Been looking for a cheap DD for months, yet still cannot..

[TheAngryDog]

...decide what to get!

I never knew looking for a cheap DD could be so hard! I set out with basic requirements - 40mpg and air conditioning. Then I decided it must have cruise control for my 2:30am 140 mile commute to work, and oh it'll be winter soon, get heated seats! All this for less than £1k!

And so I think - Mondeo 2.0 Ghia X Mk3. Perfect. Oh but its not interesting enough, so I start looking at Saab's and the like, but then the voice in my head says "get something reliable, will almost guarantee you to get to work, and has the bits you want". So why can I not just decide to buy a Mondeo??

Has anyone else been through this over a DD?

[Krikkit]

Volvo S60/V70 D5. Get one with the winter pack so you get heated seats and the other fancy bits.

[Kentish]

Krikkit said:

Volvo S60/V70 D5. Get one with the winter pack so you get heated seats and the other fancy bits.

Might be a bit of a shed for the stated budget.

Good choice though.

I've just bought a £900 E39 523i Touring.
It's in great nick, has lots of toys (all working perfectly).

The SLS sits a bit low at the rear but parts to sort it are quite cheap (even from BMW) and quite easy to work on.

[Mr E]

We've just traded a 2002 9-5 aero for well under your budget. Would meet all your requirements apart for mpg

[Condi]

DD are supposed to be boring and practical.

[JakeT]

That is a bit of a tall order... Since basically everyone wants a car like that. An E39 pre facelift would do all of those duties... Apart from 40 to the gallon. You can pick and choose, but I would say you won't get all of them.

[TheAngryDog]

I have an E39 Preface lift already and does all those things, but the 5 litre engine up front only returns 26mpg on the run

I know DD's should be boring and practical, I'm just struggling to find one I "like" lol

[nipsips]

My 2.0 Mondeo Ghia is brilliant*. Drive one. They're very underated.

• for its size