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Just looking to buy a car to swallow 2 mountain bikes and a dog.
Wondered whether people would go 4x4 or Estate.
Plus which cars they recommend.
From some experience our Octavia had more usable room than the Forrester prefer driving a car to a 4x4 normally.
For bike duties a van wins
Used to get two bikes and a dog in a focus hatch. Now use an estate. Find there's more useable room in an estate than In a 4x4.
I kind of like my Rav for bike duties - but I think overall I'd be happier with a 4wd estate
My old estate had a lot of useable space and I prefered the driving experience to a 4x4 with a higher centre of gravity.
New MPV has less space but is taller, which can be very useful for just rolling the bikes in.
Van would have more space but again at the expense of driving experience/comfort.
Agreed - our Freelander 2 is nowhere near as good as my old Mondeo for biking. It is however much better at driving across the outback. YMMV.
I'm on my 6th estate. Not that I'd buy a 4x4 but glancing at their boot space they generally appear to have less space. Having said that the modern curved roof lines on mine does reduce the cubic capacity against the older models
Not very fashionable but very happy with my Berlingo. Easily fits two bikes in the boot without taking wheels off.
Esatate car every time. More practical as a day-to-day car, often more useable space than a 4x4, usually cheaper to run as well.
For biking duties, a van wins every time and smaller ones are quite car-like to drive. Problem is than on a day-to-day basis they're not as practical as a car and anything not secured in the back or put into bolted down crates just gets thrown all over the place.
Thanks all, was thinking 4x4 but the 'more space in an estate' feedback sounds good.
Love our Octavia Scout, over 50 to the gallon as long as you don't put the bikes on the roof 🙂
What you want is a 4x4 estate.
What you want is a 4x4 estate.
Subaru Legacy Estate?
The load space in my Nissan X-Trail isn't as big as you might think as the boot floor is quite high.
What you want is a 4x4 estate.
No clearance more tyre wear more mechanical bits to go wrong needs proper tyres to deal with snow and ice etc. Perfect not sure why the UK is 4x4 obsessed these days. It's mostly fashion
Thanks all, was thinking 4x4 but the 'more space in an estate' feedback sounds good.
Shame it's bobbins then!
It really depends on they model. Some estates seem massive to drive but you can never fit owt in properly, some 4x4s are cavernous.
My personal choice in this class would be a Honda CRV. It's like a 4x4 estate with a high driving position! Boot swallows anything and the rear seats are on rails so can be slid forwards to increase boot space.
get an estate there is loads more room than a 4x4,I had a vectra estate which I could easily get 3 bikes 3 people all our cycling gear and camping gear inside,I now have a freelander 2 and I have had to put a tow bar on and bought a bike carrier.
Yep, unless it's a big 4wd, the space needed for the much larger suspension pillars and wheel arches etc eats into useable space quite a bit. Add to that, most smaller 4wds are actually shorter than large estates such as the Mondeo.
What you want is a 4x4 estate.
No clearance more tyre wear more mechanical bits to go wrong needs proper tyres to deal with snow and ice etc. Perfect not sure why the UK is 4x4 obsessed these days. It's mostly fashion
AWD is more costly, whatever shape it comes in, there's no doubt about it - it generally comes in the top of the range big engined models too! But the only real difference between an estate and a '4x4' is the clearance, and you're only ever gonna need that if you're doing some serious off-roading. I've managed easily a foot of fresh snow on a steep (think 2nd gear), long hill in a [i]lowered[/i] AWD estate.
Whether you need one depends on where you live and where you travel to. I miss mine a lot in the winter.
There's a lot of crap written on here. A 4x4 estate makes a lot of sense. I've a diesel octavia 4x4 estate. Easy to drive, good on fuel, lots of space and makes driving on slippery roads a lot simpler. Of course if it had proper winter tyres it would be even better.
Or bikes on a rack and dog in the hatch.
Unless you actually intend to go off road then estate every time. If you're worried about the odd few days snow we get then buy some snowsocks...
Big MPV fan here. My Galaxy does everything I want from a car, eminently practical and the best distance car I've ever had.
Hmm, I've recently changed from a Suzuki Supercarry to a Land Rover Freelander. Apart from the fuel consumption, the LR wins in every way.
It doesnt take the bulkier loads that a van would, such as kitchen units, but if needed, I can put them on the roof rack. It was exactly the same internal measurement, I can just fit a 3 metre length of pipe in.
The big difference was seen this week. I didnt have any unexpected wheel slips, and even pulled stuck cars out of a pub car park last week. After such performance, I dont think I would go back to 2WD in the snow/ice now.
Not very fashionable but very happy with my Berlingo. Easily fits two bikes in the boot without taking wheels off.
Presume that's with rear seats folded down?
The big difference was seen this week. I didnt have any unexpected wheel slips
Me neither in my 2WD.
After such performance, I dont think I would go back to 2WD in the snow/ice now.
Yes because driving in snow/ice is the primary concern when choosing a car for the uk. 🙂
@Clink - yup, with wheels off you can easily get two bikes in the boot with no seats down. I think newer ones have QR so you can quickly remove the seats to get even more room.
mikewsmith - Member
No clearance more tyre wear more mechanical bits to go wrong needs proper tyres to deal with snow and ice etc. Perfect not sure why the UK is 4x4 obsessed these days. It's mostly fashion
This sums it up really. 4x4 estates seem to have been invented for the ATGNI types. The same people who ride 6 inch travel bikes round swinley forest every weekend, but they have the intention of taking it to the alps for one a week one summer in the future.
