Cheap reliable estate up to 4.5k

[rallyeS2]

Right, we have decided we need a bit more practicality than an A5 and a civic type r currently give us! We have planned a trip to Eurodisney travelling on the euro tunnel and driving a fair distance. Selling my civic will leave a budget of about 4-4.5k max but spending less would be better...

Requirements are :

> Reliable (really don't fancy breaking down on a trip to Disney)
> comfortable
> economical (most likely diesel)
> some luxury would be a bonus
> age - not too fussed as long as reliable but the newer the better!

All help much appreciated.

[paolow]

New shape Octavia VRs diesel estate....

[CarlT]

paolow said:

New shape Octavia VRs diesel estate....

For £4.5k? Show me where!

[Eski1991]

CarlT said:

For £4.5k? Show me where!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2006-56-SKODA-OCTAVIA-2-0-TDI-PD-170-VRS-5DR-ESTATE-FSH-6-SPEED-MANUAL-/290921062940?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item43bc3f221c

Haggle. Hard.

[M159V8]

I'd plump for one of these:



Passat

1.9 PD lump known for its reliability, this one's fully loaded with nav (although pretty useless) and the black leather, no doubt it rides comfortably with those huge sidewalls

[magpie215]

H6 Legacy....much change too :-)

[Eski1991]

M159V8 said:

I'd plump for one of these:



Passat

1.9 PD lump known for its reliability, this one's fully loaded with nav (although pretty useless) and the black leather, no doubt it rides comfortably with those huge sidewalls

Is that 100 BHP? So that's 50BHP per tonne? :P

[sjabrown]

Consider an Accord Tourer with the 2.2 cdti engine, but be prepared to do some work yourself. 45mpg all day long, engine smooth and quiet, acres of space but they're not all that robust. Brake calipers (especially rears) can stick and seize, exhaust manifolds crack, and when the clutch goes it normally needs the dual mass flywheel done at the same time.

Got mine at 5 years old and 54,000 for £7k. Now borked at 126,000 nearly 4 years later. But servicing, repairs and tyres/consumables in 70,000 miles come to less than £2k (whilst the bill for diesel alone comes to about £10k for that mileage).

It's been fairly cheap motoring.

[M159V8]

Eski1991 said:

Is that 100 BHP? So that's 50BHP per tonne? :P

A tuning box could sort that out in no time Maybe even an individual remap since it's cheaper than the maximum budget

[Justin Case]

Mazda 6 estate, but do consider petrol. Mine does about 36-38mpg on a long journey, takes five people and lots of luggage with room to spare. Best of all no need to worry about diesel dpfs, cambelt (on Mazda diesel only), etc, so petrol is probably a better bet at your price level. Prices are depressingly low if you own one, but pleasantly low if you are looking to buy; you should get one about 06-07 for your budget.

Edited by Justin Case on Tuesday 28th May 08:57

[RizzoTheRat]

Eski1991 said:

CarlT said:

For £4.5k? Show me where!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2006-56-SKODA-OCTAVIA-2-0-TDI-PD-170-VRS-5DR-ESTATE-FSH-6-SPEED-MANUAL-/290921062940?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item43bc3f221c

Haggle. Hard.

You'd struggle to find many VRs for the money, but there's plenty of 1.9TD or 2.0PD version out there in budget, including some L&K models with leather interior and all the toys. Obviously less power but that's not an issue if you're going to be mainly using it on the motorway. Plenty of space for 4 adults with a huge boot. I believe the Passat's a bit bigger but they'll also cost more.

[billzeebub]

Forester or Legacy (non-turbo)

[rallyeS2]

Thanks for the suggestions so far guys, a couple I hadn't considered...

Re the Accord Tourer, I always fancied one of those since Mike Brewer had one on Wheeler Dealers as his car for collecting parts. Unfortunately the missus has said a definite NO to them!

Also considering the Volvo V50 and Audi A4 but worried about DPF issues at higher mileages... Anyone had either with or without problems?

[sandman77]

Saab 9-3 estate (I would say that though)?

[V8Wagon]

My Accord tourer has been/is a fabulous car.

[BorkFactor]

rallyeS2 said:

Also considering the Volvo V50 and Audi A4 but worried about DPF issues at higher mileages... Anyone had either with or without problems?

There is a guy on here with an Audi A4 1.9 TDI that is nearing 400k miles, and not much has gone wrong on it.

I would suggest a VW Passat B5.5 1.9 TDI PD 130 estate in a good spec. Plenty about, and a good blend of economy and performance.

[kiethton]

Why not look at a 1.8/2.0 petrol Avensis estate?

If your doing motorway work they'll only be about 10mpg away from a diesel but with far less complexity, standing up to abuse far more readily. A friend managed 40mpg average from his, but did live more rurally.

[TTwiggy]

Audi B6 S4 Avant - you owe it to the kids (just don't look at the mpg...)

[pobox205]

What do MK5 Golf estates start at?

[Bill Carr]

What's the ride like on the Accords? I've been looking at them recently. Are they reasonably compliant or do they have "sporty" pretensions?