Reliable next car- either 8-10k or 3-6k saloon/estate

[vibies]

Evening

I'm looking to replace my IS300 Sportcross with something a bit more fuel efficient as I now need to drive for work so will be doing additional miles.

My main criteria are:

Comfy inside
Nice exterior
Below 10 second 0-60
Cheap to repair/fairly reliable

I was originally looking at newer Skoda Superbs/Merc E Class estates/Golf Estates/BMW 5 Series estates/Audi A4-A6's - all with 2Lish diesel engines. However with all the tightening around emissions etc and diesel engines becoming more complex, i'm nervous about a large bill for repair if issues occur.

So now I'm looking at petrols but the market is a bit tragic for estates/saloons for petrols.

So my question is - what would you think the better purchasing is - buying a 6 year old estate/saloon such as the above for around 8-10k with 100k miles, or going older (2008-2013) for closer to 3-6k and having more money for repairs if necessary. And what would you recommend? I kind of crave a BMW as I love the 5 series shape for estates, but I'm not sure how reliable / how expensive repairs would be if it came to that - and part of me fancies something a little newer than my normal early 2000 cars that lack the basic creature comforts such as AC and bluetooth haha.

Sorry for the ramble and cheers for the advice.

[asimmalik]

Is ULEZ compliance a priority? If not, you really can't go wrong with a 530d (or 330d), preferably with the older M57 engine as it's pretty bulletproof. Plenty of shove when needed and will return high 40s MPG on a run.

Opt for a late 2000s/early 2010s and you'll get the newer N57 engine. These may be just on the limit of your budget. Not quite as bulletproof as the earlier cars, timing chains can go but not as common as on the 2.0 N47. Even more powerful than the M57 and will sneak into the 50s for MPG.

Both engines respond really well to a remap if that's your thing, you'll be nudging 300bhp.

[vibies]

ULEZ is sneaking into my city so I think ULEZ compliance would make sense for me - I live near the city centre. This is why I felt nervous around diesels.

[ilikejam]

Infiniti Q50? Diesel, but ULEZ compliant. I believe it's the '220d' Merc engine

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209049...

[GreatGranny]

ilikejam said:

Infiniti Q50? Diesel, but ULEZ compliant. I believe it's the '220d' Merc engine

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209049...

Whoa there!

In before ZX!?!?

He's going to be mad!

[ilikejam]

GreatGranny said:

ilikejam said:

Infiniti Q50? Diesel, but ULEZ compliant. I believe it's the '220d' Merc engine

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209049...

Whoa there!

In before ZX!?!?

He's going to be mad!

Was just thinking I might just buy it myself and see what the fuss is about! To be fair though, there won't be many cars at that spec and age for that price

[vibies]

ilikejam said:

Infiniti Q50? Diesel, but ULEZ compliant. I believe it's the '220d' Merc engine

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209049...

Interesting, definitely at the top of my budget if I decide to go the loan route. How are they for the normal repairs - are the parts standard or?

And what would your thoughts be on the 3-6k end of the budget?

Cheers

[757]

Petrol insignia estate

[vibies]

757 said:

Petrol insignia estate

Something about vauxhalls puts me to sleep which I don't think would be ideal when behind the wheel

[Rumblestripe]

You don't say how big you need/want the car to be?

Would something like a Mini tickle your taste buds, nice interiors (though not to everyone's taste) get a petrol one Cooper is sub 10 to 60 (Cooper S quicker still) and if you shop around there are examples with dead cow and heated seats etc.?

Less "challenging" style wise Pug 208GT?

[Chicken Chaser]

Is an Octavia big enough? I've been looking for something recently and although I don't need the space, the Octavia seems to be decent value for money.

[ZX10R NIN]

vibies said:

Interesting, definitely at the top of my budget if I decide to go the loan route. How are they for the normal repairs - are the parts standard or?

And what would your thoughts be on the 3-6k end of the budget?

Cheers

At the 3-6k end you can still get a ULEZ/CAZ compliant Infiniti for your budget.

Infiniti EX30d GT Premium:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202206307...

Infiniti M30d:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125603897543?hash=item1...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209300...

At the top end of your budget the Q50 is a good buy but go for Sport spec:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202209300...

Or the bigger Q70 (the second link is just so you can see what one looks like) Sport:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202212202...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202212122...

[georgeyboy12345]

How about one of these?

Mercedes E250 CGI
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202210060...


Audi A4 Avant 1.8 TFSI
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202212082...


Volvo V60 T4
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109307...


Ford Mondeo 1.5T Ecoboost Titanium
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202212022...


Mazda 6 2.0 Sport Nav
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202201101...