I’ve put it off for a while but it may be time to move on from my much loved mk3 Mondeo and I need the hive’s help.

Criteria…
Mondeo sized / large wide boot capacity

Automatic, when I’ve done a few days of in traffic / long days work I really get fed up with the extra physical effort/hassle of a heavy clutch and gearbox when fighting through city traffic or unfamiliar towns.

Estate – because bikes and kids stuff goes in nicely.

Ideally sub 5 years old and sub 12k.

I tend to buy cars for the long term so anything with known lifespan limits (ie known COMMON faults not economic to fix) is out.

I drive 15-20000 a year a lot of which is major roads (A road or bigger) plus a mix of rural, urban and suburban.

Don’t care diesel or petrol but it must not be gutless when loaded up with a family of four and a boot of holiday gear.

What you got that fits? Left field suggestions fine.

BMW 330d Touring MSport (or 335d but May be out your budget).

Both great to drive, fast, economical and bulletproof.

Another mondy? Love my mk3 but the mk4 is nicer…

Skoda Octavia / Superb. Lots of deals to be done on diesels out there at the moment…

I would have suggested a Skoda Superb, but since you want an auto and they have DSG……. I wouln’t bother for the long term.

Is auto a must have- the six speed manuals are great

Robz I like the idea but always worry its too small. One of my colleagues has one and rear / boot space is a bit stingy but then I’m comparing it to the Mondeo so maybe unfair!

Olly is on the list but reports on the powershift box seemed mixed from a Google search. Wife had a hatch as a rental and really liked

Huge estate, with Auto:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2010-60-Mercedes-Benz-E220-2-1CDI-Blue-F-auto-CDI-Avantgarde-7-seats-ESTATE-/391330323911?hash=item5b1d1addc7:g:2VYAAOSwp5JWWJKf

okay, it’s 6 years old but it will probably last a lot longer than a mondeo.

I’ve been looking for the largest estate possible and compared the Superb, A6, Mondeo, 5 series and the E class. E class takes it.

Is auto a must have- the six speed manuals are great

Auto was thought about eight years ago when I got the Mondeo and I have kicked myself so many times over that period. I spend about 10-15 hours a week in the car mostly at one of anti social or peak times and get caught in school holiday travel hell etc. I increasingly want an easy life and more focus on the road than the mechanics if that makes sense. An hour of pumping the heavy clutch of a big heavy car while sat in a sedentary position also makes my knee ache and there’s not much relief.

I sound such an old buffer but after a few years of enjoying track days etc I really am in the a to b comfortably, fairly quickly and safely camp these days.

dunno about costs but surely the only thing to touch a mk3 mondeo for boot space is an E Class. And I’ll bet they score pretty highly on the comfortable automatic axis too…

The clutch on the Superb is quite light -certainly no heavier than my partner’s Polo. But I can see your point if constantly stuck in traffic.
Just don’t buy a DSG diesel.

Sounds familiar, I just swapped my 10plate Focus to a Octavia vrs auto estate for similar reasons.
Been a keen driver for years with hot hatches etc.. but just lately i detest the daily slog to get just about anywhere. I want a swift, well spec’d easy to drive, solid kiddy carrier. Job done.

What’s wrong with DSG?

Having been a passenger in both a Octavian & superb I’d close the superb!

BMW 330d Touring MSport (or 335d but May be out your budget).

Both great to drive, fast, economical and bulletproof.

330d Touring here owner, and much as I love it, it’s a lot smaller than a Mondeo inside, so carrying capacity is way down.

I’d suggest a BMW 530d touring to the OP. Usefully bigger than the 3 series touring, but the 5’s only 100kg or so heavier than the 3 so it’s very nearly as quick and economical. The 3 litre diesel is an awesome engine, and very reliable, though worth getting checked for siwrl flap issues and the DPF can be expensive to replace if it needs doing (but so can any modern diesel). It’s a very strong, lazy engine, and mated to the 6spd auto box of the generation your budget would get you, is a very refined cruiser indeed.

My mk4.5 mondeo can cover all of that apart from the auto bit.

Still for sale in the classifieds and now reduced to £7695.

Citroen c5 auto big and most importantly effortless to drive.

