Daily and Weekend fast-ish estate

[S80]

I’m currently looking for a new car to be my last (hopefully) daily/main ICE car to last 10/12/15 years (or for as long as there is petrol/diesel on the forecourts!). Currently have my eye on a few, but struggling to find something that reaches out and grabs me.
Criteria:
-4-7 years and under 70k miles,
-Decent mpg/running costs (not something that’s in insurance group 85million and cost £600 to tax, or does 0.2mpg)
-Estate and AWD would be preferred
-20-23k ish
-Would be nice to have something with an interesting colour range/choice, interior and exterior, I know I am looking for used so this is going to be harder than spec’ing a new motor but have got sick of seeing so many black interiors with black/grey/silver exteriors!

Currently the car will be for daily commute and weekend/evening/holiday driving trips UK wide first, then Europe eventually so would like decent levels of comfort but also to have ample performance and a good driving feel too. I can only justify having one car on the road at the moment, but I do have a number of cars with one eye on as potential 2nd/3rd/4th cars as projects to get on the road in the future - manual E39 5 series, I’m looking at you;) - but as I say, I can only justify the one at the moment so has to be a bit of an all rounder even if it will mean compromises.

Current contenders are:
-Volvo V90 D5 AWD, shame there are no petrol AWD options on the V90 bar the T8 hybrid….only the V90 Cross Country has a petrol option with AWD (and I don’t want a cross country as I’m not as keen on the ‘soft roader’ look… why couldn’t they raise it a bit but not cover it in plastic, or offer a V90 T5 AWD?
-Jag XF Sportbrake, with the new JLR 2.0 engine, but they are all diesels also?
-Skoda Superb Mk3 with the 272ps TSi 2.0
-Even though it’s not and estate or AWD, I love the Guilia, even the 2.0 petrol has very good performance and looks fantastic. That’s the heart over head contender…
What am I missing?

I’ve look at and discounted the Skoda Superb V6 MK2 due to mainly the poor reviews regarding the panoramic roof leaking issue ( of which all the V6’s seem to have specified as an option) Plus the tax on the pre facelift version is £585, and tbh, the power from the engine is comparable to that of the 2.0 TSi MK3, but mpg about half!
I struggle to get excited at the Audi A4 and A6, Quattro Avant and Allroad versions, though there does seem more colour variations on these models which I appreciate.
Don’t mention Mercs. I don’t even know if they offer AWD but even if they did I wouldn’t.

Thanks for reading what now seems like a long and disengaging post!

[Mo28]

335i/ 340i touring not do anything for you?

Or maybe a Golf R estate/ Seat Leon Cupra estate

Edited by Mo28 on Sunday 13th February 16:48

[Bobupndown]

https://www.whatcar.com/skoda/superb/estate/20-tdi...

Series 3 Superb 4x4 estate in diesel flavour?

[georgeyboy12345]

Stretch the budget and get this Superb 4x4 280 L&K. It's in a non-boring colour and has a nice light interior too.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110198...

[ZX10R NIN]

Insignia VXR Super Sport Estate not cheap on tax but a bloody good car with sensible running costs & a nice amount of power too:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202202072...

XF 250 Portfolio:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202201131...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202201061...

Passat R Line 220:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110198...

330i M Sport Plus 250:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202202092...

528i Luxury:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202111169...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202202042...

V60 T5 Momentum 250:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202111239...

Leon Cupra 300:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202201221...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202201311...

L&K Superb 280:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110198...

If you can live with a saloon then I'd go for the Giulia Veloce 280:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202201171...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202111139...

Diesel wise I'd be looking for a 3.0d.

E350d AMG Line:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202112150...

530d Luxury:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202202022...

[S80]

Thanks.

The Plum Purple Jag reminds me how much I like the look of the XF, just a shame the petrols aren’t AWD, except a few 300bhp ones which are out of budget.

[richatnort]

I have a V90 but a D4 R Design. It's a 69 plate and it's honestly awful. The looks and some of the interior is nice but what I dislike are:

1. The gearbox is horrendous, it's literally like a 70yo is manually changing the gears in there
2. The engine is pretty poor even on motorway runs I get high 40's at the best - I got 42 in my 340i
3. The centre infotainment system is buggy as hell. It restarts or doesn't boot up and then you lose parking sensors, climet controls and radio. It also always defaults to mhz not fm it even my saved stations

Apart from that

The seats are lovely, they look great but I would never own one out of warranty.

Hoping to jump into a 5 series when I can afford it.

[ahenners]

richatnort said:

I have a V90 but a D4 R Design. It's a 69 plate and it's honestly awful. The looks and some of the interior is nice but what I dislike are:

1. The gearbox is horrendous, it's literally like a 70yo is manually changing the gears in there
2. The engine is pretty poor even on motorway runs I get high 40's at the best - I got 42 in my 340i
3. The centre infotainment system is buggy as hell. It restarts or doesn't boot up and then you lose parking sensors, climet controls and radio. It also always defaults to mhz not fm it even my saved stations

Apart from that

The seats are lovely, they look great but I would never own one out of warranty.

Hoping to jump into a 5 series when I can afford it.

