Since becoming a father last year, the inevitable has finally happened. It's time to get the 'Dad' car.

An estate car seems the best option, and with all the boot space i could probably do away with the bike rack.

I have narrowed it down to two options: A Volvo V40 simply because i get the impression Volvos are the king of estate cars and the Audi A4 because, well it just looks the nicest.

I only have a £1000 to spend so am looking at a 1998ish model with well over 100K on the clock.

So which is best for a mountain biking new dad?

If its 1k or less I'd go for a Audi 80-based estate with piles of receipts. Either that or an early V70 with piles of receipts.

Audi+volvo do not equal Bombproof. The pile of receipts (evidence of services etc) just point to a car that has been maintained and bits replaced etc rather than neglected.

Apparently the A4 is a bit of a 'style' estate in that it is estate-shaped but doesn't have all that big a boot compared to many hatchbacks. Apparently.

Mondeo. MASSIVE boot, cheap parts, fun to drive.

Go for a Passat, much more for your money and the same as an Audi underneath..!!

Or an Octavia, same as a Passat but cheaper! Parents have just got a new one (their second), same spec as the equivalent Audi but £7000 cheaper.

same spec as the equivalent Audi but £7000 cheaper.

Of course if they sell it in 2 years they may lose more than someone selling the Audi…

(And I assume the £7k cheaper is comparing the haggled Skoda price against full list on the Audi?…)

A4 has been ace for me 52 plate but put 100k on it in last 4 yrs so up to 200k (miles) now..touch wood been great! Been across france a couple of times and does over 300miles on £30, takes 2 mtbs in the back with just the front wheels off…I'll be after another one when/if it dies!…Volvos are for grandads not dads!

Volvos are for grandads not dads!

Ha, my @rse!

I've had an Audi 80 estate and a V70. 80 was OK but boot was not that big (i.e. could only put the pram in across the car which wasn't cool), V70 was fab. I wouldn't get a V40 though!

Which ever one is in the best condition and been best looked after.

At this price point there's no guarantees.

Both of your choices are good, robust and long lived cars…. But on the flip they will inevitably be expensive to run on spares, etc..

For example my sister just sold (well I sold it for her) a big milage V40 estate, it had sticky gearbox issues for £600.. so watch for sticky gears on V40's they are well known for it.

I just bought a Multipla… me mum and baby Jimmy all sit nicely in the front, leaving the other 2 kids to fight it out behind us…

£900, bit scuffy outside, but nice inside, full Fiat SH to 89k and a massive wedge of bills and receipts since up to it current 109k. Its a flippin minefeild out there, I was looking at spending 2k but everything I looked at was bitty, gaping holes in the history knackerd tyres, and most at horrible scruffy dealers… I had to change tack and found this private, it is as I say scruffy but at the price its great.

With a bit of luck it should be an awful lot cheaper to own than any premium badge cars, but thats just it, its all about having some luck at 1k.

We have a Merc C class estate as our main car, but the Fiat is currently what we choose when we go anywhere as its just so much more flexible than the estate.

Had a 1.9TDI A4 and the boot is quite small for an estate. great car, but not particularly big.
Not sure you'll get a diesel estate octavia for less than a grand, you might do if you are prepared to travel to collect, but then you are adding to the cost of buying the car.
Take a look on autotrader and see what there is near you. Look for a diesel that has done a lot of motorway miles. If you're very lucky you might find one with a FSH and a few owners that have kept it for a long time really looked after the car.

I personally would avoid Volvos due to the expense you could incur if they go wrong. Same can be said for Audis too.

I would go for the Passat / Mondeo option.

mastiles_fanylion – Member

same spec as the equivalent Audi but £7000 cheaper.

Of course if they sell it in 2 years they may lose more than someone selling the Audi…

(And I assume the £7k cheaper is comparing the haggled Skoda price against full list on the Audi?…)

Lease car. No haggling. Why would the Skoda depreciate more?

Lease car. No haggling. Why would the Skoda depreciate more?

Whatever, this is an argument I won't be able to win so let's not even start shall we?

MK1 FAN listen to him he speaks the most sense..

Which ever one is in the best condition and been best looked after.

At this price point there's no guarantees.

Expand your search to anything at all thats about the right size, scour your local free adds, paper shop windows too..

I assume your looking at Deisels?

I assume your looking at Deisels?

Is that in Wiltshire? 😉

Does it have to be an estate? My hatchback is as long as an estate and can get the same stuff in unless you need to stack things up high right in the back?

Octavia's same as a Golf/Bora, not a Passat. The Superb is a stretched B5 Passat / Audi A4.

Do the sums on diesel VS petrol – Diesel estates tend to command a good premium, and I'd not buy a leggy one unless the expensive things that tend to break had been done.

