Difficult one!
Above everthing else we would consider what are important musts for our daughter such as leather seats, easy access and space, then decide from there. The majority of time that means going for a top of the range mainstream vehicle on the scheme.
My current Hyundai Tuscon has all the bells and whistles like heated front and rear seats and ventillated seats, many colours ofambient lighting and pano roof. Whils’t it all looks nice and perfectly adequate, the quality of the materials/soft touch isn’t on up there with the likes of BMW however there are some mainstream rivals nearly there to what BMW can offer.
Edit: What would you choose if you wern’t on the scheme?
Safety systems wil be equally present on the entry level premium marque to acheive 5 star Euro Ncap, most I switch off anyway because I find the bings and bongs distracting and even more on Hyundai which likes its bings and bongs.
Realiabilty wise some mainstream rivals have better reliability ratings but, is that because when you buy a premium brand you complain at every niggle I don’t know but, I have never had major problems with any car premium or mainstream. Not as that matters as we supposedly have worry free motering!
