A fun shed that I can treat like a van?

[fiju]

I'd like to buy a new daily. Something that's fun, yet will carry stuff for runs to the tip, or lengths of wood, materials etc. Something I don't have to baby too much, but still presentable. Up to £10k. Does such a thing even exist? Obviously cheaper the better.

I've had an Audi S4 avant. Quickish, but not that quick, or fun.
I've currently got a CLK55, not very sporty but gets down when you mash it. Can't really treat it as a van.
E class estate will swallow everything you can throw at it, but that's the only box it ticks.
e46 330ci was a good all rounder, but coupe. A bit old now.

Now when it comes to describing a 'fun' car, I'd say it's more down to weight. So the lighter the better. I don't consider a diesel to be fun.

So far i'm leaning towards a e91 330i touring. Any other alternatives?

[Carbon Sasquatch]

Mini convertible

Not much use for sheet materials - or when its raining, but fine for 2.4m lengths of wood etc

[Jamescrs]

I do think a BMW tourer is probably the best option but if you wanted something a bit more left field you could consider a Subaru Forester STi

[ZX10R NIN]

Keep the 55, then buy a proper shed:

Signum

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202012167...

Vectra

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011196...

Then buy the lightweight sportscar you want:

MX5

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011055...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011035...

[samoht]

Hmm.. £10k is a lot more than most ppl would consider a 'shed', but I guess you mean capacious and relatively robust, not requiring special care, rather than disposable?

I had a somewhat similar want for a spacious/practical car recently, you may find some further ideas here https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

An option that sprung to mind from the thread title is a Ford S-Max with the 2.5T engine - cheap to buy, cheap to fix, plenty of power and a Ford chassis
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202010165...

Another possibility is a Saab 9-5 estate, some of those are pretty quick and have a definite following.

[Mikee19]

Any of the larger hot hatches, surprising what you can get in with the rear seats down, Focus ST, Civic FN2, Octavia VRS etc.

[fiju]

Ok so not quite a 'shed', but something that I can treat as such.
I'd like to replace the CLK as running too many cars gets expensive and time consuming.

S-max is a good shout, however I don't need the married with kids mid life crisis look.
Saab 9⁵ is a no. A friend had a 9³ aero 2.8t and it wasn't anything special. I can't imagine a bigger one to be any better.
Insignia etc not bad, but a 330i would be better.
Focus ST etc is a good shout. If it's able to swallow large pieces of wood then even better.

[tdm34]

fiju said:

Saab 9? is a no. A friend had a 9³ aero 2.8t and it wasn't anything special. I can't imagine a bigger one to be any better.

I've had both a 9-3 and 9-5 Aero, and they're chalk and cheese, the 9-5 Aero after it's had a visit to NOOB is a hilarious thing, mine was a 2010 Dame Edna with very basic mods it had 306bhp at the wheels and would blow away all but the very quickest of the hot hatch brigade, had the best seats i've ever sat on, and as it was an estate could carry prodigious loads.

The 9-3 was the TTiD model and it was okay but in reality it wasn't close to the 9-5

[mattyprice4004]

535d Touring gets my vote

[ChrisH72]

Sounds like you're wanting a quick estate and there should be plenty for that budget. Maybe list some other things you want from the car?

Manual or auto?
What kind of performance?
Engine characteristics?

If you want look ght weight and fun then I'd say something hatch based like a focus ST estate. As you've probably seen in another thread the e9x 330i is a good car but not that much fun, it'd be similar to the Audi you had. I ran an E92 325i and whilst it was comfy and capable I much prefer my current fiesta ST for smiles per mile.

There's a few big engines estates around.

Insignia vxr
Legacy spec B
Superb 3.6
V60 3.0
Passat 3.2
Loads of Audi's and BMW.

They'll all have characterful engines but they'll also be big and heavy.

Alternatively for lighter weight..

Focus ST estate
Leon FR estate 1.8
Mini cooper s clubman

But they'll be 4 pot turbo and maybe not as quick in a straight line. Newer and cheaper to run though.

[irocfan]

A mini clubVAN - rare but I suspect would tick the box

[sparkythecat]

If you've got the storage space, just buy whatever car you fancy and a small trailer for shifting your DIY stuff with.

[fiju]

Unfortunately I don't have space for a trailer. The club an looks interesting, not sure if I'll be able to sneak it by as a car at the tip.

[OverSteery]

[ZX10R NIN]

A 330i will be no better on the road than your previous S4 so it comes down to size:

C segment estates:

VXR the engine is a peach handling is the same as the S4

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011025...

328i Luxury

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202012167...

330i

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202012287...

V60 T5

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011186...

Spec B Legacy

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202010014...

S4

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202012086...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202012096...

Octavia VRS

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202011065...

All the above are good daily's but none are overly special but with your budget these are the picks.

[this is my username]

irocfan said:

A mini clubVAN - rare but I suspect would tick the box

I’ve got a Clubvan - it’s great personal transport but completely hopeless for moving anything larger than a box of matches.

[MajorMantra]

E91 is a great car (I've had mine for 3.5 years) but if carrying stuff is a priority, not necessarily a great choice. The boot isn't actually that big and the low roofline makes loading more of a pain, and limits what will go in.

If you still fancy one, there's a long and active thread in the BMW section ('E91 straight six bearding'). General wisdom is to avoid the 4-cylinder models, both petrol and diesel.

[fiju]

All of the choices seem to be compromised in some way. Small engines, heavy, st handling, not enough space etc.
I don't think I'd have another Audi. Understeer Central.

How do w203 c55's handle?

[samoht]

Well, I've only had mine for a month, and the roads have obviously been cold and it's on winters, but I'm pretty happy with the way it drives so far.

It's not a sports car - it's not as responsive, agile or connected as that - but for what it is, a sports saloon (estate), it seems pretty good. The steering weights up under load, it responds (mildly) to throttle changes while turning, while being composed if you need to back off during corner entry. The steady-state balance is for the nose to edge wide, as you'd expect, but it feels like there's a fair amount of scope to adjust that with throttle. It's not too wide, which is good on B-roads.

I've had a couple of nice drives in mine so far, have had it out for a run on some local Cambridgeshire B-roads and when in Yorkshire for Christmas had a run down Blakey Ridge from the Lion Inn and across the valley, it's fluid, composed and fun at maybe seven tenths, probably could push a bit harder in summer. Autobox seems to try and hold gears while you're cornering, which is helpful, and it generally co-operates quite well when pushing on.

I imagine boot space is similar between the W203 estate and E90 Touring as they're direct rivals, possibly the Merc could have slightly more cabin length as it doesn't accommodate straight sixes (even the V8 required a bonnet extension).