Hi Chaps.

Im currently driving a Seat Toledo V5 2.3 and its off to the garage on wednesday to have a large amount of work looked and quoted for.

Im weighing up the options of scrapping it and getting a "new" car.

Ideally im after an estate car as it would be handy for the dog and there is also the possiblity of kids being on the horizon which means it would be handy for prams etc etc.

Ive got about £2.5k and want something with a little bit of poke that will be reliable.

Ive been scowering pistonheads to come up with some options and have found the cars below. Im not necessarily talking about these actual cars but more the make and models.

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/2947937.htm

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/2905344.htm

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/3025414.htm

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/2608635.htm

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/2945918.htm

Any advice or other options?

thanks

Tim

 

I've got an E39 523i Touring as a daily hack/workhorse and it's fantastic.

 

Something like this mike?

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/2995206.htm

 

325TDS?

 

id go for a passat 130 TDI, lovely motors

 

Peugeot 406 2.2HDi!

They are very reliable, not many common faults and the ones they have are silly little things, the handle great, built pretty well and very economical!
Regret getting rid of mine (Allbiet mine was a 1.9TD) ever since day one! Not a patch on my Focus.

 

If you do many miles an A4 1.9 TDi like I used to have is a very good option, mine was almost faultless still on 200K!

 

Volvo 850 T5R

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/2869830.htm

 

Have to say i dont really fancy a peugeot as i used to have a 309 and 206 and hated them to be honest.

The 850 looks good but i was hoping to try and get something a little newer.

What are BMW's like for parts etc, im going to guess fairly expensive.

Passat and a4 seem like a good idea. Will have a hunt for a few of those.

What about Saabs, never had one but always like the look of them. Any good?

 

or maybe a V70 like this?

http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/3029039.htm

 

the thing with the old 850 T5's is mate, there built like tanks, and they eat miles, 200K+ miles is not unusal, they go on forever, and you can have 300bhp for not a lot of money, they are getting old though, i agree, and they do hold there money.

 

Audi A4 Avant 2.5TDi.

 

Yeah, very similar!

Mine's a 1997 R Reg, 523i (2.5). SE-Spec with just about every extra available at the time. Got literally everything on it. Has the largest history file of any car I've ever owned. Has receipts for every service and every last item, plus fully stamped book. Receipts totalling over £11k for servicing and parts, plus a receipt for £33,000 for the car at 12 months old from a BMW dealer. Then the third owner was the second owner's son.

I paid £600 for it. The guy had obviously spent a load on servicing etc from main dealers, but knew nothing about cars himself and it had sat on his drive since he got a company car and just wanted it shifted really, and he didn't want to shell out on fixing a couple of simple little faults:

-Biggest one was a warning light on both the ABS and ASC. This would make a few people twitchy as it could have been the ASC unit itself which would be quite costly if you weren't in the know. But in the paperwork the diagnosis had been done and from that I worked out that it was a £30 front left wheel speed sensor. Fitted that, cleared the code and its perfect.
-Air Conditioning Condenser was knackered. Got a replacement for £60, a fraction on BMW Prices.
-Replaced a rear interior door handle, eBay, cheap fix.
-Replaced the high level brake light, cheap from a breakers. The old one work, the casing had just broken and it was flapping about.
-Spindle had seized on the rear wiper, cheap fix, breakers again.
-Plus I changed the centre air vents on the dash. Again, cheap from a breakers. There was a crack in the plastic on the right hand side. Most people wouldn't have bothered, especially on a runabout, but I'm a total perfectionist and it was annoying me!
-There was a scuff on the front bumper, nothing major, but again, I wanted it done and sorted it for less than £50.

And the car is fantastic, lovely and comfortable for motorway cruising. Has steptronic gearbox, so can change gears sequentially if you wish. Hell of a lot of car for next to no money.

And BMW parts are cheap if you get to know the specialists rather than pay main dealer prices. Certainly far cheaper than most Jap manufacturers and probably the rest of the Germans too.

Only downside is that with the auto box it is thirsty, especially pottering around. That doesn't bother me though to be honest.

 

Impreza? (Did I just say that on a ford forum)

 

MG ZT T cdti.

 

I have a last of the Vectra B's on a 51 plate.

2.6V6 - fast enough for a daily car to tootle about in and I get 27mpg and it sounds nice with a filter.

Mine has the GSI steering wheel and GSI wheels and I think it looks well.

 

poke with reliability and surprising economy= skoda octavia rs dude,2.5g's will get one brought

 

ive got at reg audi a6 avant 1.9tdi.
great on fuel,big enough for most things,170k miles and still going strong.
was considering selling it but dont know what i would replace it with for similar money that would be as good.

 

So the Focus is even better?? ...you've changed your tune since you were slating it in the motorway mile muncher topic.

That seems like quite a costly delivery charge, how much would the original purchase price be on that Marv??


Cheers,
Grant

 

I have to say i have always quite liked the octavia rs estates.

A6 avant is also a good option.

Thanks Guys, given me plenty to think about.

 

You could probably get a Saab 9-5 Aero for that ballpark, my ex's old dear had one (a MY05 though) and when I drove it, I was really surprised at how well it went for a big ol' bus... it had genuinely good mid-range punch.


Cheers,
Grant

 

Ahh sorry I meant to say the 406 is better than the Focus
My 406 had been used by the previous owner for allot of towing as they run a caravan site.
Even with nackered rear shocks and bushes it drove better than my Focus does with half the mileage. They are really impressive barges!
The focus is a great car don't get me wrong, but I loved my 406 to bits. Maybe I'm biased and will change my Mind when I get another 406. Afterall my last 406 was my first car

 

depends on who bought it it new ie fleet or private owner,i'd go anywhere to buy the right car at the right price

anything germanic or of germanic origin should be suitable dude and seeing as you don't mind a petrol sports estate theres not much for the $$$'s your spending that can beat the Skoda and dare i say it the interior is miles better than a golf

 

Mondy Estate.

