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Also consider cars that are just unpopular because thy're just not good lookers. things like Focus and Astra estates, they often have more space than you think, and as no one wants them, they're cheap.
£5K is plenty of money to get a good car though TJ and the basic haven't changed regarding mechanical soundness good tyre depth and smoking exhausts and all that jazz.
I traded in a Berlingo HDi 2.0HDi for £50, that was a bargain, because internet search reveals it's still MOT and taxed.
I did look at an astra estate - surprisingly big
I was hoping you guys would tell me a 10 yr old BMW touring would be better than a ruddy Dacia!
Petrol tick
Big estate tick
Reasonable mileage tick
Good condition tick (based on pictures)
A bit interesting tick
And think you’re Edinburgh? So not a million miles for collection.
Just my own experience, but an older petrol Toyota Avensis would fit the bill. My Dad had one from new, serviced every year by Toyota. Was desperate to pass it on to someone, but in the end I sold it to WBAC for £500 at 15 years old. Sailed through the MOT again this year I noticed.
Dent in every panel, but non-turbo chain driven petrol engine. Conventional auto, so no clutch to worry about. Will probably go until it rusts away (not that it had any).
Petrol, possibly Auto but not an actuated auto
something that would appeal to older more professional people. Used to love Saabs for this.
I'd look stuff like Kia for example. Maybe a Volvo saloon Something solid and un trendy.
I found that things like cheap bmws Audis etc tend to get bought by people who want the kudos of owning a BMW etc but dont have the money no maintain it brilliantly if at all. as all money is spent on the insurance or finance
Honda Civic estate? Massive boot on those!
If you want something really cavernous, Mondeo or Skoda Superb. My money would probably be on the Superb.
TJ, I got a car a few years back from John Inglis car sales in Eskbank, Dalkeith a few years back. Very happy with the service from him, Stuart only works on cars he has sold and sources new cars for existing clients. I only go in when I have time to spare as he likes a chat and has a good memory for every little detail you ever tell him.
Currently borrowing a Renault Kangoo - van with windows. Load lugging is unsurpassed. Just done a garden centre run. Upside is £500 buys you fittings to make it a small camper. Easy of entry with sliding doors and high seats is super for the old.
Downside is it’s a van. If you get your motoring thrills out of knowing you have the right tool for the job, rather than having some compromise sports estate to make progress, then this class is a very good choice indeed. If your parents need mobility aids, even better.
Son1 is liking the single camper options.
I had a Mazda 6. I bought it for £600 with 168,000 miles on. Added another 25,000 miles in one year and it never missed a beat. Sold on for £450.
I think Mazda 6 does an estate version and for that money you might be able to get something around 2010 age.
Lolz @ TiRed
I guess maybe the BMW thing was me trying to avoid buying a ford mundane!
With reference to this and the Skoda comment I would strongly suggest to sir that sir needs to drop his outdated preconceptions and go do a few test drives. You're doing the equivalent in my world of saying that Windows 10 is shit because you had a bad experience with Windows 95.
The Mondeo is a very, very good car and back when I had one like a decade ago it annihilated everything else in its class.
colinrobinson215
Full Member
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazda-6-2013-skyactiv-2-2-diesel-estate-new-shape-top-of-the-range-/294113847011?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286/blockquote >Had the previous version of the Estate for 9 years. Based on the Mk4 Mondeo floorpan with seat tech borrowed from Volvo (in the same group)
I think some on here are forgetting that TJ is not a serial car owner and he's just after something to get the job done, Anything based on the Ford EUCD platform will drive well and be fairly cheap to repair if and its a big "IF" it goes wrong.
Backed up by Cougar, I honestly think that many are foolishly turned by the German Marques
Did that Mazda ^^ not have the ****el rotary engine that was thirsty as hell and ate itself for fun, or am I confusing with another model?
Skoda Superb has a 6ft load bed
Did that Mazda ^^ not have the ****el rotary engine that was thirsty as hell and ate itself for fun, or am I confusing with another model?
No you're confusing a big family estate built from the Ford parts bin with the RX8 which was the fire breathing sample engined sports car.
Hiring is what I have always done in the past but with the new circumstances its not going to work so well unfortunately. quickness and ease of use and hire cars you are not allowed things on the roof and estates are not common
But if i am looking for moon on a stick then maybe.
