Turbo territory vs Audi Q7 vs Volvo XC90

[lamborghinifan]

So after some second third or even fourth opinions on a little dilemma I have popping around my head. I'm tossing up buying a seven seater.

I currently own
-a beautiful wm2 caprice with the 6l. Performs flawlessly for family and touring duties. Lively enough and obviously comfortable and big enough.
- a fun zippy supercharged Mini Cooper s for school runs and relatively cheap town duties.

I'm toying with
- keeping the caprice which has been mechanically a1 and getting a boring diesel territory or xc90 diesel for local duties, but still pretty cheap to run.

Or

-keeping the mini for fun, and getting a big petrol v8 Audi Q7, or territory turbo Ghia To replace the caprice

Fuel isn't cheap enough to burn in a big daily, so it's mainly ok highway economy that matters for the long trips (by that I mean circa 10l-12L/100) in one of the big girls. Looking at approx 20k for a caprice replacement, 12k for a mini replacement.

The way I see it is
-Terri turbo ghia. Nice, powerful, thirsty. Not as many or as good creature comforts as the caprice. Average third row. Cheap repairs. (Owned non ghia previously)
- diesel Terri. Adequate but boring. Average 3rd row space, and boot behind 3rd row. Comparable running costs to sc mini. Cheap to repair. Titanium diesel likely out of price range, so basic equipment options only.
- diesel xc90. Good value, well equipped, reasonably economical, but repairs questionable. Great 3rd row and boot. Better features than later model ford. Is fwd/awd .
- Audi Q7. 4.2 petrol, nearly as quick at TTG. thirsty. Very good equipment. Good third row and boot. Great towing. Very risky for repairs.
-v8 xc90. Slowest v8 of them all. But good equipment. Questionable repairs.

For all this, I do count myself privelaged to have owned the caprice, possibly the pinnacle of Aus motoring, and already owned 4 big fords.

Give me some comments to chew on!

[happy1]

Hi,
I haven't driven Q7 and the Volvo, so this opinion is based on advertised prices and common sense, rather than detail experience with them.

The Q7 seems to cost almost double of a Territory Turbo petrol, but it seems you could have a Q7 diesel for about the same as a Q7 petrol.
These would be 10 years old now, with average km of 150.000 and upwards, so expect quite a few repairs both for the Audi and for the Ford.
I don't think it will be cheap ownership of either of these. For example replacing bushings in the suspension on the Territory Turbo, and transmission oil change etc will cost thousands. I am not familiar enough with the Audi to comment on service items on it, but expect parts to be more expensive.
Both 10 year old cars could have some oil leaks such as rear main seals on the engine, which are labor intensive to address.

This is a Ford forum, and the Territory Turbo is almost getting an Aussie classic with fewer left on the road now. The current price of petrol should give you a bargaining position to get one for less.

Have you test driven the Diesel Territory? It looks more modern than the SX/SY Territory, and the fuel economy is a lot better. Prices have fallen a lot on the SZ models, and you should find one for much less than same year Q7.
But the SZ isn't fault free either. If you drive mostly on the tarmac consider staying away from the 4x4 model, as the transfer cases have been trouble for many owners.
Cheers,

[Junkyard-Dog]

I don't really understand WHY you would get a different car. Seems like you already have a setup that works quite well for you. Personally I would have a WM Caprice over any soft-roader.

[Sprintey]

Originally Posted by happy1

Hi,
For example replacing bushings in the suspension on the Territory Turbo, and transmission oil change etc will cost thousands.

Don't want to nitpick too much, but transmission oil change on ZF will cost hundreds rather than thousands. Thousands is for full replacement gearbox if it either dies or milkshakes. If you change the fluid regularly (we've done 3 times) you can get 300,000km out of it (in our case). Cheers - I'd go TTG but I'm biased. It's full time AWD by the way

[Swordie]

I'd keep what you have. You will need to have money up your sleave for 2nd hand euro SUVs for repairs and servicing. The Caprice will handle better too.

[lamborghinifan]

Thanks for the replies guys. I thought I'd been ignored!
I do like what I have, but, well, it's the seven seater that could potentially be on the horizon. If they only made a seven seater caprice! (It's called a merc gl500)
I mean, BMW is just releasing the x7, has The same wheelbase and length as the caprice, but about 150k more! Or they're all euros with dubious running costs.
I'm just mulling on it some more. Prob have a little while before I have to do anything.

