Really sorry.....A what estate upto £3k

[berry100]

Will keep this short! Cheap estate needed for:-

School run 3/4 days a week - Stop start journeys and only 3 to 4 mile a day.

60 round trip work 1/2 days a week

Camping trips 4/5 times a year, hence estate with roofbox (provided myself of course!)

Must be comfy, not smelly (ex dog owners!)

Reasonably frugal, not fussed on diesel or petrol

Must be reliable.......and not need a small fortune to keep on the road...

choices of estates so far and feel free to rule out:

Ford Mondeo
VW Passat - Older shape
Saab 9-5
Audi A6 (at a push)
BMW 5 Series
Volvo

[sday12]

www.w124.co.uk

[Flintstone]

sday12 said:

www.w124.co.uk

Not one unsold car there priced below £6995. In fact, that's the ONLY priced car with all others being "POA". Why can't they just put prices on them?

[ian_c_uk]

Octavia? (diesel / RS / 4x4turbo)

[JCB123]

Estate?

Only one.

Volvo - IMHO.

[MattGTA]

I think I'd be tempted with a 9-5 from that list, although it's hard to argue against a good Audi / Merc / BMW if you can find one with decent mileage and full dealer history.

[boomboompow]

For 3k I'd also throw in Subaru Legacy and Mitsibushi Galant/Legum (although I don't know what the Mitsi is like for reliability).

[GreatGranny]

No bad cars in your list to be honest.

I've owned both a V70 and a Mondy estate.

The Volvo was the best car I have owned. the best built, most comfortable and reliable.

The Mondy was very good but just boring. It handles better tan the Volvo, was more economical (2.0 petrol) and was cheaper to insure but I would still have the Volvo.

A mate has a Passat 2.0 petrol estate and is very impressed. Its a great workhorse.

For that money I wouldn't bother with a diesel, just more things to go wrong IMO. You will get a lower mileage and newer petrol model for your £3k.

[GravelBen]

Legacy (or Outback if you want a bit more ground clearance)

[GreigM]

Mazda 6 - ticks all the boxes (including price). Will get a 53 plate for that money.

[Ved]

Old leggy or may I interest you in something a bit fruity?

Mitsubishi Legnum VR4 Type-S (Twin Turbo) (1997)
88k miles, £1,950.

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1768996.htm

[GravelBen]

Ved said:

Old leggy or may I interest you in something a bit fruity?

Mitsubishi Legnum VR4 Type-S (Twin Turbo) (1997)
88k miles, £1,950.

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1768996.htm

A nice thought, but two of the criteria were 'reasonably frugal' and 'reliable'

[BadgerBill]

Where are you, I might have just the thing.

BB

Edited to add, the right thing being a 53 plate saab 9-5 2.2 Diesel estate.

Edited by BadgerBill on Tuesday 8th June 14:20

[Ved]

GravelBen said:

Ved said:

Old leggy or may I interest you in something a bit fruity?

Mitsubishi Legnum VR4 Type-S (Twin Turbo) (1997)
88k miles, £1,950.

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1768996.htm

A nice thought, but two of the criteria were 'reasonably frugal' and 'reliable'

Well there's a grand spare to fix it and the petrol costs will only add to the experience... that's what I told myself putting 50k on an STI in 2 years ;O)

[excel monkey]

Something from the Jap brands?

Mazda 6, Avensis and Accord are all decent estates.

Not very PH, but if you want reliability and economy, they would fit your needs.

[adam85]

What about one of these?

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/1748862.htm

[alfa pint]

We've got a V40 as our knockaround - similar idea to yours really. We've got a 2 litre. It's not particularly economical (33 mpg average) so you might want to look at a 1.8 or the diesel. Apart from that, it's been incredibly reliable - 103 k miles and all we've done to it in the last 3 years is replace the tyres and the back disks and one rear wheel bearing. It doesn't drink oil. It's comfortable, big enough for the dog (when he was alive) and camping kit.

It's got A/C and cruise control and we intend to run it into the ground, having paid £2200 for it a few years ago.

[Harry Flashman]

Volvos are fantastic for this, apart from the dreadful fuel economy. My V70R, bought for £2k (and requiring bits like aircon doing - so it was cheap) gets mpg in the teens around town. They are heavy beasts. I like mine for its old scholl Swedidh turbo character, though - don't care about frugality as it rarely gets used.

If you can find one at the price, V70 diesel should do the job. Volvos are the best estates in terms of packaging and sheer load lugging ability.

Personally, I reckon something like a Mondeo TDCi is probably your best bet.

[Harry Flashman]

The Crack Fox said:

JCB123 said:

Estate?

Only one.

Volvo - IMHO.

Agreed, ticks all the boxes, and the quicker ones (T5) aren't even that bad on fuel. I've had 2 and loved 'em both.

Not bad on fuel compared to what - a Challenger tank?

Mine's horrific. Mid 20s on a run, late teens in town. Admitedly mine's a 4wd auto, but still - even the manual T-5s I knew of never averaged more than late 20s...

[samuelellis]

I needed an estate for the planned car stereo (yes i bought a car just to fit speakers to it - no i am not a pikey) and i settled on a mondeo TDCI

for just under4grand i picked up a 94thousand mile example and apart from a noisy aux belt tensioner im replacing and consumables its fine, not the most dynamic car ever but bleeding heck its lovely on the motorway and utterly cavernous