Suggestions for a new car please

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camerassassin

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At present I drive a Freelander 2 TD 4 HSE Automatic and she has sidesteps

I have a Blue Badge and arthritis in both knees - this does not affect my driving at all BUT it does make getting in and out of cars problematical at times.

I'm seriously thinking it's time to change my Freelander to something smaller

Requirements - Automatic - I only have 2 feet - one for each pedal :D and petrol now [ present car is diesel ]

Needs to be easy to get in and out of for me - it could be lower than the Freelander BUT if I have it at the kerb [ on the drivers side] I do not want to have to sit down into it [ if that makes sense ] This is actually why I like the Freeleander.

It HAS to be the same overall width or narrower than the Freelander - at present entering my garage I have approx 2ins each side between the uprights for the entrance and the external edge of my door mirrors. Once in, I can open the drivers door to the first stop and the rear passenger door can't be opened because of stuff on the wall of the garage [ can't be removed ]

I live at the top of a 1 in 8 which is sometimes gritted rather later than it should be :(

Please don't suggest Mercs, BMWs and the like. Cars in the past have been many and varied from the first which was a Ford 100E van through Escorts, Capris, Maxi, Ford Galaxy , etc etc and the Seat Altea. My husband always chose the car - and the first Freelander was his choice.

Before I start going round and looking at vehicles I'd like to have some ideas in my head. Most likely will need to be a pre-loved car.

Sensible suggestions would be most welcome
 
I would look at stuff like KIA Sportage
 
Dependent upon budget, Ford Kuga All Wheel drive?
 
Like the look of the Kuga - BUT it won't fit lengthwise :(

My garage was actually built for a Hillman Imp and was built so that my father-in-law and my husband could work in the garage with the car in. I have seen folk wince when they see the garage with the Freelander in it !
 
Ford B Max. Rear passenger doors slide open and there is no central B pillars making access in and out alot easier. Should be quite a bit narrower than a Freelancer.
 
Tiguan or Skoda Yeti. Smaller in size and cheaper, good on fuel. DSG auto boxes are excellent.

Premium ones would be Audi Q5 or Q3 if you prefer smaller yet.

No reason to ignore BMW X1.
 
+1 for the Ford B Max pillarless. I used to have a Nissan Prairie with the same mix of pillarless and sliding doors and access was brilliant. Also I have found (actually on an Honest John recommendation) that’s 2-door cars give better access for the driver. May be worth looking at what Honest John currently recommends for easy/elderly access.
 
Nissan Qashqui - very nice to drive, I hired one to move my daughter from London to Edinburgh - 4 miles short of 1000 in the 2 days and got out feeling fresh - def recommend :)
 
Citroen have a nice range ,but do have a look at the Toyota hybrids rav 4 or the smaller CHR it’s only a 1.4 petrol/ electric hybrid so you don’t need charging points ,both are nice to drive ,driven both as the grandson works for Toyota, I think you will be extremely impressed by either of those two
 
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nilagin said:
Ford B Max. Rear passenger doors slide open and there is no central B pillars making access in and out alot easier. Should be quite a bit narrower than a Freelancer.
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I have used a friend’s BMax

The sliding door is great fr shooting from and not being out in the rain. I have to swap my Kuga Titanium Plus 180 though. I really like the B Max, smother ride that the Kuga and since breaking my leg,y knee can ge a bit sore but much easier getting in and out of the BMax than the Kuga. My Kuga lease is up in September so I will be looking at something like the the BMax.
 
Hugh Jarse said:
I have used a friend’s BMax

The sliding door is great fr shooting from and not being out in the rain. I have to swap my Kuga Titanium Plus 180 though. I really like the B Max, smother ride that the Kuga and since breaking my leg,y knee can ge a bit sore but much easier getting in and out of the BMax than the Kuga. My Kuga lease is up in September so I will be looking at something like the the BMax.
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That's very helpful - thanks - gives me a user's view point.
 
Hugh Jarse said:
I have used a friend’s BMax

The sliding door is great fr shooting from and not being out in the rain. I have to swap my Kuga Titanium Plus 180 though. I really like the B Max, smother ride that the Kuga and since breaking my leg,y knee can ge a bit sore but much easier getting in and out of the BMax than the Kuga. My Kuga lease is up in September so I will be looking at something like the the BMax.
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I think the B Max may have now ceased production but you may still be lucky enough to find some in dealers stock.
 
