A 'What Car' / General Ramblings Thread

[dirtbiker]

Hello all, I'll start this by saying that I'm not necessarily looking for answers but this is using up a lot of my mental energy so any thoughts are appreciated!

I'm currently driving a 2015 Audi SQ5 in a lovely Misano red which is basically my ideal car. I've had it for nearly six years now and always enjoyed it. The only issues are that it's coming up on 90,000 miles and has thrown a few expensive bills recently (brakes needing to be done, control arm bushings, new injectors required). It's also not LEZ compliant which means I can no longer go into the centre of Aberdeen, Edinburgh or Glasgow. I've just had the 21" wheels refurbished and new all-season tyres fitted so I have a sunk cost of £1,200 there. It's also got an intermittent fault with the brake pad sensor (the wire is fine, must be a short further up the loom).

I use it for taking my two little girls (3 and 5) around the place and for mountain biking with my pals one evening a week which involves some spirited driving around Aberdeenshire with just me in the car. I like having the extra ground clearance for forest tracks and the Quattro for winter up here.

I recently went for a look at the Macan EV and, while I've not driven one yet, was very impressed. We have a Tusker scheme at my work but I've currently got a Megane E-Tech on it which my wife uses so don't have any options for replacing my car until March 2026.

I also have eight points on my licence due to some silliness in 2023 - these will expire in February 2026.

So, my options are as follows:

1. Keep the SQ5. Accept that there might be some big bills and some minor annoyances, but be happy it ticks most of the boxes.
2. Lease an ID7 Tourer on the current Carparison deal. This would tick many boxes except being fun to drive when I'm alone and I'd also need to get a towbar fitted. I'd keep this for two years and then be able to get something more dual-purpose, either an EV or perhaps my last ICE car.
3. Go all in and see if I can make the man-maths work for a Macan EV which I'd aim to keep for 5-6 years
4. Look into a newer SQ5 (the problem being there is the fake exhausts!) or an X3 M40i which would hopefully be the next 5-6 year car for me

Thanks for reading, I'm intrigued to see what the hive mind thinks!

[slopes]

If it was me, i'd keep the SQ5 but then i always did like them.
Not a fan of electric cars, i'm sure they are incredibly competent but they just leave me cold

[RizzoTheRat]

Have you got space to lease a boring family bus and then buy something older and more fun as a toy?

[Lincsls1]

I say (if) you want a new car, and can afford it comfortably, then get yourself one. No other justification required. However, don't do what many do and pretend its going to save you money. It won't. Going newer will generally always cost a lot more and then there's extra depreciation too.

[Robertb]

I'd imagine the SQ5 would be cheaper from here than a new EV lease. I've found that costs with keeping older cars going are more sporadic, and at least you can decide to proceed or not. Hopefully now you've attended to some big-ticket maintenance items you might be due a cheaper 12 months or so.

Those monthly lease payments carry on regardless.

I think the SQ5 is a great car... I'd be inclined to 'stick'.

[dirtbiker]

Lincsls1 said:

I say (if) you want a new car, and can afford it comfortably, then get yourself one. No other justification required. However, don't do what many do and pretend its going to save you money. It won't. Going newer will generally always cost a lot more and then there's extra depreciation too.

I like this, I'm under no illusions that a newer car will save money (even if I'm charging it for free!).

I think Robertb is correct too - it is a great car and I should probably stick with it. Might need to get the exhaust speakers replaced though so it sounds a little better in sports mode...

[BlackTails]

Cheapest of all of those is the one you already own.

Which you have also identified as your ideal car.

So mentally resign yourself to having to put some money into it, and run it until it properly dies.

(I am in a similar relationship with an L322 RR, so have been down this thought process and sifted through Autotrader many, many times).

[dirtbiker]

Here’s the car in question, it does clean up well!

[66HFM]

Robertb said:

I'd imagine the SQ5 would be cheaper from here than a new EV lease. I've found that costs with keeping older cars going are more sporadic, and at least you can decide to proceed or not. Hopefully now you've attended to some big-ticket maintenance items you might be due a cheaper 12 months or so.

Those monthly lease payments carry on regardless.

I think the SQ5 is a great car... I'd be inclined to 'stick'.

