We test drove the 6 before getting the 5, it’s a lovely car, although we preferred the 5 for ride comfort. The major problem we found with it was that the back felt like it was in a cave, which isn’t helpful for long journeys when one passenger has anxiety and the other back issues. The 6 is also a longer car and having reversed the 5 into our drive many times now, I’m glad I didn’t have to negotiate that with a much longer car, there really isn’t much space with a van usually parked on one side and someone’s car parked infront of our fence and not much road width, it turns into a much tighter corner than you’d like when the gate itself is only a few inches spare each side. Maybe if there was a version with a pano roof, it might feel a bit better.
That’s fair, it is indeed quite.. substantial. Our autistic nephew (16 years old) loves it in the rear, precisely due to the “cave” (“fort”) nature, reducing external stimulation quite a bit.
The Ioniq 6 does have a sunroof, as an aside. Not panoramic, but it opens, which i personally prefer (and, again imo, makes a car feel much more airy). Similar for my wife which also has anxiety issues – but, of course, that’s a spectrum.
There’s no getting around the size though, if that’s not a good fit (and i can very much understand that), then it’s not an option.
The Jaecoo is an absolute minger, imho – it’s a deranged Rover from Temu, with a very traditionally chinese grille. Drives quite awful, too. The Kona of course is always a solid recommendation, past that.. maybe the ID3, maybe the E-Vitara (not 100% sure on range for that one), MGS5, and, well.. that’s it for the budget in the current (absolutely horrendous) list.
As a small aside, without peeking etc too much.. the way we save up for MB cars (at least partially) is through the energy bill, lol. After the Ukraine war broke out, when energy bills (slightly, sigh) relaxed, we added a 10% overhead to the bill, building credit over the years. When it came to ordering the Ioniq 6, we requested a partial refund on our credit and paid with no issues.
Of course you could just set money aside monthly manually, but doing it this way made it easier for us personally. No temptations. I know that there are better alternatives, but that worked for us.
Prior: SEAT Ateca Xcellence Lux 1.5 TSI DSG MY19, VW Golf GTE PHEV DSG MY23
Current: Hyundai Ioniq 6 Ultimate
Next: we'll see what's available in 2028.