It’s time to buy a new vehicle following the bangernomics principle.

Most important job is breezing me along a 20 mile motorway drive to work morning an evening.

However the vehicle might will infrequently be used to: Carry large loads of unprocessed logs (I’m prepared to tolerate the damage that does to the interior), carry camping/biking/kayaking gear around. Whisk self and family 150 miles of motorway to see relatives.

I’m prepared to tolerate highish running costs. (But would rather not.)

An estate car would do fine but I saw a local Ford Maverick 2ltr and wondered if it would be a tolerable day to day vehicle. Would the running costs would be *too* high and the cruising at 85mph would be too noisy? (Does the Maverick have a tallish top gear?)

Anything specific to look out for on the Maverick? What’s the Maverick like for home maintenance?

Octavia and Mondeo worked fine for me over the last 12 years, but I would have liked more ground clearance on the Octavia especially.

Maverick universally àccepted as worst vehicle of its kind.

Do not touch with a barge pole.

If you need something very cheap and spacious + easy to work on.

I suggest the 5door 2.2 dti frontera , its essentially an isuzu , the haters gonna hate hence they are cheap, plenty capible on the road , far far more capible than you would believe off the road and cheap for parts – check milner 4×4

Wrong time of year to be buying a 4×4 though , prices are up.

How ever – if all you want is ground clearnce and ability to carry logs dont buy a 4×4 and buy a berlingo partner multi space.

Why would you admit to an intent to break the law on a public forum?

70mph, Shirley….

Yawn.

Unless hes taking off down the french toll roads on occasion …..

but I saw a local Ford Maverick 2ltr

2.0 Maverick, what year is that?
EDIT: Screw that, I’ve found what you’re looking at and it’s not the one they did with Nissan.
EDIT, edit: one of those in a 2.7tdi will be bomb proof as it’s the same engine as the London Taxi. Mate had a SWB and it wasn’t too bad on the road either.

Subaru Forester would be worth considering although the fast ones tend to be thirsty…

The other cheap car of this type is the Mk1 Hyundai Santa Fe, they’re great cars don’t get a petrol, the 2.0 diesel is good on fuel and reliable.

@trail_rat Thanks, that’s really useful. A mate suggested the Frontera and the Berlingo is an inspired suggestion, thanks I’d never heard of them and there’s a good one 10 miles down the road.

I’ll go and see the local one, but I think the drawback of the Berlingo is that, although ideal for solo log collecting, with two kids using the rear seats there would perhaps be less space than a bog standard Estate for camping trips etc. (I forgot to mention two kids!)

@AD @Pepper Thanks, will take a look.

I guarantee theres more volumetric space in the back of a berlingo than there is in a maverick or a lwb frontera…..

The boot floor in either is higher for the 4wd system.

Fit a dog guard to a berlingo and make use of its height , the maverick and frontera dont have that height, the they are not as big inside as they look on the outside, i had to take both wheels off to get my bike in an swb frontera for example….yet my berlingo take the same bike with both wheels on…

The maverick will be too ‘juicy’ for 40 miles a day. I think they get 20mpg in petrol guise.
I’d suggest a shogun big, reliable, well built, but again even diesel will only get you about 25mpg.
Best option would be a crew cab van, fiat scudo size ish.

old style Volvo XC70? Tons of room, 4wd and raised ground clearance. Most will probably have dog guards fitted.

@mitsumonkey I have wet dreams about a crew cab van but they start at £4000 and £1000-£1500 gets me my pick of bog standard estates. (plus the missus thinks vans are pikey, and I kind of agree.)

Thanks for all the cracking suggestions.

I’m cooling off on the 4WD idea. I’d be trading two things I really need (boot space & motorway cruisy-ness) for off roadyness, which would be very welcome few times a year but is not essential.

Plan to view the Partner (thanks Trail Rat), an A6 and a couple of Volvos tomorrow perhaps one of those will be good.

Then a new game of cam-belt roulette will start. 😀

Then a new game of cam-belt roulette will start.

