New member who has been lured over to the (dark?) side.

[Drpellypo]

Hello everyone. 

Have spent a few weeks lurking on here, mainly on the LS section. I'm starting the process of looking for a new car. I typically give myself a year to do this (yes an entire year!) 

At the minute I have sat on the drive a Fiat 500 which I bought for MrsP with 7,000 miles on the clock. It now has 18,000 and is yet to cause any issues other than a door handle replacement, which I did myself, so only cost £35. I also have a Skoda Fabia which is our 'pool' car. It has 169,000 miles on the clock and never ever breaks. This car goes on and off the road as needed and will happily sit for a year and start up with no complaints! So that will be staying. My daily driver at the minute is an Audi A6 which has been in the family since 2001, but is now starting to reach the end of its life. So it's this car I want to replace, and I was looking for some help! 

I do around 3,000 miles a year, so fuel economy is not an issue, and I'd rather save money on the cost of buying a car that most people are put off by the high running costs of. The A6 gets around 21mpg and I'm perfectly happy with that. More is a bonus but not essential. 

Image is unimportant to me. I'd far rather have an ugly car that was a nice place to sit in than a prettier but less comfortable car (hence hovering around the LS section!) 

My one strict requirement is that i need a car that will carry a 186cm long kitchen worktop. The A6 (saloon) took this load perfectly with the back seat down. 

Other than that, I'm just looking for something that is going to be reliable. I'm budgeting around £4-6k. I'd definitely consider cars for less, but certainly no more than £6k  

 

[sorcerer]

Never sat in an LS or owned one so can't comment on that but just wanted to say that the RX300 we bought in May is excellent and we're well chuffed with it. I suffered a back injury a long time ago, bad enough to result in medical retirement from my job as a cable jointer on BT, so comfortable seats and ease of getting in and out of a car are very important to me. I love the elevated seating position of the RX, the seats are very comfortable and it's certainly easy to get in/out - and it should meet your kitchen worktop requirement too, I would have thought.

[Drpellypo]

I must admit the RX has most recently got my attention. The 500 replaced a BMW X5 and I admit I do miss the elevated driving position. What are the RX's like in terms of common problems and associated fixes? I got rid of the X5 at 91,000 miles because every time it went to the garage it came out with a £500-1,000 bill. That was an Indy, too. 

[sorcerer]

2 hours ago, Drpellypo said:

What are the RX's like in terms of common problems and associated fixes? I got rid of the X5 at 91,000 miles because every time it went to the garage it came out with a £500-1,000 bill. That was an Indy, too. 

To be honest, I don't know. We only got it four months ago, an '05-plate with 79,500 on the clock that cost us £5,500. We had the cambelt and water pump done, a couple of tyres, changed all fluids and then had it converted to LPG because we intend to keep it until it dies (hoping to get at least 100k out of it on top of the 79k it's already done). Both the wife and myself are well chuffed with it though, it's excellent.

[sorcerer]

2 hours ago, Drpellypo said:

What are the RX's like in terms of common problems and associated fixes? I got rid of the X5 at 91,000 miles because every time it went to the garage it came out with a £500-1,000 bill. That was an Indy, too. 

To be honest, I don't know. We only got it four months ago, an '05-plate with 79,500 on the clock that cost us £5,500. We had the cambelt and water pump done, a couple of tyres, changed all fluids and then had it converted to LPG because we intend to keep it until it dies (hoping to get at least 100k out of it on top of the 79k it's already done). Both the wife and myself are well chuffed with it though, it's excellent.