what estate?

supafly1982

Hi Guys,

i currently have a coupe, we have just had a baby and also i need to transport my bikes. Im am looking for a good vehicle, no vans. estate car is probably most ideal. so im after:
Estate
Diesel, up to 2L
milage - less than 100k
Cost - up to 3K

do any of you guys have reccomendations for a good reliable vehicle? ive got one more year at college in mechanics so a car thats easy to work on and maintain/ source parts for is even better

cheers
scott

bails87

Mondeo TDCi?

I've got a mate who's a taxi driver. He had one at over 200,000 miles, doing 10,000 per month and it was still going. He gave it a full service every month, but that's a fairly easy thing to do. massive boot with the seats down too.

theblender

I recently picked up a VW Passat 1.8t sport estate for £1899.00
1 previous owner - 10 VW service stamps - 98k on the clock - y reg (2001)

Plenty of room and plenty of poke. (mines Petrol though - but there's loads of TDI's out there for sale - try Pistonheads website)

mossychops

supafly1982 wrote:

Hi Guys,

i currently have a coupe, we have just had a baby and also i need to transport my bikes. Im am looking for a good vehicle, no vans. estate car is probably most ideal. so im after:
Estate
Diesel, up to 2L
milage - less than 100k
Cost - up to 3K

do any of you guys have reccomendations for a good reliable vehicle? ive got one more year at college in mechanics so a car thats easy to work on and maintain/ source parts for is even better

cheers
scott

Mondeos or Vectras seem to be the best bang for buck, solid, pretty nice cars, reliable and loads of them about (so cheap). It is worth working out your mileage over how long you are likely to keep the vehicle, diesels are quite a bit more expensive that the petrol equivalent because they are in high demand, if your mileage isn't high petrol might be better for you (the diesels tend to be higher avergae mileage too). Volkswagens etc are really nice and the pumperdiesel enginers are great, but they will cost you quite a bit more to start with and the parts are more expensive too.

I don't think you will get your bikes in the car without the seats down, so do also have a look at hatchbacks or alternatives with a bike rack. I looked at diesel estates and ended up with a petrol hatchback Mondeo becuase it was so cheap (bikes go in fine with seats down and I fitted a towbar/towbar bike rack for £160, you can fit the towbar yourself).

Hope this helps and good luck with cars and kids. I'm sure both will end up costing you more than you imagine

VWsurfbum

Posh your self up a little and getr a Jag 2.0 estate, i had one for just under 4years never missed a beat and was fully loaded and if you pick the right one, cheap as chips, servicing is cheap too as its a Transit engine!

piker

If you want fuel economy/reliability go for VW,Audi,BMW.You may struggle to get one under 100000miles for under 3k but a well serviced diesel will easily do in excess of 200000 miles like Bails said,so full history is essential.
I can say with experiance that a Vectra c 2.0dti should be avoided whatever the deal,suspension bushes are rubbish,the springs are made of cheese and the fuel pump is a ticking £1000 time bomb.

Long_Time_Lurker

Another vote for the Mondeo - not very expensive but decent. Also look at the Toyota Avensis - they are f-ing huge (don't know about prices though)
Avoid the Saab 9-3 Sportswagons. I used to have one. Nice to look at and fairly nippy, but expensive to service/maintain.

supafly1982

yeah i want to stay clear of vectras, my m8 had had a couple and changing the boomerangs on them is a right pain in the aris.
i was looking at
passat salloon or estate
renult scenic rx 4x4 1.9td
citroen xsara hdi estate

ive had 2 pug 306 2l hdi estates, broke them both, cylinder head went on one but it was a smash repairable that i fixed up and the other i paid 2.5k for, looked mint however on the long drive home lots of things werent as they should of been so it went back to garage after 2 month.

citroen xsaras go cheap, you can get alot for your cash, ive had 4 but they are french and have lots of little niggles but im quite handy with them.

ive not looked into the mondeo though, if it comes to it i would get a petrol but could be no more than 1.6, i rate a diesel over a petrol any day, torque, good in wet conditions and dont chug , plus i had a xsara vts and cained it everywhere, cant do that now, license to important

paul20v

Somebody mentioned parts being more for VW and audi cars more so than fords and vauxhalls well thats really not true
also they will out last any ford or vauxhall
if you want a good quality cheap estate get yourself in a passat you wont go wrong and you will get a lot of car for your money 8)

wolvesdug

Another vote for the mondeo

We have a 2.2 ST TDCI and it is huge well speced and get good mpg out of it.

