Which estate car? - £2k - Economical - Reliable - Page 1 - Car Buying

milfordkong

Original Poster

1,302 posts

252 months

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Tuesday 12th June 2018

Thinking of getting a cheap estate for trips down to the French Alps, my main criteria is:

- Estate, at least Focus / Megane sized or larger.

- Less than £2k to purchase

- Reliable and cheap to maintain, so if anything does go wrong then it's not going to be a huge bill running into the thousands. I guess that really means the simpler the mechanics, the better, as well as decent and cheap parts availability.

- Relatively economical, should do 40mpg comfortably. Petrol would be nice but a diesel would be ok if it fits the other criteria.

Does anybody have ownership experience of a car that they think fits the above? The brand or image doesn't matter at all - It just needs to get me from the UK to the Alps repeatedly with as minimal fuss as possible. I'm looking for real world experience of a car doing a similar job really, I can search Auto Trader or eBay all day for cars that I think might fit the bill but there's nothing like real world recommendations. So for example if somebody has had a Mondeo Estate for 12 years doing regular long journeys and it's never given them a bill bigger than a couple of hundred quid then that's the kind of information i'm after.

simonrockman

7,054 posts

275 months

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Tuesday 12th June 2018

My Subaru Legacy is at 150k+ miles, 2008. The last MOT had one gaiter which needed replacing, other than that it's been super solid.
Very comfy, eats the miles to Leicester, Manchester and Liverpool. Cavernous.

It is thirsty, I've once seen 30mpg on a long run but will easily drop to the teens in town. Typically low 20s, and car tax is lots but it's a 3.0 B-spec.

If you went for a 2.0 you'd see better mileage.

milfordkong

Original Poster

1,302 posts

252 months

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Tuesday 12th June 2018

simonrockman said:

My Subaru Legacy is at 150k+ miles, 2008. The last MOT had one gaiter which needed replacing, other than that it's been super solid.
Very comfy, eats the miles to Leicester, Manchester and Liverpool. Cavernous.

It is thirsty, I've once seen 30mpg on a long run but will easily drop to the teens in town. Typically low 20s, and car tax is lots but it's a 3.0 B-spec.

If you went for a 2.0 you'd see better mileage.

Thanks Simon, unfortunately the car before my current was an Impreza Wagon and whilst I loved it, the transmission failed not long after I purchased it and the bill was going to be close to the purchase price of the car (I sold it on eBay with the problems listed in the end). Has put me off a little bit unfortunately as a Legacy would really fit the bill and the AWD would be welcome too in the winter months.

Gruber

6,313 posts

234 months

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Tuesday 12th June 2018

I think I'd be looking at the old 1.9tdi VAG engine in either a Passat or A4/A6 from the early 2000s, if you can find one in good order.

I think it was a great engine - relatively smooth for an old diesel, economical and seemingly capable of mega miles.

By no means the last word in driver enjoyment, but that doesn't seem to be one of your criteria.

milfordkong

Original Poster

1,302 posts

252 months

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Tuesday 12th June 2018

Gruber said:

I think I'd be looking at the old 1.9tdi VAG engine in either a Passat or A4/A6 from the early 2000s, if you can find one in good order.

I think it was a great engine - relatively smooth for an old diesel, economical and seemingly capable of mega miles.

By no means the last word in driver enjoyment, but that doesn't seem to be one of your criteria.

Driver enjoyment is not a priority for this car, if I went ahead there'd be a second car where that would be the main focus.

Ok this is a good shout, are there any potentially big bills with this engine?

Muddle238

4,273 posts

133 months

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Tuesday 12th June 2018

Rover 75 Tourer CDTI

Less than £2k - check
40mpg or better - check (I'm getting almost 50mpg at the moment)
Reliable - check...
Comfortable
Parts are cheap
Easy to work on

milfordkong

Original Poster

1,302 posts

252 months

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Tuesday 12th June 2018

Muddle238 said:

Rover 75 Tourer CDTI

Less than £2k - check
40mpg or better - check (I'm getting almost 50mpg at the moment)
Reliable - check...
Comfortable
Parts are cheap
Easy to work on

Cheers Muddle, that's a good shout, i'll have a search!