And that’s where the 2.7tdi Maverick/Terrano wins. No belt, no chain as it’s gear driven.

Re. the logs, I’d go with an estate of some king plus a trailer – logs/branches will trash the interior quickly unless you line the whole thing.
Plus a trailer will take much more and you can keep it for use with your next car.

A 2litre Legacy will return over 30 mpg, has a reasonable size boot, comfy seats and a very hard wearing interior. Reliable as, too.

And that’s where the 2.7tdi Maverick/Terrano wins. No belt, no chain as it’s gear driven.

Makes it pretty desirable AFAIC.

Re. the logs, I’d go with an estate of some king plus a trailer – logs/branches will trash the interior quickly unless you line the whole thing.
Plus a trailer will take much more and you can keep it for use with your next car.

I take your point, and I’m painfully aware that the first load of logs turns a interior into a torn mess in one sitting. However trailer is a non starter. Firstly I don’t want to store a trailer but most importantly my log gathering strategy is thus: See discarded wood as I pass, ask permission and load it there and then. I don’t think I’d ever want to return home to pick up a trailer, then go back. (and frankly, if I did I suspect another passing timber pikey would have nabbed the lot.) The downside of that is I frequently wreck a set of smart clothes along with the interior of my car.

A 2litre Legacy will return over 30 mpg, has a reasonable size boot, comfy seats and a very hard wearing interior. Reliable as, too.

Ta, love ’em but nothing local and the ones that are a bit of a drive away are more than I want to spend.

Cam or chain – makes no real odds…..

If you can change the brake disks you can change the timing belt. On these old agri diesels. Its not exactly an alfa or some v config with double s belts or where the engine has to come out to get at it….

Got a 4×4 Octavia as it has a bit more clearance for farm lanes and forestry tracks. Not overly economical as it is the petrol 1.8t, but better economy than a Subaru. Diesel versions are about too.
Does motorway and fields, was £750.

The downside of that is I frequently wreck a set of smart clothes along with the interior of my car.

In the light of that maybe storage of boots and overalls/gloves in the car would be a good idea. (Unless there’s a mouse problem where you park).

Comments on the Zafira?

On reflection, perhaps a bit small.

Chevrolet Lacetti?

What to people think about automatics? I’ve always avoided them? Am I being over cautious?

Nissan X trail (petrol) the 2 litre is v robust the 2.5 is better to drive mechanicals are pretty robust on the pre Renault series

Economy isn’t great however they have a v high towing capacity

What does the lacetti your looking at look like…..

If that then im struggling to think why you would consider it for load lugging .

It’s worth mentioning that the frontera is also universally accepted as being the worst vehicle of its kind, if you were tempted to go down that route.

Honda CRV?

Petrol bills might bankrupt you, but seem to last forever.

What does the lacetti your looking at look like…..

Not this, but it looks like this:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201509197065912?page=1&model=lacetti&sort=default&onesearchad=used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew&make=chevrolet&radius=1500&postcode=po198sd&search-target=usedcars&logcode=p

It’s worth mentioning that the frontera is also universally accepted as being the worst vehicle of its kind, if you were tempted to go down that route.

Nah, I’m boring but in the cold light of day a bog standard estate is the right choice, even though a voice in me is screaming off roader.

Honda CRVs shouldn’t be too hard on mpg, K20s can be fairly frugal if its not in a Type R as the non A2 variants only have the VTEC for economy

Thanks for all the comments.

I went for a Volvo V40 Estate with the 1.8 Volvo Engine because that was the first car I saw in first class condition.

The compromise is space – I didn’t want to go smaller than the Mk1 Octavia it’s replacing in the event I fear I have. On paper they’re about the same in practice the boot seems to be mostly full of wheelarch and the roof seems really low.

Thanks for the ‘Partner’ derivative suggestion – initially I ruled it out but in the end it was clear it was pretty much exactly what I want. Just didn’t see a decent one in time.