Audi Q5, X3 or Mercedes GLC?

[Littleonesaid]

We need a new car and want a 4x4 to deal with muddy country roads. We only have one DS so space is not a huge issue.

We are considering the Audi Q5, BMW X3 and Mercedes GLC.

Test drove each and Q5 was my favourite. But it seems expensive for what you get - not many extras included, even for a S Line Plus. GLC seems to be better value.

Would really appreciate frank views on Q5 or any of the above. Many thanks xx

Personally I'd feel better with something I felt was designed for the task, such as a Subaru Forester or Toyota Landcruiser, or possibly a LR Discovery.

Discovery is your best bet. That is what they are designed for.

Depends. If you're concerned about percieved status, any of one your choice is clearly the norm. Obviously. (Although I don't like the GLC, it just an ugly jacked-up C Class, with 4WD).

The Forester as pp mentioned is a very capable car, and far more subtly classier than the German stable.

Dacia have a fair offering too.

Or save the depreciation (or contract hire payments...), and buy an old Defender.

But for muddy country roads? Most cars fitted with decent tyres and driven properly will cope.

Good luck with your choice. Don't go for blingy fat wheels though. Wider tread footprint wont help at all.

Any Landrover/rangerover product would be better - look at the new disco sport

Oops, that read back as being deprecating. Didnt mean it to.

Any Landrover/rangerover product would be better

Assuming reliability isn't important. The RR, RRS and Disco all have worse reliability indices than the Q5 and the X3 (GLA is too new to be listed, although the larger GL is abysmal).

The Forester comes highest out of the cars mentioned, then Defender, then Land Cruiser, then the rest.

We're test driving this kind of car at the moment:
The Q5 wasn't as good as the Audi A6 Allroad, it's a nice drive but the seats are rather uncomfortable and the back seat is a little mean. It's was quite heavy compared with the merc and the LR & the A6
The GLC was a nice drive but overly complicated dashboard and not great back seat, it felt like they wanted it to be a sports car.
Volvo XC60 - hated it, awful back seat, too many random lights, heavy drive.
Landrover Discovery Sport - favorite by a mile, lovely drive, fab back seat and passenger seat, doesn't feel like your driving a big car but has loads of space.
We haven't tried the X5 because of BMWs inability to cope with snow and in our rural location in the North that's a bit of a concern.
Going to also try the Nissan x-trail, Mazda ?? and a Skoda octavia estate.

We've also had bad customer service issues over the years with Audi so that puts us off a bit. We have an A4 at the moment.

My dad has an X5. He pulls a caravan with it. It's fine in the snow (he's rescued a neighbour in it) though he acknowledges other BMW are rubbish in snow.

He really likes it.

If you don't mind paying the bit extra then I personally would go for the GLC, it ticks all the boxes and it is a great value considering what you get from the car. Also it's cheaper to run so it'll pay off in the long run :)

Audi and BMW are definitely slower compared to the GLC and I've heard the Audi is a tight squeeze inside. Plus unlike the GLC it will cost a lot more to run.

All depends what you want from the car really, but I'd pay the bit extra to benefit from the GLC