Stick with the SQ5, which is a car I personally fancy to replace our XC60.
Why not put aside £100 per month into a savings account and use that to pay for any on-going one-off costs, it will also be a lot cheaper than the monthlies on a Macan...

[carinaman]

dirtbiker said:

Here’s the car in question, it does clean up well!

Brakes and suspension are consumables. They wear out.

I didn't realise they had the 3 litre supercharged engine. Or is it some kind of twin turbo and an electric turbo like the SQ7?

[dirtbiker]

carinaman said:

I didn't realise they had the 3-litre supercharged engine. Or is it some kind of twin turbo and an electric turbo like the SQ7?

It's a BiTDi - 3.0 V6 twin turbos, lots of torque!

[AmyRichardson]

Stick.

When you want something new badly enough you'll make the jump, 90k and 9 years is nothing to get in a twist about in the meantime.

Too many folk are consumer magpies and cluck on a 3-year cycle, but you don't need to be them!

[Lincsls1]

dirtbiker said:

Here’s the car in question, it does clean up well!

Lovely looking, quality car.

[RB Will]

Cupra Ateca fits the bill I think. LEZ compliant. Faster than SQ5, not diesel, easily tuneable, 4wd, ride height same practicality, half the price if that of any new EV

[Pablo16v]

dirtbiker said:

Here’s the car in question, it does clean up well!

That looks great in red and if it was me with the money just sunk into it I would be keeping it.

[GeniusOfLove]

New injectors before it had even done 100k, very VAG.

I'm going to go against the grain here and say...

A ten year old Audi is going to start kicking you in the balls for parts you don't even know it had, and they'll all be expensive parts and they'll all be an absolute swine to fit so gobble up endless labour hours.

Sell it now when it is still running and has value, rather than when you're looking at your third three figure bill in 9 months. It's not even about the money, it's about time and stress and arseache.

They're really not built to last anymore. My experience is that at around 12 years old anything from VAG since the early 00s will just break over and over and over and over again. I may revise that downwards for newer stuff, my plumber told me not 4 hours ago how his 2016 SQ5 has just eaten various parts of it's own drivetrain.

Edited by GeniusOfLove on Monday 7th October 18:16

[carinaman]

Genius of Love, is there some date where VAG longevity worsened? Was it the mid to late Noughties?

[GeniusOfLove]

carinaman said:

Genius of Love, is there some date where VAG longevity worsened? Was it the mid to late Noughties?

I think so, maybe 2005 with the B6 Passat.

My personal experience is that you'll see VAG tin with huge mileages on but you don't see old stuff - think how few B6 Passats are still around compared to the contemporary Volvo V70 - it's like they set a clock ticking when they leave the factory gate and low miles or high when that clock runs out it's game over.

It was usually 12 ish years but the new stuff is even more aggressively cost controlled and poking around the stuff they've made in the last 5 years I'd not be surprised if it starts really crapping itself by 8 years old. Any old car could give issues but with most stuff you could get lucky, or it'd just be the odd thing, but every old mid 00s onwards VAG car I've ever experienced 1st or 2nd hand has just fallen completely to st almost all at once.

The high power stuff appears to be a timebomb from the moment it leaves the factory in most cases though. I've never known anyone roll the dice on a middle aged RS Audi and win.

[dirtbiker]

Thanks, GeniusOfLove, you’ve captured the flip side of my conundrum well and I love the use of the word arseache!

It's not an easy call but I think it might be time to WBAC the Audi, bank the proceeds and use that to cover the lease costs knowing that I’ll have a reliable motor with no big bills sitting on the drive until it’s time for something fun again!

I’d sell it privately but the brake pad warning is likely to cause an issue and I don’t want to spend yet more getting that sorted… already tried the obvious of replacing the service consumable sensor and wire section…

Edited by dirtbiker on Tuesday 8th October 11:32

[wyson]

Can you get a Porsche 911 Dakar with rear seats, isofix on the front seats? Kids will fit in the back. Can put the bike on a roof rack? Raise the suspension up for the forest tracks.

Reminds me I have to check my Euromillions ticket for Fridays draw.

Edited by wyson on Monday 7th October 19:59