[Arianne]

Originally Posted by Lexington013

Have you considered Lexus (SUV)?
Alternatively not premium brand, Kia Sorrento? Drove one in the U.S. Really nice car with lots of kit, nice auto box etc. Another option Jeep Grand Cherokee. For me the XC90 sits in the best position between estate car and suv. The P3 examples look fantastic and you could save a shed load of money.....

We used to like the RX400h. I have a soft spot for petrol engines, we all liked the exterior look of the car and the depreciation on this particular petrol SUV wasn't too bad because of the Lexus brand (i.e. if you want a Lexus, and plenty of folk did, then it's a choice of petrol or...... petrol!). We also noted that Lexus dealers always score very highly in the AutoExpress annual awards.

But the brand's styling direction has gone awry for me and the lad, although Mrs A isn't as anti-Lexus as she is Porsche Macan. The interiors are also weird and, although unique, don't look classy anymore. Finally, the NX is purported to have wooden handling and the latest RX is a cruiser not a driver's machine.

We drove past the dealership at the Newbridge Luxury Car Village en-route to Eastern BMW last weekend. They had a few RX400's sitting outside but I didn't feel inclined to pop across and take a look - says it all really.

Kia's come a long way but that Sorrento, whilst being so much better than the model it replaced, is still a big, proper 4x4 SUV of the school of yesteryear (i.e. it reminds me of my old XC90's proposition). You're right though, it's fully loaded and much cheaper.

The Jeep..... nobody in our household is going to be tempted by this brand.

Finally, the XC90. Like you, I agree it's a nice car. And so do the magazines. I think it looks classy inside and out and it's grown on me since launch. But we no longer really need the 7-seat layout, all that space (which translates into weight and blunts the driving performance and thrill). In other circumstances I would be tempted by what is a very good Volvo although I remain unconvinced about Volvo's decision to drop 4cyl diesels into all the models. And in the Volvo's case, a T6 isn't an option as the fuel economy is dire once the battery pack has been exhausted (25 mile range, if I recall correctly).

But thank you for suggesting some options, it's quite fun kicking the choices around between us and, for me, is all part of the buying experience.

Originally Posted by SuffolkBoy

Auto Express have just taken a 15 plate Macan S Diesel onto their long term test fleet. It has 6000 miles on the clock, and £14000 worth of options fitted, making a cost new of £58000! Apparently this car has not lost any of it's value since new - the only tell tale sign of use is a small ding on the bonnet.

It will be interesting to see how they get on with it over the coming months. In my view, it is not a good looking car though, and not one I would have on my list to replace my XC60.

You see, this is why I thought the Macan might be a possibility. It's reputation for gravity defying residuals meant that the accountant within me calculated that it might be worth a punt and affordable.

I also read that AutoExpress article but I just can't believe it. The fact is that neither Porsche nor an independent finance provider are quoting residuals anything like that. The Porsche APR is frankly only suitable for those that don't understand the value of money (your next provider would be Wonga) and the independent has an APR of around 5% but the GMFV is lower so it all balances out in the end, albeit that if the Porsche is worth more at the end of the PCP then the independent provider's GMFV would be more beneficial for me. But then it starts getting too complicated and, with Jaguar, BMW, Audi and possibly even Volvo trying to get a slice of the niche sports utility vehicle segment in the next few years I think that those Porsche values might begin to soften. Who knows, it is a Porsche after all.

But I think that you need to love the car and not just the badge? We're struggling with that in respect of the Macan right now. And although the base Macan diesel S is coming in at £46.5k, by the time the 'necessary' options have been added, we're looking at around £53k. That wouldn't include SatNav or leather seats - options that might be considered essential at resale for a car in this price range? And the technology interface of the Porsche is from a bygone era with a 6" screen to remind you that it's of Windows XP generation. And we're talking zero discount on anything. Meanwhile, back at Eastern BMW we think we could negotiate hard and secure up to a 10% discount on the whole package. Residuals only matter on a PCP insofar as they relate to the GMFV since it's not us taking the risk of the resale figures at changeover time.

We are in the somewhat happy position that this next car can be an indulgence. We could choose to pay for the thing outright or contribute a hefty deposit, albeit that neither of us fancy making a huge withdrawal from the bank account for what is just a car. I am just into my 50s and we live in a part of the country where insurance costs are unbelievably low. The next one needs to look lovely (always in the eye of the beholder), behave like a pan-euro cruiser in the outside lane of an autobahn, drive like a sports coupe on the twisty rural roads of the Scottish Borders, have AWD for the alpine snow/traction to get all the power down, have a high SUV driving position and have the ability to traverse farm tracks with its better ground clearance than a normal car. Not much then

The Porsche ticked most of the boxes but failed miserably in the 'looks' department - an essential for all of us, especially Mrs A. It's not rejected quite yet though. Our current, pampered XC60 will be sold privately as has been the case with all of our cars. They're first-class condition, full history and low-risk package means that every car we have ever marketed through eBay or Gumtree has sold within ten days - be it an eleven year old Peugeot 206 1.1LX, our Vectra with 120k on the clock or our last XC90 with 115k at eight years old. Part-ex doesn't work due to the dealer costs of turning the cars around and the adverse impact this has on their profit margin. Better to avoid all that and sell her myself.

So then, we're talking a Porsche Macan, Audi SQ5, BMW X4 35d M-sport or Jaguar F-pace V6. Unless Volvo start releasing details of the next XC60 and do something spectacular with the engine and suspension setup?

Off to the footie. Knowing Tony Pulis, it'll be 0-0 unless Newcastle play their usual crazy football this afternoon.

Best wishes.

Arianne