Boring motorway milemuncher needed - Diesel Estate ?

[Rawhide]

Hi guys, I need a family car that will be used to run up and down from London to the Cotswolds every week. It's about 250 miles a week. I currently have a Porsche Cayenne with an LPG conversion which is a fantastic tool for the job. However even with LPG the fuel running costs are getting excessive.

My other stipulation is it needs to be an auto as my wife cannot drive manual. We have a baby so ISOfix would be nice. The estate is not essential but we are so used to them I can’t see any benefit of going back to a saloon.

I want to spend as little as possible without buying a nail. I’m happy to do basic work myself but don’t want to be under the car every weekend.

I am thinking VW Passat estate is fitting the bill. It gets poor reviews for driving experience but would have hardly any depreciation and I imagine is pretty reliable.

I think thought Audi A6 TDI estates look quite good. They have a 2.5l diesel. Is this unit much more thirsty? I imagine the cabin is a slightly nicer place to be for long distance.

I am also thinking Mercs. However I imagine I would have to spend a bit more and running costs will be higher. I know very little about Mercedes and worry about reliability.

Can the pistonhead community give me any other ideas?

Requirements;
Estate
Auto
Comfortable
Motorway cruiser (decent BHP)
Cheapish (as it will get abused)

I will probably couple this with a hot hatch for myself with the spare cash.

Edited by Rawhide on Tuesday 5th April 11:46

[clonmult]

I've been running a '51 A6 Avant for a few years now. 1.9 TDI. Cruise control.

Will happily munch the miles at some silly speeds and still be pretty good on fuel. Few years back we did an 1100 mile round trip (south of england to central scotland and back, car absolutely full, a/c on), and it averaged around 50mpg.

The 2.5 is more powerful, but apparently a more fragile engine. The 1.9 PDI is absolutely bulletproof.

[Rawhide]

clonmult said:

The 2.5 is more powerful, but apparently a more fragile engine. The 1.9 PDI is absolutely bulletproof.

Thanks - is that the same unit as the VW passat? Do you know the power output?

[Garett]

Volvo V70 D5. I've just bought the saloon version, the S60. Go for the earlier 163bhp upto about 2004 IIRC as it has no DPF and is a lot more economical. I can easily manage 650 miles to a tank with mixed driving, I've heard rumours of 800+ from a 70L tank!

[Rawhide]

Garett said:

Volvo V70 D5. I've just bought the saloon version, the S60. Go for the earlier 163bhp upto about 2004 IIRC as it has no DPF and is a lot more economical. I can easily manage 650 miles to a tank with mixed driving, I've heard rumours of 800+ from a 70L tank!

They look a bit pricey and I imagine economy is not so good.

We do have a V70 (earlier) model which is a very comfy car but it's thirsty.

[maccas99]

Just got 703 miles on my last tank, on a D5 Euro III. Changeover to the 185 was 05/55 (grey engine cover)

[300bhp/ton]

What do you mean by cheap? To me cheap is £300-700.

Also are you only doing about 1000 miles/month? If so LPG @ 14mpg is only £84/month more than a diesel doing 40mpg.


As for diesels estates, I always liked the look of te Jaguar X-Type.

[Ade07]

I run an Audi A6 Avant, 2000 model, 2.5 Diesel for my work, I get about 32 mpg max, that's average on m'ways and running around. Very comfortable though and a great mile muncher. Only cost 2.5k so good value too.

[Rawhide]

Cheap to me is <2500.

I appreciate the fuel saving alone is not the only reason to change it's just that bit too large for one of the lanes my wife has to reverse out of at our house.

Edited by Rawhide on Tuesday 5th April 11:47

[va1o]

maccas99 said:

Just got 703 miles on my last tank, on a D5 Euro III. Changeover to the 185 was 05/55 (grey engine cover)

The best ones are the facelift models with the older 163 D5 engine, IIRC only available briefly on 54/05 plates.

[Autogasm]

I work in the motor trade and would recommend only one which would be the Passat 1900 TDi up to 2005! I think so much of them I bought one myself and on a recent 'careful' run from the south coast to Manchester and back I averaged over 54 MPG. They are brilliant cars and I have maintained three with well over 200,000 miles, two of those over 250k!!

[jfbrin]

Make sure you read up on the multitronic gearbox issues that affect the A6. There is an active discussion on the Audi/VW section in Pistonheads.

[poo at Paul's]

The auto VWs are not the greatest but you may be able to get a DSG which is not too bad.


For cheapness and useability, driving dynamics etc, in an estate, I'd throw the Mondeo hat in the ring.

Just handle so well and are huge inside.

[Jw Vw]

A Passat diesel estate with a 1.9 TDI lump will be bulletproof, will return good mpg and for you're budget you should be able to pick up a good one with under or around 100k on the clock.

[williamp]

Volvo V40 as well?

Jaguar X-type diesel estate?

[Thankyou4calling]

Poor image, electrics can be dodgy but....What about a Citroen C5 estate. Shocking depreciation makes them a bargain, very comfy on the motorway and extremely roomy boot area. No need to worry about the odd mark either.

[georgezippy]

+1 for the 1.9 TDi PD lump.
Wafts along motorways well with the OBC reading in the 50's until you venture into 3 figure speeds.....
Rattly and rough when cold but simpler than many modern lumps and mine has never broken.

[Rawhide]

I've narrowed my search down to a Volvo V70 D5. I'm trying to find a facelift 2004 model with the 170hp engine. Is it really worth getting the facelift model as they seem a fair bit of cash?

I'm also considering a Mercedes C270 but I'm not so keen on those and I don't think they will be as frugal or as durable as the Volvo.

I just missed out by £100 on this on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&am...

[Sand1]

Skoda octavia estate

[bassanclan]

Garett said:

Volvo V70 D5. I've just bought the saloon version, the S60. Go for the earlier 163bhp upto about 2004 IIRC as it has no DPF and is a lot more economical. I can easily manage 650 miles to a tank with mixed driving, I've heard rumours of 800+ from a 70L tank!

I usually get 700-740 miles from a tank in my 2005 s80 (163bhp D5 manual)