What's the best estate car ever?

[white_goodman]

Not necessarily the largest(?)



or fastest(?)



or cheapest(?)



or best-looking(?)



but all things considered, what is the best estate car ever?

Most importantly, it must be a good estate car i.e. would have to be more practical/have a much bigger boot than the saloon/hatch that it is based on but also must:

1) look good;
2) be comfortable;
3) perform and handle respectably;
4) have reasonable running costs and not be stupidly expensive to buy.

My dad had a string of Peugeot and Citroen estate cars (and one Renault) when I was growing up (mostly diesels) and I think I've inherited my love of the estate car from him! I like the extra space and practicality like you would get in an SUV/MPV but without the dynamic compromises and the elevated running costs.

I'm predicting that some of the older estate cars will be a popular choice, as they don't tend to put style over function, so may be something like this:



or this:



Of the moderns, perhaps the F11 535d Touring ticks most of the boxes (my personal preference would be an E-Class but I get the impression from a few threads that I have read on here that the latest E-Class wagon is not as good as previous versions in many respects)!



What would you nominate as the best estate car ever (all things considered)?

[white_goodman]

Crusoe said:

Answer is

or

Not sure how many people have read the criteria in the OP. Lovely cars but would you let your dogs in them, use them to move furniture or take stuff to the tip in them (which in some ways is the point in having an estate car) + personally, I would rather have a regular DB5 or 456 (much better looking IMHO).

This seems like a reasonable shout. Big boot. comfortable, subtle, V8, RWD and not German! And it's only 7.5 Gs.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2014...

[white_goodman]

smn159 said:

Range Rover of some description I'd say

Estate?

[white_goodman]

Mermaid said:

From that French era - the Renault 4, 16TS, Peugeot 404/504 Estate

Bit later than that! It was a 305 GR, then a 21 Savanna GTS, then a 405 GRD (my favourite) and then a ZX 1.9D "Elation" (but I think he would have preferred a Xantia Estate).

[white_goodman]

Presuming Ed said:

Another vote for the 456 Venice

Not a nomination (see point number 4 in the OP) but would the Ferrari FF be considered as an estate car? I would argue that this is better i.e. faster, better-looking than the 456 Venice.



Boring name though!

[white_goodman]

golfer19 said:

Citroen cx estate.
Perfect

Better than an XM?

[white_goodman]

gaz1234 said:

m sport 135i

?

[white_goodman]

Thanks, some really interesting and diverse suggestions! E39 5-Series Touring seems to be the PH favourite overall in facelifted 530i or 540i Sport guise. I'm pretty happy with that outcome. They still look great and pretty much anyone who wants one could afford one.

As expected, the uber estates (E61 M5, RS4 and RS6) were quite popular choices too but very surprised that the RS2 was nominated more than any of them!

Volvo 850/V70 was a popular choice as I expected. The V70 is a very good estate car but I think the 850 T5/R with its Touring Car kudos is the coolest Volvo estate ever. Mine's a T5-R in yellow please!



Loving the big Citroens too!

I'm really surprised that the W124 and E61/F11 535d hardly got mentioned though.