What car?

gnvqsos

I need a car to allow the use of a towbar and cycle carrier for a family of five.Can anyone recommend asuitable vehicle.I presume an estate offers the best option?
Thanks John

portuguese mike

there is so much to choose from you should really get a copy of 'what car' but i would suggest you look at a mondeo estate as a starting point

sloxam

you can use the roof too! i've got a honda crv, big car, big split boot, big roof! use it.

Lagavulin

A Volvo V50/V70, Audi A4/A6 Avant or BMW Touring?

I don't personally but you may like those funny mini MPV thingies. They'd probably be suitable for what you have in mind.

portuguese mike

Lagavulin wrote:

A Volvo V50/V70, Audi A4/A6 Avant or BMW Touring?

I don't personally but you may like those funny mini MPV thingies. They'd probably be suitable for what you have in mind.

If you are in the market for a more premium product and space really is the most important criterion then you need to look at a C or preferably E class Merc along with Volvos, the equivalent Audis & BMWs are not that big from a load lugging/cabin size point of view in comparison

mrushton

The new Mondeo looks pretty roomy as does the Toyota Avensis

portuguese mike

mrushton wrote:

The new Mondeo looks pretty roomy as does the Toyota Avensis

Unfortunatley you do run the risk of falling asleep at the wheel of the avensis as it's so boring

mrushton

portuguese mike wrote:

mrushton wrote:

The new Mondeo looks pretty roomy as does the Toyota Avensis

Unfortunatley you do run the risk of falling asleep at the wheel of the avensis as it's so boring

if boring means having a large storage area and it's reliable and 'economic' to run then that's good. If exciting means unreliability and permanent runs to the garage to correct faults then I'll pass

giant_man

mrushton wrote:

portuguese mike wrote:

mrushton wrote:

The new Mondeo looks pretty roomy as does the Toyota Avensis

Unfortunatley you do run the risk of falling asleep at the wheel of the avensis as it's so boring

if boring means having a large storage area and it's reliable and 'economic' to run then that's good. If exciting means unreliability and permanent runs to the garage to correct faults then I'll pass

This goes for the ugly ducking Mondeo too!

portuguese mike

mrushton wrote:

portuguese mike wrote:

mrushton wrote:

The new Mondeo looks pretty roomy as does the Toyota Avensis

Unfortunatley you do run the risk of falling asleep at the wheel of the avensis as it's so boring

if boring means having a large storage area and it's reliable and 'economic' to run then that's good. If exciting means unreliability and permanent runs to the garage to correct faults then I'll pass[/quote]

i don't believe i meant any such thing. i quite agree that a car should be reliable and efficient, a car that's always going wrong would drive me up the wall. However these days that doesn't have to be mutually exclusive with a car that's more fun to drive and is a bit more interesting to look at. AFIK mondeos are pretty reliable as is most german metal.

It's horses for courses obviously, if you don't give a monkeys about such things then an avensis is an excellent car- one of my colleagues has one and he's very happy with it and as you allude to it'll very likely never go wrong.

Harry B

BMW X5 4.4 V8, great fun to drive and it really pisses the tree huggers off

wildmoustache

New Focus Estate is not a bad bike car I reckon (with all the usual caveats about depreciation)

I hired one in spain recently and the boot took two road bikes iwith the parcel shelf in place. All 4 wheels had to come off, but fitted in easily. handlebars didn't have to be unscrewed.

I was quite impressed with that for a compact estate. quite syliish IMO as well in gunmetal grey.

fenski

Fiat Doblo every time - they're so anti-'car as a vacuous status symbol'.

Also helps those that waste vast somes of money on SUV's and the like feel superior as they look down on you from their perches.

El Gordo

wildmoustache wrote:

New Focus Estate is not a bad bike car I reckon (with all the usual caveats about depreciation)

Or the new Astra estate. I had one on hire a few weeks ago and was pretty impressed. Better than the focus I had previously.

For five people though I think you'd be hard pushed to beat a Mondeo for value and with a wife and kids you're not trying to impress girls anymore so you don't need anything German!

Harry B

fenski wrote:

Fiat Doblo every time - they're so anti-'car as a vacuous status symbol'..

