Next car for OH - Captur, 500L/X, DS3 - or something else?
Discussion
The Captur is a decent enough car and there are plenty available as are the Fiat's. The 500l is also available in Trekking spec which are probably the pick of the bunch and an excellent value crossover. The DS3 looks a bit of an odd one out unless you are talking about the much newer and far more expensive DS3 Crossback.
As for alternatives similar to the Rav4, the Dacia Duster has to be up there, very popular cars, great value and loads available, that would be my pick.
Skoda Yeti also fits the bill, great cars, individual looks and have a very loyal following.
Another close match the the Rav4 is the Suzuki Vitara, very dependable, reliable little cars with loads of available options.
Pick of the rest for me are the Citroen C4 Cactus, Kia Soul, Mitsubishi ASX, Seat Arona and the wildcard Ssangyong Korando.
As for alternatives similar to the Rav4, the Dacia Duster has to be up there, very popular cars, great value and loads available, that would be my pick.
Skoda Yeti also fits the bill, great cars, individual looks and have a very loyal following.
Another close match the the Rav4 is the Suzuki Vitara, very dependable, reliable little cars with loads of available options.
Pick of the rest for me are the Citroen C4 Cactus, Kia Soul, Mitsubishi ASX, Seat Arona and the wildcard Ssangyong Korando.
9th generation Honda Civic 1.8 petrol should be a good choice - lots of room, versatile and cheap to run but dynamically better than a jacked up hatchback. The Captur's don't look to have anymore room than a Clio, I think they might be based on the same platform as the Juke and they're really cramped inside.
LightningBlue said:
9th generation Honda Civic 1.8 petrol should be a good choice - lots of room, versatile and cheap to run but dynamically better than a jacked up hatchback. The Captur's don't look to have anymore room than a Clio, I think they might be based on the same platform as the Juke and they're really cramped inside.
Op mentions high driving position is a requirement, dynamics aren't mentioned. I'm not sure away from PH, that dynamics are all that important to people.AHarrison said:
Hi Chaps,
The more obvious candidates would appear to be the Renault Captur, Fiat 500L / 500X, DS3 (either pre- or post-Citroen). All three seem to be aimed at her kind of needs - with a bit of 'funkiness' thrown in. For various reasons we've ruled out any MINI variants - and the perenially-hideous Nissan Juke!
Budget isn't that high - about 7k tops. Her journey pattern would favour petrol-power, but I could probably help in giving a diesel version a few good runs every now and then.
My wife has a 15 plate Fiat 500X - Multiair 140 4X4 AutoThe more obvious candidates would appear to be the Renault Captur, Fiat 500L / 500X, DS3 (either pre- or post-Citroen). All three seem to be aimed at her kind of needs - with a bit of 'funkiness' thrown in. For various reasons we've ruled out any MINI variants - and the perenially-hideous Nissan Juke!
Budget isn't that high - about 7k tops. Her journey pattern would favour petrol-power, but I could probably help in giving a diesel version a few good runs every now and then.
It's the 2.0 diesel which is apparently quite a durable engine.
Similar to your wife, she likes something that rides a bit higher, though I can't imagine her handling a bigger 4x4 type thing.
Her usage absolutely does not require a diesel - it's done about 8000 miles in the 2 years or so we've had it, though I try to use it when she isn't and give it a longer run to avoid any issues.
We paid around £10k but prices have certainly dropped and plenty of these around the 7k budget, manual/auto/petrol/diesel/decent miles etc.
The good -
Has never let us down. Pleasant enough interior with part leather seats. Hers also has really good bi-xenon headlights.
The 140 bhp 2 litre diesel with auto box is actually a really decent drive and it more than holds its own in most situations (my car is a BMW 335d so I'm used to a bit more power, but the Fiat does just fine). We both work in the middle of nowhere but it also copes fine with floods/mud/ice/snow within reason.
The bad -
It's a Fiat, and is not going to be as well put together as certain brands. For example, we had the engine light on for a while - about 3 garage trips including 2 to a diagnostic specialist found it was being triggered by a faulty outside temperature sensor. Not a major cost, but annoying.
We also get a random check parking brake light, usually in very wet weather - always resets itself so never bothered us much, but annoying. The air con needs fixing - had it regassed a year ago, but not at all cold now.
Also, not massively economical for a diesel - never really checked but got to be less that 40mpg locally and maybe 50 on a run.
The boot is not the biggest, and although rear space is ok (and we do use it for the odd family trip away), it's not really a family car.
In summary,
I can't imagine I would get another, though have no great regret that we did get it, if that makes sense. No plans to replace it any time soon, and I'm sure it will continue to perform it's duties, with the odd hiccup along the way.
A friend popped over on Friday with her 500X so that we could figure of why the door handle came off 
Couldn’t figure out why it came off so just popped it back on and crossed our fingers.
I have driven that car, bit rolly-polly but not ‘bad’ and probably no worse than other cars of that type.
Couldn’t figure out why it came off so just popped it back on and crossed our fingers.
I have driven that car, bit rolly-polly but not ‘bad’ and probably no worse than other cars of that type.
One of my mates has a Suzuki SX4 and I find it great as a passenger.
On our N.I roads it’s actually quite a good ride I was very surprised.
It does lack engine power for anything more than flow of traffic.
However he drives it really hard and abuses it with no mechanical sympathy or servicing except to get through the MOT and it’s been 100% apart from needing tyres over 3 years.
Bit more premium but might get a Mazda CX-3 in budget they are really nice.
On our N.I roads it’s actually quite a good ride I was very surprised.
It does lack engine power for anything more than flow of traffic.
However he drives it really hard and abuses it with no mechanical sympathy or servicing except to get through the MOT and it’s been 100% apart from needing tyres over 3 years.
Bit more premium but might get a Mazda CX-3 in budget they are really nice.
There's a few Suzuki mentions so far...I'll add another - Ignis. Mrs Ezra had one until recently...lovely little car and I used to enjoy it every time I drove it.
Surprised no mention of a Qashqai yet. We had one of these a number of years ago too and it just did everything very well.
Surprised no mention of a Qashqai yet. We had one of these a number of years ago too and it just did everything very well.
CG2020UK said:
One of my mates has a Suzuki SX4 and I find it great as a passenger.
On our N.I roads it’s actually quite a good ride I was very surprised.
It does lack engine power for anything more than flow of traffic.
However he drives it really hard and abuses it with no mechanical sympathy or servicing except to get through the MOT and it’s been 100% apart from needing tyres over 3 years.
Bit more premium but might get a Mazda CX-3 in budget they are really nice.
The Suzuki's a great little car.On our N.I roads it’s actually quite a good ride I was very surprised.
It does lack engine power for anything more than flow of traffic.
However he drives it really hard and abuses it with no mechanical sympathy or servicing except to get through the MOT and it’s been 100% apart from needing tyres over 3 years.
Bit more premium but might get a Mazda CX-3 in budget they are really nice.
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