Sofatester… er at least I had the right letters in there re arrange them as you wish.. 🙂

Hora have you had a moment of clarity today, you also make some sense. 8)

I'd go for a V70 with all the bills mate had one with almost 300k on it before it died.

Also they are cheap and you should be able to get a good one for a grand.

mastiles_fanylion – Member

Lease car. No haggling. Why would the Skoda depreciate more?

Whatever, this is an argument I won't be able to win so let's not even start shall we?

How is asking a question about a statement you made an argument?

Tron – I stand corrected.

so let's not even start shall we

It isn't an argument, I said let's not start one by my questioning what you claim and you coming back with an answer and my subsequent riposte ad infinitum…

Hora have you had a moment of clarity today, you also make some sense

I've not caned espresso's today..

V70 would be my port of call.

Uglipa… so good I even bought one..

But seriously anything at all thats the best you can find.

I'd rather a £1K 850 (which is top-end, price wise!) than a £1500 V70…

Thank you for all the advice guys, i must admit i'd not really considered the V70 but after a quick look on autotrader it does seem a nice car.

Storage capacity is probably my main concern, so by the sounds of it the A4 just won't be big enough.

I'd rather a £1K 850 (which is top-end, price wise!) than a £1500 V70…

I'm talking pre-2000 V70, for simplicity for if something goes wrong. Post-2000 and you wont get as much for your money- a shiny dog/bottom of the V70 ladder.

850's – be alittle careful with those.

All generalisations but still hold true.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2001-SUBARU-FORESTER-SILVER-GREY_W0QQitemZ200461388179QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAutomobiles_UK?hash=item2eac6e0993

thread closed.

Decent cars though…..

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2001-SUBARU-FORESTER-SILVER-GREY_W0QQitemZ200461388179QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAutomobiles_UK?hash=item2eac6e0993

EJ20 prone to big end bearing failure, Head gaskets go (it has two so you need to change two head gaskets circa £1,500), clutches go, drivers window is a known-common failing… etc etc…

Lovely cars but more expensive than most if something goes wrong.

I've got a V40 and it's never put a foot wrong, only requiring regular servicing plus one rear spring in 60,000 miles. I don't know what the servicing costs are like for them though as I do it all myself.

Regarding the V40 specifically watch there are two 1.8 petrol engines, one Volvo designed one Mitsubishi designed. The Mitsubishi designed 1.8 GDI suffers from very expensive to rectify coking issues if the wrong octane of petrol is used. Effectively this problem makes it an unsound second hand buy.

Not an Audi, but having owned a MKIV Golf estate from new and the V40, I'd get another Volvo over the Volkswagon group motor. Although service history and condition are more important at the 1K end of the market. Trust your own instincts, and to be honest I would be just looking for the best car for the money, and not restricting it to two brands. Nearly all mainstream manufacturers produce worthy motors. Having typed that I wouldn't ever entertain a French car!

I've got a 1998 V40, 2L turbo petrol Auto with nearly 160K miles on the clock, most of which I've done.

Great, reliable car but the boot's not the most estate-like as it doesn't open to a flat floor like a lit of other estates.

V40s are meant to be absolutely bulletproof

http://www.reliabilityindex.co.uk/search_results.html?apc=3128339010848601

http://www.reliabilityindex.co.uk/search_results.html?apc=3128339010848601

frankly, for a grand, I'd buy neither. For the price of a 12 year old audi you can get a 8 year old mondeo (or similar) with change. Regardless of how nice they were to start with, a car with an extra 5 years and 50,000 miles is going to be more trouble

Pre-2000 V70's are cool in a weird way.
V40's are, well. Baseball cap and sunglasses cars…

Old shape Focus Estate 1.6 petrol. Cheap parts, ok mpg, and will out handle most cars out there. You'll still find some one out there to buy it when you want to get shot.

http://www.whatcar.com/car-reviews/used/ford/focus-estate/summary/23517-6

the unspoken rule of banger-nomics: buy something boring and japanese.

toyota avensis

honda aerodeck

etc.

with only a grand to spend, i'd avoid any car that you'd actually want to own – if that makes any sense…

(an audi for a grand is cheap because it's old and knackered and about to become very expensive, a mazda 323 is cheap because no-one wants it)

(i'm about to sell my 10 year old volvo v40 td, i'll be asking for and mostly likely get something like £1000, it's a total shed, the turbo is blown, the air-con doesn't work, i'm a villain, someone will bite my hand off to get it, i'd run away, etc.)

I never only had one problem in my nearly 10 years of ownership of my 12 year old V70, it just goes and takes a lot of bikes and people. However, my brother absolutely loved his Honda Aerodeck rates it far higher that his Merc estate, which replaced it.

tron,

the old one is a bora but the new Octavia is a modified mkV golf AFAIK, which then went to the A4.

I have had 2 skoda estates; felicia (which was superb) and Octavia (which I'd bought a nail). I would however buy a Mk2 Octavia.