They also look like sh1t but each to their own I guess

mrushton

gnvqsos wrote:

I need a car to allow the use of a towbar and cycle carrier for a family of five.Can anyone recommend asuitable vehicle.I presume an estate offers the best option?
Thanks John

Of course we should have asked 'what's your budget? as little point in discussing cars of £20k + if that is beyond your reach

PJPenrouz

Harry B wrote:

BMW X5 4.4 V8, great fun to drive and it really pisses the tree huggers off

How embarrassed I would be if I drove a car like this. I must be a tree hugger then.

mrushton

PJPenrouz wrote:

Harry B wrote:

BMW X5 4.4 V8, great fun to drive and it really pisses the tree huggers off

How embarrassed I would be if I drove a car like this. I must be a tree hugger then.

I'd be more embarassed that people would have thought I had had a taste bypass and that I could have bought something better for less or the same money

Nuggs

mrushton wrote:

PJPenrouz wrote:

Harry B wrote:

BMW X5 4.4 V8, great fun to drive and it really pisses the tree huggers off

How embarrassed I would be if I drove a car like this. I must be a tree hugger then.

I'd be more embarassed that people would have thought I had had a taste bypass and that I could have bought something better for less or the same money

The BM's V8 makes a superb noise though... 8)

gjh0702

I have a Merc C class estate, great when say only 2 people in car as drop back down & road bike goes in without any adjustment.
If more than 2 people take care unless you use a roof system( C class already fitted with bars) as rear carrier works BUT you will not be able to open the tailgate !!

Monty Dog

There's so many cars these days that will take a bike standing up in the back - you're least likely to damage your bike and it doesn't affect your fuel consumption - you can always leave the kids to take the train or bus! 4x4's are pretty useless as bike transporters because the high ground clearances means that the rear space is often worse than an estate or MPV.

gnvqsos

Thanks for all the replies.I did not mean to spark a heated debate.I want a car that is functional and I am not concerned what others think of my taste.I am keen to avoid being drawn to excesively expensive and showy cars and would prefer to spend my moey on competing needs.I do not think I can afford a Mercedes or similar but may go for an ugly vehicle(I shant give any examples for fear of offending others).

By the way can anyone tell me what a tree hugger is or does-it sounds faintly derogatory.

Raph

A tree-hugger is a person who "digs" trees, loves the earth, doesn't ever burn anything, doesn't ever tread on any ants, is totally, like, non-violent, maybe smokes a little something or maybe doesn't but definitely drinks herb tea cos you know tannin makes for heavy vibes and uncool feelings... I suppose I'm slightly a tree-hugger cos I recycle absolutely everything that possibly can be recycled. But then I have a large and nicely grubby ex-army land rover 110, so even though it's over 20 years old and does 30mpg, mates of mine think of me as a climate criminal, which is the opposite end of the scale - even the ones that are on their fouth or fifth car in 20 years, even the one that had an MPV that did 25mpg and only lasted 5 years (so he promptly bought another) seem to regard themselves as affectionate to trees somehow.

There are various flavours of tree-hugger - Neil of the Young Ones, if you're old enough to remember him... but there's also the posh type, who seem just as badly led by aesthetic rather than science, e.g. if they have a car at all they'll have a sh1tty little one that'll only last a few years before making its way reliably to the scrapyard, then they'll just buy another one.

Toyota come out as the most reliable motors - I don't know according to who's figures (hopefully not Toyota's!) - they're boring but who the hell needs a motor to be interesting, I'd rather get where I'm going. I wouldn't necessarily recommend a motor like mine - land rovers are more of a hobby than a mode of transport, and only reliable if you tend to their every whim. But it's excellent for getting about with family and bikes. And their's no question of getting house-proud with it, I've hosed it out a few times after particularly muddy rides. I admit I cringe at carrying two little boys in the 110 when it's just a trip into town - but mostly we do town trips (12 mile round trip) on a triple tandem (there, it's the tree-hugger in me!).

About the Toyota Avensis - I borrowed one recently, and it's brilliant - boring as mentioned above but it's sort of a tardis, and does nearly 50mpg.

wildmoustache

"What did you say you did?"

secretsam

FFS, some really poor suggestions on here, anyhoo, if it's carrying bikes and folks and stuff, go for a full fat MPV, we've got a Seat Alhambra (think old model Ford Galaxy) to carry our two around in plus all their clobber. Cheap second hand, diesels the way to go, loads of kit and oodles of space.

Job done.

Oh - not much image, but frankly I couldn't give a rat's.

And yes, the Avensis is stultifyingly boring. And that comes from an MPV driver.

Raph

there's your answer gnvqsos - get a Seat whateveritis, fractionally less boring than a Toyota - otherwise secret sam will be really p1ssed off!