New car

prawny

upperoilcan wrote:

DrewDubya wrote:

Surprised no-one's mentioned Mondeo estate

Firstly it's a Ford,Secondly it's not German.

After 10 years of Fords Ive given up. I won't have another one now unless it's brand new or underwarranty.

German? Pah! It's all about korea now 8)

Keith1983

I've got a 307 SW that's been great. it's got 120k miles on and hasn't missed a beat. It's not exciting in the slightest bit I can fit a bike in the back with only the front wheel off. You'd get a 308 sw with your 7k budget too. Mines the 110 diesel and it goes alright when needed to. I get nearly 50mpg out of it without having to try too hard.

Yossie

hopper1 wrote:

Comparing the A4 with the Accord estate is not like for like, that would be the A6 Avant.
quote]

Sorry - I don't really know what that means (as I said, I know next to nothing about cars as its not really my bag) - all I know is that two friends (one with two kids, one with 1, one is a surfer, the other a golfer so they need "lifestyle" and kid space in a car) have either had or have them: both complain that they are too small inside and that they have no boot space.

I've driven one and it was slow - sorry (but then again, speed is all very subjective and it all depends on what you're used to/how you drive I suppose).

dg74

Get a boring German Audi/VW.

Cars for unimaginative people.

crom7

crom7 wrote:
Hey,
Thanks for all of the suggestions...i had been contemplating a passat or volvo but will also check out the Honda.



Cast aside yet again... The Citroens been great and 70K up on it now...

Sorry Garry...well... based on your recommendation alone i'll try out a C4 this weekend, will keep you posted.

garrynolan

crom7 wrote:

crom7 wrote:
Hey,
Thanks for all of the suggestions...i had been contemplating a passat or volvo but will also check out the Honda.



Cast aside yet again... The Citroens been great and 70K up on it now...

Sorry Garry...well... based on your recommendation alone i'll try out a C4 this weekend, will keep you posted.

Good luck - and make sure it's a 7-seater - the 5-seater of any make certainly won't be big enough. G.

The Ors

bompington wrote:

upperoilcan wrote:

Do the Skoda's use the same Diesel engines as the VW Golf's ?

Yes, as do a whole lot of other cars. Mine's the 2007 140PS 2.0 diesel, not sure exactly what the various VW group cars have now.

The Octavia is basically a Golf with a different body. They have far more in common than just the engine. Transmission, suspension, brakes, electrics, interior trim is all (mostly) common between them. Other cars on the same platform include Audi A3, Audi TT, VW Beetle & Seat Leon.

The Ors

upperoilcan wrote:

DrewDubya wrote:

Surprised no-one's mentioned Mondeo estate

Firstly it's a Ford,Secondly it's not German.

Made in Belgium I believe.

The Mondeo is a great car, well built & reliable. For 7K a three year old estate would tick nearly all the boxes.

verylonglegs

The Ors wrote:

upperoilcan wrote:

DrewDubya wrote:

Surprised no-one's mentioned Mondeo estate

Firstly it's a Ford,Secondly it's not German.

Made in Belgium I believe.

The Mondeo is a great car, well built & reliable. For 7K a three year old estate would tick nearly all the boxes.

Ford dealers however are staffed by monkeys dressed as humans...no wait, that is grossly insulting to monkeys. If you buy a used Ford pray you never have to deal with them.

oldhairylegs

One of these - sorry about the ridiculous length of this link!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... ?logcode=p

They are brilliant. Over 40mpg, loads of room inside (have had 4 riders and their bikes inside!) and drives really well - not like a people carrier at all. With the back seats down you can chuck 2 bikes in without removing any wheels, or with all the seats up you can get 7 people in it.

Good luck!

rodgers73

Don't knock Ford for reliability. My 2003 KA is coming up for 160K and I've only ever had one breakdown when the thermostat housing broke. Easy fix and cost bugger all to sort.

I've taken that car all over Europe, rallied in it and it'll fit my Spesh in the back with the front wheel off and the seat down

shouldbeinbed

Avoid the Nissan Qashqai. Beggared if I know why people rave over them bland and boring, looks far bigger than realistically what you get for boot space & the rear shocks are notoriously faulty.

Wish I'd spent a fraction of the money keeping my old passat going than buying this.

kev77

if you look hard enough you will be able to pick up a decent example

Mercedes Benz C or E class diesel, or how about a BMW diesel 3 or 5 series?

Go down the german or japanese route you will not go far wrong

bompington

shouldbeinbed wrote:

Avoid the Nissan Qashqai. Beggared if I know why people rave over them bland and boring, looks far bigger than realistically what you get for boot space & the rear shocks are notoriously faulty.

Wish I'd spent a fraction of the money keeping my old passat going than buying this.

Why do people buy faux by fours? What actually is the attraction?

Yossie

garrynolan wrote:

Good luck - and make sure it's a 7-seater - the 5-seater of any make certainly won't be big enough. G.

The Honda is a 5 seater (and so are most of the cars mentioned here and its more than big enough) - 7 seater? You sure? He doesn't want to transport the whole of team Sky around you know.

A 5 seater estate is more than big enough for the average family (by which I mean 2.4 kids)

Talking of faux by fours, we were lent a CRV by the local Honda garage - theres millions of them clogging up the roads around here.

Utterly uttery appalling - worst thing I've ever driven. I was actually embarrased to a) be seen it and and b) drive it. Avoid like the plague.

