“It’s decent-looking, very functional and well equipped – it’s the KX-4 so I’ve got everything – and the boot easily swallows five large suitcases.”Īn incredible six top-10 category placings, and four more results in the top 20 explain the Citroen C4’s triumph in this year’s Driver Power New Car survey. The ex-military man calls the 1.6-litre petrol hybrid Sorento his ‘Aldi’ car, referring to its value and excellence.
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He racks up 14,000 miles per year, and values both the functionality and the economy of his car, telling us: “It will sit at 70mph, fully loaded with four adults and a teenager, plus a load of suitcases, all the way to Manchester and back on a full tank of fuel.” Long-time Kia buyer Duncan Herries lives in Stirlingshire, and has been driving a variety of Kia models since 2011, having been attracted to the brand by its prices and value.ĭuncan’s family Sorento is used to commute to Glasgow for much of the week, then takes his footballing teenager to matches across central Scotland at weekends, and also makes light work of transporting the immediate family plus in-laws on trips and holidays. Nevertheless, the Kia SUV manages a strong eighth place for driving pleasure, with 11th and 12th for steering and braking response adding up to a 13th overall for ride and handling. Powertrain scores could be higher too, but the Sorento pays the penalty for a poor 72nd place for gearbox smoothness. As you went round a bend in the Mercedes, you’d get swung over to the other side of the car. Mind you, Trevor says he likes the RX a lot more than the Mercedes GLE he had previously: “If there’s one big difference, it’s the handling.
“I’m not a petrolhead, and we’re not too bothered about what we drive, but we want a personal service from a dealer, and want to be treated reasonably well, considering we’re spending sixty thousand pounds,” he says. His wife drives a Lexus UX, and both the cars and the service have been highly satisfactory. Poor service at a Mercedes dealer prompted Trevor Hall, from Lincolnshire, to switch to Lexus, and the retired RX 450h driver is on his second one. Servicing costs are good too, in 15th, but a poor 50th for economy and a dire 71st for insurance dent the overall score, where the RX can only finish 40th. Reliability comes in at ninth overall, and there are strong scores for the powertrain and the safety features. The highlights of the former are second place for ride smoothness and fourth for driving pleasure, while a 16th position for exterior style is backed up by second for exterior quality. Next up is a pair of sixth places in the ride and handling, and exterior categories. The RX also earns second place in the interior category, with a first for material quality and finish, a second for style, fifth for both front-seat comfort and rear legroom, and a sixth for driver visibility. The safety features and interior are the Duster’s worst results, at 55th and 53rd, with a 70th for interior quality. The next-best category scores are 19th for the engine and gearbox, helped by a 12th place for a satisfying engine sound, a 21st place for reliability, and 22nd for practicality and boot space – the boot itself ranking eighth, with a good 17th for cabin storage. It kicks off the category with a first place for phone connectivity, followed by fifth for user-friendly controls, sixth for the balance between physical and touchscreen controls, and ninth for the built-in sat-nav. More impressive still though, is the Duster’s second position overall for its infotainment set-up. It’s ranked by owners as fifth overall for fuel economy, ninth for servicing and 10th for ‘other costs’, such as insurance – enough for an impressive seventh position in the category. Nothing can hold a candle to Dacia’s super-satisfying SUV for good value, and the model also has an impressive range of scores across the running costs category.
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