Had my 04 plate 2.0 TDCi for nearly 4 years. Covered over 60k and cost nothing but service parts. Got all the toys I need and will sit at 90 all day long doing 48mpg.
Dull as shit but does the job perfectly.

 

I'm just about to put my old bus up for sale - Omega Elite Estate 3.0 V6

All the toys, cavernous boot space and very reliable.

Only 65,000 miles. going to advertise for about £1495 but will take any sensible offer.

They were good enough for the traffic cops for many years and even the Queen used to run one (plenty of room for the Corgis)

Paul

 

E430 estate, bags of go, acres of space, and normally well looked after, i had the saloon E430 and it would show a lot of sports cars its tail pipe, and parts were not bad either if it ever went wrong, would top 150 at a drop of a hat, and they look like they are expencive so the neighbours will think you gone up in the world

 

What plate is that on paul? Is it Manual?

 

Hello Chap

It is a 1999 V Plate - So prior to 2001 and so cheap road tax

It is the fact lift model and very tidy.

It is an Automatic, as you asked for a Manual I assume you would prefer that? I would normally agree but i've driven many of these and the auto wins for being so much smoother and is better suited to the 3.0 V6.
The 4 speed ATs in the Omegas are bullet proof, very well engineered and were traded between GM and BMW during their tie up with the 2.5TDS.

Advert is now on Autotrader. Price is £1495, but if anyone on here wants it then i'll let it go for £1200 cash. I gave it a quick wash last night to take the pics and seriously can't believe i'm going to give this motor away for £1200. I've had it for 3 years and i've even drove it to Italy. It has been fully serviced using all genuine VX parts and is a pleasure to drive. A great German built car (without the German badge)
I'm only selling it because I always said i'd buy the old boys car when he sold up and he now has. He has a Meriva VXR....in silver...with all the options. There were only ever 26 silver ones made and so i'll never get another chance on one of these! Will be a truly sad day when this rolls off the drive for the last time!!!


Hopefully below is the Autotrader advert :

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...1500?logcode=p

Cheers

Paul

 

I would look at a Vectra Gsi either the 2.5 or 2.6. The later 2.6 come with xenon's as standard plus fbw throttle. Usual problems on them are an easy fix. Just remember if you view kne make sue the rear wheels don't have excessive camber or toe in as this means the bushes are shot. Cheap parts but time consuming to change.

 

I had an Elite estate as a runaround a few years back, had around 75k on it at the time and was the first car that I'd seen which had heated rear seats!!

Only reason that I got rid was because being the 3.0 V6 with the auto box, I found it a little juicy although I never drove it especially economically and 75% of the travelling it did was town based... 20mpg average at best wasn't ideal when petrol was about 80p a litre, nevermind these days.

I hunted for a estate diesel Elite/CDX but couldn't find one, without a word of a lie, if I'd gotten hold of an estate with a diesel lump I'd likely still have it today since it's a perfect car for the dogs, the boot is huge and reliable as hell too.


Cheers,
Grant

 

Paul

I might give you a buzz tomorrow.

I'll be honest the Auto, Year and the MPG do concern me but I've always fancied an Omega to smoke about in and it looks nice - also my dad is after a new motor and despite him wanting a small car he might just be interested in something a bit more 'up market' than his SRI estate in the shit green colour they do.

J

 

Hi Paul

That does seem a huge amount of car for the money. Im getting married in three weeks so will pm you after that to see if you still have it although as it looks like a bargain i doubt it. How juicy is it?

thanks

 

Ok Chap, no problem.

Regarding the Auto its the only way to go in my opinion. They are ultra reliable (I however still changed the oil and the filter on the transmission when I bought it as a precaution) On a car of this size, weight and type and with the old 3.0 V6 at the front there is no need to work the gears. It is still a pretty quick car off the line, I think it is 0-60 in 8.5 seconds, but it is also so easy to drive through traffic - no big heavy clutch to contend with and the auto is great for easy overtaking, I normally use the Sport button to drop down the gear (it has a kickdown but there is normally no need to fully press the pedal) and then its off. At highway speed it is actually quite quick and you can see why the old bill loved them!

Regarding the year, I was actually specifically looking for an early facelift, the face lift is so much nicer looking but as it is prior 2001 it is on the old road tax band and so is cheaper than the later ones! Our 2002 Corsa costs more to tax!

Regarding the MPG, as I said before it is all relative and really depends on the type of driving and the mileage you do. Only a couple of weeks ago we drove to Gatwick and so were averaging 75MPH on the M25 with the cruise control on. Got 32 MPG all the way there!

Cheers

Paul

 

Yep, still can''t believe the advert myself! Good luck with the wedding. Why not buy it now, you could call it a wedding present and use it to move all the presents, family etc that will be coming?
I bought this car only 3 days before my honeymoon! I remember telling the wife that I had to go and look at it and she told me not to go as we had to pack. I said these things don't come up every day especially with the low mileage and I went and looked and then bought it!

Regarding the MPG, its ealry 20's to early 30's

Cheers

Paul

 

Well got myself a new car.

Pretty pleased.

Got a 53 plate 320d bmw. Needs some work but got it at a fair price so have a little bit of money to sort the bits out.

Going to the valeters tomorrow to give it a good clean then will book it in at the local bmw independants to get the bits sorted.

Will get some pics up once its had a wash.

Thanks for all the advice guys.