Looking at cheapish second hand diesel estates.
Firstly thought of an Audi A4 but now considering a Mazda 6 or Honda as an alternative. Anyone have any real user reviews or know of anything else that may be worth looking at?

I had two Accord iCDTI estates (at 2004 and a 2006) and did almost 100k in them. Big comfy and reasonable drives. Cracked manifolds and blowing turbos/ EGRs are the main issues. Otherwise rest of the car is reliable. Although at the cheaper end of the market I’d look for a petrol Accord unless I was doing lots of miles

If you’re looking at a mazda 6 then Mondeo seems obvious? Or Focus has much the same payload as an A4 because VAG are generally bad at non-vast estates (though, the good focus engines are relatively scarce because everyone buys the 1.6s)

And, well, Octavia obviously.

Subaru outback?
Mate has a diesel one, ive driven it, liked it.
EDIT: diesels aint cheap.

Ran a company mazda 6 2.2 sport estate manual until 3 months back, with no issues, circa 30k miles a year

I little noisy at speed (wind noise) when trying to use the phone.

But no issues on reliability, reasonable ride and steering.

Service costs not the cheapest.

Just got another one and 2014 model is a couple of notches better in quality and less noise.

Equivalent motor in Audi and BMW would have been another 5-8k for a bit more refinement.

Good value for money motor and also a little bit different on e styling front.

5 posts, and not one mention of an Octavia?

fadda – Member
5 posts, and not one mention of an Octavia

Apart from

And, well, Octavia obviously.

Northwind did 50 minutes ago.

I have a 56 plate Mazda6 TS2 2.0 litre diesel estate, owned since 2007 and its been superb.
Still handles well and goes way to fast. No rattles either.

Father in law has a 2009 Mondeo and it’s not holding up as well TBH body panels seem a bit thinner & the interior is wearing badly!

😳

A very happy Octavia owner here. 5yrs, 75k taking it up to 141k. A very capable understated car

Hadn’t even thought of an Octavia. Are they good then?
To be honest I’m now thinking that maybe the length of journey to commute every day might not even warrant the need for a deisel so maybe I should have just said ‘which estate?’
Would a petrol estate give me more for my money (apart from mpg obviously)?

Hi there,

I have an 11 plate Mazda 6 TS2 2.2D estate . I came from an v6 A4 estate and honestly it out classes in nearly every way more comfortable, quieter, shed loads more space as in don’t even need to take the wheels off the bike (pivot mach 5.7C in large) to get it in the back. Heap loads of gadgets and it doubled my mileage and halved my tax from the Audi and imo the styling is much nicer. Oh and its quick too, nobody expects it! Only problem that isn’t really a problem is that it’s long as in doesn’t fit entirely in many parking spaces long lol

2010 Mazda 6, 2.2 diesel sport here. Came from two previous “fully loaded” scoobs. I cried a bit inside, but have grown to love the mazda. Awesome for camping/biking etc, its been fully loaded for two weeks hols, one week was Cotswolds Forest of Dean so bikes on the tow bar second week was body boarding wetsuits etc for a week in Cornwall, everything fitted in the boot.
Roof bars as standard. Part leather, every gadget bar sat nav and as said equivalent vag would have been 4/5 grand more.
Drives great, all reviews point to its quality handling, and coming from the scoobs I wanted a car which could cope with the twistys and it certainly does that well.
Real world figures are a steady 40 mpg with a heavy ish foot around home, but 50 mpg on a fun is easily achievable.
And finally far quicker than the vags unless you move into the sportier models.

Mondeo

They’re just so fegging dull and nasty though!

If you think an A4 is interesting there’s something wrong.

Mondeo are unbelievably competent. They are big, well made and comfy.

Mondeo are unbelievably competent. They are big, well made and comfy.

They’re big.

wrightyson – Member

They’re just so fegging dull and nasty though!

Depends if you’re interested in how they look or how they drive. 🙂

Have you looked at 320d Tourings? THey seem to come up quite cheaply at 3 years old or so.

Octavia, very happy with our petrol 4×4 version. Only issue is that it can be a bit heavy on oil but that is a well known issue with that particular Audi engine. Otherwise it is Audi/VAG technology on the cheap. Diesel Octavias seem to be the preferred choice of taxi drivers round here which says a lot, and What Car consistently rates the octavia estate as best in class

I used to work for a car leasing business and the most reliable estates we sold were the Mazda 5 followed by Toyota Avensis. The most unreliable was the Mondeo (actually anything built by Ford).

