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I've given up on the search facility now so what estate for 5k. So far my shortlist is an Octavia , focus , Volvo or 3 series touring.
Doing about 50 miles per day some on the motorway and need room in the boot for the bike and pushchair duties.
Any other suggestions? Or experiences please
Suggest what you have....
Our V70 is turning out to be just brilliant. The longer I've got it, the more I am appreciating it. It's the small things, like how damn logical it is, how wide the doors open, how square and wide the load space is, properly flat load with seats down (and no need to remove headrests) etc. I'm spoiled by SE with winter pack - heated leather, uprated stereo, heated windscreen etc. Lovely. Even mrs_oab who avoided the galaxy and didn't really like big cars keeps taking it.
I think you're Scotland OP? If so, there's a Fife Volvo second hand trader a couple of folk have recommended to me.
I'm not suggesting what I have...
If room in the boot is an issue I'd give the 3 Touring a swerve, you won't be getting a bike in there without dropping seats or taking both wheels off. I've no experience of the others on your list but I'd be looking for a Mondeo, there's plenty about and they're cavernous.
I'm in the Midlands Mattoutandabout so Fife is a long way for me.
I currently have a 2004 Mondeo tdci I actually bought off this forum. And it's great for what I need but it's done 206k now. I'm not too keen on the look of the newer shape Mondeo to mine so was looking to swap
Fair enough, but only fair to warn you that I had a 2001 Mondeo hatch before getting the 3 Touring and the step down in interior space was significant even though the difference in size between the two is pretty small.
VW PASSAT everyday
Back on the V70 - be aware/fussy on what engine and you can make big gains.
We have a D3 - 5cyl of proven Volvo reliability, but detuned and smaller turbo, so 'only' 163bhp. But, £20 tax and it's currently on 48mpg average over 12k miles since I bought it.
The same D3 (or D4 or D5 or 2.4d badge) covers other engines - 4cyl, 181bhp or 5cyl 136... The newer engines we were warned off by our garage as less reliable and more to service/fix, and old 2.4d or D5 can be £300+ of tax...
Also, ours is of the age where a good few bits such as brakes, cooling system etc are all Mondeo, so cheap..
The V<span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">W owners I know at the moment have a few niggles or big bills with thier cars... And having had the Touran, Passat and Polo, compared to our Toyota, Mazda and (hopefully) Volvo, they go wrong more often and cost more.</span>
I've had an Octavia vrs and now an E91 3 series touring. You could probably get yourself a not bad diesel VRS for 5k. Just be aware that the older PD engine has dpf issues, mine was a pain until I had it removed. The CR engines are apparently much better. Was a great car until the ECU got went and the electrics went nuts.
The 3 series (330D) is better in every way apart from 2 things.... The boot really is a lot smaller, the Octavia was huge and the cup holders aren't as good. The boot is big enough for me but I don't try and put bikes in it, they go straight on the roof.
To be honest, I wouldn't bother.
Diesels will be worthless in a few years time and the ban is likely to come into force quicker than currently expected.
He must be doing 15k+ miles a year, in a few years a £5k estate won't be worth much anyway.
I wasn't going to get another diesel but I do 20k or miles and I very much doubt within the next 5 years my car will be banned (apart from city centres maybe, which isn't an issue for me).
No £5k car is going to be worth much in a few years time.
50 miles a day must be marginal as to whether diesel more economical than petrol? Unless economy isn't the motive? Perhaps the OP has access to cheap/free diesel oil?
Either way, I will suggest a Mazda 6 estate, in either petrol or diesel variant; back in the summer, I spent less than half your budget on a 10 year old with 115k 2.5 petrol 6 estate and I'm very impressed, so far.
I've got an 58 plate V50 2.0D SE. I bought it for near enough £6000 2 years ago with 53000 miles on the clock. It is from the Ford era.
In the past 2 years, I've needed the following done...
- remove the sunroof drain filters, as it flooded twice. £450
- Aircon recharge x2. £40
- New rear calipers £250ish
- New exhaust £700
... as well as the yearly servicing. Sometime between now and next May, it'll need a new starter motor (£300ish), new air con condenser (£366) and 10 year service.
I'm getting the work done because it is a really nice car to drive and pretty spacious. If I didn't like it so much, it would be long gone!
Why do you think your starter needs doing? At that sort of money I'd get the clutch done at the same time seeing as it will have to come out anyway since it lives in the bell housing . Presuming it's the same 2.0 PSA block I have, bad starting usually means your battery is on the way out, both my cars needed theirs replaced at some point and had the same symptoms of slow starting and heavy steering.
But yeah, unless the car market has changed a lot in the last couple of years 5k is the borderline point of franchised dealers selling utter dogs and independent lots selling the occasional gem. To be honest I'd be looking privately if possible and know what you are looking for, at the very least look up the mot history to see how it's been treated.
Battery was replaced last year. The starter is beginning to whistle, can't say whether it'll last a month or 5 years. I'd rather get it out and replaced before it breaks. Steering is fine. I'll have a look the clutch, although it feels good at the moment.
OP, i looked at golf estates before getting the volvo. For the same budget, the golfs tended to have higher mileage, lower internal spec and appeared to have been driven through a warzone! Volvo V50s are old man cars, which also means that they've had an easy life