I have no idea either why people buy these things - but they do.

tiny_pens

I was looking along similar lines to you and ended up with the newest model Civic because:

1. All the people carriers were ultimately just big, thirsty and felt horrible to drive.
2. Fold the seats down in a hatchback and you can put a bike in without taking the wheels off anyway.
3. None of the people carriers scored as well in reliability as the standard hatchback versions they were based on (Touran, CMax) except the French cars which just aren't reliable anyway.
4. The Yeti was more expensive but not really any bigger inside than the standard hatchback equivalent (Golf) when I was looking around
5. The Honda engines are really good (gone are the days of needing to rev the nuts off to make things exciting).

The civic allows me to take the front wheels off and then slot the bikes into the back seat area leaving the boot space free for carrying all my kit for a ride, cleaning kit, camping stuff etc.

As you can tell I really like it. Might be worth a look as there are plenty out there.

amun1000

bompington wrote:

shouldbeinbed wrote:

Avoid the Nissan Qashqai. Beggared if I know why people rave over them bland and boring, looks far bigger than realistically what you get for boot space & the rear shocks are notoriously faulty.

Wish I'd spent a fraction of the money keeping my old passat going than buying this.

Why do people buy faux by fours? What actually is the attraction?

I have a Landy Series III - no road tax, insurance £100, its going up in value (classic car), more reliable than my wifes golf, never broke down in 11 years. Last winter was good fun watching all the cars sliding around

bompington

bompington wrote:

Why do people buy faux by fours?

Nuggs

tiny_pens wrote:

I was looking along similar lines to you and ended up with the newest model Civic

I had a Civic which was lovely. However, in terms of load capacity, they're not anywhere near the same league as an estate/MPV.

prawny

Nuggs wrote:

tiny_pens wrote:

I was looking along similar lines to you and ended up with the newest model Civic

I had a Civic which was lovely. However, in terms of load capacity, they're not anywhere near the same league as an estate/MPV.

My thought now is that unless I'm going to be using the full space a lot it's a right PITA dragging the extra car around most of the time. I'm a drummer so I've always had estates until now. But as I haven't been in a band for a few years now there's no point. Getting 50+ mpg in (yokel) town from the i30 compared to 20ish from my old petrol Mondeo estate, insurance is cheaper too.

Gazzaputt

Keith1983 wrote:

I've got a 307 SW that's been great. it's got 120k miles on and hasn't missed a beat. It's not exciting in the slightest bit I can fit a bike in the back with only the front wheel off. You'd get a 308 sw with your 7k budget too. Mines the 110 diesel and it goes alright when needed to. I get nearly 50mpg out of it without having to try too hard.

I have a 307 SW and this list of faults have been unreal. Look at peugeot forums and there you'll see how shite they are.

Would not recommend Peugeot to my worse enemy.

bigmat

I'm considering getting an estate, what I'm wondering is can you get a bike in the boot? Happy to take the front wheel off, but don't want the hassle of folding seats down etc (I've got two child seats in the way anyway). Plus I can get my bike in my Mazda 3 with the wheels on if I fold the seats down already...

Mad Roadie

BigMat
by a Dodge Durango - it may look like a metallic turd, but you can get a road bike inside it without taking anything off

keef66

Well my last 3 company cars have been a Passat, a Focus estate and an Audi A3.

The Ford was the most reliable of the lot.

My wife's Focus we have had since 2002, and apart from her bending it a bit, it's still running perfectly.

On that basis, and if it was my money, I'd be looking for a Mondeo estate.

verylonglegs

bompington wrote:

bompington wrote:

Why do people buy faux by fours?

They are bought because not everyone is car savvy and the slightly higher driving position makes them feel good.

bompington

I had a dream last night that I'd bought a Range Rover on a whim but I never bothered checking how much it cost, and now I was really worried that Mrs. Bomp was going to find out :?

UncleFred

DO.NOT.BUY.A.RENAULT!

Just P'exed our Scenic for a Yeti.

2006 Scenic with £42k on the clock, paid £4.5k for it. Spent another £3k on repairs in 12 Months. Woeful build quality and electrics. Sold with an electrical problem that could not be resolved, the battery would randomly drain. It would work perfectly for a couple of weeks then you'd park up, come back to it and you wouldn't even be able to open the doors.

The only plus was the well thought out interior space.

Not many places would accept a trade in on it either, as they've been burnt in the past.

Really happy with the Yeti, the 1.4 TSI is quick enough, consumption isn't bad if you don't nail it too much. Can get 3 bikes in with the seats folded down and the front wheels off.

Just been to France in it, Wife, 2 kids and bike, stuck a top box and bike rack on the roof and had lots of space for everything inside.

Not sure you'll get one in your budget though.

shouldbeinbed

bompington wrote:

Why do people buy faux by fours? What actually is the attraction?

nothing to do with faux 4x4 at all - why the automatic assumption its the chelsea tractor factor?

its a +2 version so has a big boot (even for my griping) with additional seats in it. it fits my multitude of children and increased number of dogs in a way no estate car I looked at did but without actually being a van in disguise.

McBain_v1

As a company car driver I am not sure how relevant my experience is...

Had a Range Rover Sport Luxury on loan for a month and it was a nightmare - nothing went wrong but the fuel consumption was truly astonishing :oops: It wasn't actually all that roomy either and since it was an automatic you had to really mash on the loud pedal to get the beast moving... and then turn in to the nearest garage to fill up (for the second time that day).

Next car is going to be a Mondeo Titanium X Sport - lots of room and better fuel economy and like a previous poster observed, the Fords are reliable (my colleague who bragged about his Passat soon felt like a tit when it had to go back to the garage for the third time in the first year). German engineering - you can stuff it mate!

kev77

I got rid of my Land Rover due to not being able to afford shares in Shell, BP etc!

Best thing i did, money pit.com