Choosing a family car Mazda CX5, Nissan X Trial, Mercedes E Class, Audi A6

Transportation, Travel and Trips
1
Good afternoon all,

After a lot of good reads about cars here on the forum I decided to hear your views.

I'm looking at 4 cars: (I have 3 children, 1,3,5y)

Driving VW Touran at the moment for 2 years and would like to change when arrived in Switzerland. Touran works for me, but it will be boring to have it for another 2 years.

Mazda CX5 (New, not more than 30000 CHF)

Nissan X Trial (New, not more than 30000 CHF) - happy with what nissan qashqai has offered me for 2 years

Mercedes E Class (used, not more than 30000 CHF)

Audi A6 (used, not more than 30000 CHF)

I will be doing 24000km a year to commute to work only.

I like driving new cars, hence Mazda and X Trial on the list. As I know very little about cars, when new they break less.

E Class and A6 are not very family cars (2-3 years old) but because of the commuting it is a treat for me. (nicer drive in general)

IMPORTANT: I'm struggling to find this sort of leasing in Switzerland;

Example on my VW Touran: I paid 3 payments upfront (£948 inc VAT) and then 24 / 36 / 48 months (depending on the contract) x £316 inc VAT each month. After the end of your contract, you return the car. (you don't own your car in a way, no equity in the car)

Recommendation such as: "Phone John from Mercedes/ Mazda... in Luzern" are super welcomed.

Please join me with your comments.

P.S. Dodgyken, your analysis are quite good and I enjoy reading them I also enjoy reading you all

2
Tough call - sub 30k, post 2012 Audi/Merc offer slim pickings ( here ) with many more X-Trails being available.

For 24,000km (I am guessing that is 50km each way per day) then you'll be looking or efficiency and comfort - and with 3 children - width. If the latter wasn't so important I'd be picking the E-class from your list everyday of the week - with the 220CDI offering a good compromise.

The latter point is where they fall down and the likes of the Touran leap ahead - although I have no idea how the E-class is with regards to booster seat space.

If you can get 3 seats across a large saloon, and you like VW, the new Passat was launched last year and 9mth old models are available (in 150ps diesel form) for under 30k - plenty of them too. You can also get 2015 Tourans (with the 2.0 diesel) for under 30k too.

If you want a small deposit - a 30k lease with 3k down and restwert of 40% after 3 years, at 3.9% will cost you 470-490chf per month in lease costs.

3
With minimal research (look at the bottom) it seems like it's doable to do 3 child seats at the second row, although in some cases with restrictions.

The A4 and the C Class are a size smaller than what you're looking and they (kind of) fit the bill so you should be good to go with the A6/E Class.

You can also look at the 5 series and maybe an S60/V70 diesel although the Germans (I think) have a more premium feel to them.

If it came to the Japs, I would also look at something like a Legacy and I wouldn't shy away from a Lexus either. You can get a GS450h that is a lot of car, and low-Km examples can be had around 25k. ( this ~36k Km is at 25.9k )

A German 2.0lt diesel might be a bit more economical but it's also half the power . So for a more fair comparison you should be looking at the likes of 535d etc.

For cars fitting three child-seats in the back:

http://www.which.co.uk/baby-and-chil...in-large-cars/

https://www.cars.com/articles/which-...1420668847322/

4
So I'd expect V70/A6/E-class to be OK - and nicer big KM cars.

You can even get 4wd in the budget

5
The CX5 is nice and good to drive, not driven the new xtrail but owned the previous and looked at the new one. Its basically a bigger Qashqai. If it is just commute then I'd go for the CX5 but if its also to take the kids around then the Xtrail might be the better option.

Legacy is a good call upbove, also the newer Levorg but that might be too small

6
My local Mercedes Dealer has a Few ML350 Bluetec Diesel/Gas for sale

for 34k.. great vehicle... I like the driving position and the ground clearance and ALL Wheel Drive Never been stuck so far.

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@dodgyken / I like how you started you reply "Tough call" "E-class from your list everyday of the week" - with the 220CDI Thank you!

@Don Molina / Thanks for the links. Super useful. I'm not a BMW fan. I like the Japanese, but not this time. Thank you!

@papasmurf / You said it there! "Legacy" & "Levorg" but... another time.

@ftg888 / I cannot stand the rear design of the ML. The designer probably worked @ ssangyong!

I'm not looking in any other cars apart from the 4 mentioned in the title. Maybe Audi A5 (4 doors) will make it on the list but that's it.

Drove the new VW Passat over Christmas for a week while in Switzerland. All good but the back seats are not flat. The have a design cut feature that makes the kids seats / children to seat in uneven position. (i'm sure 2 child seats will be fine)

They are all contenders I think. Will be matter of current offer at the time of buying I think.

Good evening all!

