Ok, so its secondhand? I wouldnt go near a Mondeo diesel (sorry theres).
Prev shape VW Passat – TDI but avoid the 2.0 petrol (its possibly the slowest estate Ive driven). Super quiet though for long journeys?

The dual mass fly wheel- I know someone who had his go twice (£700 a time), then there are the vavles etc. Plus… no offence Mondeo owners but everyone will think you drive a taxi 😉

Octavia 1.8T VRS estates within budget but like rocking horse shit to find. Not bad fuel economy and once the coil pack has been confirmed as changed it should be reliable for long journeys.

Legacy? Comment above about realworld fuel economy. Ive managed upto 35mpg. However over a very long distance in the Legacy you'll be paying double times (probably) in fuel for the journey- a massive cost.

Note- if you did chose a Mondeo (and even the Passat)- call your local Council (or the council/area where the last owner was registered- ask for taxi licencing and politely give them your reg number and ask if its ever been listed as a taxi). If your polite they will be more than happy to confirm either way. Its worth asking as most of the mondeo estates Ive seen have been taxi's. Estates are rare so you have to wonder…theres a high chance.

PS. The mondeo joke- is just rib tickling 🙂

Been very happy with my honda accord tourer over the past 3 years – can't fault it at all.

craig1975 hope you popped into West for a pint after taking that shot 😉

Some interesting comments from stellar-mileage A4 TDI owners on here:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=23&t=737595&mid=70159&nmt=Reliability%20-%20does%20it%20exist%20in%20a%20modern%20diesel?

My father-in law has a Legacy estate,diesel. he's averaging high 40s mpg,was doing 62mpg on a recent motorway run.
A fine motor.

Intresting topic that one hora. It does confirm what i have witnesed that people don,t know how to drive a turbo powered car and just drive them like a normal petrol.

hora – went to pick my daughter up from the train station last night in the Mongdeo estate. 3, that's THREE, twonks tried to climb in thinking it was a taxi!!
Good spot, BTW. 🙂

Skoda Octavia 1.9TDi for me. Good fuel economy, decent poke, huge load space and trim pretty good. I'm very happy with mine.

I Have a Stalker – Tis a very good pint too, they make the stuff in house so to speak 😉

vauxhall signum – why get an estate, when a 5door is just as big as a vectra estate!

Jaguar X-Type estate.
Changed my Mondeo estate for one 5-years ago and what a difference! 3.0 litre V6 Sport is the most comfortable load carrier imaginable and then goes like stink when you ask it to. We live on the side of the Malverns and its such a joy with the AWD when we get snow on the hills.
For sale too as it happens……

owenfackrell Ive always ridden the torque and changed up as early as possibly (before labouring the engine) when I had a diesel.

In my normally aspirated petrol though- Ive come to realise (for my particular car) that I dont have to be up in 5th. Infact most 30mph driving Im in 4th the majority of the time (probably 90%). Its worked because Ive gained 5mpg+ min average.

Hora the bigest problem i have seen is that people don't let the car idle before turning it off which is even worse when you see them reving it as they are parking it. This doesn't give the turbo a chance to stop before the oil to the bearings is cut off. Mind you you don't need to use the throtal to monover a diesel.

the advantage with a legacy will be much cheaper purchase price – when i got mine, leggy prices were all over the place, but could be had for 2k less than a passat diesel. that's a lot of petrol!!

i've got a 2.0 estate, on motorway runs I have 39mpg (calculated average), mixture of town and motorway it's 32ish, and more town it's 26-27ish.

much more interesting than a mondeo or passat, amazing all round grip in crap conditions, such a good car!

actually fairly cheap to run – tyres replaced at just under 60k, still on the original discs and pads at 70k, just routine service work. even the timing belt was only 200 quid to replace at a scooby dealer.

I borrowed a Imprezza turbo when I was having my cambelt changed and the garage reminded me to let the car idle before switch off to stop the oil frying in the turbo. Apprently alot of customers turned up and switched off immediately and then rung the neck out of their car out of the garage from cold (as if to 'show off') 🙄

I've got an A4 2.5tdi, non quattro

+ve
Excellent engine, even sounds ok for a diesel (V6)
Fast(ish)
Very nice on the Motorway – smooth and stable
Reliable – it's on 100k now and we've had no probs apart from consumables and a faulty alarm
Looks ok imo (year 2000 shape)
Feels well put together and safe

-ve
Not that good economy (38mpg mixed driving)
Handling on country roads is poor (great grip but loads of roll and no feeling from brakes or steering)
Bit small really, especially with kids in the back

mx5

Boys I bought a 98 E Class 2.4 V6, 67,000 miles with full MBSH for £4000. Full leather, air, everything, it is beautiful. Like a brand new car, done 20,000 miles in 18 months, took it for (non dealer) service, £147.00 all up. Stunning car, great build quality, will last for another 100k miles. Wouldn't recommend another car (other than a W123 model – but they are now seriously old) more. Brilliant car. Oh, and it does mid 30's.

I've got a Peugeot 307SW, 1.6 HDI
Pulls well, lots of space for kids plus 2 mini seats in the back to make it a (very) occasional 7 seater.
Roof bars for bikes and box. It has all the toys which make it a good drive and I do around 30000 miles a year.
Get over 50 average and can hit 60 mpg on a long (unloaded) journey.
Not big or clever but pretty faultless and very practical

I ended up buying a 2005 Passat 1.9TDI 130 Highline estate. It does exactly what I want and am well pleased with it. Especially as it was £1000 cheaper than all the others I had looked at.

I have had the following

Audi A4
Subaru Legacy RspecB

To summarise

Audi – I had front wheel drive diesel 1.9, the only good thing was the economy it was noisy, slow and the handling wasn't great if you just want cheap transport then they are ok.

Subaru – i had one for four years and loved it 245bhp and permanent 4wd plus comfort and all the toys it was superb and would leave pretty much everything else for dead handles like a hot hatch with the 4wd. The major cost of running one is fuel max 30 mpg driving like a nun! everything else is not too bad insurance is suprisingly cheap as is servicing until the mileage gets high. I have driven the diesal version and didn't like it myself as I was comparing to the spec b but if you can afford one this is the one to go for.

My estate car is a new shape Volvo V70.
Pro-
4WD in a normal (not raised) car. Great traction and control, especially in bad weather.
200bhp turbo
Manual – Rare in a V70, but great for getting on the gas quickly
Possibly the most comfy seats of any car
Split zone climate control
Possibly the best factory fitted stereo of any car
Mahooooosive boot! The square boxy back end means you lose none of the boot space to the boot lid/window, a failing of the A6, IMO

Con-
It's a bit thirsty

1.9Tdi 130bhp powered VW Passat, or Audi A6. Both now cheap as chips, both capable of 65mpg on a run (or more).

MTFU and get a Mitsubishi Legnum VR-4?

Ive got an Phase 2 V70 and i can tell you now unless someone makes a hell of a convincing argument against it i'll buy another without a second thought. By far the best car ive driven.

With wheels off three DH bikes and three people and three peoples gear go in no trouble.

Ive got an Phase 2 V70 and i can tell you now unless someone makes a hell of a convincing argument against it i'll buy another without a second thought. By far the best car ive driven.

With wheels off three DH bikes and three people and three peoples gear go in no trouble.

can get 4 & 4 in the boot of a mondeo estate easily, and 5 & 5 at a push – 3 isn't even trying 🙂