Estate advice please
Discussion
My wife and I fancy a used estate to replace our leased Kia Niro, that goes back in October. Because we now have two dogs, a lurcher and an indefatigable Westie, an estate is essential.
We’ve decided on buying outright a used car and have narrowed the options down to a Volvo V70 or V50, or a BMW E60 estate. The criteria must be petrol and not a gigantic amount of money, sub £10k preferably and less than that if doable. Manual or automatic doesn’t bother either of us.
There seems to be a fair amount of choice. I’ve had a BMW E60 before and loved it.
I’d be happy to entertain other suggestions or advice about what I’ve put here. We are also not adverse to buying one early and storing it.
Essentially if anyone has any experience of either I’d be grateful to hear from you. As I’ll be using the car to commute to work three days a week (as and when we return) which is 5 miles each way, economy doesn’t really matter although something beginning with a “2” rather than a “1” would be preferable.
In short if it costs less than £250 a month to keep on the road (bearing in mind greater maintenance costs for an older car and potential issues) then that’s fine.
Thanks!
We’ve decided on buying outright a used car and have narrowed the options down to a Volvo V70 or V50, or a BMW E60 estate. The criteria must be petrol and not a gigantic amount of money, sub £10k preferably and less than that if doable. Manual or automatic doesn’t bother either of us.
There seems to be a fair amount of choice. I’ve had a BMW E60 before and loved it.
I’d be happy to entertain other suggestions or advice about what I’ve put here. We are also not adverse to buying one early and storing it.
Essentially if anyone has any experience of either I’d be grateful to hear from you. As I’ll be using the car to commute to work three days a week (as and when we return) which is 5 miles each way, economy doesn’t really matter although something beginning with a “2” rather than a “1” would be preferable.
In short if it costs less than £250 a month to keep on the road (bearing in mind greater maintenance costs for an older car and potential issues) then that’s fine.
Thanks!
I was looking for a £10k estate car this time last year.
Looked at a lot of E60s and fancied one, found many were in poor condition and it was hard to get a decent spec. Worth looking though.
Volvo V70 is another good option, tend to be a bit better looked after too in my experience!
I ended up with a W212 E-Class - slighlty newer design than the E60, and tend to be better value than the E60 or an Audi A6 as they are a bit 'old man'. I did want the E350 CGi petrol however they are like hens teeth - the majority are Diesel. There was no way in hell I was buying a 4 cylinder diesel so I got the V6 E2350 CDI and its superb, suits the car really well. Its very large, comfy, quick, well built, quiet and would be ideal for dogs. However I do have another car - If it was my only car I'd want something a bit more dynamic and sporty.
This budget/age tends to put you right in the peak of when Diesel was most popular, making petrols hard to find. 5 series and A6 slightly more common with Petrol than the Merc and Volvo I think.
As an alternative - have a look for the (VERY rare!) Mondeo Titanium X Sport - its a 2-litre Ecoboost (Focus ST engine, basically) with a 6 speed auto only, very highly specced.
There is currently ONE on autotrader, good colour too, I'd have gone to look at this had it been available at the time. Very good cars.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101097...
Looked at a lot of E60s and fancied one, found many were in poor condition and it was hard to get a decent spec. Worth looking though.
Volvo V70 is another good option, tend to be a bit better looked after too in my experience!
I ended up with a W212 E-Class - slighlty newer design than the E60, and tend to be better value than the E60 or an Audi A6 as they are a bit 'old man'. I did want the E350 CGi petrol however they are like hens teeth - the majority are Diesel. There was no way in hell I was buying a 4 cylinder diesel so I got the V6 E2350 CDI and its superb, suits the car really well. Its very large, comfy, quick, well built, quiet and would be ideal for dogs. However I do have another car - If it was my only car I'd want something a bit more dynamic and sporty.
This budget/age tends to put you right in the peak of when Diesel was most popular, making petrols hard to find. 5 series and A6 slightly more common with Petrol than the Merc and Volvo I think.
As an alternative - have a look for the (VERY rare!) Mondeo Titanium X Sport - its a 2-litre Ecoboost (Focus ST engine, basically) with a 6 speed auto only, very highly specced.
