Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms What car? - Crashed Volvo replacement

Hi Chaps

I had a prang in my beloved Volvo a while ago and have just had the insurance come through.

I'm not really a 'car guy' so a bit of advice form the TM massive would be appreciated. There is sooo much choice its bewildering

We need

Estate or SUV for dog and skip runs

Decent engine / power

Not too hefty on the road tax

I know it doesn't matter but we rather fancy something with a bit of luxury.

A mate of mine just got himself a Jaguar Sportbrake 3.0L and it looks amazing. The reviews of them are good too

What the heck should I be looking at !! ?

The Volvo V90 looks nice

A Yorkshireman should be looking no further than the Skoda Superb estate or Kodiak SUV equivalent

Just remember if the car was over £40,000 when new and it is less than 6 years old you will be paying over £500 road tax until it is 6 years old.

+1 for the Skoda Kodiaq.

I own one since it cam out, No problems. a lot of space and comfortable.
I have to say that I ticked most of the boxes when I ordered the car. 360 degree camera, heatet seats, parking heater (translated correct??), distance assistent, automatic.

In contrast to the plug-in trailer hook that I used to have with VW, it is a pleasure to operate only one switch so that the trailer coupling swings out...


Driving the car with my 4/4 on the trailer is -even in traffic jams- very relaxing.

I have a 2015 Skoda vRS Wagon (Estate in UK) with the 2.0L 162KW engine and 6 speed manual gearbox, it is great to drive. My wife has 2016 Skoda Rapid Monte Carlo, 82kw 1.2L TSi engine with 6 speed manual gearbox.

Our only issue is Stupid Skoda Australia don't bring those models with manual gearboxes any more so we have to keep them forever because we can't find anything new with a real gearbox apart from really cheap base model cars. If I needed a new car and lived in the UK I would get the Skoda Octavia vRS Estate TSi 245PS with manual gearbox, after owning mine for nearly 8 years it is a great car.

If anything happened to mine I would be trying to see what are the rules for bring in a private import from the UK, I think you need to own it overseas for 12 months but there are probably other rules as well, maybe I could tour the UK in it and probably get a new car quicker than trying to buy locally. Australia is a nice place to live but I hate that we get a restricted number of models with hardly any manuals and regardless of the brand it is "put down your deposit and wait 2 to 3 years for your car to turn up" knowing that by the time you get it the car has gone though two or more model releases so not what you chose anyway. The sales guys seem to feel they are hard done by because they don't get their sales commission until the car turns up but it is hard to feel sorry for them when you have to wait so long for a new car. My Octavia from 2015 was 12 months from order time to when I got it but now after being able to blame COVID I know people who ordered new cars in January 2020 after the Hail storm that wrote off over 30K cars in under 10 minutes that are still waiting for their new car to turn up.

New, broken-in or pre-loved?

Estate (Having done various estates and now the ML SUV, I am going Estate next time)
Luxury
Modestish running costs
Hardy for cold winters, whoops sorry, potholes.

E300de Estate - Diesel PHEV
CLS Shootbork 350d

Skoda do make some nice stuff these days as mentioned above.
BMW 3 estate (6 pot petrol or diesel) xdrive (maybe X3 with decent spec)
There are some good deals on 5 series estate which is more comfy on journeys.
Golf R estate

Odd ones?
Genesis G70 shooting brake. Lovely interior and feel but engines are bit wet.
Seat sorry Cupra Formentor
VW Tourag is undrated and with the 3L D quite comfy and very practical

If you want to go BEV.
Hyundai Ionic 5, Polestar 2, Tesla

Posh end of the market (2 years old)
Porsche Panameras are going cheaper than most Porks.

I run a Skoda Superb 2.0 Tdi 170 4x4 estate, un replaceable except at silly money.

I replaced my crashed volvo V70 with another V70 of similar vintage. The crash head-on was with a Citroen c3 driven by an elderly lady who was rounding a bend on the wrong side. I was forced into the hedge but we both walked away from our respective vehicles unscathed. Both cars written off and both drivers wearing seat belts.
Since that time I have not forgotten the solid build of a V70 and its multiple safety features of paramount importance and would only ever replace like for like. The present one is approaching the magic 200 K miles and purrs along sweetly.

We had them in the job, loads of space and very reliable.