Pick your brains? Which 2013-19 medium-to-large saloons have folding rear seats for occasionally carrying floorstanders?

[TheFlash]

My last 3 cars have been German estates - BMW 330d, BMW 535d, and now Audi A6 Allroad - with sort-of-sporty pretensions (0-60 in the region of 6 seconds). I've not only found it incredibly useful to have so much space to cart hifi around, I actually like the purposeful look of them. I like the looks of eg a 5-series saloon even more... which got me thinking: I'm looking to replace my Audi in the next few months and it would be really helpful to know if there are any premium-ish saloons which have folding rear seats which would allow me, subject to the boot lip challenge, to still carry long loads occasionally. I'm really not sure there are many, if any, out there.

Please let me have your suggestions. I don't want to get into budgets particularly as that might artificially narrow the field, but the reason for 2013-19 is that I usually buy my cars (outright or modest loan) rather than buying new under PCP or whatever.

Your insights please.

 

[StingRay]

Audi A6 saloon,  I read has folding rear seats as standard, other Audis saloons may do also.  BMW 5 series it seems to be an optional extra so maybe hard to source used.

 

[TheFlash]

Audi A6 saloon,  I read has folding rear seats as standard, other Audis saloons may do also.  BMW 5 series it seems to be an optional extra so maybe hard to source used.

Thanks, will take a closer look!

 

[plasticpenguin]

My last 3 cars have been German estates - BMW 330d, BMW 535d, and now Audi A6 Allroad - with sort-of-sporty pretensions (0-60 in the region of 6 seconds). I've not only found it incredibly useful to have so much space to cart hifi around, I actually like the purposeful look of them. I like the looks of eg a 5-series saloon even more... which got me thinking: I'm looking to replace my Audi in the next few months and it would be really helpful to know if there are any premium-ish saloons which have folding rear seats which would allow me, subject to the boot lip challenge, to still carry long loads occasionally. I'm really not sure there are many, if any, out there.

Please let me have your suggestions. I don't want to get into budgets particularly as that might artificially narrow the field, but the reason for 2013-19 is that I usually buy my cars (outright or modest loan) rather than buying new under PCP or whatever.

Your insights please.

This is genuine question. How big are the floorstanders and how much hi-fi stuff do you plan to lug around?

I've lumped gawd knows how much stuff around in the boot without lowering the rear seats. Alfas don't have the biggest boot space

 

[Tony_J]

Possibly a bit down market for you Nigel, but I have had 2 Ford Galaxies in the past - flat loading space with the seats all down and about 2 metres long. Big enough that Ed and I were able to load up his monster Quad electrostatics, in their boxes. Actually a bigger load space than the Nissan Pathfinder that I traded the last one in for. 

 

[Fantasque]

Again maybe a little low rent for you but I have a 2019 Mazda 6 estate that has folding rear seats as does the saloon. I previously had a 320d touring and apart from being a lot cheaper to buy, the Mazda is loaded with toys that would make the BMW stratospherically expensive if you tried to match the spec. Good luck with your search!

 

[TheFlash]

Possibly a bit down market for you Nigel, but I have had 2 Ford Galaxies in the past - flat loading space with the seats all down and about 2 metres long. Big enough that Ed and I were able to load up his monster Quad electrostatics, in their boxes. Actually a bigger load space than the Nissan Pathfinder that I traded the last one in for. 

 Thanks. Not mega-downmarket but even bigger than the estate I have now, I suspect.

 

[TheFlash]

This is genuine question. How big are the floorstanders and how much hi-fi stuff do you plan to lug around?

I've lumped gawd knows how much stuff around in the boot without lowering the rear seats. Alfas don't have the biggest boot space

Good challenge/question! I went through a phase of mad swapping but have been a good boy for a while now, so honestly I don’t expect to be hauling huge speakers around very often. If and when I do, they will be my Posselts (about 6ft tall) which would realistically need an estate not a saloon, or my Thiel CS2.2 which are shorter but chunkier.

I guess the switch to a saloon would be easier if the seats folded down “just in case”. That would certainly give more flexibility.

 

[TheFlash]

Again maybe a little low rent for you but I have a 2019 Mazda 6 estate that has folding rear seats as does the saloon. I previously had a 320d touring and apart from being a lot cheaper to buy, the Mazda is loaded with toys that would make the BMW stratospherically expensive if you tried to match the spec. Good luck with your search!

Thanks for this.  Have a soft spot for the looks of most of the current Mazdas, actually. I suspect they might struggle in the performance department but I’d be happy to explore. However, I’m not sure moving to a Mazda 6 estate would gain me much other than a healthier bank account...

 

[Fantasque]

Thanks for this.  Have a soft spot for the looks of most of the current Mazdas, actually. I suspect they might struggle in the performance department but I’d be happy to explore. However, I’m not sure moving to a Mazda 6 estate would gain me much other than a healthier bank account...

The saloon version also has folding rear seats and is a bit smaller. Mine is the 175bhp diesel version that driven enthusiastically still returns 50mpg. Think they do a 200bhp petrol version if you need a little bit more oomph!

 

[steve 57]

I have a 5 series estate but I believe the saloon can be ordered with folding rear seat backs as an option. We had a 3series saloon with optional folding rear seats a few years ago

In 2015 I had a passat saloon for a year, it had folding rear seat backs

It was OK.. plenty of space providing you could get your load though one of the rear doors, as boot access was limited

When I bought my 2nd 5 series estate, I looked closely at the gt, but stayed with the estate as I got a better deal 

 

[plasticpenguin]

Good challenge/question! I went through a phase of mad swapping but have been a good boy for a while now, so honestly I don’t expect to be hauling huge speakers around very often. If and when I do, they will be my Posselts (about 6ft tall) which would realistically need an estate not a saloon, or my Thiel CS2.2 which are shorter but chunkier.

I guess the switch to a saloon would be easier if the seats folded down “just in case”. That would certainly give more flexibility.

Understand, sir. It is tricky. Not many saloon car rear seats fold down and if they do the gap that goes from the boot to the rear seats is quite limited.

As someone else mentioned Audi A6 is probably the best compromise.

 

[Bethelcat]

You could just get the car you like, regardless of speaker space, and hire a van if you need to move speakers at some point


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[Bazzer]

Nigel @greybeard has a Jaguar Saloon , Colin folding rear seats ?

 

[Tony_J]

Nigel @greybeard has a Jaguar Saloon , Colin folding rear seats ?

Jaguar e-pace (or i-pace if you fancy green creds) would be an interesting choice...

 

[meninblack]

My BMW 3-series has folding rear seats.

 

[Tony_J]

My BMW 3-series has folding rear seats.

Do the direction indicators work...?  :dunno:

 

[meninblack]

The what now?

 

[greybeard]

Nigel @greybeard has a Jaguar Saloon , Colin folding rear seats ?

Not on the XE, not sure about the XF.