Had a A4 2.0 TDI before the mondeo and with the mondeo got a lot more kit for less money. Look at Ghia or Ghia X.

Running costs the Mondeo is cheaper than what the Audi was.

Have you looked at Volvo's?

Dave_P1

A mondeo can be picked up for a good price and there's plenty of room inside.

Brighty

Every single taxi round my way is a Skoda Octavia, VW/Audi engines and parts, comes in older but economical 1.9L or the newer more powerfull but juicier 2L. It's top of the list for my next car. I have the same 2L engine in my Seat Leon and it has a nice bit of poke with 140bhp.

Brighty

.blitz

335d

diy

Mondeo in that budget - not my cup of tea, but I've been impressed with those I have been in.

If you can up the cc a bit go for a V70 volvo or a 5 series touring and of course an E class if you can find them. merc MLs also go for peanuts. You may also be able to get an early Nissan X-trail (but do not go for the DCi)

The thing about used cars is that the smaller more economical cars go for a premium, so you can often get decent cars with bigger engines cheap. Often with a Diesel the extra economy cannot be justified by the price increase.

A decent diesel will be anything up to 20-30% more than the petrol equiv. Unless you are doing big mileage you wont get that money back.

chiefinspector

Absolutely go for the Passat. I own a 2.0TDi Passat and have been more than happy with it. Although mine is not an estate, i can carry 4 bikes on the roof and there is plenty of room inside for all the kids. The build quality of a VW is much superior to Ford & Vauxhall and that is reflected in the resale values.

VW diesel engines are also the best in thier class and will run for a very long time if they are kept regularly serviced.

I have owned Fords & Vauxhalls in the past but wouldn't go near them again. If you stick to a well looked after German or Japanese car then you should be fine.

alan_sherman

Another alternative is a Vauxhall Zafira. Millions of them about, often used for school runs so low mileage (Not necessarily a better thing though), cheap as there is a new model coming out soon, and lots of space. You may be able to get the bike in the back upright and still have three seats (not tested - but almost certainly with just the front wheel out). Lots of petrol engine but I don't know about diesel variants.

An similar alternative is the Citroen Zsara Picasso - again not got the length of an estate but the height means a bike can go in the back vertically with the front wheel off (tested), same lack of knowledge from me about diesel...

t0pc4t

When I was looking for a new car the one that impressed me the most was the skoda octavia estate, diesel is really good, more load space than the Audi A4 or the Golf and they're reasonably priced.

For whatever reason we went for a Honda CRV in the end which is nice but I think the Octavia would have been more practical.

The Rookie

VWsurfbum wrote:

as its a Transit engine!

Sounds so much better than Mondeo engine....which is what it actually is, no Transit had that spec of engine......

Simon

Northwind

Mondeo's the obvious answer- ridiculously massive inside, reasonably well hammered together, and it's a reasonably evolved Ford so it's worked out most of the teething issues. Also has no boot-lip which makes such a difference when loading and unloading (and sitting on the back!) and a reasonably high roof. And parts are stupidly cheap. Also, the TD engines are hardly cutting edge but they're surprisingly nice to drive.

Main thing when checking them is the wheel arches, some large-looking cars have ridiculously intruding wheels these days, look in a small Volve estate and you find a boot smaller than a Focus hatchback frinstance. IIRC some of the Passats and Octavias are the same.

Wouldn't rule out a people carrier btw- I wish I'd gone for one, the extra space would be great. When I bin the Focus I'll be after a Galaxy or similiar for sure.

