Well, like all plans you have to be ready for changes when you start to implement the plan. We decided that the Subaru had to go as its planned expenditure to the end of the year would be nearly £2000 for servicing,MoT, insurance, recovery, tyres (down to 4mm ) and clearing advisories on the lower suspension bushes cracking. I could live with them as they haven’t deteriorated any since last years MoT in November 2021, but they would affect a private sale. Then not costed are replacement of front and rear disc and pads, which have about 10000 miles left, and the possibility of the original exhaust requiring replacement or any other repairs that may arise. So £2000 was the lower bound between now and MoT/service in November.
So we made a list of potential replacements and trudged around the dealerships. Must say it was not as easy as selecting a tow car! MGs were liked by my wife but despite a 7 year /100000 mile warranty I wasn’t so convinced. Apart from the Prius ( no longer sold in UK) Toyota seem to lack a mid sized car. We looked at various VWs and did think that a Mk8 Golf might fit the bill, but they seemed to be overpriced for comparable equipment levels . Plus the dashboard was predominantly touch screen, even requiring touch slider for HVAC whereas other marques have moved away from that especially for HVAC controls. My wife liked the Vitara but I didn’t find the seats supportive, and it was designed to meed 2015 NCAP, which revised in 2019, so having had two Swedish cars written off around us with only a few bruises and aches, it does influence your views . The Mazda CX30 was a top quality interior but the Skyactiv X CI/lean burn 2 litre “donk” had no pull until the revs came up too high for relaxed driving. Not Mazdas best.
Being 6 ft 4 in many cars I could not get into without bending double and then brushing my head against the top door frame. So eventually our thoughts morphed towards a Hyundai Tucson, Ioniq, Prius, or Kia Ceed/Xceed. After a few more visits and much discussion we decided to go with a Kia XCeed 3 TDGI DCT. Whilst I could get into the Ceed relatively easily, the extra 44mm hip height on the Xceed made it even easier. The shock came when we discussed buying new. Cash is no longer king, the deals were awful and the delivery dates somewhat vague, and no autos available from new, although the dealer would take the Subaru there and then and transfer its value to our bank account. PCP over 3 years was over £29000!!
So we did what we have always done….buy pre owned. We found a car at Kia Worcester, 8 months old, 3966 miles which is Kia Approved with its 7 year warranty reinstated and up to the balance of 100000 miles. Comes with two year full UK/Europe RAC cover too, so I can cancel my existing recovery, plus the VED refund covers the £165 for the Kia with some left for a nice meal out. Got a good price on year two and three pre paid services (£319 in total) plus the Subaru PE offer was £700 better than the Swindon dealer offered on a new car. So instead of spending at least another £2000 between now and November on the Subaru, or £29000 over the next three years on a new Kia we are nearly £7000 in pocket by not buying new, with much reduced ownership costs. And driving back from Worcester and going with the flow it averaged 53mpg. Cannot be bad.
We may hang on to the Rio run about as its warranty runs to 2024. Which means we have ownership of the cars that came 1st and 3rd in this year’s JD Power survey from a brand that came 5th for customer support. And the Rio is cheap as chips to run, although currently reference to chips being cheap may be inappropriate.
So when 2029 comes we should have a much wider choice of going EV and possibly the second generation MG4 could be an attractive option, by which time MG will be well established ( in my conservative mind).
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