What car 4x4 estate

[jackh707]

Ok, first what car. I want an estate with 4wd, haldex/vicsous etc. couplings are allowed. Good motorway/A road cruiser, nice place to sit.
Petrol or diesel, 30mpg+ preferred.
Manual. Reliable and well specced.
Mileage, nothing intergalactic.
Easy to work on.
Reasonable insurance.
£4500
Have been lowing at a4 1.8t quattro
avants about 10 year old.

[LouD86]

If you can find one on the used market, the Skoda Octavia TDi 4x4 is a cracking car! Similar infact to that of the Audi! lol

[GreatGranny]

Its a no brainer for that budget... Legacy.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...

Bigger than the Impreza, cheaper to run that the Forester and IMO it does look good for an estate.

No turbo to go wrong, they have proven to be super reliable and are well specced.

[jfdi]

Passat 4motion fits the bill, although most are 2.8 petrol so 30+mpg would only be achievable downhill with strong tailwind

[Spyder5]

How about one of these - plenty around and fill your requirements. Not sure how easy they are to work on though?

[HustleRussell]

Octavia 4x4 in 'Laurin and Klement' spec. The only Octavia with an interior which isn't pure 'meh'.

[R0G]

Do you want it for towing?

[GreatGranny]

Spyder5 said:

How about one of these - plenty around and fill your requirements. Not sure how easy they are to work on though?

Isn't the XT the turbo engine, IMO it will struggle to do 30+ mpg. I know that Imprezza Turbos are pretty thirsty.

[Six Fiend]

X-type 3.0 V6 - all AWD.

Pushing the budget but something like this:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2005-05-JAGUAR-X-TYPE-ES...

Will do well over 30mpg on a run or lots less if you cane it

Low 20s in town.

[GravelBen]

Legacy = win, great cars.

[jackh707]

I commute day to day on a motorbike so it's for occasional towing duties and not getting stuck on the beach. I go kitesurfing in the summer and my local haunt involves a mile drive down a beach, used to have a CRV never got stuck and, now have a MINI which i like but it got stuck after 100 years and I had to get towed out, so it's stopping me kitesurfing.
Also do a bit of walking in North Wales/Lakes so a comfy bus to get me and my mates there is all I'm after.
That Legacy is lovely but I was hoping for a bit more poke, 9 ish to 60 and below preferred.

[billzeebub]

Legacy or Forester

[Dragoco]

Volvo V50 T5 AWD is what you need.

Brother lives in the alps and had the exact same needs and budget. Looked at audi's (too dull), impreza's (too expensive), legacy/forrester (just aren't any around - think people keep them till the wheels fall off) etc. but settled on a mint 2004 60k miles Volvo for £4.5k. 220bhp is a hoot, proper sleeper.

[GravelBen]

jackh707 said:

That Legacy is lovely but I was hoping for a bit more poke, 9 ish to 60 and below preferred.

2.5, 3.0 or turbo Legacy then.

[jackh707]

GravelBen said:

2.5, 3.0 or turbo Legacy then.

Have just discovered those flavours, they both look good

[thinfourth2]

Dragoco said:

, legacy/forrester (just aren't any around - think people keep them till the wheels fall off) etc..

Hundreds of foresters on the road up here

never see them for sale

I think most folk keep them till they die

[B.J.W]

One of the best 'daily drivers' I have owned. great build quality, great ride quality and pretty capable off road. Loads of space inside and if well specced a nice place to be. You will need to keep an eye on the air suspension corners, but other than that the gen1 allroad is an understated package that still looks good 12 years after launch. I paid £4500 for my car last year - a one owner 70k 2.7 bi-turbo with full audi main dealer service history. one of the suspension bags was replaced under warranty, but other than that it has been a pleasure to drive for the past 12k miles.

[GreatGranny]

B.J.W said:

One of the best 'daily drivers' I have owned. great build quality, great ride quality and pretty capable off road. Loads of space inside and if well specced a nice place to be. You will need to keep an eye on the air suspension corners, but other than that the gen1 allroad is an understated package that still looks good 12 years after launch. I paid £4500 for my car last year - a one owner 70k 2.7 bi-turbo with full audi main dealer service history. one of the suspension bags was replaced under warranty, but other than that it has been a pleasure to drive for the past 12k miles.

But it will never do 30+ mpg average will it?

OP - The R spec Legacy is 165 bhp I think but with the extra poke comes additional running costs.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...

Will mean higher mileage for your budget plus there aren't that many around.

AWD + 30+ mpg doesn't necessarily = fast.

ETA - The 2.5 is still "only" 9.6 0-62 but its not just about standing starts, thats for boy racers!

Edited by GreatGranny on Friday 22 June 13:57

[blade7]

Dragoco said:

Volvo V50 T5 AWD is what you need.

Brother lives in the alps and had the exact same needs and budget. Looked at audi's (too dull).

I think I'd trust Audi's 4wd more than the Volvo setup.

[4keymonsta]

Ive got a b5 s4 avant which averages 26mpg if i dont kick the st out of it constantly, so i would have thought that the de-tuned allroad would manage over 30.