Cheap bike transportation vehicles

rockmonkeysc

I'll soon be getting a vehicle which is completely unsuitable for carrying muddy bikes so I'm thinking of getting a cheap estate for dirty duties.
What would people recommend? Needs to be under a grand, estate, petrol, cheap to insurance, bombproof reliability and preferably offensively ugly.

cooldad

Older Ford Focus. Not terribly ugly, but tough, OK to drive, cheap parts, reliable. Decent size inside.

My student son drives one all over the UK and Europe filled with climbing gear and mates. 2004 model or so. Paid about £700 and probably spent a few £00 on random bits over the past few years.

veronese68

Mondeo, same as above but bigger.

cooldad

Yep, was considered as well. Choice was made on the basis he had cash in pocket, the Focus was in good condition with a long MOT, and he wanted a car.
Take my money.
Good choice for first timer, It was cheaper to insure the estate than a typical tiny learner type 1.3 hatch. Although I doubt that's a consideration for RMSC.
Presumably estates are all driven by respectable elder types who don't prang that often.
Although my personal one is a Subaru Imprezza. Which drinks juice like a drunken whore. Otherwise quite nice.

rockmonkeysc

Considering I'll be paying £320 to insure a 540bhp supercharged Jag I don't think insurance will be an issue.
Focus is a good tip. Dirt cheap, simple to fix and indestructible.

nicklong

Old Toyota Avensis estate, a mid-90s Merc C220 or any sort of Volvo. There's always someone after a big old estate so you won't lose any money on it. Budget for regular oil topups as they'll be leaking somewhere and buy on condition (i.e. least amount of rust).

JGTR

Fiat Doblo, best car I’ve owned as far as work horses go, remove single rear seat and can put bike in without removing wheels. Jay Kay has one as his daily driver, and he knows a bit about cars!

rockmonkeysc

If Jay Kay has one I can't have it. That's the reason I'm not buying a Mercedes E63 AMG
Old Volvo could be good. Old Mercedes can be a bit hit and miss for reliability.

fat daddy

Veronese68 wrote:

Mondeo, same as above but bigger.

this .... the estate is massive in the back, if ever you loose your rack/roof rack you can just throw everything in the back and a cow for fun

daniel_b

I have a 2001 V70 T5, but at this age, and mileage (120K) the odd thing is starting to creep up - it is a HEAVY car, so also tends to eat through tyres and brakes - especially if you have an auto - no engine braking opportunities.

The most reliable car I had, was a 2000 W reg Nissan Primera estate - 60,000 miles, and all I had to spend money on was tyres (But even then I got 40K out of the rears, and 35K out of the fronts) and one single rubber hose that perished.
Sadly, I think the style after that had more electrical issues.

Skoda Octavia could also be worth a look - and the Avensis is a good shout too, though not sure how many are about.

Berlingo or Pug equivalent might be worth a look too.

What's the Jag - F Type, or XJR type affair?

The Rookie

Subaru Forester, the square shape means you can get a frame in square on with the wheels off, will take 3 bikes and 3 riders.

Transit Connect is another option.

Left Field option is a Daihatsu YRV, for its size the rear is cavernous, the small Daihatsu engines are Rev happy little fun machines and great fun (appeared in an Aston Martin after all) and while the car is buzzy at speed due to the gearing they are reliable, fun to drive and economical. The daughter has had hers for 3 years now.

rockmonkeysc

Daniel B wrote:

What's the Jag - F Type, or XJR type affair?

It's an XFR-S saloon. A luxury saloon with a supercar engine. Pretty much my dream car. Like a hooligan in a tailored suit.

The focus estate is looking like the best option. Solid, durable and cheap. 1.6 petrol engine should be cheap to run.

daniel_b

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Daniel B wrote:

What's the Jag - F Type, or XJR type affair?

It's an XFR-S saloon. A luxury saloon with a supercar engine. Pretty much my dream car. Like a hooligan in a tailored suit.

Nice, like a modern M5, except with class 8)

Complete with rear spoiler?

dusk

Don't know if an Accord estate would be cheap enough but would be plenty reliable

doomanic

If it's cheap enough size is less relevant. I used to strap 2 adult bikes to the roof of my Mondeo using the roof rails and tiedown straps, no roof rack, and put the kids bikes in the boot with the seats still up. Get 5 people and bikes moving that way.

No damage ever resulted from doing it that way but I wouldn't try it on a car worth more than scrap value; sod's law says I'll drop a bike on the roof and damage it. I did get some funny looks at the trail centers though...

glynrs2

Citroen Berlingo - certainly ugly and designed to be treated like a shed on wheels, that's how the French like to abuse their vehicles. Surprisingly reliable too being based on a commercial van.

eric_draven

GlynRS2 wrote:

Citroen Berlingo - certainly ugly and designed to be treated like a shed on wheels, that's how the French like to abuse their vehicles. Surprisingly reliable too being based on a commercial van.

I was going to suggest on of these or a Renault Kaagoo,after you have driven a rattlely van anything feels super plush after

Craig_Broadbent

What is this unsuitable car? Can you not get a towbar fitted? For a thousand pounds you can then have a comfortable ride and so can your bikes.
Would have added benefit of keeping ugly car out of your driveway and save on insurance.

daniel_b

Craig_Broadbent wrote:

What is this unsuitable car? Can you not get a towbar fitted? For a thousand pounds you can then have a comfortable ride and so can your bikes.
Would have added benefit of keeping ugly car out of your driveway and save on insurance.

Assuming it is something akin to this:


I too would not be wanting to install a towbar on it!

cooldad

Craig_Broadbent wrote:

What is this unsuitable car? Can you not get a towbar fitted? For a thousand pounds you can then have a comfortable ride and so can your bikes.
Would have added benefit of keeping ugly car out of your driveway and save on insurance.

What Daniel B said, and if you'd read the thread you'd know.

Benefit of an estate is stuff goes inside. Much better at trail centres, motorway services etc as stuff is not dangling off the back attracting scrotes.

Also useful for taking sh1t to the dump, collecting furniture and other general usefulnesses.

daniel_b

cooldad wrote:

Craig_Broadbent wrote:

What is this unsuitable car? Can you not get a towbar fitted? For a thousand pounds you can then have a comfortable ride and so can your bikes.
Would have added benefit of keeping ugly car out of your driveway and save on insurance.

What Daniel B said, and if you'd read the thread you'd know.

Benefit of an estate is stuff goes inside. Much better at trail centres, motorway services etc as stuff is not dangling off the back attracting scrotes.

Also useful for taking sh1t to the dump, collecting furniture and other general usefulnesses.

Estates rock, however I am looking into getting a Van

cooldad

Vans have their place, but I bet my Subaru is much more pleasant on a long drive, and a hell of a lot more fun around the twisty narrow lanes where I live. Especially in S setting.

Vroom vroom.

rockmonkeysc

Daniel B wrote:

Craig_Broadbent wrote:

What is this unsuitable car? Can you not get a towbar fitted? For a thousand pounds you can then have a comfortable ride and so can your bikes.
Would have added benefit of keeping ugly car out of your driveway and save on insurance.

Assuming it is something akin to this:


I too would not be wanting to install a towbar on it!

That's it. I'm not cutting the carbon diffuser to fit a tow hitch. Also don't want to put muddy bike kit in it. It's a bit of an investment, they're going up in value already.
Looks like I'm buying a 1.6 petrol Focus estate. They're great value at this age, I've found a low mileage one for less than a set of tyres for the Jag.