Do you really have to keep it in the garage? It seems to be limiting your options.
 
I was watching a Carwow (I think) review of the CRV and apparently it's meant to be the perfect height for sliding into.

I'm also looking for a another car this month but struggling to find something that ticks all the boxes.
 
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camerassassin said:
My garage was actually built for a Hillman Imp
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An excellent vehicle :D and one with plenty of traction for getting up slippery slopes. Getting a good one nowadays is an expensive business though.

Here's mine
johnwalker-small.jpg
 
nilagin said:
I think the B Max may have now ceased production but you may still be lucky enough to find some in dealers stock.
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It’s weird that when I looked at the Cmax then the Bmax I was leaning towards the former.

This was late Aug 2016 when I had to fly back from my Ireland trip for a hospital appointment and had a spare day. Dived into Ford in Trowbridge just for a look. Decided on the Ax but then the sales guy mentioned the New Kuga was due in but they had one of the current model... great lease deal and the 180 engine (diesel shock horror) couldn’t say no. Super engine but need something smaller and easiier to get in and out of. First Ford I had in over 25 years!
 
As the new Focus has now been revealed I would expect a new C-Max and Grand C-Max to be in the pipe line although I haven't seen anything of any test vehicles at work. If there is a new version that could mean some deals on the outgoing models. Although with sales currently on a downward spiral for all manufacturers there should be plenty of good deals from all manufacturers.
 
Qashqai here and my wife drives a juke which is also pretty decent although very much a Marmite car.

Has the sportage befor the qashqai and I was very happy with that too.
 
I can see this is going to be a 'fun' time :(

Oh dear - I will miss my Freelander but .....
 
nilagin said:
Although with sales currently on a downward spiral for all manufacturers there should be plenty of good deals from all manufacturers.
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Could someone let Honda know then, because their cars seem to be more expensive than ever!
 
What about a newer pre loved Freelander Petrol ?

Do they do such a thing?
 
Mr Bump said:
What about a newer pre loved Freelander Petrol ?

Do they do such a thing?
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And automatic and smaller according to her OP :(
 
You got it :D

I'm no longer doing the Motorway Mileage I was doing with the Freelander and I really don't need anything that size now BUT I do need something easy to get in and out of.

I like the higher driving position of the Freelander - always have done - an early second family vehicle was a Landcover series 2A :D
 
Worth looking at the Kia Soul. Their seats are fairly high. Not 4wd so decent winter tyres will be a must. Long standard warranty and the build quality is decent.
 
Well - I'll pick up my 'new' car on Friday 2016 (65/16) Ford C-MAX2.0 TDCi Titanium 5dr Powershift

Got a good deal and I'm a happy bunny - actually walking away with a reasonable amount of cash in my hand :)

Now to sort out the Insurance.

I do have a 'private plate' and the dealer will sort out the transfer of my number for me
 
If your roads are bad in winter I would suggest you get either cross climate or better still winter tyres, they make a massive difference to winter driving especially with a 2 wheel drive car. I can't recommend them enough. Your 2.0 tdci is a peach of an engine.
 
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MatBin said:
Your 2.0 tdci is a peach of an engine.
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I have to agree with that... my colleague has put 170k on one of these (Mondeo) in 3 years with very little care other than 10k oil & filter changes and a turbo clean recently. He thinks it can double that before he moves it on.

My only fear is for the timing belt but he reckons it has 300k miles in it [emoji50]
 
Quoth said:
My only fear is for the timing belt but he reckons it has 300k miles in it [emoji50]
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Absolutely no excuse not to change in every 4 years. You deserve everything thats going to come if you don't.
 
Well - that's everything now tidied up

Personal/Private Plate was taken off the and put into retention on 25 May

Freelander got a new number and on Friday the Registration Doc for it [ with the new number finally appeared ]
Saturday the Reg Doc for the C-Max finally appeared [ with its original number ]

Today in the dealer place we did the final paperwork - transferring my own Number to my C-Max and putting MY number plates on.

Phoned the insurance and after the usual confusion with the numbers, :p I now have all the paperwork for the updating of the C-Max's Insurance Docs.

There will be one further visit to the dealer - my offside door mirror isn't folding properly [ don't think its fully opening either ] when the new bits and pieces for that come in . He was notified it wasn't behaving correctly the day I pick the car up so they looked at it today and agreed that it was either the mirror itself or the mechanism.
 
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