Spacious comfortable car for up to 5k?

[kuro]

pablo said:

I was in a similar position recently, looked at 3 series touring but people want £5k for high mileage 318Ds so I looked around for something else, I liked the Lexus IS200 Sportcross, rare, it looks good but I worried the 2L straight 6 is thirsty, 6 sp manual though!.

Also looked at the first generation of A4 Allroads which look great, loads of space and have huge torque but again running costs could be high and they are getting old. Toyota Avensis' look dull, and probably are but a few models had the 180bhp engine which could be worth a look. Didnt look at Mondeos as they are too long for my garage, same as C200 Mercs.

Eventually I bought an 6 speed auto Saab 9-3 1.9 TID Vector Sport, loads of space, goes well enough as its the 150 bhp engine, sort of subtle and very comfy.

Parkers have loads of stats on the website for all the models you can think of, well worth a look.

I had the same saab but I ended up hating it. Had some intermittent idling problems with it and then the autobox started playing up last winter. On cold mornings I couldnt get the fking thing off my drive for ten minutes because it wouldnt engage drive. Got quoted £2k for a replacement box. It spoiled my experience of these cars which is a shame as they are quite a nice drive.

[Oilchange]

OK, IF, and it's a rather big 'if' you can get past the daft 'it must be German' brainwashing then these*:
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/r...
http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/r...
Drives well > yes, very, chassis was lauded in reviews
0-60 <10secs > Yes but not by much, maybe 8-9 secs
Good spec > yes
Carries passengers well > definately. Probabaly the best ride this side of a Rolls Royce, no joke. I own one and it's astonishingly smooth on long journeys. Better by a MILE than anything Audi/BMW.
Downside > can you live with the ignorant attitudes of others?

• bearing in mind the engine is a BMW turbo diesel!

Edited by Oilchange on Thursday 29th January 16:31

[nct001]

kambites said:

How about a Citroen C6? Probably the best ride quality of any road car I've been in.

Great car, but seriously you really need to drive some more cars.

[George111]

Volvo S80 not good enough then ?

[Fittster]

nct001 said:

kambites said:

How about a Citroen C6? Probably the best ride quality of any road car I've been in.

Great car, but seriously you really need to drive some more cars.

Seriously, which 5K cars ride better?

[TTwiggy]

The 2.7 diesel Jag XJ is (just) in budget...