Recommend me an estate for under £1200...
Discussion
I'm down visiting my mum this weekend in London. We piled the dogs in the boot of the Bimmer and put our luggage (small suitcase, pillows and a seperate bag for the dogs bits and bobs) on the back seats. This is what we usually do as it keeps dog hairs off the seats and it's easier for us to get in and out of the car without the dogs flying out of the first open door they see.
Around about luton on the M1, I said to the missus (who is due to pop one out in about 4-5 weeks) that the next time we come down, we'll have a baby in the back too!
That got me thinking.
How the f
k are we supposed to get two dogs, a baby seat, fold up pram, baby stuff bag, dog stuff bag, pillows (and sometimes duvet) and our suitcase into the back of the bimmer? It doesn't get any better in Her car either as she has a Polo. It gets worse...
So, I think I need an estate. Either that, or a people carrier, but we won't go there. Looking to spend under £1200 as the plan is to just sell what I have and buy something else without spending any extra. Want it to manage around 35mpg on a combined cycle, preferablly petrol too. Not a derv fan.
So far I have thought of :
Vauxhall Vectra - Slightly put off as the last one I owned that ate itself but can't fault an otherwise very practical car.
Ford Mondeos - Farking ugly beasts in estate form but seem like a good workhorse.
Fiat Marea Weekends - Had one before but feel the build quality is lacking somewhat. Would love a 20v again.
Volvo V70 - Love the car but maybe just a bit too uneconomical with the large engines (although would be happy to be proven wrong!)
Volvo v40 - Seems good but just looks really really cheap inside...
Mitsubishi Galant - Love them and would love a v6-24 but would probably settle for the 2.0l. Maybe too expencive on insurance/running costs?
BMW e36 tourer - Perfect, but can't seem to find one in my price range that hasn't done intergalactic miles...
Accord Aerodeck - Reliable cars that I like but just don't seem to be many for sale and all seem in ste condition...
So, Anymore?
Around about luton on the M1, I said to the missus (who is due to pop one out in about 4-5 weeks) that the next time we come down, we'll have a baby in the back too!
That got me thinking.
How the f
k are we supposed to get two dogs, a baby seat, fold up pram, baby stuff bag, dog stuff bag, pillows (and sometimes duvet) and our suitcase into the back of the bimmer? It doesn't get any better in Her car either as she has a Polo. It gets worse...So, I think I need an estate. Either that, or a people carrier, but we won't go there. Looking to spend under £1200 as the plan is to just sell what I have and buy something else without spending any extra. Want it to manage around 35mpg on a combined cycle, preferablly petrol too. Not a derv fan.
So far I have thought of :
Vauxhall Vectra - Slightly put off as the last one I owned that ate itself but can't fault an otherwise very practical car.
Ford Mondeos - Farking ugly beasts in estate form but seem like a good workhorse.
Fiat Marea Weekends - Had one before but feel the build quality is lacking somewhat. Would love a 20v again.
Volvo V70 - Love the car but maybe just a bit too uneconomical with the large engines (although would be happy to be proven wrong!)
Volvo v40 - Seems good but just looks really really cheap inside...
Mitsubishi Galant - Love them and would love a v6-24 but would probably settle for the 2.0l. Maybe too expencive on insurance/running costs?
BMW e36 tourer - Perfect, but can't seem to find one in my price range that hasn't done intergalactic miles...
Accord Aerodeck - Reliable cars that I like but just don't seem to be many for sale and all seem in s
te condition...So, Anymore?
Edited by Deluded on Saturday 10th July 08:08
I haven’t looked at Volvo V70 prices for a while, but I think that the (much more attractive looking) old-shape ones are getting really quite cheap... I had an S70 (the same car apart from the boot...) from less than a year old, until I wrote it off at 140,000 miles – 2.5 20v auto. Not exciting, but verrrry comfortable, spacious, reliable, adequately brisk, and averaged 30+ mpg (don’t know if that is acceptable to you – it was to me), although I admit I didn’t do too much town driving. A 10v with a manual ‘box should give you better economy – don’t know how much better, of course. A rather dull car, but definitely quite “nice” – I was upset when the repair costs after a low speed smack wrote it off.
I also had a V70R awd, chipped, strut brace, this, that, the other thing.... Also very comfortable, and beautifully equipped, and a hoot on greasy backroads, but a constant source of trouble and expense, and a gas guzzler of the highest order, in spite of being not that fast really... Not recommended...! After that I took to BMWs.
As a cheap load lugger, I would think a V70 would be an excellent choice. The huge 740/960 etc. series have a certain something too, and are very tough... nearly bought one on several occasions, but never actually owned one. Won’t get near your mileage requirement though.
I also had a V70R awd, chipped, strut brace, this, that, the other thing.... Also very comfortable, and beautifully equipped, and a hoot on greasy backroads, but a constant source of trouble and expense, and a gas guzzler of the highest order, in spite of being not that fast really... Not recommended...! After that I took to BMWs.
As a cheap load lugger, I would think a V70 would be an excellent choice. The huge 740/960 etc. series have a certain something too, and are very tough... nearly bought one on several occasions, but never actually owned one. Won’t get near your mileage requirement though.