If you do go down the hire car route - have you looked at City Car Club (now owned by Enterprise). I've been a member in the past it works well, with none of the usual inconvenience of hire cars. I used to use them from our Edinburgh office and never found I had to go more than 1.5 miles even booking for immediate use. You can also pick a size that suits, so if you need a van you can get it (harder to do at the drop of a hat).
Its quite economical for a 1/2 day trip, starts to get similar to a hire car after 24 hrs and multiday may not be worth it depending on the miles / fuel cost for the hire car. Not sure what the official policy is on putting stuff on the roof but I have seen one with an inflatable rack attached.
If you can, I’d spend less than £5k on a Honda jazz and hire vans for load lugging.
ANd you might find you need to hire less than you expect because the Jazz is the most sensible car around, with amazing internal capacity. I think you can probably fit the tandam in with the wheels off, and I've seen people put canoes on smaller things. The way the seats form a flat base may even be of interest for some car camping.
I fit a tandem in a Mondeo hatch a couple times, wheels off vertically longways, forks dropped behind front seats. That was an older mk2 tho. But don’t discount large hatches.
Also I bought a 14yo BMW for 4k, needed some money spending on it but we budgeted for it, and with a decent indy didn’t find it catastrophically expensive. That was a a z4 tho, more likely to be owned by people that like cars and care for them. So maybe a nicer big old estate may have been better cared for than a newer “appliance” vehicle. No one that loves their cars is buying a Dacia...
I was hoping you guys would tell me a 10 yr old BMW touring would be better than a ruddy Dacia!
guess maybe the BMW thing was me trying to avoid buying a ford mundane!
Been persuaded by branding and advertising have we?
Buy a Mondeo. They don't make them anymore. Well, they won't be doing soon.
RIP Mr Mondeo Man.
Ps. don't buy a new Mondeo. Buy a second-hand Titanium estate. In gold.
Our 26" tandem took up less space than the harp which required a 6'x4' load area. Volvo V50 and Mk1 Octavia estate fitted the tandem with front wheel off, but not harp.
Mk3 Mondeo estate took tandem, 2 more bikes and kit for a week away - still had a spare seat and stuff sliding around
So you might be able to go smaller than you think, older Focus is the same base as V50 and also has good folding seats and height.
Petrol.
Gold isn't a bad shout, colour of choice for the sensible retired couple.
No you’re confusing a big family estate built from the Ford parts bin with the RX8 which was the fire breathing sample engined sports car.
Yes, you're absolutely correct, I am. As y'all were, sorry.
Been persuaded by branding and advertising have we?
I didn't particularly want to start an argument with TJ for the sake of it so didn't say anything, but this was my first thought also. (-:
TBF if I had your budget and your needs, I'd spend about half the budget and keep the rest for bills or, if need be, throwing it in then bin in a few years and buying another one. No matter how much you know about cars, you can never really be completely safe with a used one, stuff can go wrong with even the best cars.
tjagain
Full MemberI did look at an astra estate – surprisingly big
Long, is the trick with these, which might work well for you. I'd consider a zafira too, it's just a tall astra but extra height can transform a boot (like, my Legacy is a decent load carrier, but if the roof was literally an inch higher it'd be better for bikes)
Mondeos are really good. Cheap to run, surprisingly cheap to buy for what they are, really pretty well put together, nice to drive. I loved and miss my 2.2 diesel, the slightly bigger engine just made everything effortless, if was such a relaxing car to do distance in. (it could shift, too, if I wanted it too) It was a wee bit of a shed but then it was half your budget. Had a few decent sized bills in its time, but, again, paid for with the purchase price saving. But, they are big. Like, "total pain in the arse to park near my brother's place in Abbeyhill" big. I think petrol would make more sense for you for various reasons, but, the diesels are usually a bit more loved- people hang onto good ones, petrols except for the V6 tend to be a bit more used and discarded.
Have to be honest I don't have the best handle on how a tandem fits in any car, they seem like an awkward size? This is where things like Octavias with their slightly less practical boot might fall down a little. No replacement for displacement in the end but some cars make amazing use of space, others really don't.
Likewise Avensis is good but ime isn't as good a use of space, we had 2 for work and they were fantastically reliable and useful (er, don't ask how this happened but we put something like 140000 miles on one of them without a service, it literally just got tyres fuel and washer fluid, never missed a beat.). But, I was always surprised and a bit confused by how little stuff we could get in them, considering their size. Stuff I could easily just throw into my car needed careful packing and stacking in those.
