My daughter need's to change cars as she has a journey to do down a few country lanes, and I'm getting a little bored of getting new wheels and tyres for her Fiesta when she hits ever increasing pot holes!

She likes the Nissan Qashqui and and Toyota Rav4, and while 4x4 would be nice if it does snow I'm not convinced it is worth the extra money on fuel etc the rest of the year when a decent set of winter tyres on a FWD Nissan might be able to cope.

She would either get the petrol 1.6 Nissan or either petrol or diesel Toyota. Budget £6k so probably looking at 07-09 Nissan or 05-06 Toyota price wise. She just needs to make sure she gets something that won't upset the London Mayor as we live very close to the boundary of his proposed low emission zone! On this front don't forget to have your say on this idea before he gets all the interesting cars scrapped and sells the idea of electric for all.

Any feed back greatly appreciated..

I have had a Rav 4 which was a 2010 model. It was ok .I know they are very reliable, however I only kept it a year as I did not find it a very comfortable driving position. It did have a very light weight feel to it, I used it for general about town as a second car and the main reason was to tow my Hill climb car. Again it never really felt very solid. My biggest gripe was the fuel consumption was no where near the expected return, checked on the Toyota forum and this seemed to be considered the norm. It was the Diesel. So it went. I did get a very good price for it as they do seem to hold there price well. Hope that helps.Out of interest I know run Vredstein ( think I have spelt it right) all season tyres on my estate car, and are very impressed with them, just the ticket in the winter where we live and also perform very well in the summer. Not noisy and no big increase in fuel consumption.

I have driven a hired Rav4 while visiting Sydney NSW - the basic 2WD with few trimmings. It handled well enough, was easy to drive and park, and handled the enormous drains that they put across the ends of side roads in Australia without complaint. I had no problems with the driving position, with a good view of the road considering it's not an enormous vehicle (it's quite small for a pretend 4x4). This was an automatic, as most hire cars are in Aus.

My neighbour has a Quashqai (or however you spell it) - she has hit another neighbour's car due to the dreadful rear vision while reversing. Something to consider if you have a test drive.

Hi
Not had any Ravs last Toyota was a 4wd Tercel estate. Great car.
Re Qashqi my daughter has a 1.6 ntec model which is spacious thrifty and reliable. It's got a reversing camera fitted which deals nicely with reversing field of vision. I have the 4wd version same age same colour its a bit of a sleeper with the bigger engine but has a harsher ride. Both Qashqis started as wife's car and we pick them up when she updates. Recently got a little Nismo Juke which is a fun thing.
Not sure if it's an indictment of the state of Cumbrian badly maintained roads or a nissan weakness but Both Qashqis have had drop links fitted in the last year.
Hth
Mike

P's has she looked at Jimnys?

Two of my sisters had Qashqais and they were awful. One blew two engines, and the other the interior fell apart. On top of that, i cannot fit in the non adjustable passenger seat as my head hits the ceiling. Maybe made in Britain, but they were both pants!

[Edited on 2/11/16 by twybrow]

Had our 2006 RAV4 2.2d for 3 yeArs now. Love it. Not missed a beat and 39 mpg all day even including mWay and not hanging round.
So impressed looking for another but as full specked one struggling to get one as the hold their value well if your looking for one.
Been said on here that the towing limit is quite low, but hey, enoghh to trailer th MK
85 k original clutch exhaust , other than oil pads and disk nothing else no rust anywhere, dog loves the boot, rear seats lay flat to make It van like
You can tell I'm a fan

[Edited on 2/11/16 by ReMan]