Replacement for the Evoque?

My 2014 SE Tech SD4 Auto with reverse camera, Meridian 360 watt system, keyless entry, detachable towbar etc has just had its 4th Birthday. Sorry about the list but the equivalent car with extras is over £48,000 which means extra tax in the first year plus extra £310 per year road tax for the next 5 years.
I have just extended the warranty for another year but intend to look around for a replacement under £40,000.
So far I have tried two, the highest spec Renault Koleos which seems to be good value for money but getting back into the Evoque showed the better quality drive and ride.
Second this weekend was the new Volvo XC 40 with the 250 hp Petrol engine and all the extras, very quiet and smooth, lots of power and very good auto gearbox, very impressed until the drive home in the Evoque.
There is the Agricultural Discovery Sport which I have had as courtesy car but it does not drive as well and you can soon run into the £40k barrier again.
Very interested in X Full Fat Tim’s train of thought going from Evoque to Range Rover Sport and onto Mini All4 PHEV.
Any suggestions?

(12-03-2018 11:56am)jcarrot Wrote:  i rather like the e pace but not tried one yet. hope to in the next few weeks, but I hate salesmen/women stalking me.
My 2014 SE Tech SD4 Auto with reverse camera, Meridian 360 watt system, keyless entry, detachable towbar etc has just had its 4th Birthday. Sorry about the list but the equivalent car with extras is over £48,000 which means extra tax in the first year plus extra £310 per year road tax for the next 5 years.
I have just extended the warranty for another year but intend to look around for a replacement under £40,000.
So far I have tried two, the highest spec Renault Koleos which seems to be good value for money but getting back into the Evoque showed the better quality drive and ride.
Second this weekend was the new Volvo XC 40 with the 250 hp Petrol engine and all the extras, very quiet and smooth, lots of power and very good auto gearbox, very impressed until the drive home in the Evoque.
There is the Agricultural Discovery Sport which I have had as courtesy car but it does not drive as well and you can soon run into the £40k barrier again.
Very interested in X Full Fat Tim’s train of thought going from Evoque to Range Rover Sport and onto Mini All4 PHEV.
Any suggestions?

(12-03-2018 11:56am)jcarrot Wrote:  Second this weekend was the new Volvo XC 40 with the 250 hp Petrol engine and all the extras, very quiet and smooth, lots of power and very good auto gearbox, very impressed until the drive home in the Evoque.

jcarrot, The Volvo XC40 is getting great reviews everywhere i look, and would seem a fascinating comparison with the mighty Evoque.....So i'm just interested if you could further elaborate on why you felt the Evoque was better after your test drive comparing the two cars?

I’m about to chop in my RRS SDv6 for a Mini Countryman Plug In Hybrid. It’s not a performance car but out runs the Cooper S John Cooper Works Countryman at the same starting price and can be had in a decent spec well below the tax threshold. I specced mine up to £39750 so mine is a pretty pricy Mini (basic starting price is £31500) BUT it is also a very quiet and smooth car with a 3 cylinder 1.5lr twin turbo petrol engine that drives the front wheels and an 87hp electric engine that drives the back wheels and both can work together to give 4WD - it is basically a BMW i8 with a different body and where in the i8 the petrol engine is a generator in the Mini it can charge the battery and drive the wheels. Not only is the RFT cheap but the Govt gives you money back for buying a low emissions vehicle - £2500. The battery range is 26 miles and it can recharge off the mains (no special charger needed - 13amp socket does fine) in just under 3 hours or you can recover energy via the petrol engine and regenerative braking. Mini dealers are doing 48 hour demos at the moment, I managed to get the local dealership to let me have one for 4 days. You will be impressed with it even if you think Hybrids are not for you - I found it impossible to tell when it was running in electric only mode or petrol only mode that is how quiet the petrol engine is! It is only available with a 6 speed auto gear box that might also put some off who prefer a manual box. Biggest problem at the moment is the waiting list to get one, they have sold beyond Mini’s wildest dreams. Also they are not assembled in the UK if that is important to you, the PHEV and the convertible Mini are built in The Netherlands. Although the power plant is basically an i8 the chassis and underpinnings are BMW 2 Series.
My reason for going Evoque/RRS/Mini Conyrtyman is - I came to Evoque from RRS and L322 FFRR, my first Evoque was brilliant, the 2nd a let down and I went back to RRS. My RRS is 3 years old in 2 weeks, there is a design fault with the SDv6 3.0ltr engine that snaps cranks and costs north of £18000 to fix. LR will not cover it with the extended warranty either so I’ve kind of lost confidence in LR (and the fact that they deny that there is an issue with the engine). While looking for a replacement that was non LR(after buying nothing but LR products for almost 30 years it was a hard decision I can tell you) I was offered the demo of the Countryman. I was considering the RRS PHEV but when I specced one it was £80k......... for a weedy 2.0ltr petrol engine in a 2.4 tonne car that is a lot of money. I retire shortly and also wanted a car that I wasn’t going to be in debt to a finance company for 3-4 years and could pay off quickly with either a PCP /HP or personal loan and decided to keep below the £40k tax threshold for my next car. I didn’t fancy the Mitsuibishi Outlander PHEV although it is excellent and cheaper than the Mini, the reviews mean it would be a disappointment performance wise after the RRS. The Mini fitted the bill nicely and even better it will be the first car I have owned in 30 years that I will be able to get into my garage! I also had a deposit on a Jaguar I Pace from 2016 but gave up waiting for that to come to the market - also the RRS PHEV launch date was supposed to be Nov 2017, then it was January 2018, now it is July 2018 AT THE EARLIEST!

