Comfy Car Under £1000
Comfy Car Under £1000
Author
Discussion

Alan16ac

Original Poster:

149 posts

167 months

Friday 9th June 2017
quotequote all
Nearly a decade of doing a job lifting heavy "things" all day, and driving cars with silly harsh suspension has destroyed the muscles in my lower back. Oops.
Currently driving my MINI Cooper S which is heavily modified and very harsh. Unbelievable fun to drive, but anything more than 30 minutes now is leaving me with back ache. Not getting rid, as I love it. But something else is needed for a daily. And something with a boot would be a big help. I'd like an estate or at least a large hatch.
As it's a second car it needs to be on the cheap, so what's out there for £1000 or less that'll be fairly reliable and do at least 35mpg?
At this price I expect occasional issues, I'm not expecting a trouble free car for this price.

Been looking at anything from Volvos V70s to Mitsubishi Lancers...


Edited by Alan16ac on Friday 9th June 12:49

adam85

1,264 posts

209 months

Friday 9th June 2017
quotequote all
Saab 9-5 has to be in with a shout. Fantastic seats

SamR380

737 posts

138 months

Friday 9th June 2017
quotequote all
Pre-facelift Rover 75 V6 with new belts.

hashtag

1,116 posts

172 months

Friday 9th June 2017
quotequote all
Volvo S60 D5

Nickp82

3,653 posts

111 months

Friday 9th June 2017
quotequote all
The lancer will be a good bet in terms of reliability, in my experience they are pretty bulletproof. Pretty comfortable too.

Alan16ac

Original Poster:

149 posts

167 months

Friday 9th June 2017
quotequote all
ZX10R NIN said:
I'd up your budget a bit & you'll find some good options I'd be less worried about fuel economy & focusing on reliability.

Haggle & do your homework & you should get something decent.
If I wait another couple of months I could add a bit to the budget.
Reliability is definitely a bigger deciding factor but it does need to get at least fairly decent MPG. I currently only drive 4 miles to work but I've been asked to move to a new store in October so it will be a 22 mile trip.

adam85 said:
Saab 9-5 has to be in with a shout. Fantastic seats
Yes, I've always been under the impression that they are horrendous reliability wise though?

hashtag said:
Volvo S60 D5
Yeah I've looked at those. Very comfy seats too, although a V70 would be more practical.

Nickp82 said:
The lancer will be a good bet in terms of reliability, in my experience they are pretty bulletproof. Pretty comfortable too.
The only downside is they don't seem to have cruise control which I would definitely miss.

exelero

1,974 posts

107 months

Friday 9th June 2017
quotequote all
AFAIK Saab's are reliable smile

Ahbefive

11,657 posts

190 months

Friday 9th June 2017
quotequote all
Volvo S60 or V70 is the answer here. It's the most comfy car mentioned without doubt.

TheDriverCom

117 posts

113 months

Friday 9th June 2017
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You should get a half decent e39 BMW 525d touring for that money which are plenty comfortable enough and knock on about 35/40 mpg.

FastMat

116 posts

103 months

Friday 9th June 2017
quotequote all
Saab 9-5 2.3 HOT AERO it's Big Bang for buck .. comfy memory leather seats and it's surprisingly fast too

scott15

198 posts

177 months

Friday 9th June 2017
quotequote all
I currently have my Audi A4 for sale.

1.9tdi 130bhp model.

https://www.gumtree.com/p/audi/audi-a4-1.9tdi-leat...

Nothing incredibly exciting, but its comfortable, eats up the miles and returns great mpg.

I put it on Gumtree a while ago but am sick to death of the "50p today cash" type messages so have just clean ignored them all.

I'd take £800 for a nice easy sale smile

Ahbefive

11,657 posts

190 months

Saturday 10th June 2017
quotequote all
Compared to a Volvos it is like sitting on a park bench.

aaron_2000

5,407 posts

101 months

Saturday 10th June 2017
quotequote all
A Renault Laguna with the V6. Two armchairs in the front.

ZX10R NIN

29,507 posts

143 months

Saturday 10th June 2017
quotequote all
Alan16ac said:
ZX10R NIN said:
I'd up your budget a bit & you'll find some good options I'd be less worried about fuel economy & focusing on reliability.

Haggle & do your homework & you should get something decent.
If I wait another couple of months I could add a bit to the budget.
Reliability is definitely a bigger deciding factor but it does need to get at least fairly decent MPG. I currently only drive 4 miles to work but I've been asked to move to a new store in October so it will be a 22 mile trip.
In that case the MG Nissan or 407 seem to be the best options.

MG

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2016...

407

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

Nissan Primera

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2017...

moustache

292 posts

129 months

Saturday 10th June 2017
quotequote all
The seats in the Saab 9-5 Aero are fantastic (best I've experienced) and mine has been 100% reliable. Not without a few minor issues, but the car is 15 years old so I would expect nothing else.

Parts are cheap and there is a very helpful forum if something goes wrong (UK Saabs). They're fantastic value for money!

Harding91

430 posts

187 months

Saturday 10th June 2017
quotequote all
Saab 9-3/9-5

Ive been running around in a 2002 9-3 auto for the last year its been faultless and comfy.

Alan16ac

Original Poster:

149 posts

167 months

Saturday 10th June 2017
quotequote all
Wouldn't touch another Peugeot or Citroen. Had 3 in the past and although the engines tend to be fairly reliable, the electrics were awful.

Looks like the Swedes are the ones to look at here.
Some nice S60s and 9-5s in my budget.
All seem to be miles away though, really want to go and sit in them to see what they're like.

bearman68

4,889 posts

150 months

Saturday 10th June 2017
quotequote all
List of my recent cars.

BMW E39 525d,
Volvo V50 2.4d with the big leather seats.
Saab 9-3 2.0t.
Renault Laguna,
Jeep KJ

Volvo and Saab seats are way way ahead of anything else.
Saab suspension is too harsh.

Volvo is lovely for motorway stuff, and everything on it you could want (well need), but it was £2k

HustleRussell

25,744 posts

178 months

Saturday 10th June 2017
quotequote all
scott15 said:
I currently have my Audi A4 for sale.

1.9tdi 130bhp model.

https://www.gumtree.com/p/audi/audi-a4-1.9tdi-leat...

Nothing incredibly exciting, but its comfortable, eats up the miles and returns great mpg.

I put it on Gumtree a while ago but am sick to death of the "50p today cash" type messages so have just clean ignored them all.

I'd take £800 for a nice easy sale smile
This looks like a good fit.

Also the mkIV golf had superb ride quality for a comparatively small car, especially in boggo spec with 15" wheels and cloth seats. Not a great car other than the ride quality though.