Fast estate for road trip.

[Grahamr123]

Hi,

Earlier this summer me and some friends did a road trip round Europe in an old BMW E39 we bought for £900.
See photo album here

It was a fantastic holiday and we are planning to do it again.

The biggest problem we had, apart from the terrible mpg from the awful TDS engine in our BMW, was simply not enough storage space in the car. So next time round we are getting an estate.

What would be a suitable car?

I was looking at:
Ex-police V70 T5
Saab 9-3 2.3T HOT estate
MG ZT-T 190
BMW 530i Estate
Merc E320
Audi A6 Estate
Subaru Legacy Estate

It needs to be quick, but get at least 25mpg. Reliable and not expensive to repair (The BMW cost us at least £400 in the short space we had it to fix the constant problems).

I'd prefer manual but i'd be ok with a good automatic.

Budgets around £1500 tops. We will sell it on, so it needs to be a car that keeps it value come 2 months later.


Also, can anyone know an essential driving road trip places to go? We have already done the infamous Stelvio pass to Davos. Was thinking of stopping over at the Lamborghini factory and getting the tour! (apparently the Ferrari ones a bit crap).

Thanks!

Edited by Grahamr123 on Sunday 20th October 16:34

[Disco You]

Mercedes S124

[XJ Flyer]

If you happy with the ZTT then go for the V8.Especially something like this.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQOlGryDcJs

[williredale]

kapiteinlangzaam said:

Got to be Swedish for me.

T5 all the way.

Something like this would be ideal I think:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOLVO-V70-Estate-T5-SE-B...

Edited by kapiteinlangzaam on Sunday 20th October 16:36

Yes this! Ex police ones tend to be white with cloth seats.

I have a C70 T5 but I keep toying with the idea of replacing it with a V70 T5. It's not going to happen soon as I keep spending money on my current car but this is exactly what I'd be looking at.

[Grahamr123]

williredale said:

Yes this! Ex police ones tend to be white with cloth seats.

I have a C70 T5 but I keep toying with the idea of replacing it with a V70 T5. It's not going to happen soon as I keep spending money on my current car but this is exactly what I'd be looking at.

Yes, I've seen a few of them on autotrader. They look like a whole lotta car for the money. How reliable are the turbos on the T5s? Don't really want to be having to be replacing a borked turbo

[16plates]

Me and 3 mates done a round trip of Scotland in an old smoker Omega 2.6L V6 estate. That thing was a beast, held 4 of us plus luggage with ease. And it was reasonably quick.

Not sure what economy we got but it wasn't 'bad' as such. And we abused it between the 4 of us for the week.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/used-cars/vauxhall/ome...

[hornetrider]

Saab 9-5 Aero?

[williredale]

Grahamr123 said:

Yes, I've seen a few of them on autotrader. They look like a whole lotta car for the money. How reliable are the turbos on the T5s? Don't really want to be having to be replacing a borked turbo

My C70 has almost 160k on the original turbo. I haven't read much about turbo problems but the auto boxes can be problematic. Mine's a manual though and that's what you're looking at so should be fine.

[FakeConcern]

I had a 2002 V70 T5 from 2005 until 2012. Sold with auto box problem at nearly 200000 miles. Still fast & comfortable & gave 28mpg all the time. Would have lived with the gearbox problem but needed a smaller car. I would have one again if I needed the room.

[CB2152]

The T5 engine sounds lovely when you give it some. A friend of mine (on here as well) has an ex-police V70 T5 and I have a 9-5 Aero (albeit the saloon). His did have to have quite a bit done to some pipes to make it run properly again, but it did have an owner who we think wasn't too bothered about it before my friend bought it. The volvo probably would have lost most of its value by now anyway, and if you can smarten it up a bit before selling it on you may well be able to profit...

[Grahamr123]

CB2152 said:

The T5 engine sounds lovely when you give it some. A friend of mine (on here as well) has an ex-police V70 T5 and I have a 9-5 Aero (albeit the saloon). His did have to have quite a bit done to some pipes to make it run properly again, but it did have an owner who we think wasn't too bothered about it before my friend bought it. The volvo probably would have lost most of its value by now anyway, and if you can smarten it up a bit before selling it on you may well be able to profit...

