Family car dilemma
Discussion
Hello all, my cousin is planning on getting pregnant in 2026 and I have been stressing that her current steed (Insignia Estate) just isnt fit for purpose. Along with her partner (who is a very competent helsman) and all the baby stuff, they also have a whippet and do loads of tip runs. Mileage approx 30k per annum.
The brief is as follows:
Huge space
NOT SUV
Must be petrol
Must be manual
Ideally a V8 burble
Fuel economy not a concern
Must NOT be FWD
Nice place to be
Ideally 50:50 weight distribution
Handling on the twisties far more important than wafting
LSD desirable
Low depreciation
Bullet proof reliability
Massive spec
Will buy on condition vs mileage
Budget 4k, can stretch to 5k for the perfect steed
The brief is as follows:
Huge space
NOT SUV
Must be petrol
Must be manual
Ideally a V8 burble
Fuel economy not a concern
Must NOT be FWD
Nice place to be
Ideally 50:50 weight distribution
Handling on the twisties far more important than wafting
LSD desirable
Low depreciation
Bullet proof reliability
Massive spec
Will buy on condition vs mileage
Budget 4k, can stretch to 5k for the perfect steed
Its not a dilemma its a near impossibility I would think, especially ruling out SUV.
Possibly one of the older BMW 5 E61 545i or 550i, I think they did a manual but will be rare as anything.
Likewise the Merc E500 but automatic only IIRC.
Possibility someone of the more obscure Audi?
All of which will cost a fortune to run not just on fuel but maintenance and upkeep too and likely spend a lot of time in garages with 30k a year.
I'd say the wish list needs to be turned into a priority list as something has got to give, either engine choice or budget.
Just noticed also they want 'handling on the twisties' and 'huge space' those are not aligned.
Oh and 'bullet proof' reliability - LOL
Possibly one of the older BMW 5 E61 545i or 550i, I think they did a manual but will be rare as anything.
Likewise the Merc E500 but automatic only IIRC.
Possibility someone of the more obscure Audi?
All of which will cost a fortune to run not just on fuel but maintenance and upkeep too and likely spend a lot of time in garages with 30k a year.
I'd say the wish list needs to be turned into a priority list as something has got to give, either engine choice or budget.
Just noticed also they want 'handling on the twisties' and 'huge space' those are not aligned.
Oh and 'bullet proof' reliability - LOL
Jag_NE said:
Hello all, my cousin is planning on getting pregnant in 2026 and I have been stressing that her current steed (Insignia Estate) just isnt fit for purpose. Along with her partner (who is a very competent helsman) and all the baby stuff, they also have a whippet and do loads of tip runs. Mileage approx 30k per annum.
The brief is as follows:
Huge space
NOT SUV
Must be petrol
Must be manual
Ideally a V8 burble
Fuel economy not a concern
Must NOT be FWD
Nice place to be
Ideally 50:50 weight distribution
Handling on the twisties far more important than wafting
LSD desirable
Low depreciation
Bullet proof reliability
Massive spec
Will buy on condition vs mileage
Budget 4k, can stretch to 5k for the perfect steed
Save up and ask again in late 2025? The brief is as follows:
Huge space
NOT SUV
Must be petrol
Must be manual
Ideally a V8 burble
Fuel economy not a concern
Must NOT be FWD
Nice place to be
Ideally 50:50 weight distribution
Handling on the twisties far more important than wafting
LSD desirable
Low depreciation
Bullet proof reliability
Massive spec
Will buy on condition vs mileage
Budget 4k, can stretch to 5k for the perfect steed
Was surprised to see a poster with this many posts. Thought this was a guaranteed single figure post count query.
If ever I heard a case for having two (or more) cars it's this. Get some big safe comfortable dross box for the boring miles and something interesting for the fun times, it's not like you'll be stretching the V8 and LSD much when you have your wife and kids in the car anyway. A budget of £5k gets you the square root of f
k all these days too.
I really don't get the "one car must meet all these diametrically opposed requirements" attitude unless you're totally flat broke or very space restricted, you just get compromised jack of all trade stuff for a budget that could easily have bought more than one car to do a better job of covering it all.
