Comfy, cheap, reliable mile muncher?
Discussion
Regretfully, the M3 has gone and it's time to start looking at something a little more sensible for the journey's I do.
Had nothing but bad luck with my last two cars, and due to a change in circumstances I could do without it to say the least!
I'm covering about 10-15k miles a year, a lot of them being done on the motorway.
Looking for a car in the £4-8k price bracket and preferably a diesel.
A few have popped up so far that have been tempting:
Mondeo TDCI
Audi A4
Seat Exeo
VW Passat
Honda Civic
Mazda 6
The Mazda 6 seems the best value for money all round, can get a 10 plate on 60-odd-k miles for the upper bracket of my price range. I like the look of it and seems to have a lot of decent equipment as standard.
Willing to listen to any advice/recommendations that people may have before I embark on a massive lump of regret once again!
Had nothing but bad luck with my last two cars, and due to a change in circumstances I could do without it to say the least!
I'm covering about 10-15k miles a year, a lot of them being done on the motorway.
Looking for a car in the £4-8k price bracket and preferably a diesel.
A few have popped up so far that have been tempting:
Mondeo TDCI
Audi A4
Seat Exeo
VW Passat
Honda Civic
Mazda 6
The Mazda 6 seems the best value for money all round, can get a 10 plate on 60-odd-k miles for the upper bracket of my price range. I like the look of it and seems to have a lot of decent equipment as standard.
Willing to listen to any advice/recommendations that people may have before I embark on a massive lump of regret once again!
A friend has an 09 Mazda 6 2.2d. It's great at munching miles (he does Liverpool to Suffolk every weekend), it gets 50-odd mpg everywhere. But it's one seriously boring car. Sitting in it, you could be in any jap car from the last 10 years. It's got iPod connection, climate etc, so it's very good VFM, but it's in Securicor Blue and, again, it's a bit dull for that sort of money IMO. Be interesting with a remap though.
I think a Ford or something German may be a nicer place to be. Or what about a diesel saab 9-5 for reliable comfortable mile munching? (I may be biased) Or a Volvo?
ETA yum
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...
I think a Ford or something German may be a nicer place to be. Or what about a diesel saab 9-5 for reliable comfortable mile munching? (I may be biased) Or a Volvo?
ETA yum
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...
Edited by OpulentBob on Tuesday 10th September 22:11
Going be a very boring journey in any of those after the m3!
Not considered a 330d coupe (e46)? At the top of your budget but I sold my e60 525d m sport with 84k on the clock for around £8.5k a couple of months back. 230bhp mapped and lovely on the motorway.
Of course if you a have a weekend toy then ignore all the above....
Not considered a 330d coupe (e46)? At the top of your budget but I sold my e60 525d m sport with 84k on the clock for around £8.5k a couple of months back. 230bhp mapped and lovely on the motorway.
Of course if you a have a weekend toy then ignore all the above....
bildo said:
Regretfully, the M3 has gone and it's time to start looking at something a little more sensible for the journey's I do.
Had nothing but bad luck with my last two cars, and due to a change in circumstances I could do without it to say the least!
I'm covering about 10-15k miles a year, a lot of them being done on the motorway.
Looking for a car in the £4-8k price bracket and preferably a diesel.
A few have popped up so far that have been tempting:
Mondeo TDCI
Audi A4
Seat Exeo
VW Passat
Honda Civic
Mazda 6
The Mazda 6 seems the best value for money all round, can get a 10 plate on 60-odd-k miles for the upper bracket of my price range. I like the look of it and seems to have a lot of decent equipment as standard.
Willing to listen to any advice/recommendations that people may have before I embark on a massive lump of regret once again!
Passat. All day long.Had nothing but bad luck with my last two cars, and due to a change in circumstances I could do without it to say the least!
I'm covering about 10-15k miles a year, a lot of them being done on the motorway.
Looking for a car in the £4-8k price bracket and preferably a diesel.
A few have popped up so far that have been tempting:
Mondeo TDCI
Audi A4
Seat Exeo
VW Passat
Honda Civic
Mazda 6
The Mazda 6 seems the best value for money all round, can get a 10 plate on 60-odd-k miles for the upper bracket of my price range. I like the look of it and seems to have a lot of decent equipment as standard.
Willing to listen to any advice/recommendations that people may have before I embark on a massive lump of regret once again!
Dull as dishwater but designed for big miles.
OpulentBob said:
A friend has an 09 Mazda 6 2.2d. It's great at munching miles (he does Liverpool to Suffolk every weekend), it gets 50-odd mpg everywhere. But it's one seriously boring car. Sitting in it, you could be in any jap car from the last 10 years. It's got iPod connection, climate etc, so it's very good VFM, but it's in Securicor Blue and, again, it's a bit dull for that sort of money IMO. Be interesting with a remap though.
I think a Ford or something German may be a nicer place to be. Or what about a diesel saab 9-5 for reliable comfortable mile munching? (I may be biased) Or a Volvo?
ETA yum
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...
Chap at work has a derv Mazda 6, decent enough car and he gets 45mpg or so with largely town driving.I think a Ford or something German may be a nicer place to be. Or what about a diesel saab 9-5 for reliable comfortable mile munching? (I may be biased) Or a Volvo?
ETA yum
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...
Edited by OpulentBob on Tuesday 10th September 22:11
I've just bought an Octavia VRS diesel for £5.5k which seems comfortable and pleasant enough, reasonably economical and has some useful torque for a surprising spurt of speed for an overtake. Never going to set the world on fire with blistering pace or exquisite handling though.
ETA: massive boot, if that makes any difference to you.
ETA: massive boot, if that makes any difference to you.
I've just bought an Octavia VRS diesel for £5.5k which seems comfortable and pleasant enough, reasonably economical and has some useful torque for a surprising spurt of speed for an overtake. Never going to set the world on fire with blistering pace or exquisite handling though.
ETA: massive boot, if that makes any difference to you.
ETA: massive boot, if that makes any difference to you.
Edited by vexed on Tuesday 10th September 23:31
Thanks for all the recommendations so far, some interesting stuff I really hadn't considered.
Looked at that reliability website too, which was interesting.
The Saab, Volvo and 5 series BMW seem to have the worst ratings on there!
Of all the things the Mazda 6 and the Mondeo had the highest!
Apart from bland interior etc, can anyone tell me the downsides to a Mazda 6 over some of the other recommendations?
Got a 2011 2.2 diesel with 44k on the clock at my local Mazda dealership with full warranty for £10k. Seems like a really good deal to me considering the amount of extras you get as standard etc?
Looked at that reliability website too, which was interesting.
The Saab, Volvo and 5 series BMW seem to have the worst ratings on there!
Of all the things the Mazda 6 and the Mondeo had the highest!
Apart from bland interior etc, can anyone tell me the downsides to a Mazda 6 over some of the other recommendations?
Got a 2011 2.2 diesel with 44k on the clock at my local Mazda dealership with full warranty for £10k. Seems like a really good deal to me considering the amount of extras you get as standard etc?
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