what to do what to do!!! How would you spend £7,000?

[Hudson1984]

Righty, I've made loads of pretty much the same thread on here and seem to go round in circles.

So:

What would you do?

I'm getting shot of the company car - it's a 1.5tdci focus and I HATE it! it's the most boring car ever made, does everything absolutely AVERAGE.

Anyway, i'm going to be working from home more going forward and want something a bit more fun.

Now, i'd been looking at estates as this is where I always look, as they seem to tick the boxes. But I'm struggling to find something I really like.

I'm wondering if I go a different route.

The Needs:
I've kids
a dog
cycling hobby
general dump run duties
random hobbies I decide to do
DIY duties (collecting wood for DIY duties)

The wife has an XC60 that we use for most of the above apart from cycling and dump runs.

So, Estate - ticking the boxes nicely.

HOWEVER.

Would I be better served with a small van (transit connect) for those crap jobs, and a more dedicated car for the rest.

OR

A even more "Fun" based car, and a trailer - won't do for the dog, but then the XC60 can do that anyway.

So if I spent some of the £7,000 on a better trailer, then I can use that for the harder duties. Could even put the towbar on the XC60 instead and again, keep the car for fun.

It would still need to be 4 door for kiddie duties.

So.

What would you do?
Estate?
Car and Trailer?
Van and Car?

[kambites]

How about getting a towbar fitted to the Volvo and a trailer for tip runs and a bike rack for bikes, then buy a sports car.

[Hudson1984]

kambites said:

How about getting a towbar fitted to the Volvo and a trailer for tip runs and a bike rack for bikes, then buy a sports car.

see that's my thinking. However the sports car would still need to do family duties at times so still want to be able to unload/load kids without folding seats really. But yeah, tow bar for the Volvo and the trailer could do much more than the estate is likely to.

[Pothole]

Trade in my bike against a Speed Twin.

[boyse7en]

If you need a four door, even a fun car will be relatively practical with a boot and rack capabilities for a bike.
Why can't you use the Volvo for tip runs if you need more room?

[Hudson1984]

boyse7en said:

If you need a four door, even a fun car will be relatively practical with a boot and rack capabilities for a bike.
Why can't you use the Volvo for tip runs if you need more room?

it's kinda our "nice" car. Don't really want to be scratching panels and stuff with broken bits of wood etc. But also, the dog cage is a bloody arse to put in and out so we want it to stay in.

[andburg]

spend £5000-£6000 on an MX5 (someone had to say it) or other fun car with 4 seats for the odd times its required

spend the rest on a towbar and trailer for the volvo or even just a custom boot liner to protect it from the crappy jobs it will need to pick up.

[Hudson1984]

andburg said:

spend £5000-£6000 on an MX5 (someone had to say it) or other fun car with 4 seats for the odd times its required

spend the rest on a towbar and trailer for the volvo or even just a custom boot liner to protect it from the crappy jobs it will need to pick up.

i'm a bit smitten on this:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

decent price, decent engine and a nice look.

and yeah, towbar and trailer and sorted. Not quite an MX5 but I wouldn't get the kids in an MX5 either

[andburg]

oddball alert

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202... not sure if they did a manual
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202...

other japanese turbo powered 4wd cars are available...but theyre more likely to have been completely barried