I'd say the Volvo XC40, XC60 or XC90. Any Volvo really.
When will people learn that on the new focus the petrol cap is on the offside rear.
You’ll never make it reach
Ohhh… he has
I don't get this reference.
Just watched this…. Brilliant. The Range Rover part got me 😂👍🏻
I know loads of Cromwells! Get me the phonebook!
DAN!
It's amazing, we both like The Daily Mail, we both drive Lexi.
They’re sex people
Calm down Lynn! You're suffering from Minor women's whiplash
Stop rubbing your Fanny on me!
The Japanese Mercedes
Not my words, Carol. The words of Top Gear magazine.
Oh he’s not seen me.
I’ve pierced my foot on a spike
Chap over there…wearing jeans
Lexus and Volvo are peak middle class imo. Very classy, without being too showy. For the cultured man.
Where does Polestar fit in to this?
IT contractor who didn’t want a Tesla
Its weird how correct it is.
“Have you seen the framework that most Tesla models run on? I don’t think so”
You tell me 🤷♂️
Agreed… V90 owner
Ahh, such a nice car if they didn’t have terrible brakes and a slow gearbox. (current V90 owner)
We don't care so long as it gets Ralph and Alfonso to the school, plus the kids to prep.
Agreed! Ex-V90 owner.
Is it stock or polestar optimised? It fixes the car massively.
You get more rear biased all wheel drive power distribution, better throttle response, more power, gearbox shifts quicker and selects gears more appropriately, as well as hold onto gears longer
It’s polestar R design. Gets a polestar optimisation pretty much every service.
I had the Polestar tune put on mine, it’s really improved the gear changes
I know people harp on the ES for being a jazzed up avalon but it looks so much classier than the equivalent BMW or Merc.
Don't get me started on the newer LS and LC.. Seriously gorgeous engineering.
One of my reasons for getting a volvo is they you never see people wearing wet-look puffer coats or snapback baseball caps driving them. Can't say the same about Audi/BMW/Mercedes.
I've got a T8. For the classy cultured man who still puts socks down the front of his trousers.
As a Merc driver with a puffer coat and a baseball cap I agree.
audi BM and merc are all good cars in their ways. how are you finding the t8?
T8 is very nice. Can drive it like a hooligan but it's very happy trundling round town etc as well
People are also nicer to you on the road lol. A lot more people let me merge or give way to me. I used to drive the same but in my BMW they'd just close the gap 😂
I say this as a fellow Volvo (XC90) owner, but I am sorry to inform you that my dealer drives an XC60 lmao.
Smart dealer, cops will never suspect him, he's likely to go places.. Prison eventually but he'll be worth a fortune when he gets there
As an S60 owner, could not agree more! Such a lovely car. I never thought I would own a volvo and it all happened out of the blue but here we are 😁
Fair one lol
Maybe a Discovery 2 or 3 that they’ve had for years. Doesn’t owe them anything and it comfortably holds two labs in the back and can tow the horsebox or caravan.
That or perhaps an XC70 with the beige interior
Maybe even a freelander 2, or for the ones that just want to look fancy then maybe an evoque
The big estate more than the XC's V90 but V70 predominantly very middle class
Big estates certainly were once upon a time but they don’t make new ones sadly.
Old Volvo V70.. new Volvo OP has hit it on the head with the XC60 100%.
XC90 is just insane money, it isn’t middle class by a stretch. V90 is brilliant value for money, especially used, but it isn’t an SUV so little Timmy won’t be safe.. 🙄
I drive an XC70 at work and it’s the nicest car I’ve ever driven. Looked at buying one… I can’t afford it
Had an ocean race XC70 D5 for a wee while back in 2013.. epic big tourer but a thirsty bus! Fantastic cruiser though.
XC90 is £60k . it’s definitely middle class territory. There’s a queue of them outside the local private school every morning.
The good ones start at like 85k now.
I have an xc90, and I learned that since the redesign for the chassis for the xc90 and xc60 in 2016 has never had a fatality in one.
Apparently, they plan by 2030 to have the same statistics across the entire colvo range.
Say what you want about snobbery and middle classness, but that's something every car manufacturer should be aiming for.
