Big boot brigade – Merc E v BMW 5 v Audi A6 v Honda Accord
Discussion
At 485 litres of boot space, I was confident our practical Civic hatch-back would swallow the double-buggy we want to buy easily!
My confidence was smashed after three attempts to get it in – we finally succeeded but not without having to give the boot-lid a good push.
Once in, we realised there was very little room for anything else – we have been told that there will be a lot of baby related paraphernalia as well as the buggy.
So, it has dawned on us now that we really need big boot space, particularly if we ever want to go on holiday! I know I have been banging on about Land Rovers and Chevrolet Captivas in GG over the last 2 weeks, but my missus would rather I got an estate.
Car would be for me so I want something reasonable to drive but uber-comfy.
Budget £8-10k
So I am looking at:
E60 BMW 5-Series Touring (410 Litres)
Mercedes E-Class (699 Litres)
Audi A6 Avant (565 Litres)
Honda Accord Tourer (626 Litres)
E-Class wins on enormous boot space, but is this generation of E-Class any good?
Accord is also very practical but perhaps not quite such a premium feel? Would have no worries with reliability.
Audi seems reasonable – would be concerned about running costs (servicing /parts).
BMW is surprisingly small (really smaller than my Civic?) but I guess I don’t discount it just because the estate hatch is more versatile – I can stack the buggy a bit more that in the hatch.
To be honest, some of the 4x4 I have looked at don’t have anywhere near as much space in the boot as say the Merc.
So, any advise on these? Or any alternatives?
My confidence was smashed after three attempts to get it in – we finally succeeded but not without having to give the boot-lid a good push.
Once in, we realised there was very little room for anything else – we have been told that there will be a lot of baby related paraphernalia as well as the buggy.
So, it has dawned on us now that we really need big boot space, particularly if we ever want to go on holiday! I know I have been banging on about Land Rovers and Chevrolet Captivas in GG over the last 2 weeks, but my missus would rather I got an estate.
Car would be for me so I want something reasonable to drive but uber-comfy.
Budget £8-10k
So I am looking at:
E60 BMW 5-Series Touring (410 Litres)
Mercedes E-Class (699 Litres)
Audi A6 Avant (565 Litres)
Honda Accord Tourer (626 Litres)
E-Class wins on enormous boot space, but is this generation of E-Class any good?
Accord is also very practical but perhaps not quite such a premium feel? Would have no worries with reliability.
Audi seems reasonable – would be concerned about running costs (servicing /parts).
BMW is surprisingly small (really smaller than my Civic?) but I guess I don’t discount it just because the estate hatch is more versatile – I can stack the buggy a bit more that in the hatch.
To be honest, some of the 4x4 I have looked at don’t have anywhere near as much space in the boot as say the Merc.
So, any advise on these? Or any alternatives?
I too have been looking at estates and have come to realise that the litres quoted are the same as the saloons. It seems that the capacity is what is available below the boot line/parcel shelf.
Thus in the more squared off estates you could almost double that figure.
I did sit in a Captiva yesterday and was surprised by the interior quality and space.
Thus in the more squared off estates you could almost double that figure.
I did sit in a Captiva yesterday and was surprised by the interior quality and space.
the thing with measuring boot space on estates is its normally up to the little load cover thing. You actually have far more space if you're willing to go higher than this.
group test here http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/carreviews/grouptests...
what about a merc r class? without the rear seats i'd suspect the boot would be massive. the E class is pretty large though. You might find the accord\v70 have a lower floor than the others due to being fwd (depending on the a6 this might be the case) and not needing space for the diff etc under the floor. I've seen a review claim 745l of boot space in a v70 (the aa) - not sure if that's accurate but it's def bigger than the 5
group test here http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/carreviews/grouptests...
what about a merc r class? without the rear seats i'd suspect the boot would be massive. the E class is pretty large though. You might find the accord\v70 have a lower floor than the others due to being fwd (depending on the a6 this might be the case) and not needing space for the diff etc under the floor. I've seen a review claim 745l of boot space in a v70 (the aa) - not sure if that's accurate but it's def bigger than the 5
I was looking at my BiL's E46 estate and because of the (sporty) sloping roof there is hardly any extra space over the saloon. The newer 5s have the same problem.
The E-class Merc is massive and the load space is much longer than the other estates that I have looked at and of course the older V70s are big too.
The problem with newer estates are that in the stylist's attempts to make it sporty looking they have lost loads of luggage space, the main reason for having an estate in the first place.
The newer Mondeos look big by the way.
The E-class Merc is massive and the load space is much longer than the other estates that I have looked at and of course the older V70s are big too.
The problem with newer estates are that in the stylist's attempts to make it sporty looking they have lost loads of luggage space, the main reason for having an estate in the first place.
The newer Mondeos look big by the way.
Yeah, think I am unfortunately discounting the BMW.
The Accord looks a bit awkward from the back I think.
The A6 is a nice car but think I would lose sleep over potential big bills.
That leaves the Merc and V70 as front runners. I am entering a world of pain with the Merc? I get the impression that the mid-2000s Mercs were not the best but I could be wrong?
The Accord looks a bit awkward from the back I think.
The A6 is a nice car but think I would lose sleep over potential big bills.
That leaves the Merc and V70 as front runners. I am entering a world of pain with the Merc? I get the impression that the mid-2000s Mercs were not the best but I could be wrong?
Legend83 said:
Yeah, think I am unfortunately discounting the BMW.
The Accord looks a bit awkward from the back I think.
The A6 is a nice car but think I would lose sleep over potential big bills.
That leaves the Merc and V70 as front runners. I am entering a world of pain with the Merc? I get the impression that the mid-2000s Mercs were not the best but I could be wrong?
The a6 is the only car I wouldn't worry about big bills , I had 2 and never had a problem . The Accord looks a bit awkward from the back I think.
The A6 is a nice car but think I would lose sleep over potential big bills.
That leaves the Merc and V70 as front runners. I am entering a world of pain with the Merc? I get the impression that the mid-2000s Mercs were not the best but I could be wrong?
Instead of buying a new car to fit s buggy , why don't you just buy a smaller buggy ?
We're on our 2nd A6 Saloon, the current one's a June 05 model, SE 2.4. We've had it from almost new and it's now on, I think, 85,000mi. Very capable, comfy well built and equipped car. Has taken us (family of 4) across France, to the deep south etc for 2 weeks every year no trouble. It's only ever needed it's annual service, other than one minor breakdown. Audi main dealer service is always very good, despite the fact that it's a huge and heavy car, brakes and suspension items seem to wear very well. There's a pretty comprehensive breakdown of the car and all of it's running costs (bar last weeks service) in my garage bit. 
anonymous said:
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I've a feeling it's £245 for tax, fuel economy isn't great, averages just under 30mpg I think, compared against my old Renault, it was pretty good. We went for it for a bit more power, (came from a 150bhp 1.8T) didn't want a diesel, but liked how smooth the 2.7TDI was, the 2.8FSI wasn't available.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff