Estate Cars Under £5k

[Charlking]

Morning!

My first post so hope I'm posting in the correct area of the forum.

Looking for an estate car under £5k to use for work (approx 25k miles per year, mostly motorway) and also to sleep in the back occasionally when I go climbing in Scotland or Wales for the weekend.

Currently looking at a Volvo V50 2.0 R Design & a Mazda 6 2.2D Sport.

I'm pretty clueless when it comes to cars but from initial research these seem like okay choices.

Are these decent choices? Should I be considering something else?

Would be nice to have something nippy with good handling.

Thanks in advance!!

[Bill]

IIRC the Mazda diesel engines don't have a great reputation for reliability.

[dontlookdown]

Mazda 6 is a good shout, but get a petrol one if you can. They are bulletproof, the diesels less so.

[Summit_Detailing]

V50 not that big in the back, more lifestyle estate than load lugger.

Early 2.2 Mazda diesels are fragile things to be polite.

Mondeo, Insignia and maybe Accord would be what I'd be on the hunt for at this price point.

Cheers,

Chris

[Bobupndown]

Skoda Superb estate?

[Gordon Hill]

Mercedes w211 E Class estate, humongous load capacity, diesels are bullet proof for motorway work and the ride quality is sublime.

[Jazoli]

Gordon Hill said:

Mercedes w211 E Class estate, humongous load capacity, diesels are bullet proof for motorway work and the ride quality is sublime.

They aren't bulletproof though, have SBC brakes that the pump is guaranteed to fail and all sorts of niggles appearing at £5k or less.

I've had two and they can be very needy cars.

OP I'd be looking at a petrol Avensis or diesel Accord, diesel Mondeo or petrol Insignia, or a Volvo V70D5.

[Shiv_P]

Got to be a 2.0TDCI Mondeo is 140 or 163PS trim. Reliable, parts cheap & readily available. Shares the engine with Peugeot

[nobrakes]

Nippy and good handling are mutually exclusive to sub £5k estates.

If u r toying with having to crash out in it the odd night you’ll be far better with one of the larger ones and make sure the rear seats fold completely flat.

I’d go Mondeo. Serving will be cheap.

[ZX10R NIN]

Charlking said:

Morning!

My first post so hope I'm posting in the correct area of the forum.

Looking for an estate car under £5k to use for work (approx 25k miles per year, mostly motorway) and also to sleep in the back occasionally when I go climbing in Scotland or Wales for the weekend.

Currently looking at a Volvo V50 2.0 R Design & a Mazda 6 2.2D Sport.

I'm pretty clueless when it comes to cars but from initial research these seem like okay choices.

Are these decent choices? Should I be considering something else?

Would be nice to have something nippy with good handling.

Thanks in advance!!

At 5k I'd be looking at other options rather than the two above.

Insignia 2.0d Elite Nav, with this being a facelift model you avoid the potential oil pick up pipe issue, with all the options you're considering you should factor in that you should be servicing them twice a year:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202306118...

The last of the line Laguna is very good shout & because it's a forgotten car you'll get a good one with plenty left for running costs:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301253...

2.d 508 Allure 163 good cars & a nice option but I'd take the Insignia over it:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202306098...

Allure 140:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301283...

Or go leftfield & go for a medium size MPV like the Mazda5 which is Mazda6 estate in length but is just more spacious & versatile, it also comes with the 2.0d which is a much better engine than the 2.2d in the 6:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202306098...

Mondeo Titanium X 163:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202306098...

Edited by ZX10R NIN on Sunday 25th June 17:06

[Lester H]

Avensis estate, last model, petrol. ( Diesel not too reliable). We have one in the extended family, had Avensis saloon previously ( petrol). All the cliches about boring reliability are true and ,of course, excellent build quality and durability. The Valvematic engines will also rev very sweetly and if given an annual change of fully synthetic oil will go on and on. It will not feel like a BMW 330D. but it won’t hit you with silly bills and drivers won’t compete with you because they class it as boring. Give ‘em an occasional surprise.

Edited by Lester H on Sunday 25th June 18:40

[ChocolateFrog]

Personally I would go for a D5 engined V70.

Will go to big mileages
Reasonably economical
Reasonable performance
Great seats
Great stereo
Huge and well designed load area
Relatively rot resistant

Edit. Just seen the good handling caveat, they don't do that.

