A what estate/crosscountry/offroader thread?
Discussion
Help me decide what to do!!!
I will be getting rid of the Lupo and taking over the '97 V70 TDI until it becomes uneconomical to repair. Thats a definite! The fact that it might only last a few months with me is neither here nor there lol
So, I need to find a car for the wife, we've done roughly 12k a year over the 8ish years that we've owned the V70. It shows 47mpg on the OBC, its reasonable to assume an actual 42-43mpg.
Current driving habits are 10 minutes commute on mostly B roads, general B road driving, a few 30min journeys a week on the A14 into Cambridge centre, a quick blast down the M11 to get to the airport and then roughly once a month (possibly twice a month in the summer) towing the horse trailer, plus any long distance journeys we do we normally take her car as its usually the comfortable one.
Due to the type of driving and the little amount of towing she does we've now decided an SUV is just too much and instead should go for an estate, but with added ground clearance for speed bumps (as they usually get taken flat out) and general crappy surfaces (pot holes/rutted etc) where larger tyre walls are of benefit, so a Volvo XC70 type of vehicle is ideal. It needs to be able to tow at least 1700kg.
With the current fuel prices and the way diesel taxation might be going, plus with modern diesels they generally cost more to maintain and the higher purchase price etc, include in that the current type of driving might it be worth going for a petrol rather than diesel?
So far the cars I've quickly researched are:
Audi A6 Allroad C5 (04-05) with the updated 2.5TDI. These can tow 2100kg.
Subaru Forester (02-08) with the petrol 2.5 boxer engine
Subaru Outback (03-09)
Of course there's the Volvo XC70 D5 (04-05) facelift 163bhp or the D5 185bhp.
Budget is £5-7k, but at £7k it has to be perfect with nothing needing doing to it.
She would like as new a car as possible (because woman) for that budget, but Im obviously looking at maintenance costs, possible DPFs, fuel economy etc etc (because Welsh).
Really don't know what to do sad.png Any other estate off roaders to consider?
I will be getting rid of the Lupo and taking over the '97 V70 TDI until it becomes uneconomical to repair. Thats a definite! The fact that it might only last a few months with me is neither here nor there lol
So, I need to find a car for the wife, we've done roughly 12k a year over the 8ish years that we've owned the V70. It shows 47mpg on the OBC, its reasonable to assume an actual 42-43mpg.
Current driving habits are 10 minutes commute on mostly B roads, general B road driving, a few 30min journeys a week on the A14 into Cambridge centre, a quick blast down the M11 to get to the airport and then roughly once a month (possibly twice a month in the summer) towing the horse trailer, plus any long distance journeys we do we normally take her car as its usually the comfortable one.
Due to the type of driving and the little amount of towing she does we've now decided an SUV is just too much and instead should go for an estate, but with added ground clearance for speed bumps (as they usually get taken flat out) and general crappy surfaces (pot holes/rutted etc) where larger tyre walls are of benefit, so a Volvo XC70 type of vehicle is ideal. It needs to be able to tow at least 1700kg.
With the current fuel prices and the way diesel taxation might be going, plus with modern diesels they generally cost more to maintain and the higher purchase price etc, include in that the current type of driving might it be worth going for a petrol rather than diesel?
So far the cars I've quickly researched are:
Audi A6 Allroad C5 (04-05) with the updated 2.5TDI. These can tow 2100kg.
Subaru Forester (02-08) with the petrol 2.5 boxer engine
Subaru Outback (03-09)
Of course there's the Volvo XC70 D5 (04-05) facelift 163bhp or the D5 185bhp.
Budget is £5-7k, but at £7k it has to be perfect with nothing needing doing to it.
She would like as new a car as possible (because woman) for that budget, but Im obviously looking at maintenance costs, possible DPFs, fuel economy etc etc (because Welsh).
Really don't know what to do sad.png Any other estate off roaders to consider?
Nissan X-Trail.
Girlfriend uses one for horsey stuff. Will tow 2000KG braked - enough for a single horse trailer, which is why we bought it, as she eventually wants to tow her own horse.
However, even if not used for towing, great car for this sort of use. Not a full on off roader, but part time 4WD, nice chunky tyres and high ride height for muddy tracks, stable yards, farms, etc. But at the same time, not too "uncarlike" - not a big footprint, easy to drive, excellent visibility and seating position. It's pretty much just an estate car sitting on higher suspension with big tyres. Indeed, the V5 lists the body type as "estate". Comfortable, loads of room inside.
We bought our 2005 2.2 DCi last November for £5k. Pretty reliable so far; had a warning light for sticky EGR valve about a year ago - I fixed that by giving the car an Italian tune up, it hasn't returned. Apart from that, I've just had some suspension bits refreshed - front/rear drop links, rear ARB bushes, and both front shocks replaced, but that was because girlfriend hit a nasty rock at the side of the road. Car is on about 122K miles, so worn suspension components were not unexpected, and not particularly expensive/hard to replace. The air-con compressor has siezed - I could replace it, but at £600 new, I'll just open the massive sunroof.