Oh 100%.
Grew up in a family of Volvo’s and had a series of them myself. Main family car has always been a Volvo.
I think their approach to safety is incredible and you are right that all manufacturers should be so driven. Volvo first came up with the 3 point seatbelt and released the patents for all manufacture to use in the name of safety. They also crash and drop brand new cars from cranes and investigate techniques and data for emergency services to aid in post accident survival.
The Xc90 is amazing. But holy hell the price. I drove a 60 and regularly a passenger in a 40. Under appreciated trait: super quiet cabin.
I asked this before and the answer I think fit best was “a well used diesel estate” – true middle class don’t care about badges or status, they also spend their money elsewhere on house(s), holiday(s), tuition fees, etc. A well used estate means they can get the dogs in the back, good fuel economy, etc.
Sounds very upper middle … next you’ll be claiming they have old cardigans with patches on the elbows and chocolate labradors
UK Reddit bingo right there
Audi A6 all road is the quintessential middle class car IMO.
Good shout that
Yesss, not enough people make the distinction between Lower-Middle and Middle Class.
This is correct. A lot of people also don't understand there's many classes. The shrinking middle class is largely because it got split horizontally based on a bunch of class categorisations.
It goes in depth about the “classes within classes” in the book “Watching the English” by Kate Fox. A very interesting read.
People think way too much about 'class', it's such a nonsense categorisation that is basically meaningless outside of trite discussions about car badges.
Yep. Nowadays I have 3 categories.
People who have to work and live month to month
People who have to work but don't live month to month
People who don't have to work
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23d
There's a big mistake in thinking that all those Hessian bag welding folk are guardian readers.
A shocking number of them are anti-vax individualists.
There's a whole layer of the right-wing that fly under the radar.
I drive a grey Mondeo estate with 150k on the clock and prob will till it dies and I scour around for another £2k jalopy. I get everything done on it as soon as it needs doing, it looks a bit rough now but runs great, even handles ok now on new springs and Hancooks. I am considerably more well off and asset rich than my friends with discos and BMW's on finance. It's great! I call it The Hearse, I can get all kinds of tip-run items and landlordy bits in the back of it and I couldn't care less what happens to it when something spills or I have to mission in to the depths of town. Clever people don't put themselves in the shit for something that only gets more expensive to feed your ego. Spend money on what actually matters
Yep. I drive my shit shed so I can go to Japan for a month and afford my snobby I mean hobby.
Good shout.
I think I'm as middle class as they come (urban variety), and I've got a french MPV. But I only really drive it odd weekends and to go on camping holidays. So that's a strong alternative.
C4 Grand Picasso?
👏👏👏👏👏👏 got it in one.
Agree. I drive a 2016 C Class diesel estate with just over 100k miles on it. It was bought cash when 5 years old and is meticulously maintained and looked after. My partner asks why I don't buy a newer car since I have the means. I say I suffer from what I call "inverted snobbery" and that if I buy a newer car people will think I care.
I am by no means upper middle class but have spent my adult life aspiring to be it. Not for outward status but to do the best for my family.
A very discreet se model 5 series/ e class with a v8 and all the options parked in inner west London but it’s about 25 years old, every MOT no advisories
Done 25k miles
Not sure where I sit in the class system but I know class when I see it. On a roadtrip last December we called in to the Welsh Venison Centre near Brecon. There I saw the most countrified lady who we recognised as a local estate owner with very strong connections to the royal family. Not a royal herself, but as close as you can get. Walking out of the centre after her shop she got into her proper car. A private plate if I remember had 2 or 3 letters and a single number. No JLR stuff, no they wouldnt get her home unless on the back of an recovery, nothing German or indeed 'posh'. The lady got into an absolute as strong as they come middle class ride...... Subaru Forester.
I had one once 😁
Depends what you're defining as middle class but it's usually something slightly older that's been well maintained and doesn't attract too much attention. Doesn't even need to be a specific brand but I'd say Toyota, Lexus, Volvo or VW/Skoda are top contenders. If it has a DAB radio it'll be set to smooth or absolute, if it's an FM radio it'll be BBC Radio 2.