Interesting to read your thoughts as I have been looking at V90s recently. Is servicing on them pretty expensive too? From what I could see it looks to be a fair bit pricier than the equivalent 5 series to service.

[richatnort]

ahenners said:

Interesting to read your thoughts as I have been looking at V90s recently. Is servicing on them pretty expensive too? From what I could see it looks to be a fair bit pricier than the equivalent 5 series to service.

It was £400 for a big service which was down from £500 so Yeh pretty expensive

[KPB1973]

Mo28 said:

335i/ 340i touring not do anything for you?

Or maybe a Golf R estate/ Seat Leon Cupra estate

Edited by Mo28 on Sunday 13th February 16:48

These were the exact three that were on my recent shortlist.

The Leon Cupra ST 4drive can just about be had with the 7 speed DSG at this budget (68 plate onwards) which apparently really helps economy on a run.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2022012015...

If you're not bothered about the 7 speed then I think this one is aggressively priced for the spec list it has (adaptive cc, leather, upgraded sound)

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2022012116...

Both of the above have come down in price quite significantly over the last few weeks. The first one was up for 23995 to begin with.

Likewise an early 7.5 Golf R. There was one up in Hull for your budget but I see it has now been sold.

However, I ended up going for a 335i Touring instead. The drivetrain is terrific, the boot a touch small and it drives really well. Lots and lots of wind and tyre roar though.

It appears to be capable of gentle 37mpg on a run too. Mine was just under £19k with 64k miles, HK stereo, m-sport pack, pan roof, extended storage, powered boot and pro navigation.

A cheeky remap now gives it approx 370bhp and 380ft lbs. No AWD though, of course.

There might be some 335d/330d xDrives in your ballpark though?

Edited by KPB1973 on Wednesday 16th February 07:50

Edited by KPB1973 on Wednesday 16th February 07:51

[S80]

richatnort said:

I have a V90 but a D4 R Design. It's a 69 plate and it's honestly awful. The looks and some of the interior is nice but what I dislike are:

1. The gearbox is horrendous, it's literally like a 70yo is manually changing the gears in there
2. The engine is pretty poor even on motorway runs I get high 40's at the best - I got 42 in my 340i
3. The centre infotainment system is buggy as hell. It restarts or doesn't boot up and then you lose parking sensors, climet controls and radio. It also always defaults to mhz not fm it even my saved stations

Apart from that

The seats are lovely, they look great but I would never own one out of warranty.

Hoping to jump into a 5 series when I can afford it.

Does your V90 have the paddle shift option? That’s what I’d be looking for on the V90, plus the D5 PP which promises more power. I hoped and thought, from the reviews at least the days of st Volvo Auto ‘boxes was over….

[S80]

richatnort said:

ahenners said:

Interesting to read your thoughts as I have been looking at V90s recently. Is servicing on them pretty expensive too? From what I could see it looks to be a fair bit pricier than the equivalent 5 series to service.

It was £400 for a big service which was down from £500 so Yeh pretty expensive

When I went into my local Volvo the price list was £400 - small service up to £800 (I think), presume that doesn’t include major items like timing belt though (??) but wasn’t paying much attention thinking it wouldn’t apply to me….

Now I’m looking to jump to a newer car I think I’d invest in main dealer/good independent servicing for a couple of years at least to get peace of mind before tackling it myself when the car is older. Then again, if I read those prices right, maybe not

[S80]

KPB1973 said:

Mo28 said:

335i/ 340i touring not do anything for you?

Or maybe a Golf R estate/ Seat Leon Cupra estate

Edited by Mo28 on Sunday 13th February 16:48

These were the exact three that were on my recent shortlist.

The Leon Cupra ST 4drive can just about be had with the 7 speed DSG at this budget (68 plate onwards) which apparently really helps economy on a run.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2022012015...

If you're not bothered about the 7 speed then I think this one is aggressively priced for the spec list it has (adaptive cc, leather, upgraded sound)

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2022012116...

Both of the above have come down in price quite significantly over the last few weeks. The first one was up for 23995 to begin with.

Likewise an early 7.5 Golf R. There was one up in Hull for your budget but I see it has now been sold.

However, I ended up going for a 335i Touring instead. The drivetrain is terrific, the boot a touch small and it drives really well. Lots and lots of wind and tyre roar though.

It appears to be capable of gentle 37mpg on a run too. Mine was just under £19k with 64k miles, HK stereo, m-sport pack, pan roof, extended storage, powered boot and pro navigation.

A cheeky remap now gives it approx 370bhp and 380ft lbs. No AWD though, of course.

There might be some 335d/330d xDrives in your ballpark though?

Edited by KPB1973 on Wednesday 16th February 07:50

Edited by KPB1973 on Wednesday 16th February 07:51

My personal view r.e the Golf/Leon, I don’t see the point in having one as an estate. I would consider the R if I wanted a proper hot hatch, but the size of the estate is pretty poor comparing to 3/5 Series/ Volvo/ Jag etc. They are just slightly elongated hatchbacks, not really what I want.

Shame the 335i wasn’t available with xDrive, if it was, there aren’t any for sale! A 335d xDrive I looked up on AT said group 43 insurance! Yet there is a RWD 335i (the only F31 For sale) stating group 38.

