Hey, I currently drive a 2015 SEAT Alhambra 2.0 TDI LE Lux. Approx 100k miles, FSH.
I rate it highly (comfortable, practical, well good spec etc). But my usage has changed.
Current use:
- 1000 miles per month
- 45-mile round trip work commute
- 95% solo driving
- £200+ per month on diesel
We no longer need 7 seats and very rarely travel as a family of five now.
My plan is to sell Alhambra (£8k minimum hopefully) and buy something for £8-9k cash. I would want to run it for 2-3 years and reduce my fuel / tax / insurance.
Requirements:
- 5 doors
- Enough space for 4–5 occasionally
- More economical than current car
- Reliable for 2–3 years
- Not completely dull
QUESTIONS FOR YOU:
1. If you had £8-9k budget and my usage, what would you buy and why?
2. Avoid diesel altogether and go petrol for this mileage?
Cheers.
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What has actually changed? Presumably fewer miles/shorter commute.
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Kids are out of child seats, grandparents not with us travelling so have not used 7 seats for years. I want to save money where possible.
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Brilliant car. Sliding doors? 7 seats. "No demand"? There used to be a choice of family 7 seaters. Not much left now that's sensible and affordable.
A friend of mine still laments the passing of the Renault Savannah.
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at 45 miles daily, I'd stick with diesel, its enough miles to make it economically worth while, and enough daily miles to keep the egr & particulate filter fairly clean.
I'd be looking at a Skoda, octavia probably
Last edited by: Zero on Sun 22 Feb 26 at 15:18
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I bit of me is going down the are you sure you need to change route.
How big is the Alhmabra dimensionally, I mean compared with say Zeddo's shout of an Octavia - which I'd endorse. Daughter and hubby have a 2017 Octavia estate which does them proud as a family wagon, prevoiusly with a dog, now a four year old.
If you can remove the rearmost seats the Alhambra's a decent sized estate car with sliding doors.
Is the Alhambra's engine a VAG unit?
If economy's anything like the Skoda Roomster I had or the current Skoda Superb you'll struggle to do better for economy. Getting over 60 to the gallon both yesterday and today on a near 100% motorway trip from Northampton to Brmingham.
Although the more sitty uppy style of the Alhambra may mess up fuel economy; what mpg are you getting at the moment? Friends with Galaxys complained of them asslow/noisy
There's also the risk thing trading a car you know for one you don't if getting a lemon.
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"what mpg are you getting"
1,000m = £200 would indicate very low 30's mpg.
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I’d keep it.
You should be getting closer to 50mpg, you know the car and its history.
£9k takes you into unknown history of a car territory which is just pot luck.
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Suzuki vitara 1.4 booster jet petrol. No frills functional motor . Good fuel economy and reasonable ved . Runs 17 inch sensible size wheels and tyres . Later models have 6 speed manual transmission.
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Stick with the Alahmbra as you are looking to buy a car of the same value
Better the devil you know.
Now, if you were increasing the budget, buying a newer car, that would be a completely different story
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<< Stick with the Alhambra as you are looking to buy a car of the same value. Better the devil you know. >>a
Stands to reason - if you hope to change your car at no cost, unless you can arrange a private swap, a dealer margin of £1500+ will have to come from somewhere !
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Yeah I think around 30-40 at most. I do not do long journeys, country lane style start stop commute.
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Yes VAG. Last year had big repair billl of new Cat and Ad Blue pump, hit the savings quite hard.
I get around 40mpg and want to save some cash if possible, plus I also want a change and feel the Bammer could go to another family who needs it more.
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There's a widely hald belief that 'trading down' to a smaller model will save a lot of cash.
Based on my own motoring history since my daughter arrived in 1992 I'm not sure it holds water. Or no longer holds water.
When D was born we traded our petrol BX hatch for the estate version with a diesel engine. Bigger boot, no lip to raise prams over and the XUD engine was massively better than the 1.6 petrol in pretty much every regard.
Needing a second car once D started school - childminder's place not walkable - I acquired a Pug 205 as a station hack. Running costs pretty much identical to the BX. Which given it had the same engine, albeit with 150 fewer cc, was hardly surprising.
Insurance identical for them both. Again not a surprise as just 2 drivers and Mrs B and I were both salaried professionals working in the public sector. Both cars normally on drive etc etc.
Around Y2K we acquired a Xantia as main car, dropped the 205 and kept the BX as car #2.
BX went west in 2005 and was replaced with a 1.9 diesel Berlingo, effectively still an XUD motor.
If we'd gone small instead of the 'lingo there would have been a bit less capital tied uo but I don't think unsurance or service cost would have delivered enough to make a difference.
If OP wants a change then why not but as pointed out if they're not putting extra cash in then they're losing dealer margin on the deal and may come out worse.
Is there any way to reduce the 12kpa mileage? Assume not as OP description suggests it's work related. Can you save anything with a service contract? The Skoda one on our Superb was bundled with the purchase but the savings over PAYG are real.
In their shoes and all else equal I think changing is a want thing to feel better with a different car. Saving illusory and coud be swallowed by a big bill on a different car of similar age/value with a hidden fault.
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>> There's a widely hald belief that 'trading down' to a smaller model will save a
>> lot of cash.
>>
>> Based on my own motoring history since my daughter arrived in 1992 I'm not sure
>> it holds water. Or no longer holds water.
>>
>> When D was born we traded our petrol BX hatch for the estate version with
>> a diesel engine. Bigger boot, no lip to raise prams over and the XUD engine
>> was massively better than the 1.6 petrol in pretty much every regard.
>>
>> Needing a second car once D started school - childminder's place not walkable - I
>> acquired a Pug 205 as a station hack. Running costs pretty much identical to the
>> BX. Which given it had the same engine, albeit with 150 fewer cc, was hardly
>> surprising.
