What Car - £8k fun estate

[Jakg]

Currently have a Renault Megane 175 - https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

Wife is after a family and a 3-door apparently isn't compatible so I'm thinking of something larger.

I have two dogs so I was thinking an estate.

After something with decent handling (coming from the Megane)

Annual mileage is about 11k - so diesel would be preferable.

Might be interested in an auto (especially a DSG), ideally not FWD, and quicker than the Megane (so >200HP & <8 seconds 0-60).

Budget is up to £8k but ideally less.

The classic answer to this seems to be an E91 - 335d (leggy) / 330d / 325d.

Am I missing other options?

[stevemcs]

If you want rwd then that leaves you with a Merc or a BMW, wanting 8 seconds to 60 realistically puts you in V6/Straight 6, your mileage isn't massive and i'd put my faith in a petrol over a diesel.

Edited by stevemcs on Tuesday 21st January 19:07

[ZX10R NIN]

Just to be clear nothing will compare to your 175 & pretty much all your options will be sporty trim levels.

Why not FWD you can get some decent FWD estates for your budget:

308 GT 180 some haggling will get this near your budget

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Mondeo Titanium 180 with the X Pack again you'll have to haggle but you can get near your number.

Titanium X Sport

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

C250 Sport

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

C350 Sport

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

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

3.0d A4 S Line

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

[DaveH23]

With 11k per year i'd say diesel should be your last choice. Isn't that asking for problems?

[ZX10R NIN]

At 11k a year the OP is on the borderline but he's already got a diesel & it's been fine so maybe he knows what he wants.

[Jakg]

First of, thanks for the replies. I know PH hates what car threads!

stevemcs said:

If you want rwd then that leaves you with a Merc or a BMW, wanting 8 seconds to 60 realistically puts you in V6/Straight 6, your mileage isn't massive and i'd put my faith in a petrol over a diesel.

Edited by stevemcs on Tuesday 21st January 19:07

Doesn't have to be RWD, just want to avoid FWD - the irrational part of me says that an Audi B8 S4 would be a sensible choice.

If FWD was ok then the sensible choice would be an Octavia VRS - but I've always had FWD cars and I fancy a change.

DaveH23 said:

With 11k per year i'd say diesel should be your last choice. Isn't that asking for problems?

I do 15k a year split between my Megane and my BMW Z4 - https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

If I ended up with a petrol as my daily driver, it would make just as much sense to make the Z4 the daily instead and then I might as well get a shed estate - which isn't actually a terrible idea. Problem is the wife already has a shed estate...

ZX10R NIN said:

At 11k a year the OP is on the borderline but he's already got a diesel & it's been fine so maybe he knows what he wants.

I don't really see disadvantage of diesels - I don't think they are necessarily more complex in most areas and you save on fuel. I've spent more on the repairs to the engine on the Z4 than I have on my Megane for example.

The difference between a 46 MPG diesel & 30 MPG petrol at this mileage is £600 a year.

ZX10R NIN said:

Just to be clear nothing will compare to your 175 & pretty much all your options will be sporty trim levels.

Why not FWD you can get some decent FWD estates for your budget:

308 GT 180 some haggling will get this near your budget

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

Mondeo Titanium 180 with the X Pack again you'll have to haggle but you can get near your number.

Titanium X Sport

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

C250 Sport

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

C350 Sport

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

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

3.0d A4 S Line

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

Ignoring the driveline for a minute, I doubt any of those would be as fun to drive as a 3-series (except the Merc) - the idea of swapping my Megane for a 308 estate is pretty soul destroying!

[ZX10R NIN]

Test drive a 335d while they're good they won't be close to your Megane.

[stevemcs]

We see more poorly diesel than we do petrol's and most poorly diesels are from the vag group, i'd also put a diesel skoda in the same soul destroying camp as the 308.

I think what you want probably doesn't exist so you may have to compromise on the handling, the closest will be something from Ford or BMW.