Honda Accord?
(I had a mk1 focus for my first car and that thing was uncannily big inside, so I'm judgemental when I drive a car the same size or bigger and it's not as useful in the boot. But they're definitely getting on a bit and there's still a wee bit of a Focus Tax I think)
Interesting and timely thread for this newb trying to sell a car for the first time (for an elderly relative who's now beyond driving). Unfortunately a near good as new VW Polo Match that's sat in Bristol isn't going to help TJ.
Buying/selling bikes is so much simpler.
Wouldn't it be more convenient to put the tandem on the roof? That would then open up small, petrol japanese cars which will be more reliable for the money (jazz, micra etc)..
Generally at £5k you’d buy on condition rather than miles or brand.
That said there are some estates that seem to fair better than others, the Toyota Avensis, Honda Accord, Skoda Superb, Ford Mondeo, Vauxhall Insignia.
Re the mot check you’ll need to cross check it with its service history, having a number of issues over the years that don’t appear year on year is fine and indicates someone who spends to fix the car.
The same faults (if significant) year on year or multiple cascading faults over the last few years can indicate openers who have run the car into the ground. Also look for signs the mileage has been given a haircut.
As for dealer vs private again it’s down to the car, it’s just as likely to find a good trade in that a dealer wants to shift as it’s not his ‘profile’ car as a trader who’s picked up a £3-4K auction special and used the metaphorical oily rag to wipe it over and it’s now on at £4995...
Buying private offers the same opportunities for bargains or for folk knowing a large bill is looming or even just knowing or caring little about cars.
Set up a auto trader search for £4-5.5k within however far you are willing to travel see what you like and look into the serving or known issues, does it need a cam belt every 5yrs or 60k @ £600 and that’s why the cars for sale or are x renowned for auto gearboxes going at 100k etc, etc...
Then have a look at the same on eBay and get a sense if there is better value to be had there.
Had two touring 320Ds. 42mpg, not very big, both did over 200k miles, all original
replaced with Avensis touring, 1.8 petrol, 39mpg, prisonable speeds easily achieved, massive boot, £245 VED. I haven't had a car that cheers me up so much in years, economy, performance, never seen such clean oil, comfortable on a 200 mile drive, rolls like it's on Chris King bearings. I spent some time looking at reliability, safety etc and this was a winner. What was an 'interim' car is likely to stay put until it or we explode.
Couple of things to consider:
Some cars have auto-levelling rear suspension on estate models and sometimes others. Volvo do this, as do VW on some Passats. Might be something you would appreciate with a lot of stuff in the car - but then again maybe not if there are only two of you.
If you have a VAG car and you really want to work on it you can get a thing called VCDS which does most of what dealer diagnostics does, but not all of course. Other DIY level systems are available for other cars but none are anywhere near as good and most revolve around dodgy ripped off copies of software. It is £250 though, but it can pay for itself if you are committed to fixing it. It takes all the guesswork out of the modern car.
Also, estates hold their value better than saloons, which in your case makes them more expensive to purchase.
Don't get hung up on depreciation. Buy the car you want for the price you want and consider the money spent. If you are environmentally minded you'll want to keep it as long as possible, which means that there is no point worrying about depreciation because it now works in your favour. You might find a diesel more value for money. They do still emit less CO2 after all.
I did look at an astra estate – surprisingly big
I was hoping you guys would tell me a 10 yr old BMW touring would be better than a ruddy Dacia!
One factor that is almost always overlooked is comfort and the general quality and condition of the interior of a banger. Cheap cars are nasty inside and generally dull to drive - you pay money for luxury / refinement and that applies at the banger end as much as the top end. You have to balance the mechanical side with the driving experience, you might find a low miles mechanically mint example of a budget car that has an interior that looks like a crime scene. Personally I'd rather a nice car with some toys such as cruise control and at £5k i might go for something premium with +120k miles and +10 years old as opposed anything mechanically less tired but just less car for the same money. At £5k you can have a BMW if you want one - it will just be older and have more miles.
One factor that is almost always overlooked is comfort and the general quality and condition of the interior of a banger.
The majority of modern cars are pretty comfortable to drive, at least as far as the seats are concerned, however the amount of room for legs when the seats are pushed back can vary, location of pedals, etc along with the position of things like handbrake, armrests and suchlike can make a huge difference to enjoying driving a car. Getting into a model and make of car that you’ve never ever been in before, and spending three hours or so driving 200+ miles, which I did for two years really does prove quite enlightening regarding creature comforts in modern motor vehicles.