Probably purchased from new as a pre registered car and paid in cash for it, likely washes/vacuums it every week and will get the bodywork, alloys etc touched up after a ding. If you ever buy one of these cars it'll come with a folder of receipts that's the thickness of an encyclopedia.
It'll also have a great brand of tyres on it.
And when you do buy it from a private sale on Auto trader, you'll get it for market price as well. Because, even though they've meticulously looked after it, they're not looking to profit on it.
Spot on, they're the best kind of seller because they're not really financially motivated by the sale, usually just clearing space for whatever they've moved onto, usually comes with a full MOT more often than not and a load of spare parts that they got just in case.
Really trusting too, I test drove a car not too long ago and he wasn't even fussed about coming with, didn't want my ID or my keys or anything, just said stick some petrol in it if you're going far lmao.
E class estate. Not AMG. Not white.
Jaguar f pace or Range Rover velar
As someone who lives in the midlands, people who have these cars are in a class of their own: JLR employees
Yep ten a penny in Warks and North Oxfordshire
F pace for me is working in sales. Middle class by income, but not connections, education or culture.
I was going to challenge this but you are bang on when I think about every F Pace owner I know
This is very insightful
People I know who own F Pace either own a business and have this as a second car, or are in finance/law. Rich/middle class, sending kids to private schools.
What does that even mean?
My wife's about to lease one of these 🤣
New Jags are for lower middle class men who have just taken the 25% tax free part of their pension and it’s burning a hole in their pocket. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
The answer is a diesel long wheel base estate either mercedes or Volvo.
Sky TV
For you guys saying mid class, I don’t think you understand how much this car cost new and how much mid class makes, this is more higher end by far
Genuinely, a pre reg Diesel CX-5 auto with a tow bar for the caravan, that they paid cash for.
Over half my customers at the Mazda showroom I work at are all late 50s-60+, cash buyers buying a CX-5. And every diesel one has a new caravan they intend to tow
Yes, those pesky Middle Classers and their... checks notes... caravan holidays?
Have you seen the prices of brand new caravans these days? A new Mazda SUV and a new caravan is a serious amount of money to have sitting liquid. Would definitely put you firmly in the middle class category. Also the caravan might see the odd field in scotland but it'll spend 3 or 4 weeks of the summer in french campsites next to vineyards or close to the french Rivera.
Nothing middle class about a caravan…
They're not exactly cheap to buy and you have to be able to afford a property with the space to store them.
Iv got a 4 berther and had to buy a 2ton estate car to tow the bastard. Stored in a compound then the road. To be fair it's bigger than our tiny 3 bed semi detached. Iv also realised that the £50k spent on the pair of them (both used) would probably have been better spent on a bigger house and an all inclusive TUI holiday to Tenerife with an all day kids club. 🤔
Old people are meant to be clever with money, not dropping £40k on a Mazda.
That's why they pay cash for a pre reg one. Pay 30something instead
First rule of caravan club is everyone gets some
Don't know what you mean by pre reg, but my dad drives a Diesel CX-5 Auto with a towbar and we own a caravan. I'm middle class now?
"Proper" middle class, the long standing wealthy family types, decent old estate.
Professional middle class, doctors, vets etc. volvo xc60/90
Working middle class, trades etc. Newish Range rover sport, land rover discovery, BMW x5
Wannabe middle class, beauticians etc. Poverty spec range rover evoque with black pack
Proper middle class is definitely an early 00s Porsche Cayenne with moon miles on it
Your definition of proper middle class is definitively not middle class but aristocratic and upper class.
Not the xc40 it’s too common/pcp and you can’t get two choc labs in it. Not the current xc90 its too big and flash. Not the v90 its too much of an oddball choice these days..
If new it’s the xc60, if old it’s the xc90 or the xc70 possibly the xc70 shades it. Older and more beaten up the better.
I am surrounded by these people I know their ways. This is middle-middle to upper-middle, by the way.
Damn, class in the uk is so multifaceted, I grew up in Albuquerque and your middle class is like our upper class with way more factors. Apparently there's middle class dogs and there's some sort of hierarchy with everything. According to my friend a big 1930s semi with a border collie is a staple.
