Mid sized Estates. Japanese vs German

[Tannedbaldhead]

Budget of £8000 to £10000 to buy outright a mid sized petrol estate car.
I've narrowed my choice to 10-12 plate 45-60k examples of Mercedes C Class, BMW 320i Touring, the worthy but dull Toyota Avensis and either a late Subaru Legacy or early Levorg.
I've run a company C Class and 5 Series and a privately owned E Class in the past so the Germans are known quantities to me.
I haven't had much experience of either of the Japanese cars but am assuming they would be less rewarding drives and offer less pleasant places to be. On the flip side, from a reliability and running cost perspective I'm also assuming they'll prove to be the safer bets over a 4-5 year ownership period.
The thoughts of forum will be greatly appreciated.

[ZX10R NIN]

I'll throw a few worthy options in the mix

Insignia VXR

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

1.8T Alfa 159 Ti just look at it & they're reliable too:

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

A4 Black Edition

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

Skoda VRS

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

R36 Passat (but this does mean a budget stretch)

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

The Japanese offerings will be lacking slightly in the power department fit & finish will be good but will feel a bit cheaper than some of the German offerings.

[Jamescrs]

Just to throw another curve ball in what about a Volvo V60, I have one myself in T4 R design Guise which cost a shade over 8k and would fit your requirements very well

[MDMA .]

How about a Vectra VXR?

https://mwperformance.co.uk/vectravxr55/

[dunc69]

Another vote for the Mk2 Octy vRS petrol 197bhp.

Great car in either manual or DSG. Really solidly built, more so than the Mk3.

Had mine for 7 years and 89k miles from new. Not a squeak or rattle, nothing went wrong, pulled like a train ‘til the day I sold it.

Real VFM.

[Jag_NE]

Quite frankly, the Japanese offerings have pretty much zero to offer other than a reduced likelihood of breaking. The drive, the interiors and the styling are all utterly crap. Assuming you aren’t entering London regularly and hit the motorway now and then, a 320d touring is pretty much the complete car, 330d even more so if you can stretch to it.

[Tannedbaldhead]

Jamescrs said:

Just to throw another curve ball in what about a Volvo V60, I have one myself in T4 R design Guise which cost a shade over 8k and would fit your requirements very well

I really like the look, inside and out, of the V60 R Design in Rebel Blue.
Petrol engined examples are like hens' teeth.
Noticed the same issue with Passats, A4 Avants and Superbs.

[the_g_ster]

Jag_NE said:

Quite frankly, the Japanese offerings have pretty much zero to offer other than a reduced likelihood of breaking. The drive, the interiors and the styling are all utterly crap. Assuming you aren’t entering London regularly and hit the motorway now and then, a 320d touring is pretty much the complete car, 330d even more so if you can stretch to it.

The 320d is great until you start to add on the miles, as it will be at risk of swirl flaps being ingested into the engine and the timing chain. That's a big bill to change. Great cars, don't get me wrong, and if you count these items as expected that's fine, but a 320d will burn some money once you egg past 90k -100k unless you take a risk (it could of course be fine)

[Mr Tidy]

the_g_ster said:

Jag_NE said:

Quite frankly, the Japanese offerings have pretty much zero to offer other than a reduced likelihood of breaking. The drive, the interiors and the styling are all utterly crap. Assuming you aren’t entering London regularly and hit the motorway now and then, a 320d touring is pretty much the complete car, 330d even more so if you can stretch to it.

The 320d is great until you start to add on the miles, as it will be at risk of swirl flaps being ingested into the engine and the timing chain. That's a big bill to change. Great cars, don't get me wrong, and if you count these items as expected that's fine, but a 320d will burn some money once you egg past 90k -100k unless you take a risk (it could of course be fine)

Come on guys, the OP specifically said petrol in his 1st post.

But I'm not sure why he selected the 320i - when I asked my BMW Indy what to look for he recommended 6 cylinders, preferably petrol. So if the OP does want a BMW I'd be looking at a 330i (or 335i if in budget).

[Jamescrs]

Tannedbaldhead said:

I really like the look, inside and out, of the V60 R Design in Rebel Blue.
Petrol engined examples are like hens' teeth.
Noticed the same issue with Passats, A4 Avants and Superbs.

I think that's going to be a continuing issue as I went through the same process as yourself in January this year and found the Volvo V60 locally with a Volvo specialist so was quite lucky. It's because only a few years ago everyone was encouraged to buy diesel, especially in the type of car you are looking for as they were probably in the main company cars from new.

The way I did it was to go on Autotrader with filters set to budget, estate bodystyle and petrol only and then just looked through what came up.

[ZX10R NIN]

It will be these were company cars at the start of their lives so most will be diesel personally I'd say look for a 2.0T petrol Mondeo but they're very hard, the Volvo is a good shout but finding one will be the issue.