You said it Gloss Guy “no contest” it certainly appears to be a “no brainer”, however having had a few Tiguan I can fully understand you and the Mrs wanting a change. Assuming a VW is as far down the non marque brands as you would like to go I don’t see many options TBH. As you know we have gone for the xc40 but the boot is small and I know your not keen on the shape. It may be the time to have a look outside the scheme to see what’s available. I don’t think many foresaw the Q3 coming on the scheme in Q4 so maybe Q1 will bring another surprise.
Hi Brydo. That’s an excellent summation of where we are at present. Sounds like you know me as well as my wife ?. The process is making me realise why we keep ending up with Tiguans, even though they do nothing for me! They are spacious and very well equipped and if you select with your ‘head’ they are difficult to beat out of what we can choose from, but I find them dull and therefore I don’t choose them with my heart!
Having been spoiled with lots of very nice cars over the years and having driven literally hundreds of different cars of most marques, I have a pretty good sense of the huge difference in quality and refinement between brands. VW is a notable step down from my favourite, BMW, but a notable step up from the budget brands. Nothing wrong with the latter, but you are spot on that VW is about ‘as far down’ as I would personally go. Audi would be a definite step up from VW but the Q3 may have too many compromises, just as the X1 does, even though I love BMW’s.
We haven’t entirely ruled out leaving the scheme. We have run two cars for years, my wife’s Motability car and my private one. However, we both retired last year and my wife can no longer drive, so we sold my beloved 5 Series (just before the first lockdown – phew)! One car is all we need now and our mileage has also dropped to around 10k a year. Having run Motability cars and private cars alongside, I know from first hand experience that there’s not such a massive difference in overall costs as some would believe, and of course you aren’t restricted to price caps or certain makes and models, but we sometimes don’t use the car for 3 or 4 days at a time now and if we go private we would undoubtedly get something above what Motability permits and again, with my logical head on, it would feel a bit of a waste of money. As you say, Q1 might bring a pleasant surprise although I somehow doubt it. With the current uncertainty over a trade deal / no deal, I anticipate a relatively stable period. I think the most we can expect is a rise in the price caps, which I believe is overdue, but I’m not holding my breath. Q1 in previous years has seen some significant changes but I don’t see that happening this time. Surely we must only be a few days before people start picking up rumours as the new quarter is just 3 weeks away (assuming it will be 1st Jan – wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a slight delay).