8
Nissan have 0% leasing with no deposit on at the moment, details below:

http://www2.nissan.ch/angebote/couch...01.2016_DE.pdf

That makes a big difference depending on how you finance the car.

Irrespective of that as a family car with three kids the X Trail is the one to go for from that list. It has seven seats and more interior space than the others so on a practical level it makes much more sense. The CX5 is a really nice car but is more like the Qashqai than the larger X Trail.

If you're used to driving a hassle-free new car I wouldn't be diving into 3/4 year old German stuff with that budget. You wont get any kind of reduced leasing rate, the warranty won't be totally comprehensive and as someone mentioned above the pickings are quite slim with those requirements anyway.

9
Hi,

With kids in that age you're looking at a car that can accommodate three regular child-seats (not just booster seats) in the rear (maybe the 5 year old can live with a booster seat - but a real child-seat will be safer). In that case neither the E-class nor the A6 will be viable options. You could have one kid in the front passenger seat and two in the rear seat of course. We had a BMW 5-series (F10 model) previously - which is similar (maybe a bit narrower) to the A6 and E-class - and with two child seats in the back, there really weren't room for anyone in the middle - definitely not a third child seat.

From your list I think the CX5 probably will be the easiest to live with, but I agree that commuting in a Merc or Audi will be a much more pleasant experience

10
I have personally fitted 3 full maxi cosy seats in the new E-class and new A6 in at their representatives in Poole.

11
Great! Then you know what car you really want

In the 5-series using the ISOFIX mount points there's only room for a small dog between the seats we have.

12
I'm a huge fan of Mazdas and three of my last four cars in the UK were Mazdas. Even managed to convert my OH, who had previously been a fan of Mercs, Honda Civics and Alfa Romeo.

The best thing about them is the engine reliability and fuel consumption. If you want low running costs and a car that starts first time every time, Mazda is a good choice. The worst thing is the wheel arches can be prone to rust, so that would be the first thing I'd check with a second hand model, and with a new model, I'd look into having the arches protected / coated a few years down the line.

Sold my last car in the UK in November to a district nurse who needed the most reliable car she could afford. Her research and recommendations from the doctors at her practice, led her to choose Mazda.

p.s. I'd go for the Mazda 6. I've had three child seats across the back seat in one of those.

13
In 20 years I've never had a car that doesn't start first time every time. I think that comment has been moot for the last 20 years - this is not the 1960s anymore with your points getting damp.

My sister's first "expensive" car (it wasn't actually that expensive) was a Mazda - it developed death within a year and was uneconomical to repair!!

You can buy "bad" cars in Switzerland - but if you're buying something <10yr old with MOT and Service you shouldn't have any major problems.

14
with 3 kids get an SEAT Alahambra.

living in CH and having to take their stuff everywhere over the years, you will need a big(er) car.

we have a qashqai+2 and its too small for 4 of us.

seledges for example or ski equipment, camping kit in the mountaint etc...or going away for a few days in Germany, austria, Italy etc...

there's a lot more to do in CH and new places to explore.

15
If you search the forum, you will find my thread where I was debating on the XC70/Merc ML et al and eventually purchased a 2011 Mercedes E-break E350 Blue Efficiency.

Two+ years into owning it (purchased pre-owned from MB dealer in Germany and personally imported), still love each commute and can recommend it. If I were *forced* to change it, I would consider either:

a) a spec loaded pre-owned F11 BMW 5 Touring diesel (butter smooth ZF gearbox, optional suspension package is killer comfort), or

b) Land Rover Discovery SDV6 HSE 2012 or later

One thing you are overlooking in your budget is the secret option c) called Subaru Outback Limited (xenon + leather). These are easy to find in fairly low mileage and good condition sub 30k, legendary AWD and internal space on par with the big boys. It all boils down to research and a dash of luck. Keep stalking dodgyken

16
The gearbox is used in quite a few places - but the software will be different depending on the application - Alpina's programming has much quicker shifts than that of BMW, and Land Rover uses a far slushier program - ideal for a 4wd.

I have had the same 6HP26 gearbox in 3 different cars - and the programming makes a massive difference

17
I like the seat alhambra. Not going for it as VW in a way, and I'm driving VW Touran at the moment.

18
"Shalhambra" is spacier.

Also, the Touran is considered the "cheapish" version of the Sharan.

If I had three kids, I wouldn't hesitate to get one - provided I still had enough money then ;-)

Above it, there's only Mercedes V-Class. Or the Toyota Sienna.

Toyota Siennas have a sort of fanbase in Switzerland (AFAIK, they weren't officially available but grey-imports from indivual dealers. Sometime in 2014 or 2015, Toyota decided to put them on their official pricelist).

But for commuting? Wouldn't you want to have a car as small (or rather: cheap) as possible for that?

19
Or maybe a car as comfortable as possible

20
That would be the train.

Seriously, I'd always be afraid of falling asleep in a too-comfortable car.

;-)