Stevo_666

bails87 wrote:

Mondeo TDCi?

I've got a mate who's a taxi driver. He had one at over 200,000 miles, doing 10,000 per month and it was still going. He gave it a full service every month, but that's a fairly easy thing to do. massive boot with the seats down too.

+1

Cheap to buy, cheap to run, bags of room and not bad to drive for a non-sports car. Putting my money where my mouth is, I'm getting one myself soon to cart the bikes around in.

supafly1982

interesting guys, is the Mondeo TDCI people talking about a saloon or estate? i have also considered Volvo V40 but i dont think im going to bother with it and also the Octavia estate

bails87

I was talking about a mondeo estate. I think the normal TDCi engines are the same regardless of it's an estate or saloon.

.blitz

Have a new-ish Mondeo saloon the boot is mahoosive and with the seats folded down there's room for a party. Can easily throw in size L 140mm FS bike without any faff.

Can also carry an 8' x 6' flat-pack greenhouse and 500l of compost if you're interested.

Family of 4 two-week holiday just chuck everything in and close the boot.

Returns a solid 55mpg while destroying hills, headwinds etc

Not as good as a 335d though.

lostboysaint

Another vote for the Passat. I have an 04 1.9 130bhp TDI as my "shit" car and it takes my bike (an XL Yeti) and all my kit inside with no problems. It also takes two windsurf boards, 6 sails, 5 masts, 3 booms and assorted windsurfing kit (not at the same time as the bike!).

It's got 100k miles on it, it returns 50+mpg almost regardless of right-foot-enthusiasm, seats four in great comfort (more passenger space than any other estate car of the age) and the only thing that's ever gone wrong on it is that the bonnet catch got stuck.

Long_Time_Lurker

Don't bother with the Volvo v40 - it may be an estate, but it is really small inside.
Although the v70s are monsters - too boxy though.

Bike Bloke

Get an original diesel 2ltr Zafira and I'll sell you my 3 bike roof rack for it

On a serious note, they're huge inside, not that bad to drive and pretty economical too!

diy

supafly1982 wrote:

i have also considered Volvo V40 but i dont think im going to bother with it and also the Octavia estate

one of the crappiest cars I ever owned and I have owned plenty of volvos including a 360GLT and a 740GLE,

the v40 is really heavy and very slow and this is coming from someone who owns an XC90 diesel.

Briggo

Got a Mondy hatchback Mk3 with 2.2 TDCi engine in it, had it two years and done 20k miles (currently on 84k) and not had a single issue with it. Loads of grunt too when its needed

Its the nuts for carting things about, as said before seats down you can easily get 2/3 bikes in the back without having to pull the bikes apart and room for all the kit no problems.

Done a week away, bikes on roof and boot loaded to carry stuff for the 4 people inside.

You should be able to get a good base early model Mk3 for £3k in good condition and fairly low mileage.

CraigXXL

I have 2.2tdci Mondeo estate, faultless was powerful at a standard 155bhp with loads of torque, even more powerful now it's been remapped and decat which was a cheap tuneup ofr the gains and still get 38mpg urban and around 55mpg on the motorway. Carrying capacity is huge with seatsup and there is loads of leg room in the rear, mine comes with self levelling suspension as standard which is very good.
If you want cheapness to run over fun then go for the 2.0tdci they come well equipped as standard. about 10-15% better MPG and running on 16 inch wheels cheaper tyres and better ride comfort with the potholed roads.I had the Mondeo 2.0tdci Zetec hatchback before this and it does have a lot of space inside.
The Mondeo is better handling, more enjoyable to drive and better reliability than either of my brothers previous Passat and current Octavia VRS.

shoddy

What about a Skoda Roomster?
They look a bit wonky but are excellent cars. They also do an internal bike rack for them.

bails87

CraigXXL wrote:

self levelling suspension

My taxi driving friend picked up a veeeery large lady (from Rhyll) who broke the self levelling suspension!