If it doesn't have to be brand new (but say a year old) i'd have said a VW Phaeton.

Lacks image (hence it depreciates like a stone) but i doubt you'd get a better prestige car for the money.

If brand new then BMW 5 series or E Class are about the only ones i could see other than another S80?

As to they why. Everything else lacks the "image" or is too expensive.

Edited by AlleyCat` on 11/01/2011 at 13:13

Audi A6 is £34,355. These are the recommended prices quoted on the manufacturer's web sites so you may be able to get a better deal.

Subaru Outback, BIG, BIG rear legroom, reclining rear seats, neither flash nor common. Be gone before anyone knows what it was!

What Car? Mag tested the A6, the 5 series, the E-Class and the Saab 9-5 in Oct 2010.

They reckoned that the Merc was best for rear space - 73 cm legroom and 93 cm headroom.

Saab was easily the best for legroom (78 cm) but worst for headroom (88 cm) because of the low roof. BMW was 72 & 90, Audi was 72 & 89.

The Feb 2011 issue tested the BMW 5 series against the Infiniti M30 and gave the figures for the latter as 74 & 90.

@Avant - you're spot on, although the Jag is out, "sounds too extravagant".

@Oldtoffee - we've a Legacy station wagon for the office car and the wife has a Forester but the Subaru name not prestige enough for the MD.

@Steven Quas - thanks, exactly what I was looking for. Although the Merc seems best car it is "too taxi".

@tyro - I assume the What car test in October 2010 was for the old A6, because there is no review of any kind of the new A6 on their website. Only HJ has any kind of in-depth review of the new A6 I can find at the mo.

Figures for rear headroom and legroom are available on the Whatcar website but are conflicting. For example, if you look at the Performance and Measurements for the Volvo S80 Saloon 2.5T SE 4dr you will see the figure of 93 for rear headroom in the pictogram but 973mm in the text. Rear knee room is 74 in the pictogram and 890 in the text.

The MD is quite tall so this will be a crucial issue. HJ says in his review of the Saab: "It's very spacious though and nowhere is this more evident than in the back. Compared to the previous 9-5, this model has a longer wheelbase which means an extra 58mm of legroom added on to what was already a generous space. Even with the front seats slid all the way back, there's still masses of legroom for people sitting in the back plus impressive headroom."

@AlleyCat - unfortunately I think he wouldn't be seen dead in a Skoda, although I think they are great cars.

FYI, his private car is a newish Saab 9-5 stationwagon.

I hope the MD is an avid reader and always travels with a good book - to choose a Citroen C6 he would have to enjoy spending time on the hard shoulder. The various customer satisfaction and reliability surveys consistently place Citroen at the bottom of the table along with Peugeot, Fiat, Jeep, Renault.... These cars tend to be built with components that are designed to last for a minimum of 3 years, whereas German and Japanese manufacturers tend to specify 10 year minimum component life.

Steven Quas , Hamburg

There are some surprising results there tyro.

"Which? Car satisfaction survey 2010 - Citroen placed 23rd out of 37, on 80%. Nissan was also on 80%, Mitsubishi was on 78%."

It's worth pointing out that Nissan is now owned by Renault and they have gone down the route of lowering component quality since the takeover. Mitsubishi are a bit of an exception too since they have close links with Fiat (amongst others), sharing some parts with them and building quite a few cars for the European market in Italy.

Apart from that, I am surprised to see that Citroen seem to have improved. It wasn't long ago that they were firmly in the bottom quarter of the table.

I still stand by my suggestion of an E Class and think Mercedes are generally on the way back up (4th out of 27 JD Power 2010)

Steven

tyro - I'll be interested to see if this is a blip or a genuine improvement from Citroen. They are a very innovative car company and I really like some of their designs, but I would want more proof that they have changed their ways to consider buying one of their cars. It is odd the difference wth Peugeot, as you say, given how many components they share. Maybe in 10 years' time Citroen will be up there with Honda / Toyota / Lexus / BMW / Mercedes / Audi / Jaguar? My money is on them being back at the bottom though - old habits....

Steven

'wouldn't be seen dead in a Skoda'. Perhaps the MD ought to consider conserving his profits in these belt tightening days and be more self confident and less status obsessed in a car that has brilliant space and a very comfortable ride for the back seat passenger.

These questions are really designed to reinforce a premeditated decision rather than an open enquiry.

Got to agree with you on the superb-although it's aesthetics leave something to be desired-guess VAG had to give VW/Audi some form of marketing advantage!

Amazing how someone who is concerned with rear passenge comfort will gravitate towards a rear drive car with a longitudinally mounted engine. Whatever the merits of that layout-cabin space is not one them...