[StoutBench]

Very small estates considering the OPs first choices

[richatnort]

S80 said:

Does your V90 have the paddle shift option? That’s what I’d be looking for on the V90, plus the D5 PP which promises more power. I hoped and thought, from the reviews at least the days of st Volvo Auto ‘boxes was over….

Yeh they have the paddles they're just as slow.

They say the polstar remap can help but I don't think it does. The days are definitely not over. Definitely year drive one

[Danm1les]

If you can stretch a whisker, as mention before, you can get into a Superb 280bhp estate.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202201071...

Might not be my first choice in the nardo grey copy colour, but the amount of car and kit you get for the money is pretty impressive. Also will be very easily tuned if you wanted even more go, think they map to about 360bhp without anything else needed.

I’ve had a mk7.5 golf r estate, and it’s not big enough if you want a proper estate, and my current A4 allroad isn’t big enough either, hence me being in a similar situation to yourself.

[HelldogBE]

If you want a Volvo with real AWD they initially made the current V60 with a T6 300ps turbo- & supercharged for a short while. Shortly after the T6 and T8 became hybrids with an electric motor over the rear axle.

It's fast but definitely not exciting. The supercharger adds a nice whine when pushing it but that's about it for sportiness...

[KPB1973]

S80 said:

KPB1973 said:

Mo28 said:

335i/ 340i touring not do anything for you?

Or maybe a Golf R estate/ Seat Leon Cupra estate

Edited by Mo28 on Sunday 13th February 16:48

These were the exact three that were on my recent shortlist.

The Leon Cupra ST 4drive can just about be had with the 7 speed DSG at this budget (68 plate onwards) which apparently really helps economy on a run.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2022012015...

If you're not bothered about the 7 speed then I think this one is aggressively priced for the spec list it has (adaptive cc, leather, upgraded sound)

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2022012116...

Both of the above have come down in price quite significantly over the last few weeks. The first one was up for 23995 to begin with.

Likewise an early 7.5 Golf R. There was one up in Hull for your budget but I see it has now been sold.

However, I ended up going for a 335i Touring instead. The drivetrain is terrific, the boot a touch small and it drives really well. Lots and lots of wind and tyre roar though.

It appears to be capable of gentle 37mpg on a run too. Mine was just under £19k with 64k miles, HK stereo, m-sport pack, pan roof, extended storage, powered boot and pro navigation.

A cheeky remap now gives it approx 370bhp and 380ft lbs. No AWD though, of course.

There might be some 335d/330d xDrives in your ballpark though?

Edited by KPB1973 on Wednesday 16th February 07:50

Edited by KPB1973 on Wednesday 16th February 07:51

My personal view r.e the Golf/Leon, I don’t see the point in having one as an estate. I would consider the R if I wanted a proper hot hatch, but the size of the estate is pretty poor comparing to 3/5 Series/ Volvo/ Jag etc. They are just slightly elongated hatchbacks, not really what I want.

Shame the 335i wasn’t available with xDrive, if it was, there aren’t any for sale! A 335d xDrive I looked up on AT said group 43 insurance! Yet there is a RWD 335i (the only F31 For sale) stating group 38.

The Golf and Leon both have significantly bigger boots than the 5 series and v90 estates (605 and 587 litres vs 560 and 551 respectively).

[S80]

HelldogBE said:

If you want a Volvo with real AWD they initially made the current V60 with a T6 300ps turbo- & supercharged for a short while. Shortly after the T6 and T8 became hybrids with an electric motor over the rear axle.

It's fast but definitely not exciting. The supercharger adds a nice whine when pushing it but that's about it for sportiness...

Do you mean the current current V60 (from 2019) as I wasn't aware of that? I thought the T5 was top of the range (in terms of solely petrol) and they were all FWD?

I was aware of the Polestar versions of the 10-18 V60, with the 3.0 inline 6 T6, they do look great but the Geartronic ‘box is something I’d rather avoid. They are ok cars but not something I would yearn to have.
Furthermore, I have a V60 2013 diesel and I wouldn’t have another Volvo of a similar age… either the V70 (07-16)/ V60/S60 (10-18). I just don’t like the interior layout, the parking brake location was obviously chosen by someone who had never actually driven a car. I just leave the car in first now with my feet on the clutch and brake at traffic lights etc, instead of using the parking brake. I know you can pull away with the brake on and it automatically releases but it is quite a violent jerk.

On the other hand, I’d pay good money for a mint V70 (05-07) AWD manual either the T5 or D5, but find one, let alone in good condition! Most are either ex police or ex tip run/dog carriers/sheds or all 3. I will definitely have one at some point as a project car, even if I don’t use it much, because I like them. There is just something about that era of V70/
S80 that I love. It’s my equivalent of collecting silver ware or vases, I have a long list of cars I want just because I like them, in 20 years when everyone has some soulless electric lump, to have cars that mean something.
We are going to see over the next decade or so a lot of cars we admire disappearing for good…

[ZX10R NIN]

I think they're referring to the 2.0 Polestar:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202202012...