10 day ownership update and thoughts

Hi guys,

I thought maybe some of you would like to hear some of my thoughts on my ownership experience after about 10 days of ownership.

My Evoque is a US 5 door pure plus with Barolo Black premium paint and Sat Nav, no other options. For you UK readers, the base pure plus here in the US comes with a lot more standard options than the base configurations for the UK. For example, my car has the panoramic roof, automatic transmission, fog lamps, full leather, 8 inch touch screen, power lift gate, 19" wheels, and probably some other things I can't remember.

Ok, here goes.

LIKES
1. 19" wheels. The standard 19" Pure wheels look huge on this car and generally look just awesome. I love the standard rims.
2. Barolo Black paint. This is a really sharp color and you can absolutely see the red flakes in direct sunlight, otherwise it looks quite black. I am under the impression that this might be a somewhat scarce color, are there any others on the forum here that actually have a barolo black car?
3. Touch screen and bluetooth connectivity. The bluetooth functionality far exceeds my wife's MDX. Each time you get in the car, it resyncs with your phone so your contacts on the touch screen is always up to date without you having to do anything. The bluetooth streaming shows the album and song you are playing, and the phone can actually pass through the ringtone from your phone. It's a piece of cake to select and dial a number and the functionality for the phone and audio is excellent.
4. Standard sound system sounds great. I can't imagine wanting more power unless you like listening to music at a volume sure to annoy other drivers around you.
5. Folding back seats. It is EXTREMELY easy to fold down the rear seats. I loaded a rolled up 8 x 10' rug into the car with no problem. For those who think the receding rotary dial in the front is just for show, it comes in handy having a flat surface there so long things loaded through the back don't bump or dislodge anything.
6. Performance and handling. I really enjoy driving the car. It has plenty of power and the steering weight and wheel itself generally feel great. I find the seats extremely comfortable, Im 6'1" and about 170 lbs. The car is very quiet on the inside and handles like a champ. I drove my 7 month old in her rear-facing carseat in the backseat with the roof cover pulled back and she loved it back there.
7. Cargo space is more capable than I probably first expected. I have been able to fit a lot of stuff back there over Christmas. If something doesn't fit, fold down the seats and it will fit.
8. The manual! Really good owner's manual helped answer many of my questions. Same as the one available online.
9. This car was cheaper to insure than the 2006 Honda Accord I traded in for it. I can't explain that, but it was great news.
10. Almond interior. To my eyes looks much better in person than on the website.

DISLIKES
1. I paid $750 for sat nav but have no sat nav. This is perhaps the most ridiculous complaint I have. Yes, the $750 sat nav charge apparently is for the functionality only and does not include any sort of subscription. I have subsequently learned that I can probably get a free subscription anyway, but still. That is flat out insane on a car like this.
2. No voice activation without nav. I knew this buying the car, but there is still a voice command button on the wheel that simply turns the radio on and off. Why couldn't they have at least provided for voice commands for the radio/air/phone?
3. DLRs. The daytime running lights on my car do not come on unless the main lights are also on under the "Auto" setting, or I manually turn them on. I would prefer that they are always on. I have read that this is a setting that only the dealer can configure. If thats true, they should set it up so that the default is to have them always on.
4. Halogen headlights. I have debated making this a complaint or not, but hopefully it may help you guys torn between xenons and the standard lights. For me cost was an issue and the $2000 or so for xenons (and other perhaps not-so-necessary options) was a lot of money. All in all I am actually happy with the standard headlights and do not regret the decision. The standard DRLs are LEDs on the front and the back. The back looks fantastic with a very signature red pattern. The front is a solid LED next to the main headlamp. You don't get the signature two-circle look on the front, but frankly I don't really care about that. There are some who will. The main headlamp has a yellowish tinge to it that doesn't match the LED or the fog lamps and will annoy some. It is not particularly bright but gets the job done. That is my biggest complaint concerning the headlamps.
5. Good friend drove the car and felt like he had a big blind spot due to the size of the size mirrors. While the side mirrors are large, I truly don't feel like there is a big blind spot like he did. He is about 5" shorter than I am, so maybe that had something to do with it.

All in all, I feel more and more as I drive the car that I made the right decision. It's a great vehicle, and if it proves reliable I think I will enjoy the car for many years. I went back and forth with many options but now that I have this car I can truthfully say that I'm glad I didn't spend the extra money as I am quite satisfied.

Thanks for reading everyone! Your thoughts and observations are appreciated.

I like the large mirrors - increasingly common on EU produced cars because of legislation but I can imagine they are something of an obstruction to those who sit low - they should certainly set the seat height as high as it will go which might then make the car more difficult to get in to.

There's no doubt that halogens are a cost-saving compromise - the colour temperature of incandescent bulbs will always be different from white LEDs so there will be this mis-match. If you ever drive on unlit roads, the light they cast will be less as well. Xenons are much more expensive because they are more complex and also include mandated auto-levelling and headlamp wash both of which are intended to avoid dazzling oncoming drivers.

Can't comment on the Sat Nav as it's different from here; clearly there's something LR North America or your dealer should make clearer during the sales process. I expect voice activation uses electronics integrated into the navigation so you can't have one without the other. Maybe they thought of relabelling the voice activation buttons on the steering wheel but if you look at the number of steering wheel variants there are (it's boggling), their judgment was that it was not worth it. There is, sadly, only so much you can do with a parts/build budget.

yes I also have the Barolo black and think it's superb really complimenting the chrome trim and ambience interior. I've had mine about 10 days and am bowled over at just how good it is.

Haven't had time to use all the functionality of the sat nav, voice activation etc but so far everything seems to work well and the car feels planted with no annoying rattles.

Only 230 miles in but have already had to wipe the leather due to marks from jeans on the soft leather...therefore think carefully before choosing light colour interiors.

Nice review. Agree with you on the normal headlights. If you're used to xenon's then they're quite dim in comparison, though you get used to them . The factory setting had the beam level dipped at maximum, so raising it helps a lot

A (elderly) friend of mine nearly had two accidents due to the large mirrors including nearly hitting a woman with a small child. He took the car back and kicked up such a stink they gave him a full refund. But personally, I love their size.

geddon_jt, thanks for your post!
Could you share some photos with us?

Really enjoyed reading your review, thank you so much, makes me want mine even more!

(27-12-2011 11:29am)DollaR Wrote:  geddon_jt, thanks for your post!
Could you share some photos with us?

+1

Barolo is so rare at the moment any photos appreciated.

(27-12-2011 11:28am)dandavis1 Wrote:  A (elderly) friend of mine nearly had two accidents due to the large mirrors including nearly hitting a woman with a small child. He took the car back and kicked up such a stink they gave him a full refund. But personally, I love their size.

How could a mirror cause you to have an accident?

Ive already had two "incidents" with the massai mirrors