idiot needs help - another what car thread

[darren9]

Sorry for starting another what car thread but I'm opening up things to the PH masses for help.

I'll need an estate very shortly, we have a bullmastiff puppy which is rapidly growing (she's 6 months old and already bigger than a spaniel) so the back seat is getting a bit full of dog and means we can't ever have passengers. It will also be used as our daily transport so needs to be reliable.

Budget is tight - I'll only have about 2k.


So, what are the suggestions?

[Jayho]

Honda Civic Aerodeck?

If I manage to sell my iggy before my bro sells his Aerodeck VTI I'm taking it off his hands! :P I love the damn thing!

If you done use the vtec its quite economical, and if you're needing a bit more oomph you've got it!

[anonymous-user]

Peugeot 406 HDi Estate with heated leather seats and the armrest....

[darren9]

doogz said:

Disco
Shogun
Legacy
A4
A6
Passat
Mondeo
etc.

Any more criteria?
Fuel type?
Gearbox?
Drivetrain layout?

I'm not bothered about fuel type
gearbox has to be manual as auto's confuse me.
FWD or 4WD.

I'm not allowed a Disco or any other 4x4 (SWMBO says so and she'll be using it too) and since the disco is what I really want I can't think of any other alternatives, hence this thread.

There just needs to be room enough for us, decent rear cabin space for any passengers and enough room in the boot for the dog (as she's going to get f*cking big)

Considering at the moment

A4
Passat (4motion in budget?)
or focus

Though most of these seem to be quite leggy models. Are they worth a punt at high milage?

[300bhp/ton]

darren9 said:

doogz said:

Disco
Shogun
Legacy
A4
A6
Passat
Mondeo
etc.

Any more criteria?
Fuel type?
Gearbox?
Drivetrain layout?

I'm not bothered about fuel type
gearbox has to be manual as auto's confuse me.
FWD or 4WD.

I'm not allowed a Disco or any other 4x4 (SWMBO says so and she'll be using it too) and since the disco is what I really want I can't think of any other alternatives, hence this thread.

There just needs to be room enough for us, decent rear cabin space for any passengers and enough room in the boot for the dog (as she's going to get f*cking big)

Considering at the moment

A4
Passat (4motion in budget?)
or focus

Though most of these seem to be quite leggy models. Are they worth a punt at high milage?

lots of estate options at this money. I suspect almost from any and every car maker if you consider older or higher mileage vehicles, e.g. a BMW e36 328 touring.

Maybe a Subaru Wagon, Forrester, Legacy would be a good bet.

[rallycross]

Dont discount the Mondeo Tdci Estate.

It is a suprisingly good thing to drive, i had one that had done 145k miles and it still drove very well, just like a low mileage car, returned 48 mpg on the motorway at high speed, and was nice inside, huge space in the back, did not feel too big or soft to drive.

You get 6 speed and I think it was the 150 bhp model (?) it certainly went well enough.

£2k will get you a high mileage example eg 2002/3.

[Highway Star]

Octavia TDi estate.

[Zippee]

300bhp/ton said:

darren9 said:

doogz said:

Disco
Shogun
Legacy
A4
A6
Passat
Mondeo
etc.

Any more criteria?
Fuel type?
Gearbox?
Drivetrain layout?

I'm not bothered about fuel type
gearbox has to be manual as auto's confuse me.
FWD or 4WD.

I'm not allowed a Disco or any other 4x4 (SWMBO says so and she'll be using it too) and since the disco is what I really want I can't think of any other alternatives, hence this thread.

There just needs to be room enough for us, decent rear cabin space for any passengers and enough room in the boot for the dog (as she's going to get f*cking big)

Considering at the moment

A4
Passat (4motion in budget?)
or focus

Though most of these seem to be quite leggy models. Are they worth a punt at high milage?

lots of estate options at this money. I suspect almost from any and every car maker if you consider older or higher mileage vehicles, e.g. a BMW e36 328 touring.

Maybe a Subaru Wagon, Forrester, Legacy would be a good bet.

One of those bottom 3 would be a good bet or a Volvo estate of some sort. You'll need the biggest boot you can find ideally as they're effing huge dogs when grown. One of my staff breeds & shows mastiffs and gave up on estate cars due to lack of room. She now runs around in an L200 with the closed roof whotsit over the rear deck.

[5lab]

depending how bit the dog will get (don't know breeds), a V40 might be a good call. Classy, compact, reliable. The T4 goes like sh*t off a shovel and is very understated

Edited by 5lab on Wednesday 8th December 15:56

[aka_kerrly]

octavia VRS estate or the 150hp 4x4 version could be worth checking out as could a Volvo 85o T5

[Zippee]

5lab said:

depending how bit the dog will get (don't know breeds), a V40 might be a good call.

To give you an idea;

[thiscocks]

any pics of doggie?

[darren9]

This is her at the minute - at 6 months old





You can tell the cat really likes her!

She's not actually a pure bullmastiff she's half mastiff and half dogue de bordeaux - hence the tinge of ginge in her fur

and this is (about) how big she'll get (google image for illustration purposes only, the people in it are not me and Mrs Darren9) she'll probably be about 8 or 9 stone when grown too.



so you can see why we're considering an estate! Thanks for the suggestions, having never considered a "sensible" type car before it's appreciated.

[BeeRoad]

Well, looking from the perspective of the dog for a change, the one thing that I've found that really annoys dogs and makes them bad passengers is a lack of headroom. Work out the max possible height your dog will grow to and make sure the car you buy measures more than that from boot floor to headlining. I have a Fiat Doblo for carting my labrador about and while I appreciate that might be no good as an only car, it's ideal for the dog with huge headroom, lots of lolling around space and the holy grail of dog transport - the boot side windows open allowing venting of wet dog smells!

[Martial Arts Man]

Bullmastif owner here.

I'd get a 4x4 if you can; they really end up being big old beasts.

Another thing you may not have considered, for the future, is that BMs crash and bang around the inside of any vehicle due to their mass. Any sort of cornering and they're flying left right and centre. One has to be very sypathetic when driving them about.

[darren9]

Well I'm tempted now to wait until summer when everyone has forgot that sometimes it snows and buy a 4x4 when they're a bit cheaper.