2 cars for £20,000

[junglie]

You have £20k to spend on 2 cars. One must be an estate and the other must be relatively practical (no convertibles unfortunatley).

Estate should be diesel and the other is not an issue as it will mainly be on the motorway. The estate can be 4 cylinders but the other must be 5 or more and be a bit more fun.

Both should be manual, reliable and long lasting.

My current thoughts are:

VW Passat Estate 140 TDI Sport
BMW E90 330i

What options do you have?

[Dr Derek Doctors]

is this hypathetical or an actual thing you are doing?

[junglie]

Something I need to do and soon. Sold all my cars in the summer (was away for a period) and now need to buy some new vehicles because the wife has our only car and I have to either run or take the motorbike - neither massive fun in this weather!

[peterattheboro]

Estate - Volvo V70 2.4D

Fun - E46 M3

Probably even pocket some change to run the M3.

[Petrolhead_Rich]

RS4
M3

Complete!

Oh sorry, you said Diesel.

1.9TDI Passat/Focus/Mundano/Vectra

Fun Saloon - M3, Audi Quattro, MX5?

Edit because i read they both had to be practical!!!

Edited by Petrolhead_Rich on Wednesday 17th November 17:00

[jtwaring]

http://pistonheads.com/sales/2168342.htm

http://pistonheads.com/sales/2072916.htm

Job done!

ETA: my crap computer skills

Edited by jtwaring on Wednesday 17th November 17:04

[Petrolhead_Rich]

jtwaring said:

http://pistonheads.com/sales/2168342.htm

http://pistonheads.com/sales/2168342.htm

Job done!

Buy the same car twice???

[junglie]

The non estate car should be practical enough to pick up a few adults and have a far sized boot but won't be everyday requirement.

Love the thought of an S4 or E46 M3 but don't want any horrific bills so may have to be a compromise somewhere!

[jtwaring]

Petrolhead_Rich said:

jtwaring said:

http://pistonheads.com/sales/2168342.htm

http://pistonheads.com/sales/2168342.htm

Job done!

Buy the same car twice???

oops, thats my computer skills showing their true colours

[ManOpener]

peterattheboro said:

Estate - Volvo V70 2.4D

Fun - E46 M3

Probably even pocket some change to run the M3.

That's a pretty good shout, that is.
'sides, E46 M3s aren't exactly unreliable.

Edited by ManOpener on Wednesday 17th November 17:08

[blugnu]

I'd get an old shape (2004-2009?) Subabru Legacy diesel as the estate. It will last forever, go wherever, has entertaining handling and it's a diesel estate. It's equally at home in a field, on a motorway or on a gravel drive.

The new version is heavier, uglier, thirstier and slower, and apparently this constitutes progress.

Not sure on the other one - what are the criteria again?

this - http://preview.tinyurl.com/legacydiesel
and this - http://preview.tinyurl.com/deltaintegrale

plus about £3k of haggling.

Edited by blugnu on Wednesday 17th November 17:32

[sprouting]

520D touring

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2240361.htm

I'd rather have an e39 but that's just me;)

e36 M3 GT

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2154741.htm

As with the touring I'd choose the e36 because i prefer the older models.

[Jayho]

http://pistonheads.com/sales/2168342.htm

^Volvo Stolen from above^

http://pistonheads.com/sales/2078718.htm

For the ones thats just that bit more fun...

[anonymous-user]

Estate - Peugoet 406 HDi

Car - BMW E39 M5 / TVR Cerbera

[junglie]

Another TVR would be great but I need something that I can do a long motorway commute in every weekend so perhaps not the best choice - would be great for the back road part but probably not when you reach Birmingham and still have all the way to Carlisle to go in the rain!

[Mr2Mike]

2k on an old Octavia Estate and them blow the rest on the proper car.

[chrisispringles]

Estate: Volvo V70 D5 (£8000)

Practical toy: BMW 850CSi (£12000)

[junglie]

I know this goes against everything I have just said but what about a MB E320 CDI or the newer C320 CDI?

[SonicHedgeHog]

junglie said:

I know this goes against everything I have just said but what about a MB E320 CDI or the newer C320 CDI?

You're going to have to elaborate because this thread is going to turn into an enormous waste of time in the same way most of its predecessors did. How big an estate do you need? How old can it be? What is your budget for running costs? What is your definition of fun? Be totally honest because you are going to get stupid answers from people who won't have to pay for all the running costs or live with the car.

[junglie]

Ok - I will try and provide some more detail.

I would love an E39 M5 but it would always require money spent on it so not ideal. The estate should be big enough - I think the A4 is just on the cusp, V70 or Passat probably more useful. The running cost of something mainstream like those will be perfectly managable whereas a E55 AMG Estate probably would not be (although loads of fun!).

The 'other' car can be a little more special so E60 5 Series, A4 or the likes would be great. I do not mind which way the money goes 25/75%, 50/50% or any other combination - estate will be ferrying my soon to be son around so safety and reliability number 1 for that.

Does that help a little more?