Not the most refined car in the world, but it's an excellent work horse and it gets treated as such, always full of mud and horse bits. And it's pulled itself out of some pretty deep mud at her stables without much bother, even on fairly normal road tyres (Premium Contact 5).
Girlfriend uses one for horsey stuff. Will tow 2000KG braked - enough for a single horse trailer, which is why we bought it, as she eventually wants to tow her own horse.
However, even if not used for towing, great car for this sort of use. Not a full on off roader, but part time 4WD, nice chunky tyres and high ride height for muddy tracks, stable yards, farms, etc. But at the same time, not too "uncarlike" - not a big footprint, easy to drive, excellent visibility and seating position. It's pretty much just an estate car sitting on higher suspension with big tyres. Indeed, the V5 lists the body type as "estate". Comfortable, loads of room inside.
We bought our 2005 2.2 DCi last November for £5k. Pretty reliable so far; had a warning light for sticky EGR valve about a year ago - I fixed that by giving the car an Italian tune up, it hasn't returned. Apart from that, I've just had some suspension bits refreshed - front/rear drop links, rear ARB bushes, and both front shocks replaced, but that was because girlfriend hit a nasty rock at the side of the road. Car is on about 122K miles, so worn suspension components were not unexpected, and not particularly expensive/hard to replace. The air-con compressor has siezed - I could replace it, but at £600 new, I'll just open the massive sunroof.
Not the most refined car in the world, but it's an excellent work horse and it gets treated as such, always full of mud and horse bits. And it's pulled itself out of some pretty deep mud at her stables without much bother, even on fairly normal road tyres (Premium Contact 5).
Edited by Conscript on Wednesday 28th January 14:12
Conscript said:
Nissan X-Trail.
Girlfriend uses one for horsey stuff. Will tow 2000KG braked - enough for a single horse trailer, which is why we bought it, as she eventually wants to tow her own horse.
However, even if not used for towing, great car for this sort of use. Not a full on off roader, but part time 4WD, nice chunky tyres and high ride height for muddy tracks, stable yards, farms, etc. But at the same time, not too "uncarlike" - not a big footprint, easy to drive, excellent visibility and seating position. It's pretty much just an estate car sitting on higher suspension with big tyres. Indeed, the V5 lists the body type as "estate". Comfortable, loads of room inside.
We bought our 2005 2.2 DCi last November for £5k. Pretty reliable so far; had a warning light for sticky EGR valve about a year ago - I fixed that by giving the car an Italian tune up, it hasn't returned. Apart from that, I've just had some suspension bits refreshed - front/rear drop links, rear ARB bushes, and both front shocks replaced, but that was because girlfriend hit a nasty rock at the side of the road. Car is on about 122K miles, so worn suspension components were not unexpected, and not particularly expensive/hard to replace. The air-con compressor has siezed - I could replace it, but at £600 new, I'll just open the massive sunroof.
Not the most refined car in the world, but it's an excellent work horse and it gets treated as such, always full of mud and horse bits. And it's pulled itself out of some pretty deep mud at her stables without much bother, even on fairly normal road tyres (Premium Contact 5).
Thanks conscript for the detailed reply, will definitely have to look at them. If yours is the mk2, looking on Parkers the mk3 (2007>) with the 2.0dCi lump can tow 2200kg, 400kg more than the XC70!Girlfriend uses one for horsey stuff. Will tow 2000KG braked - enough for a single horse trailer, which is why we bought it, as she eventually wants to tow her own horse.
However, even if not used for towing, great car for this sort of use. Not a full on off roader, but part time 4WD, nice chunky tyres and high ride height for muddy tracks, stable yards, farms, etc. But at the same time, not too "uncarlike" - not a big footprint, easy to drive, excellent visibility and seating position. It's pretty much just an estate car sitting on higher suspension with big tyres. Indeed, the V5 lists the body type as "estate". Comfortable, loads of room inside.
We bought our 2005 2.2 DCi last November for £5k. Pretty reliable so far; had a warning light for sticky EGR valve about a year ago - I fixed that by giving the car an Italian tune up, it hasn't returned. Apart from that, I've just had some suspension bits refreshed - front/rear drop links, rear ARB bushes, and both front shocks replaced, but that was because girlfriend hit a nasty rock at the side of the road. Car is on about 122K miles, so worn suspension components were not unexpected, and not particularly expensive/hard to replace. The air-con compressor has siezed - I could replace it, but at £600 new, I'll just open the massive sunroof.
Not the most refined car in the world, but it's an excellent work horse and it gets treated as such, always full of mud and horse bits. And it's pulled itself out of some pretty deep mud at her stables without much bother, even on fairly normal road tyres (Premium Contact 5).
Edited by 458bhp on Wednesday 28th January 19:20
I think mines a Mk1 (2001-07?). It's the T30 model designation. The next one is the T31 and I think the very newest one which has only just come out is the MK3.
However, I hear the newest model isn't all that...apparently it's much more car-like, whereas the earlier models are a bit more rugged. I cant say for sure though.
However, I hear the newest model isn't all that...apparently it's much more car-like, whereas the earlier models are a bit more rugged. I cant say for sure though.
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