[lamborghinifan]

Originally Posted by Sprintey

Don't want to nitpick too much, but transmission oil change on ZF will cost hundreds rather than thousands. Thousands is for full replacement gearbox if it either dies or milkshakes. If you change the fluid regularly (we've done 3 times) you can get 300,000km out of it (in our case). Cheers - I'd go TTG but I'm biased. It's full time AWD by the way

Yes I've had this gearbox. There's more good ones than bad ones, but the drive ability of the box makes up for it I think. I'd have this in the caprice behind the v8 in a flash, it walks over the Holden box.

[Vesper Martini]

Originally Posted by lamborghinifan

I do like what I have, but, well, it's the seven seater that could potentially be on the horizon. If they only made a seven seater caprice! (It's called a merc gl500)
I mean, BMW is just releasing the x7, has The same wheelbase and length as the caprice, but about 150k more! Or they're all euros with dubious running costs.

Sorry but just because your Holden has a long wheelbase doesn't make it anything like a GL500 let alone the new X7.
Q7 is massive too

The Territory or an X5 if you want a v8 will have more internal space than the Holden & 7 seats you were looking for.

[arronm]

Buy the territory. A tune up will give better economy and power, to smoke all the alternatives.

[happy1]

Originally Posted by Sprintey

Don't want to nitpick too much, but transmission oil change on ZF will cost hundreds rather than thousands.

Hi,
Apologies if I got misunderstood. I didn't mean the transmission service alone would be that expensive. When I said thousands it was to refurbish an average tired Territory with bushings and control arms in all corners, which clearly adds up a fair bit of $$.

Many of us do such work DIY at a lower cost of just the parts, but if you drop off the keys to Pedders or similar workshop and tell them 'fix everything that clunks or leaks' then it is pretty clear it would cost more than $ 999 in total.

Anyway, no doubt parts for an Audi is more. The VAG group is known for high parts prices. I don't know how well the Q7 is resisting wear in bushings etc. There has been horror stories about early failure of suspension parts on Audi A4, A6, and on VW Caravelle / Transporter, so clearly VAG products are not over-engineered like MB used to be in the past. Audi uses many liquid filled rubber bushings which are very expensive, so be careful, check some parts prices before deciding.

Cheers,

[lamborghinifan]

Originally Posted by Bevsta007

Sorry but just because your Holden has a long wheelbase doesn't make it anything like a GL500 let alone the new X7.
Q7 is massive too

The Territory or an X5 if you want a v8 will have more internal space than the Holden & 7 seats you were looking for.

No, the 2nd row rear space in a territory, or a q7, or an x5, or a land cruiser, is nothing comparable to the caprice. And the third row leaves a lot to be desired in the territory. In the caprice, there can be full car seats, with kids, and still easily walk across the front of them. In the territory, kids legs are on the front seats. Q7 is marginally better then the territory. But has a very good third row. And more room behind in the boot when the third row is up. Merc gl because of its length seems to be a bit better than all the above, but it's the only one I haven't been in. The x5s are pretty much comparable in most dimensions to the territory. Only advantage with them is the v8, but they're not much quicker than a turbo territory, for the ongoing costs...
reviews rate the q7 as a better drivers car than a land cruiser or merc gl. Which even from looking at the proportions makes sense.

[lamborghinifan]

Originally Posted by arronm

Buy the territory. A tune up will give better economy and power, to smoke all the alternatives.

Ah so tempting. And there's some half decent f6x around I've seen too.. nice two tone leather. But that fuel! I could never get my turbo territory below 13-14l/100 on a long trip at 110 or so.. and round town, well lets not talk about that.

[lamborghinifan]

Originally Posted by happy1

Hi,
Apologies if I got misunderstood. I didn't mean the transmission service alone would be that expensive. When I said thousands it was to refurbish an average tired Territory with bushings and control arms in all corners, which clearly adds up a fair bit of $$.

Many of us do such work DIY at a lower cost of just the parts, but if you drop off the keys to Pedders or similar workshop and tell them 'fix everything that clunks or leaks' then it is pretty clear it would cost more than $ 999 in total.

Anyway, no doubt parts for an Audi is more. The VAG group is known for high parts prices. I don't know how well the Q7 is resisting wear in bushings etc. There has been horror stories about early failure of suspension parts on Audi A4, A6, and on VW Caravelle / Transporter, so clearly VAG products are not over-engineered like MB used to be in the past. Audi uses many liquid filled rubber bushings which are very expensive, so be careful, check some parts prices before deciding.

Cheers,

This to me is prob one of the biggest plusses with the territory. Pretty much, they always need a bush done here and there, but overall still a pretty reliable rig, and everyone knows how to fix them. Better the devil I know sometimes. But they're not prone to huge expense hard diagnosis type problems.

[Boosh Brus]

I would go the Volvo XC90. They are reliable and parts are cheap from the US or Europe.
The Yamaha V8 is nice as well.