What large well appointed Family Saloon up to £9k?

[Hobzy]

Do approx 20k miles a year; Mostly 30 mile commute on the A3 into Portsmouth and 2 weekends a month we do 100 mile plus journeys to see family. Have between £7500 and £9000. We have had a Mazda 6 2.0 diesel for 4 years but DMF/clutch has now gone. Like the Passat but lots of scare stories. Would like something that has reasonable pace mid gear. I am assuming Diesel but am open to leftfield idea if I can get them past the Missus looking has been a minefield so far as every option seems to have an expensive issue looming just over 100k -

Is the day of the bargain diesel over with all these DMF failures?

Cheers in advance - over to you...

Edited by Hobzy on Sunday 5th February 21:00

Edited by Hobzy on Sunday 5th February 21:11

[Hobzy]

BERGS2 said:

distinctly left field, but:

}Nissan

i ran one of these last year -

very, very comfy place to be.
Awesome toys
MPG could hit 30 if driven light footed
tax isn't as bad as later (post '06?) models
lacks the chav bling of an old X5 or similar

i could easily talk myself into getting another one.

if you can live without needing too quick a car, and the mpg is not vital - id say you can do far worse...

Hoping for better mpg than that, over 40mpg if poss, but thanks for the suggestion

[Hobzy]

EDLT said:

£5k LS400 + A lot of petrol money?

This is the problem, you see. After a 3 series with a fatal camshaft sensor failure, and now the mazda (which ran perfectly until first the vacuum valve went and now the clutch) , her indoors is paranoid about getting somethingover 5yrs old and nr 100k. I'm more open to bangernomics for a barge. The gs looks lovely though, but insurance/tax must be immense.

Edited by Hobzy on Sunday 5th February 22:29

[Hobzy]

When i say pace, it doesnt need to be bonkers fast - got the kit car for that. I just like a bit ofin gear oomph changing lanes mpg does need to be high 30s for a petrol and 40s for a smoker.

[Hobzy]

Rich1973 said:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...

Job done!

Do they get anywhere near their claimed mpg?

Funnily enough i did show the boss one and she thought it was a bit old man, i liked it!

[Hobzy]

Zwolf said:

E61 530i SE Touring Manual

1 non smoking/non dog-owning owner with FBMWSH, only 66k miles and still eligible to be covered by BMW warranty if you wish. 2005, so should have the later, more powerful and more efficient Valvetronic six-pot.

Thats lovely, but probably dont need the estate.

Theres some great options coming up - I love PH! But can peeps mention pitfalls if they know them please :-)?

[Hobzy]

Bugger, sussed .

She drove an 08 2.0 passat yesterday, and liked it. I think there are more options as proved above. After 3 days of legwork I thought i'd throw it over to you lot...

[Hobzy]

VidalBaboon said:

Buy a diesel that's had the DMF replaced recently?

I'd go for an A6 Avant 2.7TDi. Maybe a Le Mans if they're that cheap. Plenty of toys, heated steering wheel & seats. Lovely!

Likely to do 60000 with us before selling on, so might go again knowing my luck. Mazda had new dmf and clutch 10k before we had it and 70k later another has gone

It will be our only car (both commute to same workplace) so the boss is not keen on my idea of spending 4k and crossing fingers.

[Hobzy]

Zwolf said:

Skoda Superb

Better looking and less ubiquitous than a Passat, nicer inside too. Figures look like 30-50 mpg for the petrol.

Peeked at those earlier but none on autotrader near us new shape. Was looking at diesels though so mighthave missed some.

[Hobzy]

Struggling to convert her to jaaaaaaaagville, but will keep working on it.

Anyone had any of the supposed issues with the Passat?

[Hobzy]

VidalBaboon said:

Pretty much all of them, if not I've had quite a few

Rust, resulting in a new tailgate & re-spray of roof and drivers door
Sticking Turbo vanes
Injectors
DMF & clutch
Airbag
Handbrake
Wheel bearings
Both CV boots
Poorly aligned rear passenger door- no accident damage

I think the only thing waiting to go wrong now is the key reader thing that supposedly breaks.

I think my Passat has cost me more to keep on the road than my mates V12 Vantage.

The Jag looks nice

Damn - is there no car these days thats even remotely a safe bet?

As it will be the only car and the costs will be shared, I have had to give in on the Jag However the condition was that her Focus idea went out the window with it.

Suppose that leaves:

A6 quattro diesel - might be a good shout as do live in the sticks and got snowed in last 2 years. Go for a slightly cheaper one and get a set of wheels with winter tyres on to keep in the garage...

Lexus GS300/LS400 - look great value might might be a bit too thirsty and perhaps not quite our image.

Skoda Superb - not many about new shape at that price yet and the old one looks "old" if I'm being picky.

530D BMW - what mileage do expensive bits come up?

Risk an 08 Passat - Common rail so better reliability?

Volvo S60 or S80 D5 - pros and cons of these please, if you know them, would be a great help.

Mundano?

Anything else?

Brilliant work so far thanks peeps.

[Hobzy]

VidalBaboon said:

Yes but I don't think you'll like it.



Toyota Corolla.

Tea + keyboard - thanks.

[Hobzy]

flatline84 said:

Passat R36 saloon?

Lovely, but way over budget

[Hobzy]

flatline84 said:

Then I`d show up with 6.000 and buy this:

http://pistonheads.com/sales/3491089.htm


Very underrated cars

Too thirsty methinks.

[Hobzy]

flatline84 said:

On a cruise they do 30-35 mpg, too thirsty still?

In the 40s cruising would be what I'm after. One of the reasons I started looking at things with a more barge flavour was to waft but still have a decent bit of in gear oomph.

[Hobzy]

9k was the absolute limit TBH and they are just too thirsty.

[Hobzy]

LiamM45 said:

This looks nice, and well... it's a Honda, heard good things about their diesel lumps.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3600742.htm

Thanks for the info on the Passat.

That Honda looks a good shout actually - any one got any reasons not to buy it?

[Hobzy]

flatline84 said:

and provide you with bills written with forks while doing it.

ok, you've lost me with that one...

[Hobzy]

woody2846 said:

OP you have mail.

Cheers, will look when I get home.

[Hobzy]

VidalBaboon said:

Hobzy, the way I see it, unless you're doing masses of miles every year, say over 20k. The added costs of running a dag dag will hit harder (in one go) than spreading it at the pumps by using a petrol.

Thinking outside the box somewhat, what about LPGing a 745i with change left over for the conversion?

We do 20k a year and its nearly all Motorway - down the A3 to work and either to oxford/Gatwick/folkestone or Cambridge for Family visits. On one of those fuel calc petrol vs diesel things it worked out about the same. LPGing something would be an option, but as its the only car ideally it will need to already have been done as we have nothing to run while its in for the install. Dont think (even if it was currently running) she would want to go to work in the kit for a week! Its a helmets on job!

The LPGed cars I've looked at seem to (understandably) command a premium like diesels do so no win there unless I've missed some.

Trying to keep the tax down at around the £200 mark, why is it such a bloody big jump to the £400odd bands?

The Parkers running costs app thingy has been handy - no idea how accurate it is though.

All the suggestions have been really helpful - its a funny price bracket with loads to pick from and you have all helped sort the wheat from the chaff. Whatever we get we'll have to decide soon as we need to get it next week really.

Edited by Hobzy on Tuesday 7th February 12:22