So what I need goes something like this …..
Around the £6k mark ideally, £10k max. Diesel, needs to have low mileage, good service history and be in good condition. I have a long commute at the moment, so heading for 60mpg would be good. Needs cruise control, air con and Isofix. Roomy enough for a bike or two inside would be good, not aversed to an estate or people carrier.
Any suggestions ?
Have a few ideas but would welcome others that I may not of tought of yet.
Thanks in advance

Lockheed SR-71

Mondeo.
Most here will say vag or BMW but the poor residuals of the Mondeo means you get a lot of car for the money.

Does residuals matter at £6k?

Could bag a nice 2.0 tdci titanium x for £6k.

Skoda Yeti 1.6 Greenline. Like mine!

It’s ace (IMO, obvs). 60+ mpg on motorway runs (although not with my wife driving), has the features you mention, seats fold really nicely for plenty of room.

A lovely little car.

I’m just about to sell my 07 X-Trail. Will be less than your £6k budget.

Ticks most of your boxes but falls way short on fuel consumption. Mileage is a bit over the average @ 10k/year.

PM me if it tickles your fancy. 😉

Maxi Life DSG – everything you want with the bonus of a huge space for bikes/kids/dogs/dead bodies…..
Top end of your budget though and a little above but gets you a very new vehicle.

Define long commute.

Long commute = 95 miles each way, 5 days out of every 10

200 miles a day !!!
I’d want to be in something with a bit of room.
Mondeo.

Liking the idea of the SR-71, and I work at Heathrow so there’s a couple of runways ‘just over there’. Might be a bit of an asre getting in the car park though ……
🙂

Civic?
The faclifted smaller diesels will get over 60mpg average, though I don;t know what they are like to drive as I;ve got an older 2.2d which I’d thoroughly recommend (if it weren’t for your 60mpg+ criteria).
Not the cheapest to fix when things go wrong, but then they are some of the most reliable cars around so cost to own still tends to be lower. Decent residuals over the 100k miles as well.

Fantastic cars for carrying bikes.

7 series BMW are piss cheap for what you get and comfortable for 200 miles. Diesels do reasonable mpg. Can’t beat big old luxo barges for long drives.

At that sort of price it might be tatty so stick a roof rack on for the bikes and enjoy.

I bought a 6 litre Mercedes CL based on the same logic. Not great mpg but bliss to drive. Wife’s favourite car I have owned yet. Bought for £12,000 sild for £6,000 with an additional 100,000 miles on it.

Well, we’ve just ordered another Octavia estate, current one has been bombproof for 10 years and 100,000 miles from new.

I do similar mileage to you and have been through a lot of the standard mid-range offerings.

If it was my money, I’d go Insignia. Deeply unSTW 🙂

Don’t get a base model (seats are awful) and enjoy nearly 70mpg from a 2.0l diesel with oodles of space. Nice mile muncher per £ second hand.

I’ve been driving same one now for a year now, dragged 40k out of it and it’s not let me down once.

No doubt this will send some people into frenzy, but you’re asking for experience 🙂

That, or the SR-71.

Edit: I should add it has a few design fails and is by no means a ‘driver’s car’

Now for something different….

How about the last Saab 9-5 it’s loosely based on the insignia

But don’t get one with huge wheels it ruins the ride quality

Which model Insignia, bearnecessities ?
Is that the 140 CDTi Ecoflex ?

Long commute = 95 miles each way, 5 days out of every 10

Whilst rather the OP than me, that’s not as crazy mileage as it sounds. It’s 950 miles every 2 working weeks, or basically 25,000 per year (before any personal milage).

Whilst 60mpg would be nice, a car that only does 50mpg isn’t going to cost you any more than about £300 a year extra in fuel. You’re also going to be spending quite a bit of time in the car so it has to be a nice place to be!

With that in mind, as nice a BMW 3 series Touring as you can find, probably a manual 320d touring, would fit the bill nicely. Current Mondeos are nice cars to drive, but by the same token that you get “more for your money” with one than a BMW/Audi, remember that so does the next owner too… If I was doing 25-30k a year and paying for the car myself, either say “sod it” and get a good deal on a lease (seen Octavia VRS’s for £200 a month on 10k, could probably get it for under £300 a month for 30k miles), or I’d be buying a 7-8 year old premium car with average milage and looking after it so it holds its value pretty well.

Mboy I doubt you will get any car on lease for 30k miles for £300 !

Octavia if you like dull. Mondeo if you like all the toys and actually drives well

My previous car was a Mondeo Titanium X, currently have an Octavia VRS and the wife has a BMW, all diesels. Out if the bunch for longish motorway journeys on economy and comfortable place to be it would have to be the Mondeo. They’re dirt cheap to run so more money spend on things you enjoy and mine was very reliable.

Berlingo Multispace? Looks like a van but you can’t see the outside if you’re sat on the inside.

1.6HDi engine has lots of scare stories about but looked after they’ll go on with no trouble. I can get 48mpg sticking to 70mph on the motorway. LOADS of room. Get an XTR and they have 3 separate rear seats with isofix on the two outside ones and have aircon. The only other thing is cruise control was an option but you can get it retrofitted at a dealer for around £150-200.

If I was doing 200 miles a day it would be a 2.0 Diesel Ford Mondeo or Skoda Superb. They are just very comfortable economical mile munchers. Nothing else comes close.

VW Phaeton… Posh Passat 😀

Been looking at the bottom end of your budget, only thing that comes close on the cost and mpg is a 2009 – 2015 Avensis. Not bad looking, still dull as ditchwater with a stupid electronic hand brake but the estate is reported at 63mpg on the extra urban cycle. Only hesitation would be the fact that they never sold many ,eaning parts may or may not be an issue, I’m still to work that snag out. Either that or its a Mondeo Titanium (so far as I can tell the X is just a fancy keyless start that you still need to slot the fob in and press a ridiculous FOARD POWERZ button on the dash to start)

Hi WT, it’s not an ecoflex (assume they have stop/start?) – just standard 2.0 cdti with full size spare wheel.

http://www.reliabilityindex.com/

Going off Dogmatix link for reliability the Avensis is only 2 places higher than the Mondeo and both way ahead of the premium recommendations above.

Thanks for the suggestions everybody, some good ideas in there.
And thanks mboy for doing the sums that I’ve been a bit scared to do myself !