Whats the Saab Like? I've had a bit of a soft spot for saabs recently.

[CB2152]

Grahamr123 said:

CB2152 said:

The T5 engine sounds lovely when you give it some. A friend of mine (on here as well) has an ex-police V70 T5 and I have a 9-5 Aero (albeit the saloon). His did have to have quite a bit done to some pipes to make it run properly again, but it did have an owner who we think wasn't too bothered about it before my friend bought it. The volvo probably would have lost most of its value by now anyway, and if you can smarten it up a bit before selling it on you may well be able to profit...

Whats the Saab Like? I've had a bit of a soft spot for saabs recently.

It's lovely . It'll have more spec on it at that price point (early ones were very well specced as standard), and it pulls through the gears a bit better than the Volvo. Gear ratios may be a factor in this, the Volvo's seem to be a bit longer. Mine is a tad more stiff in the suspension than the Volvo, that may be due to the Saloon/Estate difference...

[Grahamr123]

CB2152 said:

It's lovely . It'll have more spec on it at that price point (early ones were very well specced as standard), and it pulls through the gears a bit better than the Volvo. Gear ratios may be a factor in this, the Volvo's seem to be a bit longer. Mine is a tad more stiff in the suspension than the Volvo, that may be due to the Saloon/Estate difference...

Awesome. Has it got the 2.3T engine?

[CB2152]

Grahamr123 said:

Awesome. Has it got the 2.3T engine?

It has. 2.3 4cyl turbo with 250hp. On a trip from Bristol to Alton Towers and back (fair amounts of motorway and some twisty roads) it averaged 29 mpg over 250 ish miles

That also included 15 minutes stationary with the engine running after some plonker crashed into the back of me...

[Grahamr123]

CB2152 said:

It has. 2.3 4cyl turbo with 250hp. On a trip from Bristol to Alton Towers and back (fair amounts of motorway and some twisty roads) it averaged 29 mpg over 250 ish miles

That also included 15 minutes stationary with the engine running after some plonker crashed into the back of me...

I'm liking the sound of that

Our BMW with a measly 143bhp would barely get 25mpg on a run

[CB2152]

Grahamr123 said:

I'm liking the sound of that

Our BMW with a measly 143bhp would barely get 25mpg on a run

The way it gathers speed can be addictive. 3rd and 4th gears will see you doing licence losing speeds quite quickly if you're not paying attention to the speedometer.

My commute is 9 miles of: suburbs, traffic lights, a short 50mph road, and roundabouts. Lots of slowing and gaining speed and it's currently at 26 mpg. It did drop the other day when I gave it some on a good road, but only from 28 indicated to 25.5 indicated.

[Motorrad]

Grahamr123 said:

I'm liking the sound of that

Our BMW with a measly 143bhp would barely get 25mpg on a run

I had no idea the TDS was so poor. My E39 525D Touring will do high 50s on a run. Shed loads of room as well- you should get something different though so my vote would be an 850T5. You should manage 30mpg+ on a run.

[Grahamr123]

Motorrad said:

I had no idea the TDS was so poor. My E39 525D Touring will do high 50s on a run. Shed loads of room as well- you should get something different though so my vote would be an 850T5. You should manage 30mpg+ on a run.

Ours was a bit of a shed tbh. I think if you got one in better condition and minus the auto gearbox it would get much better mpg. The Trip computer thought we were getting 45mpg, But the fuel gauge thought quite differently

[Petrolhead_Rich]

You could have my passat for a grand, 2003 on a 52 plate, 2.0 petrol, estate, 108k on the clock, just needs taxing....

[Chiswickboy]

kapiteinlangzaam said:

Got to be Swedish for me.

T5 all the way.

Something like this would be ideal I think:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOLVO-V70-Estate-T5-SE-B...

Edited by kapiteinlangzaam on Sunday 20th October 16:36

Bit off subject but the seller's feedback says more about the buyer who left neg. fb than the seller. All for 99p FFS!