Thanks for all the advice. I am trying to avoid a diesel so petrol of hybrid will be top of the list. A few votes for Jaguar but I had my fingers burnt with a JLR product a couple of years ago. Lots of issues with the car and even more with the dealer. so I will be avoiding them.

I think I will test drive the Lexus it seems to be a bit of a Marmite car. If that does not go well then time for a re-think. possibly back to Mercedes?

Another thought what about an Audi A5. Anyone here got feedback on those?

Having made the first tentaive car shopping steps I called in at the Kia dealer I was passing to look at the Niro. The all electric one. I cant say that the car itself grabbed me - it was fairly generic - but the idea of the full electric did for sure. The number of days per year when I do 200 miles can be counted on one hand and the number when I want to do 300 on the fingers of one foot. In truth the overwhelming motoring I do is local and maybe up to 100 miles per day. The idea of coming to my car in a morning to find it fuelled up for the 270 mile range they have is very attractive.

The issue is that even after the government grant its maybe £5k more expensive than the diesel. And I would feel it necessary to go PCP ( or whatever the initials are) to give me a guaranteed part ex price.

The dog requires either an estate or hatch or otherwise I would go for the small Tesla for sure.

Having made the first tentaive car shopping steps I called in at the Kia dealer I was passing to look at the Niro. The all electric one. I cant say that the car itself grabbed me - it was fairly generic - but the idea of the full electric did for sure. The number of days per year when I do 200 miles can be counted on one hand and the number when I want to do 300 on the fingers of one foot. In truth the overwhelming motoring I do is local and maybe up to 100 miles per day. The idea of coming to my car in a morning to find it fuelled up for the 270 mile range they have is very attractive.

The issue is that even after the government grant its maybe £5k more expensive than the diesel. And I would feel it necessary to go PCP ( or whatever the initials are) to give me a guaranteed part ex price.

The dog requires either an estate or hatch or otherwise I would go for the small Tesla for sure.



VW in drag. Why pay the extra?

A5 - there are a lot of them...
Coupe, convertible, sportsback.

Especially the sportsback is a fine GT cruising car with full range of engine options from CNG to RS5 with quite a lot of diesel engines inbetween.
So whatever character of car you like;)

As I am changing company cars every 3 to 4 months I have had a range of A5.

What kind of engine are you interested in?

Not quite Howard.

The chassis architecture that the A5 is built on isn't shared with VW aside from the Touareg. Not really an architecture but more of a building block methodology. It's used across most of groups longitudinal engine set ups and stretches right up to the Lamborghini Urus Good company to keep IMHO

Perry given the sharing of parts you mention I have often wondered why someone would choose to pay the premium for the A5 over a Skoda model as they have come on in leaps and bounds in recent years.

As Howard mentions the Kia/Hyundai/Toyota layer is now so capable that I am having trouble seeing the difference other than brand perception and it's reflection on me as people see me get out. The differences within the fold at VW/Audi/Seat/Skoda are becoming even more blurred.

Only meant in an inquisitive manner do you feel there is really still a difference in the A5 vs say a Skoda Octavia.
Same engine range in them 1.5 TSFi, 2L D in various tunes etc.
Same Audio/IT with different buttons
Same options for everything

I don't see the interior materials being significantly different these days.

Do you feel there is a real difference?

Hi
Probably the 40TSI. I think petrol will be preferred over diesel at the moment.

Don't want to get all techie and geek out on this but you can't compare Audi and Skoda whatsoever - aside from A1/A3 but even there it's only slight underpinnings that are shared from an engineering point of view.

VAG does share engines but from there, it's down to what architecture it's fitted to. A Skoda has a transverse engine layout where as Audi is longitudinal. 4 wheel drive systems are also unique to each engine layout. As far as tech, Audi's is there own set up and not just buttons whereas VW has their own electrical systems. The only Audi that shares a VW sourced system is the A1. VW on the other hand use a form of Audi's navigation/infotainment in the T-Reg.

In can be a tad confusing. But the often easily made comment that an Audi is a dressed up VW is far from the truth and having worked behind the scenes, there isn't much to compare really.

Please note, this is speaking against products from A4 and up. While the A3 is much aligned to the new Golf, Audi doesn't simply take what VW builds but rather fits their own tune across all key systems.

JLR on the other hand are hands down the ones to look at when comparing what is hared as it's almost all shared!

I'm also located in Cheshire and I have a Boxster, so drive etc will be the same as a Cayman. More than happy to meet up and let you poke around, go for a drive etc. A bit better than having a sales person over your shoulder Not sure if you have driven one of the recent ones but it's simply amazing just how comfortable of a car it is! Mine has the adaptive suspension and simply glides down the road. Feel free to PM me if care to take a closer look. I've also go good relations with Porsche Chester and can help arrange a Cayman for a few hours for you.