£20-23k Euro6 Diesel Commuta-barge(TM)

[mr90]

Greetings all - long term lurker but first time poster here. Hoping for some input on my following dilemma, which unfortunately is pretty dull...

Shopping for a comfortable commuter to last me through to for the next 4-5 years.

Budget is ~£20k, but can be flexible subject to some man maths. Looking for 2-4 years old, sub 45k miles.

Musts: saloon, diesel, Euro6, preferably 6cyl & a moderate quantity horses with which to make safe progress, premium interior, comfortable seats (multi-contour / 'comfort' preferable), moderately 'future-proof' styling & tech that won't complete frustrate me after 18 months,


Current contenders are:

F10 530d/535d LCI with a few toys... depreciation has accelerated with G30 release, and lots of well-optioned trade-ins coming on the market. Interior and iDrive still holds up against some latest cars despite being previous gen.

A8 3.0 TDI 2014 (facelift)... currently a few hanging about around the £24k mark, however would end up buying higher mileage than the equivalent priced 5er, and I have some concerns about long term costs (air suspension, brakes, etc.).


Excluded:
F01 7 series - not Euro6 (except v. rare blueperformance spec)
A6 - dislike interior and old gen MMI, limited engine choices >2.0TDI
A7 - same interior/infotainment as A6, and good engines / examples out of price range
XF (prev gen) - interior hasn't aged well, all Euro5 engines
XJ TDV6 - interior has aged well, but again all euro5 engines and would be looking at more like 2011 within budget



The initial purchase price of the A8 is very attractive, but I worry that in the long term it would be a drain. I figure that it might be better to drop a grade down to the 5 series, which is far more common and cheap-to-maintain / fix.

Would greatly appreciate any thoughts on the above
What have I overlooked?
Am I overthinking the maintenance costs of the A8?
Anything else?

Many thanks

Edited by mr90 on Monday 5th June 20:32

[Loyly]

The A8 is a cut above and I'd prefer that over the 5 series. Both will do the job well, but the A8 will inevitably cost more overall I expect, but probably not as much as you think. I presume you'll be seeking a good extended warranty?

[ScoobyChris]

Mercs may be worth a look?

Chris

[ZX10R NIN]

You can get a well spec'd E Class for that money.

AMG Line with the 9 Speed box

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

AMG Sport 7 Speed

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

[Fox-]

I have an LCI 530d. It's absolutely great - swift and efficient.

[jkh112]

I recently went through the car buying process with very similar criteria (except I wanted an estate). The massage comfort seats were important to me. I settled on a Mercedes E350 bluetec with loads of extras and much lower mileage than the alternatives for the same money.
I probably would have been happy with a 5 series or an A6 allroad, but did have a preference for the Mercedes when I did test drives.

[Fox-]

I had a 2015 E220 AMG Night Edition as a rental for a weekend a few years ago and it felt like a car from a previous era to the F10. The interior in particular felt very old hat - small screen and even the parking sensors were on a bizarre LED light strip stuck on the dash - BMW moved to a digital display in 2003!

Aside from how dated everything felt it was otherwise a lovely car - very nicely put together and the adaptive LED headlights were absolutely stunning. So, it's a sensible choice if you don't have an issue with the look and feel inside.

[mr90]

Thanks all, looks like I'm going to test-driving an E class this weekend! The A8 is still nagging at the back of my mind, but I'll explore all the other options first.

In the past I've lived in an area where virtually every C class was a Cat-C-repaired-C63-replica and every E class belonged to a certain type of "roving salesman" - I think this tainted my view of Mercs somewhat and I've never really considered them myself. The E350 certainly does fit the bill though

[mr90]

Fox- said:

I had a 2015 E220 AMG Night Edition as a rental for a weekend a few years ago and it felt like a car from a previous era to the F10. The interior in particular felt very old hat - small screen and even the parking sensors were on a bizarre LED light strip stuck on the dash - BMW moved to a digital display in 2003!

Aside from how dated everything felt it was otherwise a lovely car - very nicely put together and the adaptive LED headlights were absolutely stunning. So, it's a sensible choice if you don't have an issue with the look and feel inside.

Hmm, the (IMO) well-ageing interior and infotainment (iDrive touch on the LCI) is part of what attracts me to the F10. Though its the outgoing model, it still seems reasonably fresh until you directly compare it with the G30. Obviously in 5 years time it will seem dated, but nowhere near that of some other 2010-era interiors with small low-res screens, excess buttons, etc. I get bored of things quite easily, so worry that buying something that feels 'old hat' now will leave me fed up and looking to change much sooner than I hope to.

[jkh112]

I agree that the in car electronics in the Mercedes do seem behind those in the BMW, although all the Mercs I saw came with the full comand online but the bmws seem to have different grades of Satnav and the lower spec BMW seems very poor.
I decided that whether I bought a BMW, Mercedes or Audi the electronics would seem outdated in a few years and no matter how good they are they cannot make up for a poor car so I decided that as long as the in car electrics had the features I wanted then it should not be one of the main decision criteria.