Family estate options

[Jellymonster]

Hello all - after a few opinions

The mrs and I are expecting our first baby in March and I am thinking of getting a bigger car. I currently drive a 5 door, 2014 1.0 Fiesta titanium and use it to travel around the UK on weekends as I'm a self employed musician and need a reliable motor, to get to recording sessions and live shows.

I've been pretty pleased with the Ford as it will cruise at a decent lick on long trips home at night when its quiet, its inexpensive to run (free to tax / reasonable to insurance / not too juicy) and it has some nice features (heated leather seats / reversing camera / cruise control / air con etc).

A friend of mine bought a 320d GT and is very pleased with it so I've been looking at 2nd hand 320d / 330d with under 50k on the clock (2013 to 2015). I have also been looking at the previous E91 model as there are some for sale with around 40k on the clock for £10k-£12k. They're a little more tired due to age but I'm not over precious about usage marks as I load equipment into my cars and we have a dog. I have, however... seen there was a big recall on those cars by BMW in 2018 which makes me weary!

I'm keen to know:

- has anyone on here owned both the E91 estate and F11 estate. if so, could u tell me if the driving experience / reliability differs significantly?
- has the 320d got enough grunt around town / on the motorway or is the 330d worth the extra expense? i won't be tearing around like Ayrton Senna but i've never owned a "faster" car and feel it might be nice to treat myself. I do fancy a 6 cylinder bmw However, I am also new to fatherhood and am cautious about not over stretching myself financially, so if the higher powered estates are significantly more expensive to run on fuel, I might avoid. I am covering around 20k miles per year.
- obviously, if i plumped for the previous 330d model, the saving on purchase price would cover the extra costs of running it. However, reliability with age would be a consideration.
- should I just get something else, a cheaper option?
- should I look to buy privately (and risk a potential issue with no come backs) and sell my car privately, or save the faff and P/X via a dealer if I can find the right car, so I have piece of mind incase there is a fault with the car?

Thanks for reading!

[g7jhp]

You don't need an estate or SUV if you have kids.

We've raised two kids and done family holidays in the family Golf GTI (Mk4) now Mk5.

Having a bigger car just allows you to prepare less and carry more crap.

But if you must have an estate:

- Skoda Octavia vRS (petrol) Mk3 are very good
- BMW 3 series estate (E91 or F31)
- Mercedes (W204)
- SEAT Leon ST Cupra 280
- Golf R Estate

If you're not doing that many miles petrol maybe a better option, especially as diesel cars are now being targeted for pollution.

[Car-Matt]

I've run a 2012 registered E91 320d Auto M-Sport from 23k miles to 105k miles since 2015 as a daily driver.

Plenty of performance for every day driving/commuting, it has a lot of torque and delivers its 194ps well. Averages around 48mpg over all journeys and i've had no issues other than consumables and brakes.

Its a great car if not a little low to get into for old people and the boot isn't the biggest compared to say an Octavia, the ride is usual M-Sport terrible but countered by the 17" Stepped wheels not the bigger 18". No Squeaks or rattles and the car drives and feels just like it did when i collected it. Not perfect but I doubt there a better 2.0d kicking around in this sized car at this kind of price.

I'd have another for sure.

[S100HP]

g7jhp said:

You don't need an estate or SUV if you have kids.

Well done, 1st comment as well!

You don't need an estate, but it makes life much easier, especially with a dog in the mix too.

[Jellymonster]

Car-Matt said:

I've run a 2012 registered E91 320d Auto M-Sport from 23k miles to 105k miles since 2015 as a daily driver.

Plenty of performance for every day driving/commuting, it has a lot of torque and delivers its 194ps well. Averages around 48mpg over all journeys and i've had no issues other than consumables and brakes.

Its a great car if not a little low to get into for old people and the boot isn't the biggest compared to say an Octavia, the ride is usual M-Sport terrible but countered by the 17" Stepped wheels not the bigger 18". No Squeaks or rattles and the car drives and feels just like it did when i collected it. Not perfect but I doubt there a better 2.0d kicking around in this sized car at this kind of price.

I'd have another for sure.

Ahh nice, thanks for the input. How did you find it handled the snow last year? Do winter tyres sort that issue out or would the X-drive be essential?

