it still suffers from rising oil levels, it doesn't self-destruct.


From ADAC;
https://www.adac.de/rund-ums-fahrzeug/auto-kaufen-verkaufen/gebrauchtwagenkauf/gebrauchtwageninfos/details/302/mazda-cx-5-2012-2017/


Driver Power survey in the UK;
https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/mazda/cx-5/reliability


The biggest issue with that generation of CX5 was soot build-up, for which a recall was launched.


Yizzer are all acting like the guy in the pub still talking about how italian cars rust and british cars are ****e because of unionised workers and British Leyland.

This is certainly not true. My engine failure was not on a pre-2014 car. I had full mazda service history, did everything 'right' as in long motorway journeys and I still had engine failure due to oil pump chain snapping due to diesel mixing with the oil. Join the mazda uk facebook group and you will see all the problems there, and there are many, as it is a much bigger market over there. However mazda actually show goodwill to their UK customers unlike their Irish customers.

Lightscribe

Just to close this off, spoke to him today, he's decided he can't part with the A6. Almost had a deal done on a 202 Tiguan Comfortline but couldn't go through with it.

The right decision I think.

Thanks all for your input and opinions.

punisher5112

Honestly think he is right, he would miss it

_Kaiser_

I sympathise with him TBH. My 2010 A6 needs replacing and I'm looking at A8's