What on earth are they doing with one baby that they can't fit it in an Insignia estate? That meets all the dross requirements, he should just go out and buy himself something ridiculous while they still exist.
Also, before a PH pedant gets in, in my day if you had one baby all you needed was a motorcycle and side car, what do you need all that space for, etc etc
k all these days too.I really don't get the "one car must meet all these diametrically opposed requirements" attitude unless you're totally flat broke or very space restricted, you just get compromised jack of all trade stuff for a budget that could easily have bought more than one car to do a better job of covering it all.
What on earth are they doing with one baby that they can't fit it in an Insignia estate? That meets all the dross requirements, he should just go out and buy himself something ridiculous while they still exist.
Also, before a PH pedant gets in, in my day if you had one baby all you needed was a motorcycle and side car, what do you need all that space for, etc etc
Austin_Metro said:
Save up and ask again in late 2025?
Was surprised to see a poster with this many posts. Thought this was a guaranteed single figure post count query.
Agreed, bizzare post. I'd have ignored it if it was a 3 count poster!Was surprised to see a poster with this many posts. Thought this was a guaranteed single figure post count query.
Edited by GeniusOfLove on Friday 1st September 12:17
Old 5-series estates are pretty much the only manual V8 estates ever sold in the UK. But their V8s seem to have guaranteed issues and for £5k they will be a total dog. Petrol estates of around 2002-2016 are rare and are all being snapped up because they're ULEZ compliant. They're maybe double the price of diesel equivalents.
The wish list is just that - not at all realistic.
The wish list is just that - not at all realistic.
Budget is £4 - £5k, 30,000 miles and fuel economy not a concern?! So they are happy to spend twice the car budget annually for fuel alone?
You’re looking at something pretty old, which will take a lot of maintenance at that mileage so I would probably stick with the Insignia or stretch the budget!
Autotrader is great for ideas if you leave the make / model blank and just select engine size / power / performance etc.
You’re looking at something pretty old, which will take a lot of maintenance at that mileage so I would probably stick with the Insignia or stretch the budget!
Autotrader is great for ideas if you leave the make / model blank and just select engine size / power / performance etc.
That brief is rather ott for £4k I was expecting to get to the bottom and see more like £40k!
Also planning for a baby in 3 years time seems a bit bizarre, you're either trying or your not, I don't see planning something that important that far in advance, oh well maybe it's just me.
Sorry I can't really help, but I would consider rethinking the brief or the budget! £4k could well be more like £2k by then. Or it could mean more like £6k way too early to predict the way things are going to go.
Also planning for a baby in 3 years time seems a bit bizarre, you're either trying or your not, I don't see planning something that important that far in advance, oh well maybe it's just me.
Sorry I can't really help, but I would consider rethinking the brief or the budget! £4k could well be more like £2k by then. Or it could mean more like £6k way too early to predict the way things are going to go.
Jag_NE said:
Hello all, my cousin is planning on getting pregnant in 2026 and I have been stressing that her current steed (Insignia Estate) just isnt fit for purpose. Along with her partner (who is a very competent helsman) and all the baby stuff, they also have a whippet and do loads of tip runs. Mileage approx 30k per annum.
The brief is as follows:
Huge space
NOT SUV
Must be petrol
Must be manual
Ideally a V8 burble
Fuel economy not a concern
Must NOT be FWD
Nice place to be
Ideally 50:50 weight distribution
Handling on the twisties far more important than wafting
LSD desirable
Low depreciation
Bullet proof reliability
Massive spec
Will buy on condition vs mileage
Budget 4k, can stretch to 5k for the perfect steed
Not going to happen!The brief is as follows:
Huge space
NOT SUV
Must be petrol
Must be manual
Ideally a V8 burble
Fuel economy not a concern
Must NOT be FWD
Nice place to be
Ideally 50:50 weight distribution
Handling on the twisties far more important than wafting
LSD desirable
Low depreciation
Bullet proof reliability
Massive spec
Will buy on condition vs mileage
Budget 4k, can stretch to 5k for the perfect steed
Double the budget you would still be struggling!
Revise the list to a realistic set of parameters, then chuck that into autotrader.
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