MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
We will be in touch
dear god, it's come to this!!
Anyway estate car, need enough room for camping gear, bikes etc.
Want something that doesn't require a dog and flat cap to drive.
and doesn't need a mortgage to buy/run.
ta i'm off to shoot myself now.
Budget?
Focus, Mondeo, Passat - all differently good, all well-made, all good value secondhand. Skodas good too, but I've not driven any.
Don't be silly. Estate cars are a win - lots of space for an outdoor loving sportsperson, but better to drive, faster and more economical than a van.
They are all good these days to be honest - you won't even notice the difference unless you look behind you.
Alfa 156/159 Sportwagen
BMW E46 Touring
Are my two suggestions and can be both had for £4k for decent examples...
I've got a 307SW I bought new. Its done 130k and not a cough! mega practical, economical, roof rails and all the toys. Not sexy but mega practical.
I get a good wedge from work and keep meaning to change it for something with more street cred but havent got around to doing it for 2 years since it was paid off.
Thats got to be the sign of a decent car.
My Skoda Octavia 4x4 is superb. Great amount of space, reasonable to drive, good on fuel, well built and is superb in the bad weather
Alfas are fantastic bargains second hand. Had 2 and both were great as long as you maintain them well.
Saab 9-3 or 9-5 estates are good & very comfy.
Bloody expensive to change the cambelt on the 1.9TiD version though
<cough>
http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-ford-focus-estate-16-petrol-zetec-climate-06
Currently still available....
</cough>
I've got a 407SW, and other than truly glacial turbo lag it's pretty damn good.
Any old estate is a winner.
Honda civic or accord fantastic load luggers.
Even my current peugeot 206 estate fits bikes and camping kit in easily.
Mondeo are ace.
Volvos are acer.
My experiences with the 307sw put me off french cars for life. Complete money pit, various problems, £2K in 18months so it went. It was well spec'd, nice to drive, but a nightmare
Alfas are fantastic bargains second hand. Had 2 and both were great as long as you maintain them well.
Indeed are nice cars to drive. But seem to have a propensity to mangle gearboxes at relatively low mileages and possibly other bits and pieces
Estates for teh win!
[img] 
[/img]
Jotunheim. Midway through 2 weeks in Norway with my girlfriend. Drove through Holland, Germany and Denmark on the way there and back. Comfy for long distances, reasonably ecomomical. In the back: loads of food and booze, comfy camping gear (double airmattress, duvet, pillows, table and chairs) + hardtails, plus obvious clothes and tools and stuff.
A lot of the time we're driving, a car is a better tool for the job and having space for 4 passengers is great. We like tenting, so a van for sleeping in doesn't really appeal.
don't underestimate just how much space there is in a focus, or a non-estate toyota avensis, or a non-estate Octavia.
just a suggestion, 'cause something like a mondeo estate is seriously vast.
i like my volvo v40, but it's not actually any bigger than a normal focus.
(the boot space is slighty longer, but also narrower)
mmmm... volvo estates.....
[img] 
[/img]
Passat.
I changed from a LWB 4x4 to one and am now getting twice the economy from a car that is cheaper to tax and marginally more expensive to insure. It's also faster, quieter, doesn't smell (according to my wife), and doesn't have half a bale of straw and a load of dog hairs in the back.
Sometimes I miss it. I may have to buy a 90 to scratch the loud/slow/dirty itch.
Budget not an issue? V70 or Accord.
On a tighter budget Mondeo diesel (age according to budget)
ir_bandito, that Volvo looks awesome!
(although its a proven fact that i have no taste in cars)
Quite pleased with my Golf Estate so far. It has just taken me + 3 mates + bikes + all the crap that needs to the lakes for a long weekend without complaint. Everything went in the boot (bikes on roof/boot hatch), so everyone had plenty of room. Still averaged ~55mpg too 🙂
John,
Out of interest, How much £££ for the cambelt change and did you have the water pump done at the same time?
I must be getting old too when I looked at an estate car the other day and thought that's nice and sensible... Aaaaaagh!
[img] 
[/img]
3.5 liter rover V8
litre ^
love my accord
Lotus Elanbulance
[img] 
[/img]
estates are ace...fact
fast estates are even better..
Volvo T5 (old)
Saab 9-5 aero (250ish bhp)
Mondeo ST220 3.0 v6 fun
Alfa do some nice stuff as well
Subaru Forrester (Impreza bits in a bigger car)
Mazda 6! Seats fold flat to make it mahoosive!
If you're buying a decent sized car that'll do a lot of bike hauling, you'd be daft not to buy an estate tbh.
Whereabouts are you? If you're within striking distance of Edinburgh, £1200 buys you my Focus 1.8TD- cheap to run, and good fun to drive in its little-engined way. Wanting to replace it with something even more middle aged, a people carrier 
Mondeo with a decent sized diesel in it, in one of the nicer specs, makes a huge amount of sense. Focus is almost as good, really does make a lot of the competition look awful in terms of boot space.
thanks for the replies guys, plenty to go at!
Octavia estate in VRs form, Mondeo for kitchen sink capacity. Estates are a giggle (but then I'm old).
The last time I posted on a "what estate car?" Thread the fella actually bought my suggestion.
MG ZT-T
Dirt cheap
Loaded with extras
Great handling
BMW diesel engine
I've a mondeo and focus estate - the focus is an older 1.8td (which is bulletproof) and the mondeo the 130bhp fella that's supposed to kark it about 30k miles ago.
Would have the ZT-T as the 2nd lugg stuff about car if I hadn't been given the focus.
Just swapped my wifes 106 for a 04 passat tdi estate.
It's huge. The dog gets lost in the back...
Passat = huge. Accord = huge. Mondeo = huge.
Sacked off all those ideas and went Octy vRS = not quite as huge but excellent.
Old Volvo + BBS LMs = awesome.
ZT-T is a great car (speaking as a sometime 75 driver, 2L diesel is great, plenty of umph and lots to the gallon, very comfy, albeit limited legroom for front passenger) but limited by boot size, not really big enough for me.
.
I still say under £1000, don't be fussy, get whatever is the best condition (Omegas can be had silly cheap, especially V6s)
£1-5k Mondeo, over £5k V70 or Accord.
John,Out of interest, How much £££ for the cambelt change and did you have the water pump done at the same time?
Mine was a 9-3TiD sportwagon rather than a 9-5; the cambelt change would have been £600+ but it also needed a regular 18k service (another £120 at my local independant) and 4 new tyres at £120 a wheel. Couldn't afford to spend over a grand on a service so I sold it.
If someone else was paying the service bill, or if I'd had the foresight to take out the Saab dealer's 0% 3 year servicing deal, I'd have another quite happily.
Before the Saab I had an '04 BMW 320d Touring - great car, but the boot was too small for my drumkit & the rest of the gear I need for gigging
Mondeo has to be the best value for size, equipment, running costs, good drive.
Passats a bit more refined, but not much, and dull as to drive and expensive to repair.
Focus are tiny in comparison.
Dont bother getting a fast diesel, waste of money just get some thing around 130/140 bhp which is plenty.
£4k should get you a lowish mileage decnt Mondeo with all the toys.
I've had 7 alfas over the years, my latest is on sale atm and I have bought an 02 A4 Avant. Best thing I have done in recent memory, big, comfy, quick and always 50+mpg ( well it has been in the month I've owned it). I dearly love petrol cars but the make less sense every day and the audi is surprisingly good to drive. Best bit of advice is don't listen to folk telling you that certain cars are for d**ks, you'll miss out. I paid 2.5k for it with Audi service history = win!
citroen c5 huge and cheap.