(13-03-2018 02:19am)benzina Wrote:  jcarrot, The Volvo XC40 is getting great reviews everywhere i look, and would seem a fascinating comparison with the mighty Evoque.....So i'm just interested if you could further elaborate on why you felt the Evoque was better after your test drive comparing the two cars?

Hard to explain but the Evoque seems more solid and planted on the road whereas the XC40 like the Discovery Sport felt as if you sat on the seat instead of in it. The seating was high but when sitting comfortably there seemed to be too much headroom and the dashboard was too high in comparison.
I know I could have had the seat higher but that would defeat the object of being comfortable.
Perhaps if I had never had the Evoque I would have viewed it differently.
The XC40 is a fine car and I certainly wouldn’t knock it.

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(13-03-2018 02:58am)XFullFatTim Wrote:  I’m about to chop in my RRS SDv6 for a Mini Countryman Plug In Hybrid. It’s not a performance car but out runs the Cooper S John Cooper Works Countryman at the same starting price and can be had in a decent spec well below the tax threshold. I specced mine up to £39750 so mine is a pretty pricy Mini (basic starting price is £31500) BUT it is also a very quiet and smooth car with a 3 cylinder 1.5lr twin turbo petrol engine that drives the front wheels and an 87hp electric engine that drives the back wheels and both can work together to give 4WD - it is basically a BMW i8 with a different body and where in the i8 the petrol engine is a generator in the Mini it can charge the battery and drive the wheels. Not only is the RFT cheap but the Govt gives you money back for buying a low emissions vehicle - £2500. The battery range is 26 miles and it can recharge off the mains (no special charger needed - 13amp socket does fine) in just under 3 hours or you can recover energy via the petrol engine and regenerative braking. Mini dealers are doing 48 hour demos at the moment, I managed to get the local dealership to let me have one for 4 days. You will be impressed with it even if you think Hybrids are not for you - I found it impossible to tell when it was running in electric only mode or petrol only mode that is how quiet the petrol engine is! It is only available with a 6 speed auto gear box that might also put some off who prefer a manual box. Biggest problem at the moment is the waiting list to get one, they have sold beyond Mini’s wildest dreams. Also they are not assembled in the UK if that is important to you, the PHEV and the convertible Mini are built in The Netherlands. Although the power plant is basically an i8 the chassis and underpinnings are BMW 2 Series.
My reason for going Evoque/RRS/Mini Conyrtyman is - I came to Evoque from RRS and L322 FFRR, my first Evoque was brilliant, the 2nd a let down and I went back to RRS. My RRS is 3 years old in 2 weeks, there is a design fault with the SDv6 3.0ltr engine that snaps cranks and costs north of £18000 to fix. LR will not cover it with the extended warranty either so I’ve kind of lost confidence in LR (and the fact that they deny that there is an issue with the engine). While looking for a replacement that was non LR(after buying nothing but LR products for almost 30 years it was a hard decision I can tell you) I was offered the demo of the Countryman. I was considering the RRS PHEV but when I specced one it was £80k......... for a weedy 2.0ltr petrol engine in a 2.4 tonne car that is a lot of money. I retire shortly and also wanted a car that I wasn’t going to be in debt to a finance company for 3-4 years and could pay off quickly with either a PCP /HP or personal loan and decided to keep below the £40k tax threshold for my next car. I didn’t fancy the Mitsuibishi Outlander PHEV although it is excellent and cheaper than the Mini, the reviews mean it would be a disappointment performance wise after the RRS. The Mini fitted the bill nicely and even better it will be the first car I have owned in 30 years that I will be able to get into my garage! I also had a deposit on a Jaguar I Pace from 2016 but gave up waiting for that to come to the market - also the RRS PHEV launch date was supposed to be Nov 2017, then it was January 2018, now it is July 2018 AT THE EARLIEST!

Tim
Thanks for that
I do keep looking at the Mini and you have given me the push to try one.
P.S. Someone had mentioned the E Pace, the same applies in terms of cost as the Evoque, the equivalent of mine is about £48,000.

what about a sportage complete with 7 year manufacturers warranty. yes 7 years.