Got to say that I’m not overly keen on Mondeos.
I used to have an old civic estate which was slow but very well specced and reliable, which has made me think about the Japanese option. I’ll probably only have £4k max to spend though which may limit me?

most reliable estates we sold were the Mazda 5

The Mazda 5 is a people carrier isn’t it?

The A4 is called a “compact” executive car for good reason; it’s a very small car inside. Look at the Passat estate, it’s on an A6 platform so more spacious yet still cheaper than an Audi. Not for nothing is the Passat P6 becoming the minicab of choice.

Had a Mondeo until earlier this year, the longest owned (6years) and furthest driven (120K+) car I’ve had, wear and tear items replaced but no big issues. Only got rid as I didn’t need the economy anymore.

Don’t get this Octavia thing. Had one as a hire car in Ireland last month, although it was ok it was nothing special. For a 1.6d (100hp) it soon ran out of puff with the typical harsh VW ride and I just could not get a comfortable driving positing in it.

To be honest I’m now thinking that maybe the length of journey to commute every day might not even warrant the need for a deisel so maybe I should have just said ‘which estate?’
Would a petrol estate give me more for my money (apart from mpg obviously)?

I went down the petrol route with my latest car (hatchback). It’s doing 40mpg on my commute (real mpg, not trying to take it steady) and 45mpg on longer runs. My A4 tdi was getting 48mpg average over the year (mixed driving).

The 8mpg difference, over the mileage I do, costs me about £300 a year more than the diesel (after tax & fuel prices). Factor in I got a 50k mile vehicle for £1k, which is a third of the mileage of any diesel I found at under £2k, and I’m happy.

Never thought I’d have a petrol again, but now I’m back in one I wouldn’t rule it out in the future, and for cheap cars I think they make perfect sense (given the low buying costs and low mileages).

If you go Japanese steer clear of the Toyota Avensis, I ran a hatchback for 2 years and it was the dullest car to drive in the world. It didn’t help that it was the 2.2 180hp one either which struggled to do 40mpg at the very best.

What sort of mileage are you doing in total?

The bigger benefit of petrol is really in the reduced likelihood of big bills down the road. No DPF, DMF (although petrol mondeos have these) and other things that can be £1k each to fix.

volvo v50 sportwagon is worth considering

My choice was a bit left field but an alternative to an A4!? 🙂 certainly isn’t dull!!

Depending how big an estate you want, a E91 BM touring is a good option. Prices have dropped quite a bit recently due to a newer model, a nice drive and holds its value well.

xcstu wins

Thread closed

Thread closed

Well you may as well close it for xcstu because his car will have just broken down again 😉

No idea where the Mondeo is dull comes from other than ignorance. It’s the longest period of car ownership for myself. I have test driven plenty of other makes recently and when we talk about dull VAG group have it stitched up unless you are going for a big engine, 4 wheel drive Audi. BMW 3 and 5 series are nice but not a great deal better to drive than a Mondeo just much better screwed together. The 3 series though doesn’t even compare with a Mondeo for interior space and much closer to a Focus despite its physical size.

That Alfa looks nice but I doubt I’d find one for £4k…..and would probably be quite expensive when it breaks down.
I used to have a Subaru WRX Sportwagon which was a hoot but very thirsty and not a very big boot.
Turning into a bit of a head scratcher.
Maybe I need a short-list and try some out?

wrightyson – Member

They’re just so fegging dull and nasty though!

Never a dull moment, with mine 😆 But it’s pretty old and gave me 30000 troublefree miles before I parked it in a loch so I can’t really blame it. Lots of squeaks and rattles but decently nailed together, comfy, and the bigger diesel gives basically the same economy as the little ones and only slightly more expensive in tax and insurance. And you could park an A4 in the boot, put another one in the glovebox and stick a couple on the roofrack.

Re petrol vs diesel, for me it’s more the driving experience, I love the effortless drive of a lazy big diesel, I grew up on vtwins and it’s the same thing. There’s petrol cars that do the same but not without twice as much petrol, tax and generally insurance.

Those alfas were on my list but so rare!

Well you may as well close it for xcstu because his car will have just broken down again

Had 2 years and touch wood still waiting for it to break down!! As for repairs, running cost… granted not the cheapest but tell me Audi, BMW, VW is any cheaper to fix… I doubt?!

Those alfas were on my list but so rare!

Granted mine is a fairly rare breed being in white and a Ti sport wagon… Why follow the sheep i say 🙂