ZX10R NIN

29,763 posts

145 months

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Tuesday 12th June 2018

milfordkong

Original Poster

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252 months

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Tuesday 12th June 2018

ZX10R NIN said:

Cheers for the suggestions, Legacy is out for the aforementioned reason and the 318i is out due to RWD and winter in the alps not being particularly compatible. Other ideas are good though, thank you.

selym

9,570 posts

191 months

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Tuesday 12th June 2018

I bought an Octavia 2.0 TDi recently, 55 plate L and K thing. Incredibly solid. I like it.

steve-5snwi

9,792 posts

113 months

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Tuesday 12th June 2018

Mondeo or Rover 75 for me, possibly a Saab 9-5.

JJ55

763 posts

135 months

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Tuesday 12th June 2018

A Saab 9-5 or Volvo would be my shout. Comfort & luxury for a long journey. Both also have huge boot space.

bearman68

4,903 posts

152 months

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Tuesday 12th June 2018

Volvo for me - I've had most of the other things people have listed, and the Volvo has the best seats, so is the nicest drive. My choice of engine would be the 2.0 diesel I think. I have the D5 in mine,and it has lots of torque and is smooth and pretty quick, but will only get to low 40's on a decent high speed run.

milfordkong

Original Poster

1,302 posts

252 months

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Wednesday 13th June 2018

bearman68 said:

Volvo for me - I've had most of the other things people have listed, and the Volvo has the best seats, so is the nicest drive. My choice of engine would be the 2.0 diesel I think. I have the D5 in mine,and it has lots of torque and is smooth and pretty quick, but will only get to low 40's on a decent high speed run.

Thanks, my concern with Volvo is high parts prices, my sister has a rather elderly XC90 and when things go wrong the bills are pretty sizeable.

ZX10R NIN

29,763 posts

145 months

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Wednesday 13th June 2018

I'd say look at the Ford Vauxhall or Nissan they will be sensible parts wise.

CJ1

468 posts

98 months

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Wednesday 13th June 2018

Another vote here for the Passat 1.9tdi, absolutely amazing engines, bulletproof. Could also consider an Audi A4/6 with this engine but you’ll get a lot more for your money with the Passat. Our Polo 1.9TDI averages 50mpg or 65 on a run, so a Passat should to 45-50 no problem.

Edit: could also go for the newer 2.0TDI model that fist just within your budget (2006 onwards), however try to avoid one with a DPF! I think they appeared around 2008

Edited by CJ1 on Wednesday 13th June 10:34

milfordkong

Original Poster

1,302 posts

252 months

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Wednesday 13th June 2018

CJ1 said:

Another vote here for the Passat 1.9tdi, absolutely amazing engines, bulletproof. Could also consider an Audi A4/6 with this engine but you’ll get a lot more for your money with the Passat. Our Polo 1.9TDI averages 50mpg or 65 on a run, so a Passat should to 45-50 no problem.

Edit: could also go for the newer 2.0TDI model that fist just within your budget (2006 onwards), however try to avoid one with a DPF! I think they appeared around 2008

Edited by CJ1 on Wednesday 13th June 10:34

Thank you, definitely want to avoid the dreaded DPF - Seems the Passat is front runner currently, need to go and check one out.

GreatGranny

9,519 posts

246 months

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Wednesday 13th June 2018

milfordkong said:

Thanks, my concern with Volvo is high parts prices, my sister has a rather elderly XC90 and when things go wrong the bills are pretty sizeable.

TBH XC90 is in another planet with regards cost of fixing it compared to the V50.
V70 can be expensive especially suspension but is generally reliable and takes the miles really well.

I've had 2 x XC90s, 2 x V70s, an 240, S40 and wife currently has a V60.

The S40 threw up the biggest bills (DMF/clutch & DPF) but it was doing 30k a year.

Mammasaid

5,143 posts

117 months

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Wednesday 13th June 2018

CJ1 said:

Another vote here for the Passat 1.9tdi, absolutely amazing engines, bulletproof. Could also consider an Audi A4/6 with this engine but you’ll get a lot more for your money with the Passat. Our Polo 1.9TDI averages 50mpg or 65 on a run, so a Passat should to 45-50 no problem.

Edit: could also go for the newer 2.0TDI model that fist just within your budget (2006 onwards), however try to avoid one with a DPF! I think they appeared around 2008

Edited by CJ1 on Wednesday 13th June 10:34

1.9 TDI all the way, avoid the 2.0's they are notorious for stripping the oil pump drive causing catastrophic issues.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.ph...

milfordkong

Original Poster

1,302 posts

252 months

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Wednesday 13th June 2018

Mammasaid said:

1.9 TDI all the way, avoid the 2.0's they are notorious for stripping the oil pump drive causing catastrophic issues.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.ph...

Thank you, just the sort of info i'm after!