Reliable mid sized automatic SUV or people carrier - £12k

[heisthegaffer]

Hi all

My sister needs a new car which must be an auto and mid sized. She has a Quashqai at the moment with a faulty CVT gearbox so she's put off buying Nissan again.

How reliable are Honda CRVs? We've had a Hondas in the family and other than 2 x air con compressors (a known fault), they've all been reliable.

I worry about the gearbox being the weak link after the Nissan.

Any thoughts people?

[cwis]

I think they are fairly bomb proof. My mk2 (petrol, auto) is just coming up to 238000 miles!

Make sure if you boot it a bit from a standstill the torque converter doesn't make a whining noise and check that no gearbox valve pressure issues have been logged with a generic scan tool and you're good to go...

[Silvanus]

That budget will pick up an MG HS just a couple of years old. Citroen C5 Aircross is worth a look too.

Edited by Silvanus on Saturday 13th July 09:56

[Simon_GH]

I think the Qashqai is an outlier in an otherwise reliable Nissan family but open for correction! I worked with a couple of ex-Nissan people who said as much.

The Ford S-Max / Galaxy tend to be well=rated. The latter being popular with airport taxis.

The Lexus range also seem to be very reliable.

[heisthegaffer]

Cheers all.

She's keen on an SMax, she had one before the Nissan.

[ZX10R NIN]

S Max is a good pick but check (like all auto boxes) that the fluid & filters have been changed on schedule.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202405029...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202407011...

[heisthegaffer]

Thanks ZX

[Alickadoo]

The first word in the subject title is "Reliable".

If it's got to be reliable then work your way down through

Lexus
Toyota
Honda
Hyundai
Kia

I suggest the anyone who suggests a Citroen as a reliable marque is not thinking straight. Oh, yes, there will be people who have owned a Citroen which was reliable, but you are talking about statistical probabilities here - aren't you?

[Silvanus]

Alickadoo said:

The first word in the subject title is "Reliable".

If it's got to be reliable then work your way down through

Lexus
Toyota
Honda
Hyundai
Kia

I suggest the anyone who suggests a Citroen as a reliable marque is not thinking straight. Oh, yes, there will be people who have owned a Citroen which was reliable, but you are talking about statistical probabilities here - aren't you?

Citroen is in the top 10 for reliable brands in the UK. Second highest Euro brand behind Skoda and one above Dacia. So statically, pretty good

[Alickadoo]

Silvanus said:

Alickadoo said:

The first word in the subject title is "Reliable".

If it's got to be reliable then work your way down through

Lexus
Toyota
Honda
Hyundai
Kia

I suggest the anyone who suggests a Citroen as a reliable marque is not thinking straight. Oh, yes, there will be people who have owned a Citroen which was reliable, but you are talking about statistical probabilities here - aren't you?

Citroen is in the top 10 for reliable brands in the UK. Second highest Euro brand behind Skoda and one above Dacia. So statically, pretty good

Which? magazine says most reliable car brands are

Lexus
Toyota
Honda

Citroen are 20th.

Any road, the OP will make his own mind up.

[Silvanus]

Alickadoo said:

Silvanus said:

Alickadoo said:

The first word in the subject title is "Reliable".

If it's got to be reliable then work your way down through

Lexus
Toyota
Honda
Hyundai
Kia

I suggest the anyone who suggests a Citroen as a reliable marque is not thinking straight. Oh, yes, there will be people who have owned a Citroen which was reliable, but you are talking about statistical probabilities here - aren't you?

Citroen is in the top 10 for reliable brands in the UK. Second highest Euro brand behind Skoda and one above Dacia. So statically, pretty good

Which? magazine says most reliable car brands are

Lexus
Toyota
Honda

Citroen are 20th.

Any road, the OP will make his own mind up.

Thanks for clearing that up, I wish I'd read Which magazine

[blue_haddock]

ZX10R NIN said:

S Max is a good pick but check (like all auto boxes) that the fluid & filters have been changed on schedule.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202405029...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202407011...

the powershift boxes in this era of fords are truly awful and its a case of when not if they throw a major bill.

If you want reliable dont get a powershift ford.

[heisthegaffer]

Noted.

[Ian-r1hmh]

blue_haddock said:

the powershift boxes in this era of fords are truly awful and its a case of when not if they throw a major bill.

If you want reliable dont get a powershift ford.

This is true for the Mk1 in the second link but the issues are mostly resolved in the Mk2s.

[heisthegaffer]

On a related note, I spoke to a transmission specialist today who confirmed the Nissan auto gearbox is absolutely st and without inspecting and diagnosing the issue, it could be as little as £250 plus vat for a service or £3.5k plus vat for new drums.

How pony. Would expect more from Nissan.

He reckons he does 5 a week.

[ZX10R NIN]

blue_haddock said:

the powershift boxes in this era of fords are truly awful and its a case of when not if they throw a major bill.

If you want reliable dont get a powershift ford.

All Dual Clutch gearboxes can suffer from failure as all from this era were (in the main) not serviced as per the schedule VAG's suffer the same issues if not serviced.

Which is why I told the OP to make sure they've been serviced as per the schedule in which case they can take high miles with ease.