Today has been an interesting day. We have been considering replacing the Multivan for years but it just keeps going. Maintenance is starting to get up and it's starting to show its age around the edges. On one hand we could keep it and just keep driving it since we own it... but that comes with an increased maintenance bill.

A new car would be very nice. Warranty, new toys/features... new car smell

Even though there are only five of us we would like to keep seven seats, even if the last two aren't full size, so we can cart around extra friends or family that might be visiting. We will have a second car so could have a five seater and take two cars *if* we ever need the extra space. But still, seven seats is where we start.
A tow bar with a square mount is preferred.
Everything else is largely up for grabs and would be a step up in technology from a 2010 T5GP Multivan.

Our first stop today was LDV to look at the LDV D90 Diesel. It is very well equipped, drives very nicely and seems to tick all the boxes. It has a bit of turbo lag off the line, but once moving it goes pretty hard. Coming out of a DSG equipped Multivan we are somewhat used to that behaviour. It appears to have all the technology, although I have to do some more reading as it might be missing one or two fancy options (like wireless CarPlay and charging) but comes with pretty much everything else out of the box including leather seats (and heated steering wheel, but no heated seats). You can see the Chinese underpinnings in places (like there is a built in manual in the main screen where the English isn't perfect and some of the screen shots of things (like the iPhone setup) have Chinese characters, but ignoring that a nice place to sit. My short read through review seems to be mostly positive but again, more reading required on that side. For $48.5k drive away (with towbar and before haggling) it's a very very nice looking option.

Second stop was Skoda to check out the Kodiaq. It's a nice car, feels a little better built than the LDV, goes a little harder off the line than the diesel LDV even though it has less power and torque overall. It does have some nice touches like the umbrella in the door, but it felt more cramped inside the cabin, it rode a little rougher and the second row (and especially the third row) felt cramped compared to that LDV. Honestly, I was expecting to be wowed at how much better the Skoda was compared to the 'cheap' LDV, but we were both left feeling pretty underwhelmed.

Pricing on the Kodiaq is $52k for the Style in Blue or $57k for the Sportline in Red. The option pack significantly add to that ($63k for the Sportline with both packs) and I haven't got a price on the towbar. I'd have to sit down and see which option packs would be needed to level the field for what you get in the LDV, but it's $5 - 15k more for a car that doesn't feel as good just didn't stack up.

The last stop was Volkswagen, which wasn't a great experience for a range of reasons. The dealership didn't have any to look at, but we were told it's the same as the Kodiaq in interior size etc. Pricing is similar (according to the online calculator) with $53K for the base FWD model with a couple of options to bring it up to the others or the real comparison the AWD diesel with sunroof is $64k (again would have to check the options for these builds). In short though, similar costs to the Kodiaq.

Both the Skoda and the VW look awfully familiar (coming from a Golf and Multivan). It sort of feels like more of the same... which does bring some comfort that it will just work, but also raises the question of why I'm spending a fortune for on a new car?? Then the pricing on the LDV makes it a pretty compelling option, it didn't feel like it was missing anything glaring or that you were getting 'the cheap' alternative. Resale values on 2017 models of the LDV don't look terrible either (that the oldest ones in country). I hate to say it, but could be the first non VAG car we have bought in 20 years (I'll still have my Golf though ).

There is still lots more reading and more looking about to be done as well as crunching the total cost of the vehicle... But not what I was expecting from today.