[Charlking]

Many thanks for all the responses. I'm probably asking too much for my budget to get good performance on top of the other requirements.

Will check out all the suggestions.

Appreciated

[smn159]

ChocolateFrog said:

Personally I would go for a D5 engined V70.

Will go to big mileages
Reasonably economical
Reasonable performance
Great seats
Great stereo
Huge and well designed load area
Relatively rot resistant

Edit. Just seen the good handling caveat, they don't do that.

This is the right answer. If good handling is that important then a big estate is never going to be the answer

Having said that I've got an E46 touring which can be made to handle reasonably well, but I wouldn't want to sleep in it...

[d_a_n1979]

Charlking said:

Many thanks for all the responses. I'm probably asking too much for my budget to get good performance on top of the other requirements.

Will check out all the suggestions.

Appreciated

Not really IMO

BMW 530D estate, E39 or E61

My pal has an E39 530D touring with nearly 200k miles on; its looked after/maintained by him and he sleeps in it regularly (keen biker and see kayak'er etc)

Load space with seats flat is more than large enough for a double inflatable camping mattress

Edited by d_a_n1979 on Sunday 25th June 14:10

[Gordon Hill]

Jazoli said:

Gordon Hill said:

Mercedes w211 E Class estate, humongous load capacity, diesels are bullet proof for motorway work and the ride quality is sublime.

They aren't bulletproof though, have SBC brakes that the pump is guaranteed to fail and all sorts of niggles appearing at £5k or less.

I've had two and they can be very needy cars.

OP I'd be looking at a petrol Avensis or diesel Accord, diesel Mondeo or petrol Insignia, or a Volvo V70D5.

Face-lift after 2006 doesn't have the SBC pump, they did away with it.

[nobrakes]

ZX10R NIN said:

Charlking said:

Morning!

My first post so hope I'm posting in the correct area of the forum.

Looking for an estate car under £5k to use for work (approx 25k miles per year, mostly motorway) and also to sleep in the back occasionally when I go climbing in Scotland or Wales for the weekend.

Currently looking at a Volvo V50 2.0 R Design & a Mazda 6 2.2D Sport.

I'm pretty clueless when it comes to cars but from initial research these seem like okay choices.

Are these decent choices? Should I be considering something else?

Would be nice to have something nippy with good handling.

Thanks in advance!!

At 5k I'd be looking at other options rather than the two above.

Insignia 2.0d Elite Nav, with this being a facelift model you avoid the potential oil pick up pipe issue, with all the options you're considering you should factor in that you should be servicing them twice a year:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202306118...

The last of the line Laguna is very good shout & because it's a forgotten car you'll get a good one with plenty left for running costs:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301253...

2.d 508 Allure 163 good cars & a nice option but I'd take the Insignia over it:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202306098...

Allure 140:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202301283...

Or go leftfield & go for a medium size MPV like the Mazda5 which is Mazda6 estate in length but is just more spacious & versatile, it also comes with the 2.0d which is a much better engine than the 2.2d in the 6:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202306098...

Mondeo Titanium X 163:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202306098...

Edited by ZX10R NIN on Sunday 25th June 17:06

That X 163 looks a nice car.

Don’t be afraid to travel for the right car.

[SlowV6]

nobrakes said:

That X 163 looks a nice car.

Don’t be afraid to travel for the right car.

That is almost identical to mine down to the colour, the style pack and even the MF62 V** bit of the number plate. I have the Sat-Nav/reversing camera on mine too, but others might prefer the Sony DAB.

I am really happy with mine. I paid about £1k less than this in May 2021, so given this one is under 100K miles, 2 previous owners and with a decent looking MOT history I think its a decent price in the current market.

One thing I would ask is if the timing belt and water pump has been done. They are due at 10years so that is right about now. Could be a bargaining point.

I can't really fault my Mondeo. Mark 4.5 Tit X is definitely the trim to have and the 2.0TDCi is a well proven engine. It just does everything well. Only downside is they are massive, so car parks can be a hassle.

Good luck.

[nobrakes]

You are in W212 220cdi territory at 5 grand, too.

[ZX10R NIN]

nobrakes said:

That X 163 looks a nice car.

Don’t be afraid to travel for the right car.

I absolutely agree with this don't be afraid to travel.