Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

I'm still tempted by the idea of a 550i M-Sport Touring.

You sir, have the wonderful position of living in a dream world without the boundaries of a normal person.

She's been beaten into submission by the humdrum of normality outside London. Tell her you're disappointed in her, then buy a LWB Sprinter conversion.

They're about 6k

Parking is not one of her strong points.

6k to buy. 10k PA to maintain.
And about £300 PM to fuel.

Focus estate with the fancy self-parking feature?

E61? Seems optimistic unless mega miles...

No one wants a big, V8 petrol engine. There are a couple on eBay right now.

Hoops, what didn't you like about the Yeti? Am genuinely interested as we're considering test driving one, in a similar position, but baby instead of two dogs. For your M135i experience, substitute my E46 M3 coupe. Love it, but it's got to go. Ditto also the parking and length concerns of estate cars. We live rurally so an SUV has benefits although 4x4 drivetrain is main concern.

The Yeti 1.2 is 2WD and pretty basic trim... have you tried an AWD slightly posher one?
I am also drawn to Lexus RX450h as we do a lot of short trips 'around town'.
On that note, any other 4x4 (edit: hybrid or otherwise) we should be thinking of? Budget £20k absolute tops.

Decent parking sensors make a huge difference.

Fair enough, when I was looking £6k was a 530/535 at best and probably non-lci.
Luckily the touring is only 3mm longer than the saloon!

Nissan have magic top down cameras for parking

I dont think SUV create much more space than a hatchback imo. Fast Wagan or...

hahaha. quality

qashqai's are a similar size to an A3 in my estimation.

Lci?

Facelift in bmw speak

very good

3 years ago I would have scrapped it and moved on. They've gone up in value but a big chunk now, so I think I have to fix it and flog. Tedious, and I'm going to be very out of my depth, but here we are...

neck's fucked from too much trying to turn right.

estates are easiest to park, you can see all the sides when moving, no hidden bits sticking out.

I don't mind the Yeti so much TBH (wasn't overly impressed though). My oher half isnt too keen on the OAP effect they seem to have, and it was, as you say, a bit basic inside.

I think one of the diesel ones with a higher spec like you suggest would be much nicer. We tried the 1.2 as that seems to be the way engines are going these days, and as i said, i'm really not fussed bout fast cars anymore. GF is also very eco minded, so she prefers the idea of smaller engines.

From the quick look around the Kia I had, it just seemed like a much nicer car inside. More modern, even though the one I looked in was 4 years older than the Skoda we drove.

I think a 4x4 diesel Yeti would be much better recieved by my GF. She is a midwife and does a lot of home visits out in the sticks around Bristol and Bath, so 4X4 would probably be a better option for her needs anyway.

Basically i just want to be able put all my shit in a car, spend two weeks or so driving around europe with my dogs and my GF in comfort, without feeling at all cramped and not having to worry about any reliabilty issues. It must also be easy for my GF to drive and park (we live in Bristol, parking here is a much more complicated affair than any other place I have lived in the UK)

I dont give a shit about going fast or driving something that looks super cool. I'd rather drive something that looks a bit dorky TBH.

We dont want to spend more than £10k.

I'd rather have something a bit older and higher miles with a nice spec than something fairly new and poverty spec.

BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Land Rover etc can all GTFO.

She likes some of the newer weird Mini crossover things, but they are overpriced as fuck.

Also, I want an auto again cos im lazy.

Know that feel bro.
Thanks for insights. Can't bring myself to consider a Kia tho.