BMW 330d Touring MSport (or 335d but May be out your budget).

Both great to drive, fast, economical and bulletproof.

Assuming that you’re talking about the E9x given the OP’s budget, I’m not sure I’d class’s the later cars as bulletproof, plus they’re teeny. Our 330 feels so small compared to my vRS.

Even if you get a good one, they’ll cost a chunk more to run than a Mondeo. They’re great cars (I love ours) but they’re not they’re starting to feel they’re age compared to more modern cars but that’s to be expected with a design / platform that’s over 10 years old now.

On my second eclass estate here. My airport taxi driver has 200k in his 2012 e220 cdi and has friends with many more miles. Without looking at the speedo you’d be very hard pressed to tell. Otherwise nice big boot and good auto. Otherwise a Mondeo auto or a Superb would be good choices

Big boot means either e-class or V70

Cant imagine you will get a 330d estate for £12k & 5 years old, not unless it has crazy miles.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2012-VOLKSWAGEN-CADDY-MAXI-LIFE-DSG-1-6-TDI-102PS-BLUE-7-seater-/221988339074?

Make an offer 😉

From a quick look on autotrader a BMW 5 series estate meeting the age and cost criteria would be high mileage – 100,000 or more generally. Same would be true for an E-Class Merc. Depends if that bothers you or not of course. Last time I looked at BMW 3 series and Mercedes C class estates they seemed quite small so not sure how good an option they’d be.

Skoda Superb seems a good option.

Thanks for the thoughts all. Been at work all day so not replied before. Will have a proper look after dinner.

3 series estate fails first word of the description ‘big’ – it isn’t big at all. I had one for 3 yrs and now have a 5 estate, which is quite big, but still a good bit smaller load space than a Mondeo estate.

Fair enough. I figured a 3 series was compatible to a Mondeo but obviously I was obviously wrong.

I had a 335d Touring and I could get loads of stuff in it. Multiple bikes etc. But I guess in retrospect it wasn’t massive.

It was also ultra reliable the entire time I had it. And unbelievably fast. My days of stuffing bikes inside cars ruining are over though. Just trashes the interior.

What about a VW passat? Having spent a lot of time in one I would say they’re really comfy mile munchers, economical and the boot can swallow bikes easily.

A quick search suggests 12k would get you 3 years old and sub 50k in a nice spec

What’s wrong with DSG?

Having been a passenger in both a Octavian & superb I’d close the superb!

I have heard of a number of reliability problems with DSG both inside and outside of warranty (read:expensive), and the only DSG equipped cars that I have actually liked the way the gearbox responded were petrol models. I personally would actively avoid any diesel DSG. There will be others with differing experiences I know, I can only say what I have found.

I have run a CR170 Superb estate (manual) for over two years and it has been very good.

Having gone from a Mondoe Mk3 to an Octavia MK2 VRS DSG I’d say not to be by the greener grass on the other side of the fence. Whilst there is nothing wrong with the VRS the build quality isn’t as good as the MK3 Mondeo, nor is the performance, economy and handling.
I would suggest as others have another Mondeo. Renton’s is a bargain for the spec and age, I wouldn’t be bothered by the mileage either. It’s a shame it’s not automatic as per your criteria and I know where you are coming with wanting it hence why I opted for the DSG gearbox this time.

Just doing a bit more auto tradering based on the above.

I LOVE the idea of a 3 series but I just think we’d spend a lot of time with a roof box on it and my kids are at that difficult age where they have big car seats (extra seat back bits still) but longish legs and need as much rear legroom as an adult.

Couple of c5s have come up which I hadn’t thought of before and are typically french depreciation cheap at just 3-4 years old.

E class I also have a big soft spot for. I think that might be my sod the budget and spend more or go a bit older and accept it might not last the eight years in my ownership that the current wheels have.

The only things putting me of the Mondeo/Passat/Superb is I really don’t have a good idea how well these DSG / powershift type boxes will last. I’ve heard (mostly Internet I admit) horror stories about both including a colleague who had an out of warranty DSG failure at sub 50k. Vw were very helpful as I understand it but the cost of the box was 😯 if he had had to pay for the whole thing.