I think now days I’m seeing alot of socially middle class people with out the wealth which was once associated with it and the opposed could be said with economically middle class but socially working class. I would say you also have groups of educated and socially middle class people living alternative life styles but it’s all so nuanced it’s hard to put into words but English people can normally tell it’s like a special power.
A nice, 3 year old V90. SUV's are sometimes driven by chavs whereas a nice Volvo estate never is.
George Orwell famously said that he grew up lower-upper-middle class. That tells you a lot about the nuances of the British class system.
VW Tiguan
Tesla Model 3...there is no easier answer to this. Most people buy them who own a house to get a plug in charger, and can be getting it through work which will typically be a middle class job.
I don’t think your average middle class person gets a Tesla unless their job pushes them towards it ie. You get to have a company car but it has to be electric.
I'm from the USA and your class system is way more complicated than ours, how would you describe what british middle class people even seek in a car, house or anything for that matter? Do they have some sort of rules etc
Our class system has a lot less to do with money than the US equivalent. It's more about eduction, where you grow up, interests, social circles, family background etc. Money does come into it, but it's not the main factor.
The class system has changed a lot in the uk over the past 15 years. The upper class is still distinctly present, easily identified as someone with a lineage of wealth who also went public school; absolutely never private or state. The upper class has prospered over the last 15 years. The rest of us are divided into the following; the underclass, the unskilled working class, the skilled working class and the lower and upper middle class and the outstandingly financially successful.
Lower middle class can’t afford all the finer things, they can’t have the nice car go on the nice holidays, big wedding etc - they have to choose less than half of those. High chance they went to private school and university. The upper middle class most likely went to private school, can afford a very good standard of living
I would say lower and even middle middle class can be worse off than working class.
Working class pay very well, whereas middle class typically isn't super skilled. Upper middle class is where you have the qualifications that get you good dolla.
Tesla are actually quite inexpensive as a company car.
My car allowance is 6k (500pcm). The trade up on a model 3 is only like £42 a month if I wanted one
Middle classes don’t care about Tesla’s. That’s working classes trying to look rich and getting them on finance.
Hard disagree. A lot of professional degree holding office jobs offer electric cars, and it's that demographic who talk all about their "green credentials.'' I know because I work in that demographic lol but I prefer my toyota petrol.
immediatley came to myy mind too
Where do Dacia Duster rank? 😬
- Mercedes C-Class Estate
- BMW 3 Series Touring
- Audi A6 Avant
- Porsche Taycan Cross Turismo
- Land Rover Discovery 3
- Volvo V60
A6 Avant checking in 🫡
I test drove Xc40 recently. I fell in love with it after 10mins. Amazing car.
+1 to that. Currently got one as a hire car and it’s incredibly comfy to drive and has more than enough space for a decent number of bags. Relatively powerful too on the B roads.
Subaru legacy.
Citroen Berlingo with a roof rack and a tow bar
Audi A1 or Fiat 500 in white which the teenage daughter or mum drives is surely right up there.
Controversial, I know, but new-ish BMWs. Nice cars, but they scream company car, or someone wanting to show off. I see Volvo mentioned a few times, but I'd place them firmly in upper-middle to upper class territory, you'd expect labradorite in the back of one.
Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace
XC90 or disco 4, disco 5 lost it’s rough and ready looks so I don’t think their going to be accepted in the same way as a family wagon
I’d say Lexus and Volvo mainly. Also older well spec’d estate cars that are bog standard from BMW, Mercedes & Audi.
Volvos are classless, could be a seriously rich toff or a working family driving the old banger estate.
Range Rover are the middle class dream cars… aspirational but ultimately shite
First gen XC90 or a Discovery 3, realistically. Back in the day it would have been an Isuzu Trooper or 740 estate.
Audi A5 or A7 ?
Not an A5. Too drug-dealerish.
LR Discovery Sport
Nah, these are mostly aspirational middle class/watch too much made in Chelsea/absolute twat.
Mazda 6 maybe? It’s never anything flashy, sensible rather than interesting.
As a Mada 6 Estate owner, it makes me sad to think that my car isn't condered interesting.