[Jellymonster]

g7jhp said:

You don't need an estate or SUV if you have kids.

We've raised two kids and done family holidays in the family Golf GTI (Mk4) now Mk5.

Having a bigger car just allows you to prepare less and carry more crap.

But if you must have an estate:

- Skoda Octavia vRS (petrol) Mk3 are very good
- BMW 3 series estate (E91 or F31)
- Mercedes (W204)
- SEAT Leon ST Cupra 280
- Golf R Estate

If you're not doing that many miles petrol maybe a better option, especially as diesel cars are now being targeted for pollution.

I'm not the "most" prepared person, so extra space might be worth while. Plus, for tip runs / music equipment / dog, I think an estate could be the answer. I'm doing 20k miles per year, so fuel economy is a concern. I'd prefer a petrol but a friend had a 320i estate lender when his 320d GT was off the road and he said the difference in fuel economy was very surprising. The 320i got a 3rd less mileage per tank.

[Car-Matt]

Jellymonster said:

Car-Matt said:

I've run a 2012 registered E91 320d Auto M-Sport from 23k miles to 105k miles since 2015 as a daily driver.

Plenty of performance for every day driving/commuting, it has a lot of torque and delivers its 194ps well. Averages around 48mpg over all journeys and i've had no issues other than consumables and brakes.

Its a great car if not a little low to get into for old people and the boot isn't the biggest compared to say an Octavia, the ride is usual M-Sport terrible but countered by the 17" Stepped wheels not the bigger 18". No Squeaks or rattles and the car drives and feels just like it did when i collected it. Not perfect but I doubt there a better 2.0d kicking around in this sized car at this kind of price.

I'd have another for sure.

Ahh nice, thanks for the input. How did you find it handled the snow last year? Do winter tyres sort that issue out or would the X-drive be essential?

I've used winters every year when the temps get consistently low enough and it was fine commuting from Brum to Derby in the bad snow last winter, i'm using coss climates this year so expect the same.

[valiant]

g7jhp said:

You don't need an estate SUV if you have kids.
.

Everyone needs an estate!

Estates rule!

Op, buy an estate.

[Hackney]

valiant said:

Everyone needs an estate!

Estates rule!

Op, buy an estate.

This.

You may not need an estate, but you need an estate.

Golf R owner here. Just bought a decent sized cabinet and got it in the boot with no problems, back seat still up, child seats in place.
30MPG (roughly) no matter how it's driven and I'm doing 20k p/a

Life's too short to buy a diesel.

[ninjag]

Reliability and fuel economy? What about a Mazda 6 Estate? 2.2D returns 67.3mpg combined and £20 per year road tax. You can get a 2014 model with around 25k miles for around the £10k mark. A remap with Celtic Tuning and it goes to 210bhp with 435Nm of torque so will be pretty swift. They look pretty nice as well.

Or a 2012/13 Honda Accord 8th Generation Estate (built in Japan and not Swindon) 2.2 diesel with around 40k miles, excellent quality seats and return 51.4mpg combined. Again they can be remapped to over 200bhp for some extra fun. Less than £10k.

[ZX10R NIN]

OP how much do you want to spend on a car as that will affect what's best for you, also do you want manual or auto what spec must you have? A Focus is big enough for a family of three.

For example if you're doing 20k a year you're going to want something with less than 40k on the clock when you buy something so you can at least keep it three years, yes you can go past 100k with ease but you'll be looking at a suspension refurb.

Focus ST-3

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Also don't dismiss saloon/hatches as there are some great cars that will fulfill your requirements with ease.

Infiniti M

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Giulia Sportiva Nav

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[ZX10R NIN]

If it has to be a good sized family Estate then I'd recommend these:

2.2d Titanium X Sport

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

508SW in GT form this car is a peach (this & the Mondeo above share the same drivetrain) in terms of spec year & mileage performance etc.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

The Insignia's in Elite trim are the best VFM but the two above edge the Vauxhalls in just being better cars but I'd still say test drive one.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

[Whatsmyname]

I've got a W204 I wouldnt recommend one.

[Mr Tidy]

Well at 20K miles a year I'd think a diesel would make sense OP.

Autocar put it very nicely - a 320d is all the car you'll ever need. A 330d is all the car you'll ever want!