There is currently ONE on autotrader, good colour too, I'd have gone to look at this had it been available at the time. Very good cars.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101097...
Just regarding the petrol point, your commute doesn’t sound well suited to a diesel but are you out and about regularly on longer trips with the dogs etc? Reason being for the older cars, you will have much more choice if you take a diesel. We have a diesel which has a commute like yours but because it’s getting nice and hot every weekend we have never had an issue.
Jag_NE said:
Just regarding the petrol point, your commute doesn’t sound well suited to a diesel but are you out and about regularly on longer trips with the dogs etc? Reason being for the older cars, you will have much more choice if you take a diesel. We have a diesel which has a commute like yours but because it’s getting nice and hot every weekend we have never had an issue.
The E60 I had was a 530d and it was marvellous. I am concerned from previous experience of this, and having an 8 mile trip to work, that it wasn't even close to being warmed up on arrival. We are not taking the dogs far because the lurcher is a psycho and has behaviour issues we are currently correcting so cannot chance going to far for the fear of having to come straight back again. Another vote for the Mondeo - it's a brilliant car.
£10K will get you a Mk4.5 - a bit more will get you a MK5. The one above is a MK4.5
My understanding is that the MK4.5 is a "Powershift" gearbox - i.e. automated manual, whereas the MK5 is a torque converter auto.
The only thing about the MK4.5 is to check it's had it's 3 year gearbox service. They're both a 2 litre turbo - well they are if you buy the right model.
Whichever one you go for (if you do) get it as highly spec'd as you can. They look so much better in the higher trim specs.
If you go for a MK5 then you really want Sync3 (NOT Sync2), adaptive cruise, high beam assist (it works really well) and heated steering wheel
£10K will get you a Mk4.5 - a bit more will get you a MK5. The one above is a MK4.5
My understanding is that the MK4.5 is a "Powershift" gearbox - i.e. automated manual, whereas the MK5 is a torque converter auto.
The only thing about the MK4.5 is to check it's had it's 3 year gearbox service. They're both a 2 litre turbo - well they are if you buy the right model.
Whichever one you go for (if you do) get it as highly spec'd as you can. They look so much better in the higher trim specs.
If you go for a MK5 then you really want Sync3 (NOT Sync2), adaptive cruise, high beam assist (it works really well) and heated steering wheel
I picked up a 2.5 year old one of these just over a year ago for £11k with 60k miles. Obviously this one's a diesel but there is a 2.0 petrol variant. The 2.2d comes in 150 and 180hp variants - a quick remap on the 180 has it nudging 235 which is plenty for me in a commuting wagon.
Big boot, heated power seats, heated steering wheel, Bose stereo. I much prefer the light leather interior but maybe not so good with the pooches!
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202010205...
Big boot, heated power seats, heated steering wheel, Bose stereo. I much prefer the light leather interior but maybe not so good with the pooches!
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202010205...
Thanks for those recommendations. They’d not figured at all, but I’ll definitely looking at those when it’s time.
As I say the only criteria is not diesel, and the car must have capacious boot; all other considerations are flexible really. If it wasn’t for the smaller boot I’d look at BMW 3 Series but from what I’ve seen the boot isn’t huge.
As I say the only criteria is not diesel, and the car must have capacious boot; all other considerations are flexible really. If it wasn’t for the smaller boot I’d look at BMW 3 Series but from what I’ve seen the boot isn’t huge.
3 series, A4, C class, all have rather small boots, not really much better than a Focus hatch in usefulness.
For your dogs you definitely want cars of the next size up - the Mondeo is closer to 5 series/E-class, as is the Mazda 6 (very good shout but the 2 litre skyactiv petrol is pushing it in a car that big, we've got a Mazda3 and it's adequate only).
For your dogs you definitely want cars of the next size up - the Mondeo is closer to 5 series/E-class, as is the Mazda 6 (very good shout but the 2 litre skyactiv petrol is pushing it in a car that big, we've got a Mazda3 and it's adequate only).
There is another Mondeo Titanium X Sport on AT. Albeit slightly high miles.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202012036...
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202012036...
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