In the Soul Red Crystal Metallic paint, with a proper polish and wax, it looks stunning. I think it's got one of the nicest designs of any Estate car!
It has to be a VW passat
Tiguan
Most middle class I know drive Citroens or old af rangeys
I guess any Saab. Wouldn’t say it is the most, but it definitely somewhere there.
I don’t know. But a mofor that always makes me feel a little sick is a Range Rover..
Is this a personal attack on me?
EV Company car
Middle class? By the flashyness? Maybe.. but definitely not by pricing
Mini clubman
Xc60 defo middle class... I've got one and make 150k
Solidly middle class XC60 owner can confirm
E Class diesel Estate. VW Passat VW Touareg BMW 5 series and above (3 series and below is only for low rung county lines fodder) Peugeot 5008 (lower middle class) Any Lexi
Subaru Outback for the win 🏆
VW Golf Mk 7 or 7.5
The median salary in the UK last year was £34,963. I know people with master studies in senior engineering positions earning less than £50,000. An XC60 starts at £46,000. In what world is that middle class?
Senior Engineer here. They are either significantly underpaid or they aren't telling you their true salary.
It used to be Saab, Volvo feels a bit normal these days
I have a Volvo though, but I doubt anyone considers me middle class
Definitely Volvo or Mercedes
VW GTI.
Are you in touch with reality, pal? A 50k,70k and 90k+ quid car is definitely more than middle class.
Smoking some toxic grass, if you actually think that
Middle class doesn't refer to 'the middle' of class, you know that right?
L322 Range Rover Any volvo Subaru estate
Loads of people call my classic Defender 90 station wagon a tory car for some reason.
I see it more as a farm vehicle than something affiliated to a political party
Tesla model 3 and BMW i4 the 2 most common ev lease cars
E Class estate, A6 Avant, Volvo V90.
XC90/60, Land Rover Defender
It used to be the XC90 but it's a 100 grand car these days with no reasonably priced lease deals.
Base spec, white, Tesla was a strong contender for a little while.
Skoda Kodiaq
Porsche Macan base all the middle class mum’s drive them
Subaru Outback / Forester.
Range Rover mate.
I would say any vauxhall
I have a xc60 and a Audi a4 have I peaked
The answer according to my neighbours is a diesel audi Q7 non s line. 4 of them on my road in zone 1 London, all black on black with clear glass.
2007 - 20010 L322 Range Rover... See Clarkson or Harry Metcalfe. Labradors in the back, non tinted windows
Ford Focus or Toyoya Corolla.
Sorry, I'm new to European car ownership culture, but am I getting something wrong? How is any mid-range Volvo middle class??
An XC60 is £47,000 minimum, and going by the rule of car value = 1/3rd of household income,
It's not possible an average"middle class" income in the UK £141,000...
Pls educate me
Your rule is arbitrary and not correct.
This is more about image and class, not the financials.
Ford Puma St Line (Not the ST) we have one and I’m all for it
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23d
Everyone here mentions a volvo or lexus but are forgetting that beautifully Alfa Romeo Giulia that you don't see as often as the others
Ford focus
Kia Sportage Hybrid
I think people are getting confused with what the middle class is these days. Range Rover, XC90, Q7 is what they would buy.
Kia sportage or any Hyundai SUV. Devoid of any character.
Rage Rover supacharged
Audi allroad eststes
What about the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV (2020) ?
Is the answer a Trabant?
100% a bmw x5 or any Volvo suv
Ferrari prolly
I think the epitome of comfortable w their money is still having your 07 Merc E Class estate or Lexus GS460, or even an 02/3/4/5 Land Cruiser. When I see a pristine version of the above I automatically assume there's some money there but no one is being showy with it.
any mid ranged SUV really, depending on preference. I didn't like how Volvo driving, went for Ford kuga. It's almost the same
Anything Audi, clearly on finance but an absolute necessity for the gram
I think a lot if these cars people are saying on this thread are upper middle class, volvos and discos are pretty expensive. I'd say if was more Ford focuses, Nissan Jukes, Kia sportage etc
This post is surely an Alan Partridge phone in.