Simple Largeish Family Hatch/Estate - Page 1 - Car Buying

BikeBikeBIke

Original Poster

13,569 posts

139 months

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Sunday 26th January 2025

So after posting here I've come to the collusion that buying a car the old fashioned way may still the best rather than leasing.

So I need a roomy (but I'd compromise down to Golf size) estate/hatch/SUV that's not going to throw up complicated issues that are hard to diagnose. I'd love to avoid EGR valves, Diesel engines, particle filters, turbo, driver assist, wet cam belts and all the complexity that infests modern cars but I appreciate that may not be possible. A bit of gorund clearence would be nice, I hate t

tting the valance. No objection to EV, assuming battery health can be predicted in some way. I used to avoid Automatics, but these days are they as reliable/predictable as manuals?

Budget is pretty flexible up and down (especially downwards) but I'm thinking 10-15k. (BTW I'm very out of touch but that budget seems insane to me, feels to me like I'm putting myself square in the highest risk zone - getting a bangernomics car and paying top end money for it, have things moved on and 8 year old cars are considered solid and reliable for a few years come?)

Someone, mentioned Kia Sportages so I'll throw that out there as a straw man, although they look small inside to me.

Be gentle with me, I'm bewildered, I feel like I went to sleep before Covid and woke up in a completely different car buying landscape.

Edited by BikeBikeBIke on Sunday 26th January 09:24

Grumbler

378 posts

132 months

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Sunday 26th January 2025

My brother just bought a Mazda 6 estate (2l n/a) and it’s pretty nice. He wanted something large and simple because of lots of stop/start short journeys. Might work for you too?

Simon_GH

863 posts

104 months

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Sunday 26th January 2025

The Mazda 6 estate was the first car that came to mind for me too. I get the simplicity argument. I’d also think about a compromise on the turbo front because they drive well and can be reliable. The 1.5 petrol turbo Focus estate for example is regarded as reliable by the trade. Toyota Corolla estates are common taxis and can clearly hack arduous use.

Truckosaurus

12,929 posts

308 months

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Sunday 26th January 2025

Simon_GH said:

....Toyota Corolla estates are common taxis and can clearly hack arduous use.

Indeed. Even though they are hybrid they are fairly simple on the ICE side of things. Plenty of future proof life for things like ULEZ zones etc.

Or a Rav4 if you need something bigger.

£15k seems to get you a 2017-ish RAV4 or a 2020 Corolla estate

Oberheim

580 posts

15 months

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Sunday 26th January 2025

I'll second the Toyota Corolla. The hatchback variant has a smallish boot, so go for the estate as said. Make sure it has had all its past annual services at a Toyota garage, as that is required by Toyota to keep the 10-year warranty in place (you then continue to service it at a Toyota garage to maintain this excellent warranty). Toyota's hybrid drivetrain includes a highly efficient petrol engine that has no timing belt, no starter motor and no alternator. The e-CVT transmission is superbly smooth and reliable, can do half a million miles without issues. Tried and tested over 25+ years, a Toyota hybrid is one of the most dependable cars out there.

Huzzah

28,630 posts

207 months

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Sunday 26th January 2025

How about a Dacia Dogger?

Spacious, cheap and as simple as Baldrick.

Oh and not an SUV, but better ground clearance than most cars.

Edited by Huzzah on Sunday 26th January 13:17

Rushjob

2,277 posts

282 months

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Sunday 26th January 2025

Huzzah said:

How about a Dacia Dogger?

Spacious, cheap and as simple as Baldrick.

Oh and not an SUV, but better ground clearance than most cars.

Edited by Huzzah on Sunday 26th January 13:17

Really hoping you mean the Jogger or even the Dokker but the Dogger, that's a different lifestyle there....

CG2020UK

2,879 posts

64 months

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Sunday 26th January 2025

£14k gets you a 2022 Kia Sportage that would still have warranty till 2029.

Also 2022 Toyota Coralla and provided you get it serviced at a Toyota dealer you can extended that cars warranty to 2032 but might be small if you think the Sportsge is.

A 2023 Dacia Jogger be my pick.

ZX10R NIN

30,051 posts

149 months

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Sunday 26th January 2025

BikeBikeBIke said:

So after posting here I've come to the collusion that buying a car the old fashioned way may still the best rather than leasing.

So I need a roomy (but I'd compromise down to Golf size) estate/hatch/SUV that's not going to throw up complicated issues that are hard to diagnose. I'd love to avoid EGR valves, Diesel engines, particle filters, turbo, driver assist, wet cam belts and all the complexity that infests modern cars but I appreciate that may not be possible. A bit of gorund clearence would be nice, I hate t

tting the valance. No objection to EV, assuming battery health can be predicted in some way. I used to avoid Automatics, but these days are they as reliable/predictable as manuals?

Budget is pretty flexible up and down (especially downwards) but I'm thinking 10-15k. (BTW I'm very out of touch but that budget seems insane to me, feels to me like I'm putting myself square in the highest risk zone - getting a bangernomics car and paying top end money for it, have things moved on and 8 year old cars are considered solid and reliable for a few years come?)

Someone, mentioned Kia Sportages so I'll throw that out there as a straw man, although they look small inside to me.

Be gentle with me, I'm bewildered, I feel like I went to sleep before Covid and woke up in a completely different car buying landscape.

Edited by BikeBikeBIke on Sunday 26th January 09:24

santona1937

825 posts

154 months

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Monday 27th January 2025

Mondeo estate. Large, good to drive, the diesel does not use Adblue system so very few DPF issues, if any.

Baldchap

9,442 posts

116 months

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Monday 27th January 2025

I was in this Toyota at the weekend...