(13-03-2018 10:19am)jcarrot Wrote:  Hard to explain but the Evoque seems more solid and planted on the road whereas the XC40 like the Discovery Sport felt as if you sat on the seat instead of in it. The seating was high but when sitting comfortably there seemed to be too much headroom and the dashboard was too high in comparison.
I know I could have had the seat higher but that would defeat the object of being comfortable.
Perhaps if I had never had the Evoque I would have viewed it differently.
The XC40 is a fine car and I certainly wouldn’t knock it.

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Tim
Thanks for that
I do keep looking at the Mini and you have given me the push to try one.
P.S. Someone had mentioned the E Pace, the same applies in terms of cost as the Evoque, the equivalent of mine is about £48,000.

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So, I tried the Mini Countryman PHEV, had it on demo for 48 hours but took it back after 24.
It was very low to get into and although well equipped didn’t feel very spacious.
The specs would have you believe that it has very good mpg but over about 150 miles it averaged 33mpg.
As the dealer quite rightly wanted it delivered back with a full tank I had the idea that I would fill up in my home town and drive it back the 16 miles to the garage on the full electric charge I had given it overnight.
This was not to be as the battery indicator showed that it needed to go over to petrol after 9 miles.
I was impressed with the 1.5 petrol engine considering it was having to push the car plus generators etc. along.
Maybe the 1.5 on its own would be a good bet.
Following on from that I looked at the latest model Subaru Outback and have since bought my fourth one.
There are no extras as everything is included and both ride and drive are superior to the Evoque and at time of writing is showing 39.2 mpg, not bad for a 2.5l petrol.
I loved my time with the Evoque but reliability is a real issue.
On the day that I placed an advert in Autotrader to sell it, the turbo gave up and it had to go to the dealers for replacement, thankfully under extended warranty.
Service from JLR was first class with a loan car (an XF Sportbrake) delivered to my door.
Apart from the cost of extended warranty (£895 a year) which in my opinion is necessary there is always that worry about what and when the next problem will be.

My brother has just changed his 2014 Audi A4 2.0 Tsi Allroad for a Subaru Forester 2.0 Petrol - he would have had another Allroad but Audi servicing costs are worse than JLR’s although the car is probably better built than both the Evoque and the Forester.
My Countryman PHEV is being pdi’d And GTechniq Crystal Serum Ultra treated as I type this - to be delivered on Friday afternoon after a protracted delivery and two missed build dates due to computer cock ups at BMW...........

I’ve just come to the Evoque and ownership from Volvo. I had planned on moving to the XC40 r-design from my second V40 r-design in 4 years. Unfortunately an Audi driver decided to send my V40 to car heaven sooner than it should have. Having tried the XC40 I was impressed but needing a car quickly, and the waiting list being around 6 months I needed to look elsewhere.
This always started with the question how long would it be if I put a deposit down today before I could collect my vehicle. The final choice came down to three! Mercedes GLA, BMW X3 and RR Evoque TD4 HSE Dynamic. Having worked in Halesood as a traine seeing the vehicles being built and preparing the drive and feel you get when driving the Evoque, I chose it as my V40’s replacement.
The build is an HSE Dynamic td4, touch pro, privacy glass in santorini. I’ve had the car now three weeks and have covered 840 with an ave fuel consumption of 43 mpg (fuelly).
So all in all very happy with it! I would have probably been just as happy with the XC40 but couldn’t wait until December or even later.

Kiteflier, welcome to the forum. I hope that you enjoy your Evoque and have many happybmiles with it.

Several manufacturers are having production issues with long delays to build dat at the moment - even Land Rover has issues with Range Rover Sports. Mini claims that they cannot keep up with demand for all models but the version with the longest lead in time is the “Ugly Betty” Countryman and in particular two versions - the souped up JCW Countryman and the PHEV version. When I ordered mine back in November it was 3 months delivery, it actually took 6 months and yes I got to the stage of cancelling as it looked like going to 7 months but then the car appeared unexpectedly at the dealers as I was sat in the showroom doing paperwork with the Salesman - 2 weeks earlier than the computer system said it would arrive! At the moment I think a lot of the problems are down to makers having to retest all their cars to ensure compliance with the new emissions rules coming in in September. Mini has now stopped production of JCW models because horror of horrors it failed the new tests... it would have been strange for Volvo not to have engineered the new XC40 to meet the rules but it could be that certain engines need re-engineering to meet emissions rules. It does seem to be European makers who are being caught out as I could have had a new Outlander PHEV from dealer stock in exactly the spec I liked (I disliked the car after taking a test drive I have to add, but it was my 3rd choice as a replacement for my Sport) 6 days later! Same at Toyota and Lexus. I was horrified to talk to somebody who had ordered a Mini PHEV via one of the big leasing companies and was getting it 4 weeks after ordering and for the tax busting models like PHEVs makers are going out of their way to supply leasing companies who make volume orders before private buyers.............
I suppose it also doesn’t help when all the motoring press raves about the model you want and half of the country wants the version recommended in the reviews.