Diesel Auto Estate £6-8k

[Slinky1989]

Hi guys,

I've recently changed jobs and gone from working at home to a 35mile each way daily commute, so my £750 Volvo V40 shed that I used to use for odd jobs and ferrying the family around just isn't cutting it anymore.

So I'm looking for something:

• Budget of £6-8k
• comfortable,
• able to do 15-20K miles a year for 4-5 years relatively reliably,
• quickish but decent economy (looking at large diesels)
• that will also be able to fit my mountain bike and associated gear in the back for days riding away.

I've been mainly looking at Mercedes E320CDI's and Audi A6 3.0TDI's - both model year 2007/2008 with around 80-90K miles on the clock.

Both seem able to do moon mileage, and while I've seen a lot of praise for the E class, I've not seen many threads about the A6's of that era.

My questions are:

• Are there any major issues with either of these cars that I should be aware of? I've read up on needing to get a post facelift merc due to SBC issues for example.
• Has anyone owned either the merc or audi and can let me know how it's been for you?
• Are there any other cars I should consider?

There's this Merc near me that I'm going to go have a look at: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Any help is greatly appreciated! Cheers.

[waterwonder]

I've had a saloon version of the Merc.

Good car, relaxing to drive and capable of big miles but not immune from throwing a large bill.

I bought mine with similar mileage and needed a gearbox speed sensor, the turbo actuator doing twice and removal of a snapped glow plug (common so check they've been done at the right time). I sold it in the end as I really needed an estate, it needed £800 worth of tyres and the turbo actuator hadn't cured the fault leading me to suspect that the turbo vanes might be coked up.

If it had been an estate I'd have had it fixed and kept it. I have no doubt it would have done another 100k.

For reference I was getting around 35mpg doing mainly fast motorway work.

[markirl]

My daily is pretty much identical to the car you've posted there except it's on 120k and doesn't have memory seats. I'm surprised by the seat wear shown there, our seats are mint and look like new. Great car though and my wife loves it.

I came from an A8 and it doesn't really feel like a stepdown to be honest! We tried a few allroads and A6s and they just didn't feel in the same league.

My advice - mileage really isn't an issue on these cars so save £2k and go for something like this:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

We average 30-35mpg depending on use.

Other cars to consider:
Volvo V70 (d5 is a great engine but I prefer RWD)
BMW 530d (a better steer than the Mercedes and a better engine but not as comfortable as the Merc)

Edited by markirl on Saturday 20th April 10:11

[ZX10R NIN]

Mondeo Titanium X Sport

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

508 GT/Allure

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Accord ES GT

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Or as you say an E320cdi Sport.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...