Buying a 3 year old upmarket estate

[John-4xo95]

The time has come for me replace my long serving MG ZTT190.

I tend to buy a 2 or 3 year old car then keep it for ages (5 years at least)

These days I’ll probably end up with an 3y.o. ex-PCP car as there are many on the market.

I’m considering a prestige / near-prestige estate car : Mercedes C-Class, Jag XF Sportbrake, Mazada 6, Volvo v60, Mondeo, etc


But…… due to the complexity of these cars is owning one from 3 to 8 years old just going to be a money pit i.e. hitting be ‘peak unreliability/ repair cost’?

How does this bear out in practice?

Any thoughts / recommendations?

(I don’t mind a few minor things not working and minor repairs but I want to avoid major bills).

Should I take the plunge, go newer (i.e. 1 y.o. or ex-demo) or even spend a couple of grand bringing my ZTT back up to scratch?

[John-4xo95]

My annual mileage is around < 10K; not much in the week but some long weekend / holiday trips bring the total up.

Due to low mileage and DPF issues I'm inclined to go for a petrol with manual (but these a rare for this type of car);

Budget: I can stretch to low 20s but I'll only spend that amount if I'm getting something that's value for money and will last. Other will probably spend around 15.

[John-4xo95]

Thanks for all the comments and suggestions: particular re the E350, Q50 and 330d

Also thanks for the comment about the continuing tax on cars of list price over £40K.

I’m re-considering a diesel: though my annual mileage is low, most weekends I do 60 mile round trip which can be done via motorway….would this be enough to keep a DPF in a good state?:

On my question in the OP on reliability of the more complex cars from 3 years old it and. possibility of big bills at the car ages.......seems the consensus it that there isn’t too much to worry about, if I the judge the tone of the thread correctly?