Before buying an mx5 i had been looking at e36's and found a number of 323i tourers at the price you were looking at. Look at newly listed items every day on ebay and hunt on autotrader etc and they come up every so often.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1997-R-BMW-323-Touring-Manua...
that one i know is £300 quid over budget but that was what come up on the first page on ebay when i looked for 30 seconds for "323i" then used the "estate" filter. 100k on a 2.5l bmw is nothing and im sure better bargains not from a dealer could be had.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1997-R-BMW-323-Touring-Manua...
that one i know is £300 quid over budget but that was what come up on the first page on ebay when i looked for 30 seconds for "323i" then used the "estate" filter. 100k on a 2.5l bmw is nothing and im sure better bargains not from a dealer could be had.
I've got an old style V70 and it's a great car.
I agree, the V40 probably won't be big enough for you - even the V70 isn't huge compared to the behemoths that are made these days.
The first V70 is pretty much the same car as the last 850 - these are just as good, but go for even less. (If you want to have fun, get an 850R!)
I reckon that I average 26mpg in the V70, probably more like 30-32 on the motorway. I've had mine converted to LPG, which once you've paid for the conversion, halves the cost of motoring. (It cost £2,000 for the conversion, which has easily paid for itself)
Going back earlier, the 740s are enormous, often with extra seats. Built like tanks and go on forever. You can pick a decent one up for under a grand.
I agree, the V40 probably won't be big enough for you - even the V70 isn't huge compared to the behemoths that are made these days.
The first V70 is pretty much the same car as the last 850 - these are just as good, but go for even less. (If you want to have fun, get an 850R!)
I reckon that I average 26mpg in the V70, probably more like 30-32 on the motorway. I've had mine converted to LPG, which once you've paid for the conversion, halves the cost of motoring. (It cost £2,000 for the conversion, which has easily paid for itself)
Going back earlier, the 740s are enormous, often with extra seats. Built like tanks and go on forever. You can pick a decent one up for under a grand.
Ok so looking, I think I've narrowed it down to a few cars now.
Going by actual boot space, I'm pretty impressed with the V70/850. Window to window bootspace with minimal arches. Some of the estates I've seen have huge arches, making most of the boot space redundant. Only thing letting the Volvo down is the engines. Nice big 5 cylinder beasts but quite high insurance groups and not very good MPG. Seems like the 2.0 20v is the best compromise of power/mpg but they seem hard to come by with the 2.5 10v being the most popular.
My other choice is now the Fiat Marea. Engine problem is solved as they came in a few flavours, 1.6 (103hp), 1.8 (115hp) and 2.0 20v (147hp), as well as some diesels. Bootspace isn't quite on par with the volvo but the arches are kept to a minimum and they have quite a bit of length ways loading capacity rather than just the width ways. I could go for a 1.6 which would be the cheapest option but would ultimately be boring and tedious to drive. The 1.8 seems a good compromise but they are hard to come by, especially with decent mileage. The 2.0 20v are great. Owned one before and they have a lovely engine. Nice and powerful. Would be the one I want but the Insurance group is higher than the 2.5 20v Volvo, so seems silly when I could get a bigger, more powerful volvo, for cheaper.
Always quite liked the look of the 406 Estate. Its quite subtle and probably overlooked. Only problem is I don't like the actual car. My Missus' father had one for a while and I ran around in it for a month or so at a point and I just don't like they way they drive. His was the 2.0 16v Petrol and it just felt totally gutless and underpowered for the size of car. I haven't driven one of the HDIs but have experience of a 306 D-turbo, which is a similar beast (and highly rated as a good diesel) but found that very boring and tedious to drive.
Suppose it really depends now on how much I get for the bimmer.
If I get the £1200 I expect or maybe a bit more, I'll get the Volvo. If I get more around the £1000 mark, It'll be the Marea.
Going by actual boot space, I'm pretty impressed with the V70/850. Window to window bootspace with minimal arches. Some of the estates I've seen have huge arches, making most of the boot space redundant. Only thing letting the Volvo down is the engines. Nice big 5 cylinder beasts but quite high insurance groups and not very good MPG. Seems like the 2.0 20v is the best compromise of power/mpg but they seem hard to come by with the 2.5 10v being the most popular.
My other choice is now the Fiat Marea. Engine problem is solved as they came in a few flavours, 1.6 (103hp), 1.8 (115hp) and 2.0 20v (147hp), as well as some diesels. Bootspace isn't quite on par with the volvo but the arches are kept to a minimum and they have quite a bit of length ways loading capacity rather than just the width ways. I could go for a 1.6 which would be the cheapest option but would ultimately be boring and tedious to drive. The 1.8 seems a good compromise but they are hard to come by, especially with decent mileage. The 2.0 20v are great. Owned one before and they have a lovely engine. Nice and powerful. Would be the one I want but the Insurance group is higher than the 2.5 20v Volvo, so seems silly when I could get a bigger, more powerful volvo, for cheaper.
Always quite liked the look of the 406 Estate. Its quite subtle and probably overlooked. Only problem is I don't like the actual car. My Missus' father had one for a while and I ran around in it for a month or so at a point and I just don't like they way they drive. His was the 2.0 16v Petrol and it just felt totally gutless and underpowered for the size of car. I haven't driven one of the HDIs but have experience of a 306 D-turbo, which is a similar beast (and highly rated as a good diesel) but found that very boring and tedious to drive.
Suppose it really depends now on how much I get for the bimmer.
If I get the £1200 I expect or maybe a bit more, I'll get the Volvo. If I get more around the £1000 mark, It'll be the Marea.
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