Volvo XC70 or Subaru Outback or an alternative?

[anonymous-user]

As of the new year I’ve decided to take up hiking and camping. I’ve a budget of around £3k. I was thinking of either the Volvo or Subaru offerings as both seem excellent, or would you recommend a 4X4?

[ZX10R NIN]

Surely you'll get more than 3k for your Portfolio XF.

Anyway I thought it was you that went over the rough stuff not the car

[Simon_GH]

Are you planning to sleep in the car? Is the mild off-road capability for rough tracks etc. off the beaten path? Both of you suggestions are well-liked in general for good reason.

[anonymous-user]

ZX10R NIN said:

Surely you'll get more than 3k for your Portfolio XF.

Anyway I thought it was you that went over the rough stuff not the car

The Jags still here.

[swanseaboydan]

Xc 90 - best car I’ve ever owned - get a high miler for 3 k

[anonymous-user]

Simon_GH said:

Are you planning to sleep in the car? Is the mild off-road capability for rough tracks etc. off the beaten path? Both of you suggestions are well-liked in general for good reason.

It’s a possibility of sleeping in it. But I have a 4 seasons tent. It’s not a bad suggestion.

[anonymous-user]

Volvo:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226473042539?mkcid=16&a...

[7 5 7]

Insignia County Tourer's...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/396041394441?mkcid=16&a...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/316049328567?mkcid=16&a...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/156558555922?mkcid=16&a...

Edited by 7 5 7 on Monday 23 December 08:34

[Roger Irrelevant]

7 5 7 said:

Insignia County Tourer's...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/396041394441?mkcid=16&a...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/316049328567?mkcid=16&a...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/156558555922?mkcid=16&a...

Edited by 7 5 7 on Monday 23 December 08:34

I've got to say, even though I have an XC70 which I can confirm is very good at the sort of thing the OP wants one for, and even though as a general rule I hate Insignias, I'd sooner have one of the cars you linked to than an XC70 for the equivalent price. Looks like the same money gets you an Insignia that's roughly five years newer and with the same mileage.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

I quite like that white one.

Although I can't escape the thought....

It would be good for my trips to Harvester and to watch Arsenal before I go to work the coach driving industry.

[Davie]

I'd be finding a wee bit more money, maybe another £500 (unless you find a complete bargain!) and I'd be looking towards a P3 XC70 over a P2 XC70 as the latter have their fair share of issues, the elephant in the room being their unwillingness to have fully functioning AWD for a longer period of time and as failures are more common on this era and can be very expensive, in turn it means a lot of the cars out there are already dead or dying in this department. Granted if AWD isn't a factor, then less of a concern but if AWD is high on the wish list... I'd either tread extremely carefully or buy a P3 instead which have far far fewer failures. Granted there's other things to go wrong, that's just cars in general but the P2 XC70 needs approached with eyes wide open. Just don't go full bingo and get with with Geartronic, 4C suspension and AWD... what could possibly go wrong!

[anonymous-user]

I didn’t even know the Insignia Country Tourer existed. It’s a little out of my budget, but they are a lot newer. Any fans of the Outback? Or what about the Volvo I linked?

[Davie]

Mr.Nobody said:

Volvo:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/226473042539?mkcid=16&a...

Right off the back of my last post I checked this one linked....

AWD.... check!
Geartronic... check!
4C suspension... check!

If you really REALLY want this era of XC70, research the hell out of them and the associated costs to fix any of the big three as it were if / when they go wrong as it's really rather expensive. Granted, might be fine... might be fine for the foreseeable future too but once it's not fine it's spendy.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/286196628231?_skw=XC70&...

I'd rather have this... or something along these lines. Yes it's a Cat S but I'd be happier with that then I would with a P2 XC70 with Geartronic / AWD / 4C suspension. I paid £2995 for my old 2008 XC70 D5 with a 6spd manual, 199k and ran it for three years / 50,000 miles with no issues and then sold it for £2000 when the flywheel started to make it's displeasure known. In someways I regret that, in some ways I wish I'd just got the clutch done and carried on - it was a fantastic tool, supremely comfortable and surprisingly capable off road. Felt a hell of a lot better built than a P2 as well, wore it's miles much better.

Edited by Davie on Monday 23 December 16:12

[Silvanus]

Along with the Vauxhall, you can also pick up these rarities close to budge and are a lot newer than some other cars mentioned.

Peugeot 508 SW RXH eHybrid4. A lot of car for the money and a nice big boot.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2024120670...

VW Passat Alltrack 4motion.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2023062388...

[anonymous-user]

The 508 looks quite interesting. A diesel hybrid. I’ve also found a Subaru

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202412036...

[Deerfoot]

Hugo Stiglitz said:

I quite like that white one.

It's in Tipton. Avoid.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Deerfoot said:

Hugo Stiglitz said:

I quite like that white one.

It's in Tipton. Avoid.

No decent carvery or betting places?

[Silvanus]

Mr.Nobody said:

The 508 looks quite interesting. A diesel hybrid. I’ve also found a Subaru

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202412036...

The Peugeot is actually supposed to be a very good car, I've been quite tempted by one, or it's cousin the DS5.

[Krikkit]

We had one of each generation of Outback, wouldn't hesitate to recommend them, absolutely fantastic cars.

The Volvo is a more comfortable option, with a more sumptuous interior, but much more likely to have issues. The Subarus were flawless bar standard servicing. Never had a failure to proceed.

This generation with the 2.5 with the 4-speed automatic gearbox (which was the worst bit about the car, but still very smooth and respectable) was the best of the bunch, it averaged 38mpg with my Mrs over ~50k miles in Lincolnshire.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/396010534084

Edited by Krikkit on Tuesday 24th December 09:15

[TurboRob]

In contrast to Davie's opinion, I've had no issues running a high-mileage P2 XC70 for the past 5 years and 50k+ miles. They are old cars that I find quite simple to maintain - I'd recommend:

2005 P2 XC70 Ownership Thread

Buy well!