I’m surprised no one has mentioned practicality. I looked at a 520d last year and a Passat. The BMW had a very small impractically-shaped boot which, if you’re carrying bikes and stuff, would be a consideration.

No it’s not. The Passat has a huge boot and importantly the back window is quite upright so you get the full height across the whole boot. The BMW not only has a shorter (front-back) boot but also has a steeply sloping window making it significantly less voluminous.

We have two large-ish dogs and were in a similar car-buying dilemma a few years back, all of the BMW & Audi estates have surprisingly small boots with no headroom. We ended up with a ’56 Passat. The alternative, perhaps surprisingly, was a Focus. That has an incredibly big boot for what is a smaller car.

Our Passat had a few teeting problems when we bought it but since then has been great. Electric handbrake was one of them. £200 for an exchange caliper, easy DIY fitment and despite what anyone tells you, you DO NOT need to go to a dealer to reprogram the car afterwards. Electric steering lock was another, a PITA but can be fixed for free if you don’t mind some spannering. I think the only other thing was the boot handle acted up and needed a new unit. Not too bad.

FWIW I’m generally a BMW fanboi, I’ve had about fifteen of them over the years but I’m utterly convinced that BMW’s build quality took a nose dive around 2000 and hasn’t really come back again. My daily is a 2001 320td with 157k miles on it and it’s been great. I had a 2003 530i that was a total lemon. My brother ran a 2008 335i for a while, lovely car, but absolutely appalling reliability, constantly going back for warranty work. It actually put him off cars ! He now has a ’54 Golf GT and is chuffed to bits with how hassle-free it is.

I don’t like VW handling though. The front always feels too soft to me.

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You should have said you were looking. I just sold my ML430 which almost fits your criteria

Passats are ace! Check out this bad boy! Didnt know there were weight limits for racks, only nearly lost ciderinsports bike on the motorway 😳

[/url]PC286388 by T*inbred, on Flickr[/img]

Edit – that othef one up there I put 100,000 miles on it with no issues whatsoever until some eejit ran into the front and wrote it off 🙁

As it is customary to suggest something other than the options given by OP, how about a Rover 75 estate/MG ZT-T diesel? It’s a BMW lump so pretty decently engineered, and the cars themself are very well made.

Similar to OP, my old bangernomics car died so wanted a different bangernomics car with a view to keeping for a bit until something else came up. I ended up with a MG ZT-T 190. It’s great, load of room, and it is very nice to drive. 13 years old and there isn’t a panel out of alignment nor a single squeak from the interior. Probably the best made car I’ve owned so far, and I doubt I’ll be in any rush to sell it.

Bonus is they’re very cheap. Buy one and have £3k left from your budget, plus you’ll not lose money when it comes time to sell later on in the year. Reasonable looking, too.

@40mpg, is that a bottle of cider sitting in the gutter?

is that a bottle of cider sitting in the gutter?

Trucker bomb.

bearGrease – Member

@40mpg, is that a bottle of cider sitting in the gutter?

Yep mine – was needed after 4 hours of riding on the beach 😀

I’d go BMW. The Passat has a number of issues which could prove very expensive. Personally I’d look for one of the later old shape Passats with the 1.9 130bhp engine – so much better built than the later version and a looked after 1.9pd is a great trusty engine. Loads of refined car for the money and cheaper than the 2 you’re looking at

Not especially helpful I know, but I gotta agree with this.

Got a 1.9Tdi 130bhp Sport Passat estate and its a fab car. They’re well known for being much better made than the newer (Golf based) cars (just as the older 5 series were much better made than the newer ones).

I bought my car in a similar situation to yours, needing a reliable/practical car for 6 months, before a newer/company vehicle would be arriving. I’ve had it 8 months so far now and have delayed buying a company van as to be honest, the Passat is so good! If I sold it tomorrow I might lose £200 over the £1700 I bought it for, and in 8 months I’ve done 2 oil changes, a pair of tyres, and filled it with diesel numerous times and it’s been superb.

Either of the 2 cars you’re looking at could be great cars, or a costly mistake. If you have to buy one of those 2, buy based on condition and service history. If you’re only keeping it 6 months, the one that’s in the best condition with the better history will be easier to sell on at a smaller loss at the end of it.

Update: the VW seller decided not to sell and keep it, BMW seller wouldn’t accept a (much) lower offer so in need of some wheels quickly I spotted below for sale just down the road for me, a 52 reg Honda CRV 2.0 Sport for £1200 with 110k miles, history, long MOT and when I drove off it had a full tank of petrol. I don’t think it’s going to be very economical though, a big lump with a petrol engine. All the gadgets work, drives lovely and already had bikes in the back no problem. Stop gap sorted until new van comes

Now that is a Top Gear ending.

Today we have the Beeemer with loads of powwwwweeeeeerrr but it’s a bit expensive !!! And another German diesel super estate that’s hard to buy.

But we wouldn’t buy either we want an old Japanese suv.

And on that bombshell its time to end.

a 52 reg Honda CRV 2.0 Sport for £1200 with 110k miles, history, long MOT and when I drove off it had a full tank of petrol. I don’t think it’s going to be very economical though

If you’re only keeping it 6 months, I’d bet that though it might cost you £200-300 more in fuel than either of the German estates would, it won’t depreciate a penny whereas they would probably lose maybe £400-500 in that time…

So along with having £3k less cash tied up, sounds like win win from a money saving point of view!