>>
>> Insurance identical for them both. Again not a surprise as just 2 drivers and Mrs
>> B and I were both salaried professionals working in the public sector. Both cars normally
>> on drive etc etc.
>>
>> Around Y2K we acquired a Xantia as main car, dropped the 205 and kept the
>> BX as car #2.
>>
>> BX went west in 2005 and was replaced with a 1.9 diesel Berlingo, effectively still
>> an XUD motor.
>>
>> If we'd gone small instead of the 'lingo there would have been a bit less
>> capital tied uo but I don't think unsurance or service cost would have delivered enough
>> to make a difference.
>>
>> If OP wants a change then why not but as pointed out if they're not
>> putting extra cash in then they're losing dealer margin on the deal and may come
>> out worse.
>>
>> Is there any way to reduce the 12kpa mileage? Assume not as OP description suggests
>> it's work related. Can you save anything with a service contract? The Skoda one on
>> our Superb was bundled with the purchase but the savings over PAYG are real.
>>
>> In their shoes and all else equal I think changing is a want thing to
>> feel better with a different car. Saving illusory and coud be swallowed by a big
>> bill on a different car of similar age/value with a hidden fault.
>>
>>
>>
I appreciate the detail and I guess I could look into a service contract.
I cannot reduce the annual milage as it is my commute to work.
I did think that if I got a different car from a dealer it would have some warranty, maybe I would even extend the warranty for 2 year peace of mind, like I said, last year I paid several thousand for a new Catalytic Convertor and Ad Blue pump.
Yes there is part of me that now wants something new, I love researching cars and get excited but mainly I am thinking about this to save some cash and potential peace of mind with a warranty.
I am not really sure hence asking on here. I could convince myself that my Bammer is best for another 2 years!
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<< I did think that if I got a different car from a dealer it would have some warranty, maybe I would even extend the warranty for 2 year peace of mind, like I said, last year I paid several thousand for a new Catalytic Convertor and Ad Blue pump. >>
If you are buying around the £8K mark you will probably get a warranty, but are likely to find that it won't cover anything which costs, so extending it may be throwing good money after bad. You might (possibly) save a bit by waiving any warranty offered.
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>> If you are buying around the £8K mark you will probably get a warranty, but
>> are likely to find that it won't cover anything which costs, so extending it may
>> be throwing good money after bad.
I had that thought; what's the lowest price at which you might find a car with a franchise dealer (or similar) offered with a similar to new car warranty extending or extendable to 24 months.
Personal experience with Skoda - my Roomster - is that once in place they will set a max of c100k miles. I bought it with around 70k but it was an outlier as the Northamoton dealer had supplied it as ex-demo and maintained it ever since.
OP, what are you looking for size wize?
A city car, supermini or something stretching closer to/larger than what used to be recognised as Astra/Escort size.
Have you tried Motorway or similar for a rough idea of what they would give you for the Alhmabra.
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>> OP, what are you looking for size wize?
>>
>> A city car, supermini or something stretching closer to/larger than what used to be recognised
>> as Astra/Escort size.
>>
>> Have you tried Motorway or similar for a rough idea of what they would give
>> you for the Alhmabra.
>>
Size wise, I am open to suggestion, 95% I am solo driver but also need something for annual holiday and the odd meal out (5 of us total).
I like the idea of an estate (never had one) but also SUV. Octavia and the Suzuki VITARA would be good I am sure.
Yes, Webuyanycar was £7300 from memory. I am hoping to get more of course.
I am sincerely open to advise and opinions, I have not really set on anything at this stage.
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Re the Octavia and Vitara suggestions, I have a Golf estate (similar to the Octavia but slightly smaller) and a Vitara. Both are good cars to drive but they are different in size. The Vitara boot is good for its class but much smaller than a Golf. Golf/Octavia have around 50% more boot space.
As for rear seat space, the Vitara is good for two, tight for three. The Golf is better but still not commodious. I can’t find internal measurements online but the Octavia is wider externally than the Golf so may give an extra inch or two internally. VAG group cars in general are not especially wide. Even the Superb is narrow for its class.
Where the Golf/Octavia does score is mpg. On motorway trips we get 55mpg.
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>> at 45 miles daily, I'd stick with diesel, its enough miles to make it economically
>> worth while, and enough daily miles to keep the egr & particulate filter fairly clean.
>>
That would be right if you were buying a new diesel but if it is a secondhand one then you have to consider what the previous owner did. Secondhand diesels can be a minefield. The previous owner may be getting rid of it because it is about to have big expensive problems.
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>> >> at 45 miles daily, I'd stick with diesel, its enough miles to make it
>> economically
>> >> worth while, and enough daily miles to keep the egr & particulate filter fairly
>> clean.
>> >>
>> That would be right if you were buying a new diesel but if it is
>> a secondhand one then you have to consider what the previous owner did. Secondhand diesels
>> can be a minefield. The previous owner may be getting rid of it because it
>> is about to have big expensive problems.
>>
I think I can relate, I was told you have a VAG 2.0 TD DSG, it is good for 200k but then last year I ended up with a large bill due to Cat and Ad Blue. That wiped a huge chunk of our savings. I then starting thinking, now I have invested in it I should keep it but equally if there is a good time to sell and I can save some cash this is tempting.
One mechanic said maybe I drive too slow (low revs) so exhaust not getting hot enough to burn the particles. Like I say, I do not do motorway miles. Plus driving around with 7 seats and never using them...
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Yes, sliding doors, lots of space. I had hot hatches and turbos before going for an MPV, ironically, in some ways (comfort and practicality) it is probably the best car I have had!
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SEAT Alhambra - | Sell Alhambra & Downsize? What next? - Bromptonaut
