Soft Roader for the Mrs...
Discussion
Hi All,
The Mrs has decided she'd like a 'Soft roader' since we are off to Wales and a wee bit of acreage.
The shopping list looks like this at the moment -
Forester
Outback
Grand Vitara
Rav4
Allroad.
Has anyone any experience of these?
We've looked at a Forester and didn't like it much, as it felt (IMHO & SWMBOO) really cheap and lightweight.
Budget is circa £10k.
Thanks for all comments and advice.
The Mrs has decided she'd like a 'Soft roader' since we are off to Wales and a wee bit of acreage.
The shopping list looks like this at the moment -
Forester
Outback
Grand Vitara
Rav4
Allroad.
Has anyone any experience of these?
We've looked at a Forester and didn't like it much, as it felt (IMHO & SWMBOO) really cheap and lightweight.
Budget is circa £10k.
Thanks for all comments and advice.
Edited by Droptheclutch on Wednesday 25th March 12:14
I've no experience of the Rav4 or Vitara, but I have owned a 2.5tdi Allroad and a 2.5 petrol Outback and would definitely recommend Audi over Subaru in terms of build quality, comfort, class and performance.
(I'm assuming you're talking about the old shape Allroad - i.e. through to 55 reg - not the newer one, which is probably double your budget).
The Outback (a 56 plate) felt cheaply put together and I had all sorts of problems with clutch and flywheel (a common problem, I udnerstand). These were replaced under warranty but it still never felt quite right. The 2.5 petrol felt sluggish (auto was terrible, manual was better). It was good in a muddy field though! And it has a low range box, which the Audi doesn't.
The Allroad (51 plate) was built like a tank. The adjustable suspension meant that it felt very well planted on the motorway on the lowest setting, but had good ground clearance on the upper settings. The auto box and lazy 2.5 diesel lump were well paired, in my opinion. Cavernous inside. But beware of servicing costs - the air suspension is expensive to fix if it goes wrong and cambelt replacement means removing the front of the car (circa £1,000 including ancillaries at a main dealer).
I only sold my Allroad because of changes in company car policy. It is one of only two or three past cars that I miss. I can't say the same about the Subaru - it was one of the very few cars I was pleased to be rid of!
(I'm assuming you're talking about the old shape Allroad - i.e. through to 55 reg - not the newer one, which is probably double your budget).
The Outback (a 56 plate) felt cheaply put together and I had all sorts of problems with clutch and flywheel (a common problem, I udnerstand). These were replaced under warranty but it still never felt quite right. The 2.5 petrol felt sluggish (auto was terrible, manual was better). It was good in a muddy field though! And it has a low range box, which the Audi doesn't.
The Allroad (51 plate) was built like a tank. The adjustable suspension meant that it felt very well planted on the motorway on the lowest setting, but had good ground clearance on the upper settings. The auto box and lazy 2.5 diesel lump were well paired, in my opinion. Cavernous inside. But beware of servicing costs - the air suspension is expensive to fix if it goes wrong and cambelt replacement means removing the front of the car (circa £1,000 including ancillaries at a main dealer).
I only sold my Allroad because of changes in company car policy. It is one of only two or three past cars that I miss. I can't say the same about the Subaru - it was one of the very few cars I was pleased to be rid of!
We looked at the X3 and RAV4 for my missus. Ended up driving past a Honda garage and noticing the CRV... thought it would be right out of the price range but ended up being the one we went for... all the toys including rear reversing camera, sat nav, leather, heated seats, radar/adaptive cruise control with collision detection...etc, etc., features are amazing... panoramic roof a nice touch.
CRV was far and away a much nicer drive than the RAV4 and build quality inside streets ahead. It coped very well with the snow despite limiting road tyres and large alloys.
I've heartily recommend it... ours is a 2l petrol auto think the trim level is called EX +AFS +CMBS!!
SCRAP THAT... the wally typing has just realised the budget was 10k... sorry!!! I would still look at the previous gen CRV if I were you though... very well regarded and definitely in budget for you.
CRV was far and away a much nicer drive than the RAV4 and build quality inside streets ahead. It coped very well with the snow despite limiting road tyres and large alloys.
I've heartily recommend it... ours is a 2l petrol auto think the trim level is called EX +AFS +CMBS!!
SCRAP THAT... the wally typing has just realised the budget was 10k... sorry!!! I would still look at the previous gen CRV if I were you though... very well regarded and definitely in budget for you.
Edited by dubbs on Friday 10th April 21:40
Sounds similar to what we were looking for.
Test drove a few, Allroad is a lovely bit of kit but much older than other choices at this budget. Ended up with a 3yr old Grand Vitara for 7k, but I'll admit some bias as my first car was an SJ410.
Only had it a week, but I'm fairly confident it will handle anything we throw at it, towing / a few rough tracks etc.
Test drove a few, Allroad is a lovely bit of kit but much older than other choices at this budget. Ended up with a 3yr old Grand Vitara for 7k, but I'll admit some bias as my first car was an SJ410.
Only had it a week, but I'm fairly confident it will handle anything we throw at it, towing / a few rough tracks etc.
dubbs said:
We looked at the X3 and RAV4 for my missus. Ended up driving past a Honda garage and noticing the CRV... thought it would be right out of the price range but ended up being the one we went for... all the toys including rear reversing camera, sat nav, leather, heated seats, radar/adaptive cruise control with collision detection...etc, etc., features are amazing... panoramic roof a nice touch.
CRV was far and away a much nicer drive than the RAV4 and build quality inside streets ahead. It coped very well with the snow despite limiting road tyres and large alloys.
I've heartily recommend it... ours is a 2l petrol auto think the trim level is called EX +AFS +CMBS!!
SCRAP THAT... the wally typing has just realised the budget was 10k... sorry!!! I would still look at the previous gen CRV if I were you though... very well regarded and definitely in budget for you.
The budget is max £10k as I suspect we'll end up with a Jap brand and I will not spend over that on a Jap car.CRV was far and away a much nicer drive than the RAV4 and build quality inside streets ahead. It coped very well with the snow despite limiting road tyres and large alloys.
I've heartily recommend it... ours is a 2l petrol auto think the trim level is called EX +AFS +CMBS!!
SCRAP THAT... the wally typing has just realised the budget was 10k... sorry!!! I would still look at the previous gen CRV if I were you though... very well regarded and definitely in budget for you.
Edited by dubbs on Friday 10th April 21:40
The shortlist as of this weekend is Rav4 & Grand Vitara :-)
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