Kia sportage, hyundai tusco or Nissan qashqai

[BlueRaincoat1]

Hello, we really need to bite the bullet and get a new car. We will be buying 2nd hand, in the 12k - 16k range.

Have 2 kids, want something bigger than what we currently have (ancient kia ceed). Would like a plug in hybrid but the mitsubishi outlander is massive, and there isn't much else in our price range at the size we want.

So looking petrol instead. Any views on what's better between the sportage, tuscon and qashqai? Our town is FULL of qashqai so I guess is pretty reliable?

Reliability is key. Reverse parking sensors/screen would be good. Mostly drive fairly locally, occasionally on motorways. Want it to last quite a long time .

Thanks!

Hyundai all day long . .

Any other views? Thanks!

We got a second hand qashqai mainly because there was a bigger choice, most other cars in the same price range were as rare as hen's teeth.

It wasn't our first choice but we really like it now.

We have a Huyndai Tucson, and really happy with it. Big enough for our kids and dogs. No problems so far.

Sportage and Tucson are the same car underneath (Hyundai and Kia are the same company and they platform-share) so it’d be a case of which one comes up in-budget in the right spec first.

I’d probably lean towards Sportage over the others because I prefer the look of it. But that’s a personal view.

I have a nearly 3yr shortage. It’s petrol, auto, parking camera and for me it’s been completely reliable and I love it.

Qashqai's are good and can have a lot of extra kit for a good price. But Sportage's are probably better build quality but higher price.

It might be an idea to view You tube videos to find real life experiences of the cars that you are considering. You can generally find the correct year of vehicle as well. Either you can view Honest John website for opinions.

Good luck

Well I was bored OP so I did some research (you can thank me later).

Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage are literally the same car, different body shape, but exactly the same engines, electrics, gearboxes, n stuff.

You won't get anything with a warranty for the money you want to spend, but that shouldn't matter too much as the Kia/Hyundai are apparently very reliable.

The Nissans don't have good reviews, lots of engine problems and I don't think they look very nice.

BUT, you could get an almost new DACIA Duster for 16k, just as practical as the Kia, probably still have a few years warranty and they are apparently very reliable, if somewhat basic.

Also a Suzuki Vitara is a good choice.

DO NOT go near a second hand hybrid. Just to give you some perspective, a replacement 48v battery for a Ford Focus mild hybrid is 5K! Yep, five grand to replace a battery!

Yet apparently the future is EV!

Agree with onefinemess — Suzuki Vitara well worth a look too. As is the slightly bigger Suzuki, the S-Cross.

VW T-Roc or Tiguan?

If you want reliability then go for a Honda, CRV to be specific. Excellent cars.

Can I throw an xc60 into the mix? We were looking at similar to you but this won hands down

I’d also look at Dacia with that budget as you’d get nearly new so a much better warranty . Dusters start at 17k ish .

Thanks so much for all this, really helpful to hear these views. The xc60 is a bit out of price range unfortunately and I'm not a big fan of the look of the duster, but agree it is good value. Thanks @onefinemess , I agree that second hand EV does seem really risky unfortunately

For those suggesting vw or Honda, the op’s budget will struggle for a decent one.
i was in the same position as op with budget this time last year and went with a 6 year old Tucson, 27000 on the clock for 12k locally.
i really like it, slightly more roomy than the sportage and qashqui.

I went from an old qashqai to a 3 year old petrol Tucson this year and I LOVE IT. Was £15k with all necessary bells and whistles.

Dacia don’t come our well on the safety tests unfortunately.

I had a Qashqai and there were some things I liked about it- sensors, rear view parking, but the battery failed after a couple of moths and the local Nissan garage is well known for being unpleasant and misogynistic. Put me right off. I got a Skoda Karoq after and that’s the car I miss the most.

We have a sportage! Upgraded from a mini countryman which just didn't fit our family any more ( 3DC, Dog, tall husband, buggy etc ) and I love it. Roomy, efficient on fuel, nice to drive, love the reverse camera. Admittedly I'm not a car person in terms of knowledge but it's a solid yes from me

@Coffeeandcrocs how old are your kids? We're wondering about the Sportage but kids are still in car seats.

Everyone we know is buying a Skoda, they're meant to be really good and you can get good deals on new ones which might means they work out better than buying an older car and you get the warranty. Apparently a new EV can also be tax efficient.

The Qashqai was the worst car I ever had. Something new wrong with it each week - minor stuff mostly like USB port breaking, key fobs stopping working... then finally major stuff like the engine developing major faults. There are no service warning lights on certain models so it's also easy to miss a service and then them not honour the warrant.

We went from the Qashqai to a Kia Ceed (with all the bells and whistles) and I couldn't be happier.

I drive a Sportage and love it. Mine was bought new but 4 yrs later it still runs well and I have no complaints. I would go with Kia for the 7 yr warranty, even if you are buying out of warranty.

We tested all SUVs before we bought our current car just before lockdown. Tucson was our second choice then the nissan. How about an alteca or Tiguan? Anyway we settled on a Mazda cx5 and it is probably the best car we've had.