Interesting estate, new-ish.

[Calite]

Hey folks

Starting a new job soon, been faced with the daunting prospect of a car allowance & requirement for my car to be 5 years old or less. Given nothing in my fleet was built this side of 2010 I'm looking at newer options.

Getting a £500 & change allowance (minus tax) a month plus mileage, probably going to be covering 25k/yr or so. I'm intending on selling my old daily, so will probably have 5-6 down.

Going to be working out the back of it as a service engineer so an estate of some sorts is a requirement, worked out of a van (NV200) previously so going back to a car will be sore enough.

Honestly, I hate modern modcons, ipads glued on to dashboards & autoboxes are something of a dealbreaker.

Young enough that a working heater & a seat without metal bits poking out is what I consider the height of comfort.

Efficient is a plus, I go between Glasgow & London a fair whack to visit family.

Open to suggestions, not been following the car market for some time now, lest I get depressed.

Edited by Calite on Monday 10th July 23:06

[Silvanus]

Brand new Dacia Jogger Hybrid could fit the bill, bit different from the usual suspects

[Wills2]

530d touring

[lornemalvo]

I currently drive an A4 estate, and I've owned all the prestige brands in the past. They do nothing for me now, especially given the insane asking prices. Thinking about all the cars I've owned, a Skoda Octavia estate is probably all the car you need. I can now afford almost anything but It's what I may go for next.

[georgeyboy12345]

I can't work out from your post whether you like autoboxes or hate them? I know if I was covering 25k a year, I'd probably want an auto.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, you're going to struggle to find something I would call interesting, in combination with your other more important requirements.

Here are 3 models I can think of that don't have the wky little ipads stuck to the dash

VW Arteon Shooting Brake 2.0 TDI 4Motion
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303175...


Volvo V90 D5 AWD - unfortunately no longer with a 5 cylinder, just 4 cylinder cars from now on
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202305267...


Ford Mondeo Ecoblue 190 AWD
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202307069...



If you can get over the wky little ipad stuck to the dash, consider these

BMW 330d Touring xDrive
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202305177...


Skoda Octavia vRS
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202306289...


Mercedes C300d 4Matic
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202305287...


Audi A4 Avant 40 TDI Quattro
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202306299...

[nobrakes]

georgeyboy12345 said:

I can't work out from your post whether you like autoboxes or hate them? I know if I was covering 25k a year, I'd probably want an auto.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, you're going to struggle to find something I would call interesting, in combination with your other more important requirements.

Here are 3 models I can think of that don't have the wky little ipads stuck to the dash

VW Arteon Shooting Brake 2.0 TDI 4Motion
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202303175...


Volvo V90 D5 AWD - unfortunately no longer with a 5 cylinder, just 4 cylinder cars from now on
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202305267...


Ford Mondeo Ecoblue 190 AWD
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202307069...



If you can get over the wky little ipad stuck to the dash, consider these

BMW 330d Touring xDrive
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202305177...


Skoda Octavia vRS
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202306289...


Mercedes C300d 4Matic
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202305287...


Audi A4 Avant 40 TDI Quattro
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202306299...

That 4matic C looks classy

The AWD Mondeo is a Ford showroom car and has everything - it will always sell. But won’t these tyres be harsh and expensive to replace?

More space always makes it more relaxing - especially if you have to mix work stuff with family business. For that alone, I’d look for a Mondeo with more sensible tyres.

[Pablo16v]

And the Mondeo is £562/m on the PCP deal (and the Volvo is £715) if you up the annual mileage from 10K to 25K so that's going to be the main issue here, highlighted already above, that £500/m is not going to go far doing 25K miles per year. It's even harder if you want the allowance to cover running costs as well.

[georgeyboy12345]

Pablo16v said:

And the Mondeo is £562/m on the PCP deal (and the Volvo is £715) if you up the annual mileage from 10K to 25K so that's going to be the main issue here, highlighted already above, that £500/m is not going to go far doing 25K miles per year. It's even harder if you want the allowance to cover running costs as well.

Oh yeah bks I forgot to set the miles to 25k per year