-
Volvo V50/70?
Id be up for a v50. 70 might be deemed too long.
Are you looking for a decent sized estate or just an estate to have some extra boot height to facilitate putting things in/out?
The latter. I'd occasionally chuck my bike in and would like that to be less of a faff. Don't mind taking a wheel off. My dad had an superb and it was massive.
We'd rarely be travelling anywhere with 4 people so boot space is more important than rear leg room. I actually started looking for a golf/octavia but didn't think they seemed as good value as a 3 series.
Mondeo estate
St220?
-
I fairly regularly put bikes in the boot of my car, the front wheel needs to be removed.
Next car I buy no matter whether an estate/hatch/saloon it’ll have a towbar! Towbar racks make life soooooo much easier!
-
I usually feel out of depth in the car thread, but as my last 3 cars (in order) have been an e91, an Octavia and now a V70 I feel I should probably contribute.
The BMW was the nicest to drive, but the boot is surprisingly tiny - Getting bikes in is more of a pain than it should be. It also cost a lot to keep going.
Octavia boot is amazing considering the size of the car. You'd get a decent one for 4k as well. But I never liked driving it very much and it had issues that made keeping it a bad idea (don't get a 1.8TSI). But if you want a large boot in a small estate it's probably by far the best option.
We then got a 2008 v70 for a very good price and so far it's absolutely great.Boot is really good, though it also has a towbar so I got a rack for that Holiday car packing rage (have two children and lots of luggage/bikes) is now a thing of the past. It doesn't feel that big to drive. Not particularly cheap for VED or fuel, but so far have had zero problems with it. Drove to Scotland and back in it recently and was great on motorway. -
I was frustrated with the mileage/price/quality ratio of the of the ~2010 Volvos that were coming up when I was estate searching; they all seemed far too expensive and worn for what you were getting, and the interiors felt a long way behind the e91 I ended up with. The dealer I bought my car from actually had it side by side with a v70 that had just come in, and the boot size was the only thing that tempted me. The boot of the bmw is frustratingly small, but with the rear seats down it's a good load lugger. Not that those seats are ever coming down now there's a child seat in the back 🙄.
-
-
Merc is the facelift/refresh version of the one my mum had, but that is generally considered to be a surprisingly decent C Class. Also same shape/generation as @Dammit 's AMG.
I found it extremely comfortable on long journeys and one thing that makes or breaks a long journey car is elbow/arm comfort. The centre and door arm rests on that gen C Class are next level.
The Honda and Toyota will go forever, the Accord is quite a rare car so you might be able to get a decent deal since there aren't many about.
-
I've got the 2006 XC70 version of the Volvo V70. Same car but with big cushy tyres, raised ride height, AWD and black plastic bumpers & strips all-round so no worrying about scrapes & bumps.
Huge boot, completely flat load floor when seats are folded down (can easily sleep two full size humans), comfiest seats and best sound system in the business.
Nice 5-cylinder warble too when pressing on.
-
Mine’s the 2.5 Turbo petrol version, gets ~35-38mpg cruising at 70mph, abysmally-low figures (low 20’s) around London town.
The AWD is a Haldex clutch type so only engages when the front wheels break traction, helps the fuel consumption but it’s a deceptively big & heavy barge.
-
I too have desire for XC70
-
I had one of those Accord tourers in diesel format. MASSIVE boot, nice to drive and so so comfortable seats. I did 400 miles in about 6 hours from Barcelona to Santander on empty toll motorways and it was an absolute pelasure. ABS unit AND the steering rack both expensively shat themselves in my ownership though so much vaunted Honda reliability was sadly absent
-
My E46 estate has been in and out of the shop for two weeks. It's not cheep when stuff goes wrong and it's obviously been neglected by the last 2 owners.
I've replaced so far:
Servo motor
Valve cover gasket
Crankshaft / timing end seals
Tensioner / Aux Drive belt INA
4x Ignition coils
4x Spark plugs
2x Front tires
Rocker cover screw set
Oil filler cap -
Was originally going to go for an xc70 as well, but need to be ulez complient meant either expensive older import petrol, or 2015 or later diesel. Had saved searches for non-import petrol one for ages but very little came up.
So getting a 2008 v70 for 2k worked out a better option for moment. Would still like an xc70 though. -
Not a middle ground where a single vehicle may do? It's a costly exercise to run 2 vehicles. It may not satisfy trips to the tip [how many of those do you really do?], but what about something like a Yaris or...Jazz? Both better built than an Aygo, honestly fine on the motorway, but still easy to park and low running costs.
root
golgol
furious_tiles
ad441
Nef
6pt
NurseHolliday
ectoplasmosis
jambon
el_presidente
efb
Dammit-
Post a reply
About
Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc
Posted by
Or a Mondeo estate. Cheap to run and repair.