[Closed] Estatetrackworld - what cheap(ish) high spec estate for lugging bikes about?

just bought a 2010 subaru outback. with the seats down my 29r fits in, wheels on, with room to spare.

An Omega, if you can find a nice one. German, huge, last well

Quite tempted by another one, preferably a late estate in green.

Honda Accord.

just bought a 2010 subaru outback. with the seats down my 29r fits in, wheels on, with room to spare.

Damn, unless that's a size S 29er that's a good boot size! Worth taking a further look, thanks! The 4wd might come in handy during winter too (snow and boggy car parks).

An Omega, if you can find a nice one. German, huge, last well

Quite tempted by another one, preferably a late estate in green.

You mean a Vauxhall Omega? If so, I didn't even realise there was any of these left around!! A bit old for me, plus Autotrader gives 5 estates for sale in the whole of the UK, so not much choice. Thanks anyway 😉

Honda Accord.

Hmm... meh. I'm sure it'll be mega reliable and it's....*thunk* Zzzzzzz

Sorry, fell asleep there thinking about the Accord. *Yawn*. 🙂 The bike I'm selling is a Honda so not sure I want another Honda, I'll get a reputation...

Something german, e class or r class would be my choice or 05 plate etc 5 series.

Should have added - it doesn't need to be huge, just big enough to fit a long bike in with the front wheel off. I'm thinking more A4, 3 series, C class size rather than A6, 5 series, E class size. Most of the time it'll just be me and a bike so I don't need a huge barge, just a decent size good looking estate. If the Skoda Yeti was a little cheaper I'd consider one of them too.

Subaru legacy estate is the same as an outback, but a lower car.

i can confirm it took a size medium 26er fs bike, or a cannondale 29er hardtail, both with wheels on.

I can easily fit my fs ebike in a Renault scenic, front wheel off.

if you buy one, choose the biggest engine you can find, the 1.5dci is (a little) underpowered.

Comfy enough, ok to drive, bit gutless is my assessment.

Passat has to be in there. If you can sneak DSG in there your left leg will thank you.

Accord Tourer Type S

Mazda 6 sport on about an 11 plate.

Just buy a V70. Two DH bikes in the back with wheels on and space to spare.

T5 (2005+ 2.4l) if you can afford the fuel.

T5 and a stage one tune to 320bhp (2005+ 2.4l) if you can really afford the fuel.

R if you have very deep pockets.

D5 for balance of power and some economy.

Also 120-130k on an ovlov is nothing, my previous ones were going strong at 170+k

Had a S40 previously and driven a V50 and they don't compare to the Phase 2 volvos.

Another subaru legacy estate owner here, 27.5 large bike with wheels on fits fine with seats down. Great cars, 2.5i is a bit thirsty though although sounds and drives like a beast.

Mondeo titanium X petrol.

Power.

Leather.

Room.

Heated/cooled seats.

Lots for the money

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201805317045098?atmobcid=soc3

Legacy vote here too. Very very well built cars. The 03-09 model was a step up in interior refinement to compete with German 'premium' brands. Subaru had advertising at the time that yes they were more expensive new than mainstream and even some premium after discounts but you're getting a much better engineered vehicle. Imo they wern't telling porkies either. My 04 plate 2.0 is on 157k, is still a super smooth motorway cruiser with not a single rattle or creak on our recent 350 mile journey to Cornwall. The seats are super comfy and don't have any sag in them at all despite the age and mileage. I can do a 4-5 hour drive and jump out with no aches at all.

Get winter tyres on and it will go *anywhere*. The low ratio box is genuinely very useful at times.

Large 29ers fit in no problem with front wheel removed and  the back seat backs drop flat with s single lever on each section to make a very flat load area.

It's thirsty on short urban journeys from cold, but once warmed up and on motorway cruising I get high 30's mpg on average (actual mpg calculated from fill ups).

Absolutely brilliant cars, I genuinely don't know what to replace it with if/when it finally carks. Probably another one!

I have a Legacy 2.0 56 plate too, but poor fuel consumption and high tax and insurance make it expensive. Parts aren’t cheap and the exhausts go at a weak point. Mine also has acceleration issues from 2k-2.5k that seems to come and go and the clutch/gearbox is on it’s way out. The 2.0 needs revving hard to get to the power band meaning it’s very tiring to drive.

Passat estate with DSG, if you're planning commuting and some epic road trips you'll be glad you got the auto option as the traffic nightmare steadily worsens in Britain. It's the reason why we are buying a plot in Scotland next week and building a house where the workshop, bike store and gym will take equal importance to the kitchen, lounge and bedrooms!

I don't know about mountain bikes but a Passat estate has enough room with the seats folded to lie three road bikes on their sides separated by blankets. With front wheels removed you can get 3 bikes + 3 humans inside and if you remove the wheels you can easily hide two frames plus wheels in the boot with the blind closed to hide them. The Skoda Superb version is even longer than the Passat and will give you all the luxuries you want for much less money. There's a reason why Skodas are so popular as taxis.

Cheers, the legacy/outback is growing on me - it's not that much bigger than the Saab 9-3 sportwagon (150mm  longer) and there's a few about, I'm liking the look of the 2.5 or 3.0 models. I'll have a further look into tax, insurance etc - 4wd is a good selling point, I don't live in the sticks but after driving my dad's Insignia country tourer with semi-4wd and NOT getting stuck at the FoD demo day when loads of cars were getting pulled out by a tractor I'm liking 4wd as a feature.