I've got a convertible Quattro, but really need to swop it for an estate and can't bring myself to get anything other then another Quattro. I just love the 4WD system, the grip and lack of wheel spin etc. it's great in the snow despite having normal tyres. As for more expense, well I've owned it since 2005 at 2 yrs old and it's been completely trouble free. ( touches wood!)
Presume that's with rear seats folded down?
I briefly had a look at a new Berlingo - the boot area is cavernous - probably as big as a car-derived van e.g. Astra van - and that's before you start messing with the seats. Looked as though it would swallow my drum kit, all the band's amps & guitars & still have room for 4 passengers. Ideal band transport I reckon
[img] http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/citroen/berlingo-multispace-2008/# [/img]
Mine is great for band gear transport john and we have done exactly as you said reasonably comfortably. New one is probably even better.
meanwhile, I'm now thinking Skoda Yeti for my next car. Possibly 4x4 version, but probably not. for the number of snow days we get I don't think the trade-off on MPG is worth it
Some current berlingos suffer with rear tyre wear than citrone are ignoring
Old mans killed the first rear pair at about 20k
Depends a bit on your pricerange, there's some good options that are relatively new and expensive.
After shopping around for a bit, went for a diesel mondeo. Boring even with 185bhp and a bollocks to park but it's massive,it's comfy, it drives better than a chelsea tractor, and it was pretty cheap.
2 bikes in the boot isn't challenging at all tbh, my Focus could do it with the back seats down and 2 complete, big bikes, seatposts up and wheels in. (not so easy to get them out again!) Not all estates are designed to actually be used for carrying things around though, your standard Octavias etc will still do the job but they waste space and usability- they're more tall saloons.
Bottom line was I wouldn't mind a 4x4, if it was the right size and the right engine but nothing really fit the bill. Closest I found was the Outback, but they didn't come cheap or economic.
people do have other reasons for wanting a 4 wheel drive (estate or 4x4) such as towing, having to drive up lots of tracks, recreational/work activities that may mean then need to venture away from roads.
Take a look a the Yeti boot before you go any futher. I really liked the look of them and then saw the boot....
Thanks all, thinking Skoda Octavian estate. Like the Yeti, but too much.
Have thought about the roof rack option but too much hassle. Just want to throw the bikes and dog in the back.
Massive help here, might look at AWD estates. Live outside of Halifax in the country so AWD diesel estate makes a lot of sense. X-trail was my 4x4 choice.
Octavia, bleeding autocorrect!
the rear seats in the Yeti can slide forward a bit, fold forward a bit more, or can be removed completely if required, so provided you have somewhere to store them, the rear seems quite versatile.
Some current berlingos suffer with rear tyre wear than citrone are ignoring
Old mans killed the first rear pair at about 20k
I think there's a mention of cause and fix for this on that HJ page
Yeti's just hold their values too well. Looking at max £6k spend.
Other reccos on estates?
Yetis haven't been around long enough to drop to £6k yet, I'd be surprised if any are < £10k.
I had a Saab 9-3 1.9TiD estate, it was rather nice. Wish I could have afforded the £600+ cambelt change + service and the 4 new tyres it needed but sadly I was skint & had to sell it. Engine had started getting a bit "lumpy" on the motorway, losing power for a moment for no obvious reason. EGR valve seemed to be ok.
Heated leather seats, satnav, CD with 3.5mm aux socket, Bluetooth phone system, the works. One of those would suit your budget
Depends where you live and what you might need a 4wd for.
Unless you like 4x4s specifically then the premium and running costs over a 2wd car are a pain in the tits.
I like 4x4s and live in rural aberdeenshire so will always have 1 x road going 4x4 in the household if i can help it !
Buying a 4x4 instead of an estate for load space is mental - doesnt matter what the vehicle is 4wd has toss load space. And tbh i wouldnt touch a limited slip or vcu 4wd system.
Buying a 4x4 instead of an estate for load space is mental - doesnt matter what the vehicle is 4wd has toss load space
Sorry TR but that is simply not right. We have an XC90 and the boot is big with the seats up but if you put the middle seats down (and they fold flat) you have a massive space that is also quite high and knocks spots off an estate (110Ltr more than a mondeo estate for example), plus you get the 7 seats and 4 wheel drive.
Unless you look at a proper size 4x4 (Nissan pathfinder, land rover discovery) then boot space will be far worse than an estate car.
the trade off also comes with running costs... A big 4x4 will be expensive to run (tyre costs alone are horrifying), poor mpg, servicing is generally more too.
As we live in Halifax there are lots of small roads and an AWD estate seems the way forward. In terms of efficiency and not going to cost me a fortune as well. Just got to decide on what I can get for £6k or under. Skoda & Ford shouts seem pretty good at the moment. Honda CRV or Nissan X-Trail make up good 4x4 options. Might be time to start searching autotrader and eBay for the bargains.
Having owned a Range Rover and a Discovery I know a little bit about 4x4s
DONT
Would love the new disco but it screams EXPENSE at me in terms of servicing and I guess issues.