Impending divorce means I need a more child friendly car. They can see out of my E60 5 series and it makes them carsick.

Bitchface has a Disco3, which is great for the kids but a bit too agricultural for my liking. I catch the train to work so could even go for a Cayenne Turbo, but quite expensive to look after I imagine? XC90 probably has the best image, but what's it like to own and drive?

Haven't really thought about a Q7 - are they any good?

Cheers

 

q7s are the best looking and nicest to drive imo . the disco is nice but as you said, farmy. the cayenne is ok but quite ugly and build quality is not great . the xc90 is a horrible car , the other car is the toureg which is a great car based on the cayenne but more for your buck .

rr sport , small inside , suspension probs ,

rr tdv8 , great car , good engine but do have niggly probs .

i had a q7 for a week on loan and it was brilliant .

mags

 

Thanks for the reply. Why do you say the XC90 is horrible?

Think I might get a test drive in the Q7, I know nothing about them.

 

A word of warning on the Q7, they wear out tyres very quickly.

Geoff.

 

Same platform as the Toerag and Cayenne. They all do that don't they?

I'd have the X5(new shape) from that bunch. The XC90 is nice enough but is a world away from the X5 in build quality (interior gets really shabby very quickly) and driver enjoyment. I like the Q7 but it feels surprisingly small inside for such a big car and I just don't trust VAG reliability these days. I have friends with all of these cars and the only ones who have had trouble are the two with the Q7s.
...........and of course the ones with Range Rovers.............

 

We have a Cayenne and apart form the MASSIVE petrol bills its a top car. Its comfortable, refined not loads to look after (more than a Volvo but not real Porsche money) and very very fast.
If fuel is not an issue then the Porsche wins hands down IMO, we tried all of the above and for us found a Porsche did the trick.
They have the face only a mother could love but form the drivers seat that makes no difference.


Ps: Ignore all the fuel claims on all of the cars you are looking at, we got told 19 - 21 MPG for the Porsche but in reality we get 8.4MPG.

 

The new Touareg V8 TDI looks a weapon and nice build quality and pretty nippy to boot

Volvo.. boring
D3 sluggish until you get them mapped, air suspension issues also (I know..I have one) 28mpg computer.. actually manually calculated at 25mpg
D4 nice motor but still has reliability issues
RRS.. 10 grams please Mr
X5...yo bro..15 grams homey
FFRR.. TDV8...hmmm yummy..STILL the daddy
Q7..ugly
Cayenne.. Hidden costs (a la normal Porsche dealership)

 

Faither is selling his 35D X5 M-Sport.

59 plate in silver with cream leather interior. Only 8500 miles, but near standard car with only a couple extras.

Let us know if your interested...

 

I would guess you drive it hard everywhere or there's something wrong with it, i used to manage around 15-18 mpg, with general enthusiastic driving and the odd longer run.

To the op, have you considered a Mercedes ML, just as much fun and fairly economical at 30mpg for a 320cdi, and you would'nt know it was diesel, they're so quiet.

 

Test drove the XC, X5, Q7 and Touareg

XC = agricultural driving experience
Q7 = understeered quite badly, huge bonnet length, 7,000 miles per set of tyres
Touareg = horrible to drive, low sitting position made car feel huge
X5 = best driver out of all and largest boot - had it 3 years now

 

TB;
XC90 - Although it looks good is basically sh!te, seats are poor, ride is poor & engine is poor. I loved the looks but hated the drive.
Cayenne Turbo - Had two, cant fault them apart from petrol tanker constantly stuck to your @rse.
RRS - Had two as well, had both a V6 & a V8, the V8TD was one of the first on the road & was full of gremlins, thankfully my ex bitchface wrote if off.
RR - Got a TDV8 Vogue SE at moment & love it, if you can afford one of these then get it. I got one at 6 months old & its 18 months old just now. I have already planned to order an MY11.
X5 - Old style are sh!te, image is sh!te as the chavs are starting to pick them up for 10k the new one has came a long way drb5's is the pick of the litter, i just dont like the look of the car.
ML - Had one, you can pick up a facelift 08 for 25k, drive like a car tbh.

Enjoy & let us know.

 

So does the VW counterpart. Mate had a V10 tdi & it ate tyres at between 6 & 8k

 

I think they all will, you cant expect much more from a big heavy 4x4 really

 

You can expect upto 14k from some 4x4's.
Depends if the manufacturer is used to producing 4x4s's

 

My new style X5 gets 14 to 15k from a set of tyres - and I drive it hard

 

Off the top of my head, i don't think iv'e ever seen anymore than 10k from a set of tyres on a 4x4, except when i had BFG all terrrains on a landcruiser, but i don't think there'll do much for the handling of an ML or Cayenne.

 

Tbh i havent kept many vehicles for longer than a year although my RR has just been changed at 18k, original tyres Changed at 2mm all round give or take.
The VW mob are poor on tyres

 

i am getting over 20k with a set of Cooper UHP's on a Landcruiser Amazon

 

Just read the press release for the MY2011 RR, with the new 4.4 V8 diesel, 313hp & 516lbs ft. Though its not the new model, just an update to the current model.

 

I put BFG All Terrains on my Colarado, (i know they're a lot lighter) i put 40k on them and they honestly did'nt even look half worn, iv'e heard of people getting 80k out of them, and one person i spoke too swears he got over 100k on a set on a Range Rover!

 

25k out of my General UHP's on my Disco

 

I've just changed the tyres on our Tribeca after a puncture and some wall damage. They had done 35k and had another 10k in them. I've only changed tyres once on my Impreza in the last 40k miles. Subaru must be getting something right.

With the same use and drivers all four tyres on our Mazda 5 were illegal by 10k miles.
It's a cost that not many consider when buying new cars - particularly when ticking the big wheel option box!!