Older X5 - any good?
Discussion
Considering options to replace my wife's dog/child bus.
Want something bigger and better to drive than her current Freelander.
Noticed that X5's can now be had for less than £20k (as this is a second car that is my absolute maximum budget) and wondered whether I'd be buying trouble at that age ('01 ish) and mileage (70k ish). I'd be flexible as to engines but would want an automatic box and sport spec.
Also, how big are the X5s inside - are they a genuine 2 kids and 2 labrador vehicles or should I be facing life with a Discovery?
Want something bigger and better to drive than her current Freelander.
Noticed that X5's can now be had for less than £20k (as this is a second car that is my absolute maximum budget) and wondered whether I'd be buying trouble at that age ('01 ish) and mileage (70k ish). I'd be flexible as to engines but would want an automatic box and sport spec.
Also, how big are the X5s inside - are they a genuine 2 kids and 2 labrador vehicles or should I be facing life with a Discovery?
X5's are generally well put together. Like most things I guess the more you can spend the better the car is 'likely' to be. If you can get a warranty with it, and preferably manufacturers, then so much the better. I guess that wouldn't include comms pack, but just as easy to buy a Tom Tom or alike anyway.
At that price I would be surprised if you could get a diesel. They seem to hold their value far quicker. Most likely a 4.4 Sport or 3.0 petrol. The 4.4 is a good engine also fitted in the new shape Range Rover until recently. Can't remember the MPG but it was early twenties I think for the 4.4. The 3.0 I have no experience of but I have heard that they are not too different on MPG, but I stand to be corrected.
On the size front X5's are actually smaller than most people think. The boot area is not the biggest. A 5 series touring is certainly bigger albiet the boot mainly.
Should be no problem with two kids and two dogs though. Most likely more reliable than an elderly Disco, but no guarantees, hence warranty!
Anything Oxford Green or with a light interior is usually cheap. I would avoid manuals although I think that was only on the 3.0 petrol and diesal.
At that price I would be surprised if you could get a diesel. They seem to hold their value far quicker. Most likely a 4.4 Sport or 3.0 petrol. The 4.4 is a good engine also fitted in the new shape Range Rover until recently. Can't remember the MPG but it was early twenties I think for the 4.4. The 3.0 I have no experience of but I have heard that they are not too different on MPG, but I stand to be corrected.
On the size front X5's are actually smaller than most people think. The boot area is not the biggest. A 5 series touring is certainly bigger albiet the boot mainly.
Should be no problem with two kids and two dogs though. Most likely more reliable than an elderly Disco, but no guarantees, hence warranty!
Anything Oxford Green or with a light interior is usually cheap. I would avoid manuals although I think that was only on the 3.0 petrol and diesal.
i had two from brand new, an early sport diesel and an 05 sport diesel. i ran both for around a year, had no trouble with the first but a few glitches with number two. other than a bit of extra power the early car was just as good (wished i'd kept it). fuel averaged low 20's on either. we have two kids and one dog and all fitted in nicely, but it's not exactly massive inside. both were easy to sell but i lost plenty, particularly on the 05 car. serious bargains will be around soon as the new model is due in 07.
I had a 2001 4.4 Sport which had 75k miles when i sold it last year.
I got 20 MPG driving reasonably, you might get a bit more driving it nicely!
It was still a nice car with no big problems, plenty of space, good drive, fast enough!
My only "issue" with them (apart from a new one coming out soon) is that they are everywhere now! If that doesn't bother you then i'd recommend one!
Iain
I got 20 MPG driving reasonably, you might get a bit more driving it nicely!
It was still a nice car with no big problems, plenty of space, good drive, fast enough!
My only "issue" with them (apart from a new one coming out soon) is that they are everywhere now! If that doesn't bother you then i'd recommend one!
Iain
We went from a 3 years in a Freelander to our first X5, a 3.0i Sport. The improvent was massive and very worthwile. We've since bought 3 further X5s. Rear seat space is bigger than the Freelander (which was pretty good in itself), but boot space is around twice as much. We travel down into Europe a few times a year and it was much better at taking the 4 of us and all our stuff. How much space you need is a very personal thing, but 5 years on we still haven't outgrown the X5 whereas there's no way a Freelander would be big enough any more.
DoctorD said:Not being too nosy (I hope!), but why have you had four X5s in five years? Even if you were doing 20,000 wouldn't one have done the job?
We went from a 3 years in a Freelander to our first X5, a 3.0i Sport. The improvent was massive and very worthwile. We've since bought 3 further X5s. Rear seat space is bigger than the Freelander (which was pretty good in itself), but boot space is around twice as much. We travel down into Europe a few times a year and it was much better at taking the 4 of us and all our stuff. How much space you need is a very personal thing, but 5 years on we still haven't outgrown the X5 whereas there's no way a Freelander would be big enough any more.
No, I don't mind. I had a 3.0i Sport from 2001-2003, loved it to bits but got tired of always driving the nuts off it. After nearly 30,000 miles we only lost £7k in depreciation. Result! Then we replaced that with a 4.6is, good in places but dissapointing in others. Sold that after nearly 18 months and it cost us £25k in depreciation for just over 20,000 miles. Ouch! I replaced that with a 4.8is and experienced the mother of all warranty claims (major failures with air suspension and engine). After 12 months and much negotiation I managed to persuade BMW to replace it with a new car. So now I'm on my second 4.8is, blissfully happy and very glad I bought it. There you go, a short history, warts an all.
>> Edited by DoctorD on Friday 24th February 18:43
>> Edited by DoctorD on Friday 24th February 18:43
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