New job means no 120 mile round trip commute so we're going to sell both our cars and go down to running one (I'll be commuting 15 minutes on the train from now on!).

So, what car? Things I DON'T want:
– silly low mpg
– silly high insurance and tax brackets
– possibly not saloons (the missus doesn't seem to like them)
– nothing more than 4 years old

Things that are on my shortlist at the moment:
– Octy VRS
– Passat estate. Not sure which trim level. Does anyone know the differences between the S, SE, SEL and Sport?
– Saab 9-3 estate

Any views on those?

Owt else? Have a Mondeo ST at the moment and don't really want another Ford as the local main dealers are morons and theirrovision of isofix seat fittings is a lottery.

Ta
Dave

A mid-sized 7-seat SUV is probably the best do-it-all vehicle.

Octy – spacious, rapid, a wee bit thirsty, high insurance, odd looking
Passat etate – very spacious, rather dull, doesn't handle that well, reliable, nice looking.
Saab 9-3 estate – you're probably better off getting an Astra/Vectra Estate – very similar car with the same 150bhp diesel option, a bigger boot and much less money. But the Saab looks better. Boot not very big though.

Mondeo ST – diesel version pretty good, petrol V6 silly on fuel for it's bhp.

But I'd rather kill myself than get in a Vectra. Interiors were 'designed' by a blind man with only a grey pen to draw with. At least Saab adds a bit style to the equasion.

Not too bothered about mint handling. I'm not going to be rally driving in it. Its a family car so safety and space are top of the list. Nice for motorway cruising is up there as well since most of our driving is motorways…

How about as another suggestion a MK7 Accord diesel estate. Late models before the MK7 was released are going quite cheap. Big estates (not alot bigger), cheap to insure and a very comfortable drive. Of course reliable too.

Otherswise Mazda 6 estate or a late model (new shape) C5?

^^^^ Boss has the Accord Estate – massive boot area, very good engine, well specced….powered tailgate was his 'party piece' until it went wrong 😉

Friend has the Mazda 6 Estate (Petrol) Big car again, bit thirsty – wanted Sport version but that really does drink fuel…..

I got a 3 year old Passat TDI 140 SE 6-speed manual for £6k with around 70k miles on it.

Has been excellent in every way, provided you accept that it's never going to be a sports car, and handles more like a marine vehicle than a car.

Decent legroom and headroom, boot space is all you'd want. Great on the motorway, 50+mpg as an average, has been totally reliable over 40k miles. Cruise, Xenons, aircon, reasonable stereo, leather seats, quiet-ish, and dead comfortable seats. Did an 800 mile day recently and it was fine, if dull. The engine has a bit of poke to it between 1500 and 4000 rpm, nothing much above or below. Cheap to insure.

Only slight problem was initial very high tyre wear, but after getting all the wheels properly aligned, that went away.

It's really boring, mind you.

Different trim levels – just more kit (multichanger CD, climate control rather than manual aircon etc) rather than anthing else, though the Sport has firmer suspension. They pretty much all have the same engines AFAIK.