4k or 10k estate

[Red Sleeper]

Hello,

I'm struggling with which car to buy at the moment and what sort of budget.

I'd like an estate car to last a good few years.

I'd like it to be swift if not quick, reliable, automatic, reasonable on fuel, have Bluetooth telephone prep.

I would prefer to spend around 4k as with my car sale or PX, I'd only have to find a small amount to top it up. I have an aversion to debt but I could borrow some money and go up to the 10k mark.

At the lower end, everything I've seen is utter crap. Even the supposedly bulletproof options like a 2.0 petrol accord I went to see. Badly abused, badly prepared rubbish.

10k seems a lot easier to find something nice, I've seen a nice Audi A4 1.4tfsi Avant for 10k with reasonable miles, but I'd love your help to keep the budget down to 4 for me, I'd rather save money to maintain my car etc than spend it on a loan hoping the car serves me better than a cheap one.

There is a Mercedes C220cdi in subtle SE spec without the AMG pack on and cloth seats not too far away for 4k, it's old though on a 2008 but never fails MOTs and never gets advisories, last owner since nearly new, good tyres, full history. Might this be a good bet, anything to watch out for? Any more modern suggestions?


Best regards

Red

[Raymond Reddington]

I'm also looking for an estate at the moment. The conclusion I'm coming to is that spending 10k on something way newer from Japan or Korea will likely be the best option. The merc might be fine but you could end up spending the same on it monthly as a loan repayment would be on something much better to live with.

[Ezra]

There's a number of Astra's and Peugeot 308's for sale that meet your criteria...decent mileage too:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202312295...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401125...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401205...

Alternatively a Focus fits the bill too:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401306...

[A500leroy]

Would a Skoda Fabia estate work?
Or if your not to bothered about luxury Dacia Logan.

[ZX10R NIN]

508 Allure these are pretty much bulletproof:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202402016...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202311184...

Mondeo Titanium X, make sure the gearbox fluid has been changed on time:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202312184...

Insignia SRI:: spend £200 getting the pick up pipe sorted & you'll have a very reliable daily:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401316...

[ZX10R NIN]

At 10k these two are the pick imo.

508 GT:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401055...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401316...

Insignia SRI VX Line Nav:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202312114...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401306...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401255...

[georgeyboy12345]

As you have already found out, £4k is now not much above shed money, especially with a low in supply, high in demand automatic estate car. If you spend more you'll get a nicer car, it's that simple.

Perhaps to mitigate the risk, then go for cars that are known to be fairly bulletproof. The C220 CDI is a good shout in this respect.

[Percy.]

ZX10R NIN said:

At 10k these two are the pick imo.

508 GT:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401055...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401316...

Insignia SRI VX Line Nav:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202312114...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401306...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401255...

Personally think the Insignia's posted above look good from a visual point.

[OutInTheShed]

Estates seem to be a difficult corner of the market lately.

A lot of the cars linked to are DPF diesels which have covered low mileages per year.
They are quite old cars for 4 or 5 £k,
It's hard to know how soon they will be £2k sheds.
Will the odd bill that's inevitable, it's not super cheap any more.

I've seen a few estates lately, they look OK on AT, when you see them face to face, they are not so nice.
A few I've spotted on AT have had interesting MOT history.

There are loads of nice estate cars of about this value, unfortunately people seem to be holding on to them.

[dhutch]

georgeyboy12345 said:

As you have already found out, £4k is now not much above shed money.

I was going say, £10k already IS the new £4k!

[Raymond Reddington]

dhutch said:

I was going say, £10k already IS the new £4k!

It does seem like this is the case. You can either get lucky and find a good 4k car, or somehow reconcile with spending 10k of savings or finance/loan payments over years to pay for something that's already well used.

I don't think I could stomach paying for a lot of the rubbish advertised at 10k over 5 years with a loan, I think it would make me feel quite depressed!

[dhutch]

I looked at the 6k market when my 22yo E46 330ci needed £3500 worth of welding on it, and decided to repair the E46!

We then bought a 20 plate V60 as our family estate but that was £20k and significantly financed.....