MPG isn't an issue - the difference between 25mpg and 45mpg if I'm doing 4000 miles a year is £30 a month, so a big petrol model is perfectly fine by me 🙂

Oh and the Passat 3.2 DSG (4motion) is also worth further investigation I think 🙂

Yet another subaru legacy estate owner here. I have a 2006 3.0 spec b. It is very good to drive, comfy and easily has space. However, it is thirsty (but fast) and its interior is not as premium as it could be (though not bad compared to my astra that I had previously). 4wd is very handy in winter. I bought my car 3 years ago for under your budget and it came with a spare set of wheels with winter tyres, and a roofrack. My guess, too, is that because my version is quite rare, it won't depreciate much. Overall, its a great car for biking.

Volvo V50 here, changed jobs back at Christmas so needed to buy a car to replace the company car. Comfy (confiest seats I've ever had in a car!), it does 50mpg on a run. £3750 got me a 2 liter diesel, R-design in pretty good condition.

Fits two bikes in with the front wheels off.

Citroen c5 exclusive with leather ticked

SEAT Exeo. Pretty much the older Audi A4. Loads around for not a lot of money, often with leather etc. Use mine to drive to the Alps each summer and its super comfy. so comfy its not issue driving it all in one hit bar train and fuel stops

I agree on SEATs, we hired a Leon estate in France and it was excellent, spacious and really nice to drive.

The seat Exeo looks interesting, cheap too - however it looks like petrol ones are almost non-existent.

Just done some quick insurance quotes on the 3.0 legacy and outback and 3.2 Passat, all come out around £400-450 which is the same as a 2.0T Saab Aero (2 years NCB, 3k a year commuting) so it's all good there.

I'd much rather spend less than more, the nearer to £2500 the better (more money for bikes!!!) So there's a few options there at the cheaper end of my budget.

Honda Accord.

Hmm… meh. I’m sure it’ll be mega reliable and it’s….*thunk* Zzzzzzz

Sorry, fell asleep there thinking about the Accord. *Yawn*.  The bike I’m selling is a Honda so not sure I want another Honda, I’ll get a reputation…

Ironically perhaps, my Accord was the least reliable car I ever owned, absolutely terrible which was sad because when it worked it was really nice (but yes, very boring).

SEAT Exeo. Pretty much the older Audi A4. Loads around for not a lot of money, often with leather etc. Use mine to drive to the Alps each summer and its super comfy. so comfy its not issue driving it all in one hit bar train and fuel stops

I've had mine for 4 years and 60K miles now, unlike the Honda it's reliability has been absolute, not a single thing has gone wrong with it, even once (well unless it was caused by someone driving into it...)

Lack of market recognition (and the fact they're pretty ugly) means they're good value. Mine has got, leather, dual climate, bose, sat-nav, auto lights, auto wipers, bluetooth, etc etc etc. In fact my mate has got an Audi B7 RS4 - interior wise the differences are: He's got a nicer cigarette lighter, I've got round air vents, he's got square, my 'clocks' are more modern looking, his speedo reads to 200 (I think, maybe 180) oh and he's got uncomfortable, but amazing sports seats.

Oh and mine came with a brilliant plastic boot liner, and it was an option on his £50k car. I will admit those his is much cooler and a perhaps little bit quicker.

Have you thought about a Skoda?

Hmm, there's nothing in my price range made by Skoda of interest, the Superb is too new and there's no interesting engines in the Octavia range below £5k

A Legacy 3.0 R Spec.B has gone right up on the list. High tax (but they all are with decent petrol engines around this age) but there's a few about, I think I'd want an '06 onwards model for the HID headlamps too, really nice spec on the Spec.b models and they should hold their value. Not so sure about the outback version, think I prefer the standard legacy sportwagon.

So, if anyone is interested and as these sort of threads never normally have any closure, here's an update 🙂

I pick this up on Saturday.

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2006 Subaru legacy 3.0r spec B, 91k miles, the perfect MTB carrying machine 🙂

Ooh nice. How much?

£4700 - it's a facelift model which are quite rare and this one has been very well looked after, had money spent on it when needed - full service history, 4x new Bridgestone tyres 5k miles ago, new front shocks, bushes done recently, new exhaust rear section, and so on.

I'm going to need to sort out a boot liner though, it looks like it's never been used!!!

I just sold a 9-5 aero estate with the 1.8T 2.0 engine and was impressed with the car. Very comfortable and the engine was lovely. Mine had bubbling starting on two of the arches, so this will be fairly common on them.

They are very comfortable (and I drive a Volvo xc70, the king of comfort).

If you want a cheap petrol estate it would be my choice, and I've driven lost of stuff.

You'll get a nice one for 2k. Gave mine away for under 1200 in the end, 07 plate 112k

Great choice!

I know that they are boring but MKVIII Honda Accord - specifically petrol for your mileage - not the diesels which have far more to go wrong and do go wrong. Pretty average to drive (I have more exciting cars though!) but have had ours for almost 10yrs and it’s been brilliant.

Yeah this not only provides a solution to how to lug a couple of MTBs about and be a decent winter commuting car, but also satisfies my inner petrolhead 😀

245bhp 3 litre flat 6, AWD, auto box but with manual paddles, 3x driving modes the sportiest of which turns the car into a right hooligan! They were £30k brand new, all the toys and creature comforts.

Nice car.

Bet it sounds awesome.