I have heard of a number of reliability problems with DSG both inside and outside of warranty (read:expensive), and the only DSG equipped cars that I have actually liked the way the gearbox responded were petrol models. I personally would actively avoid any diesel DSG. There will be others with differing experiences I know, I can only say what I have found.

I think you’ll find that was the 7 speed DSG and I’d guarantee most of them have now been resolved.

Couple of c5s have come up which I hadn’t thought of before and are typically french depreciation cheap at just 3-4 years old.

These are really good, reliable cars. Not sporting but hugely comfortable. I know a few people who have them and never had a problem and only costs are servicing and consumables. They are however massive and they all complain about parking spaces getting smaller.

Never had an issue with a DSG.
My A3 I’ve had since 2007 and it’s never given me a hint.
The Caddy is the newer 7 speed and same again – not a bobbin.
The horror stories are like anything – here included.
You only ever hear the loud shouty ones who have a problem.
The other 250,000 happy owners haven’t said a word..

It’s not just the potential reliability of the ‘box, it’s the way they drive as much as anything.
I have known three people who have had issues with theirs-two the mechatronics which were replaced, one a pump failure that led to a whole new box.
Still, soon it will be difficult to get any VAG car with any performance potential with a manual gearbox second hand as if you look at their lineups, most of the larger more powerful models are DSG only, especially if you also want 4wd.

If/when I want to replace my Superb I won’t be able to get manual equivalent in any of their brands nearly new.

DSG drives perfectly and much smoother than my wife’s BMW auto. They are programmed to change up the gearbox early to maintain MPG but remain as smooth as you’d like but your foot down and it responds quick too.
What else do you want out of gearbox?

Well there is definitely not a great deal of rear leg room in a 3 series.

I’m suspecting you never driven or owned one then?

You can have my 2013 Volvo V70 auto. I’m putting it up for sale next month, for about your price range. I love it, but work means I need to get a van again. Big square useable boot, and 50+mpg on a good run.

I’m suspecting you never driven or owned one then?

I have not owned one, but I have driven:
Audi R8 V10
Audi S4
Audi A4 Allroad 3.0 Tdi
Audi A4 2l Tdi
Audi A6 Tdi
VW Golf Tdi
Skoda Octavia Mk2 Vrs Tdi
Skoda Superb 2l Tdi 4×4
skoda Roomster 1.2 Tsi
skoda Rapid 1.2 Tsi

All with DSG or s-tronic gearboxes. The Vrs I drove over 1000 miles in a week in

So, I have had some experience to draw on. As I said before, the petrol models with their 7speed boxes seemed better integrated than the diesels

V70s make great load luggers, masses of boot space, pretty economical, I’ve seen 54mpg on the A9, awesome motorway cruiser too.

My brother bought a 56 plate E280 with about 150000 miles for just under £4k. It had a full service history, and just about every option. 7 speed auto. A hell of a lot of car for very little money. No issues so far. We are off to France on an errand in February, I’d be interested to see how it compares on a long trip with the V70.

To my surprise mrs gd liked the look of the c5 I found earlier. We had very differing views on our old 406v6 and I expected more resistance to another French motor. Either that or she likes the price!

I reckon that’s going to be my first port of call at least for a closer up look. At the prices I’ve seen I could get two for a similarly aged and mileage Merc. I think I like the Merc more on paper but not THAT much.

Having said that there’s a 200 hp v70 r design for sale up the road in black with dark wheels and trim, looks like a black hole on wheels in a good way 😈

Expect me back in a week or two having done a Clarkson and bought something else entirely (or chickened out and kept the old barge in favour of a new cx bike or something).

Andy thanks for heads up if you’re in the south and I haven’t bought by then might take a look.

Over the last 12 years we have had either vw derived or bmw derived (inc mini) cars. Without a doubt the BMW ones have been more reliable and I can only remember one unexpected event, and that was non terminal, an auto gear box sump. The vws have been a bit less reliable giving up suspension parts easily and a dual mass flywheel clutch implosion on our current skoda yeti diesel.

If I was in the market for a big auto petrol wouldn’t hesitate buying a petrol Beemer for a third successive car.