Economical mid-sized estate £6.5k

[Joelonghair]

Hi,

Looking at a mid-size estate around £6k to £7k. Main duties will be motorway mile munching for my business plus a bit of family stuff so needs to be quiet, comfortable and good on fuel. Would like a 2010 or newer car if possible.

Journeys will mostly be long distance (I have other cars for local journeys) so to me a 2ltr diesel of some description makes sense.

The Mercedes C-class estate in 2.1 diesel blueEfficiency (170) guise seems to be decent enough on the fuel / performance compromise. Tax is low and some ok ones are available at around 100k miles for my budget. Any reason this would be a bad idea?

Cheers

[stevemcs]

Passat 2.0TDi, needs to be manual, I did see 69mpg on a reasonable run slipstreaming lorries.

[Summit_Detailing]

Insignia or Mondeo were designed for this exact brief.

I've just sold an Insignia estate (62plate/64k/£6k) and the biggest compliment I can give it after 4500miles is it did everything I asked of it in a completely unremarkable way.
In certain aspects, namely seat comfort and motorway ride it was better than the 2013 E-class that went before.

Happy hunting!

Cheers,

Chris

[Joelonghair]

Have had a look at the Passats and wouldn't be averse to one. Comparing them to the C-class they seem similar money, about the same on fuel, but the C class has 30ish odd extra horses and I prefer the looks.

It is a compromise for me, I dont want mega economy at the expense of no grunt (like the 1.6 TDi Passats) so am happy with 50s on a cruise and would like over 150 bhp really.

The Insignia does nothing for me I'm afraid. The Mondeo I like but might be a bit big?

Edited by Joelonghair on Sunday 12th June 18:37

[stevemcs]

The mercs do go wrong and are a pain to work on, the subframes rot and the engine is a rough old thing. Mondeo and Passat are a similar size, 2.0 163 in the facelift Mondeo is good, comfort for me the Mondeo wins, I’ve got the 2.2 but it’s rubbish on fuel.

I dislike vw’s so it goes against everything to recommend one

[oceanview]

I'd go with the Mondeo.

Great cars and cover all you want easily.

[wong]

Honda Civic estate? Only 1.6 diesel though. But it's supposed to be an excellent engine.

[Joelonghair]

Thanks for the suggestion. It's probably a sensible choice but don't think I could live with the lack of power and would like a more premium cabin.

I might be in a bit of no mans land price wise so am thinking of upping the budget to 8k if that helps?

[wong]

The BMW 2.0 diesel engine in various cars would do. 320D is popular for a reason.

[stevemcs]

wong said:

The BMW 2.0 diesel engine in various cars would do. 320D is popular for a reason.

Not with 6.5k it isn't, the problem with the so called prestige cars at this price point is they are very often purchased by people who are buying them so they can say they drive a mercedes, when they are actually buying a 12 year old car and don't spend the money to maintain them correctly, we find more people spend money on the humble mondeo, insignia, focus astra etc in keeping them in good condition.

[Joelonghair]

I remember looking at 330d's a couple of years ago at around 4-5k. Just looking now they are more like 8k (E91) so thats a no from me.

I think the Mondeo is the front runner so am going to try to find one to have a look at.

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/13240422

https://www.pistonheads.com/buy/listing/13491622

Same price and similar milage. Would a towbar put you off? Auto or manual in these?

Edited by Joelonghair on Sunday 12th June 22:28

[SlowV6]

I would look for a manual mk4.5 TitaniumX 2.0 Tdci in either 138 or 163 bhp flavour.

Titanium X gets xenons (that turn round corners as you turn the wheel) and the heated and cooled seats. If you can get one with the sat nav you also get the reversing camera. I don't know if the stereo in the Titanium X is upgraded (I have the sat nav btw) but it sounds excellent. I am 15months into owning mine and I think they are superb cars for the money. Definitely worth holding out for a Titanium X.

Funnily enough I also have an e91 330d but it's rubbish as a family car compared to the Mondeo. If space for people or load lugging is important beware, E91s are pokey inside. M57 + ZF6 is always good though to be fair

[stevemcs]

Avoid the auto box in the 2.0, and now a towbar wouldn’t put me off, mine has one but then I tow with it.

Although I keep looking at F31 330ds I think the Mondeo is probably the better car, engine and gearbox aside.

[alfabeat]

Octavia 2.0 Estate cdi?

I've got one and its comfy, big boot and does 55mpg on a run. The standard 138bhp was too little and £250 or so saw it transformed with a remap. Now just over 200bhp.

I paid £6k (2012 plate Scout so 4x4 with 60k miles) . But that was 2 years ago.

[ChattingWham]

I'd probably go Mondeo too.

If you don't want something quite that big, a Volvo V50 might be a good alternative shout. Great seats, very comfortable. (Avoid the 1.6 DRIVe though, it's a bit gutless.)

Or -- and this depends on your attitude to French motors -- Peugeot 308 SW. The 2013-2021 model. Very big boot for the class of car.

[ninjag]

8th Gen Honda Accord are nice, economical and reliable.

2010, 83k and under budget at £5,995 with a clean MOT history as well.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202205236...

[Shiv_P]

The Mondeo is a great car. The only thing I noticed on mine was that it didn't really achieve that great fuel economy tbh - but I was motorway miles and it was only a 6 speed and quite a heavy car so was to be expected I guess.

[ZX10R NIN]

The Mondeo is the pick but there are some good alternatives.

508SW Allure 160: these have the same drivetrain as the Mondeo & come well spec'd in Allure trim:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202206116...

Insignia SRI Nav 160:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202203043...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202205306...

Mondeo Titanium 160:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202206136...

[Dirknights]

Mazda 6..?

I bought one for almost excatly the same brief.

2016 onwards has updated interior, comfy, practical, Japanese reliability!

[ZX10R NIN]

Dirknights said:

Mazda 6..?

I bought one for almost excatly the same brief.

2016 onwards has updated interior, comfy, practical, Japanese reliability!

At this price point you'd be looking at the earlier 2.2d & that had a few issues.