French cars often have the most comfy seats, however Berlingos and Partners I very quickly learned to loath and detest because they’re horribly uncomfortable to drive; at least for me, because I have arthritis in my left knee, and the cabin layout won’t allow one’s left leg to stretch out by the side of the pedals, there’s a footrest in the way. Which means driving with legs bent in one position, because it’s basically a van with windows and the seats don’t slide back very far.
Someone suggested the Zafira, and I wouldn’t argue with that, with the rear seats down there’s a fair amount of room in the back, they’re pretty nippy, and the later ones have a much improved dash layout. ‘Cos they’re really popular with Motability clients, I’ve driven loads, and our pool car at work is a Zaffy, it gets horribly abused but the damn thing just keeps on going, spent many hours driving them, and I can’t really fault them.
Update
The situation is quite fluid right now and uncertain so I have decided not to rush into buying but go with the car club and hire vehicles for now, but from this thread I do now have a better idea of what to go for ie
Jap estate maybe mazda 6 or Avensis, Astra estate perhaps but the key thing is condition and history. Not a big v8 bmw 🙁
Thanks for your help
go with the car club and hire vehicles for now
A good choice IMO, unless doing a lot of miles or bikes on each week.
Had a couple of Mondeo hatchbacks, both have had a couple of kayaks on the roof and a tandem in the boot - with passenger seat right forward only need to remove front wheel & turn both sets of bars, so you don't necessarily need an estate.
Never buy a car from Birmingham is a piece of good advice
Who suggested the car club? its a nightmare for an old befuddled man like me. I couldn't find the car, couldn't find the pin pad to start it, it wouldn't lock when I had finished! all sorted by the very helpful customer services but that was difficult. Better luck tomorrow I guess!
Travelled Carlisle to Edinburgh on public transport (empty train/bus) to pick up a Pug 208 I'd bought on eBay - low bid to keep track of it, that ended up winning. Did my due diligence, MOT check (N Irish, so a few years not accessible), HPI check (Cat N, in 2015 as advertised), spoke to the guy on the phone asking about Cat N, history etc, condition - it all tallied and he runs a car related business. He agreed to pick me up from Waverley, as it was a few miles to his. Car had fairly obvious repairs to bonnet - which I could accept, as I knew it was Cat N. But then there was dog hair on the underside insulation of the bonnet, part of which was soaked in oil. Top of the engine clearly had new parts, bolts etc. Can only think the head had gone spaffing oil upwards etc? The bonnet had obviously been off recently, unless the spaniel at his feet could levitate. Awkward conversation to tell him I was backing out as not as described - there was him and a few of his mechanic lads watching on. His attitude became like a bolshy schoolboy caught red handed, but not giving a f*@k.
Lesson learned. On the up side, it was an exciting day, travelling to another country etc and I do like Edinburgh.
to fit the tandem in the boot with just the wheels off needs around a 6 ft load bed. Remove the fork as well and it can be a bit shorter
For info - and just because someone else asked me to measure it recently - my 2014 Octavia Estate has 210cm (just over 6'10") between the back of passenger seat (pushed forwards) and the inside of the rear hatch. So it should fit easily in something like that.
ta
old befuddled man
You'll be needing...
Astra estate here, and it has been great for us in the 5 years we've owned it. Test drove one but found it very wallowy with a lot of body roll on twisty roads. The SRi has stiffer suspension and it's road holding seemed way better, so is what we ended up with. You do feel every bump though!
ridc has the length behind front (and rear) seats of nearly every car sold in the last ~20 years. Extremely useful for comparing stuff when you're buying to try to get a bike in.. I'd probably still go for a roofrack over this for a tandem though
https://www.ridc.org.uk/features-reviews/out-and-about/choosing-car/make
sample of cars I was interested in..
car 2 seat length
old berlingo 1356
tourneo 1450
touran 1660
qashquai 1721
new m berlingo 1755
old i30 1760
mazda 5 1760
leon 1780
zafira 1800
carens 1812
ceed 1855
grand c4 picasso 1864
logan 1865
insignia 1880
optima 1885
v70 1885
signum 1900
disco 1906
octavia (2017) 1911
xl berlingo 1930
mondeo 1931
v90 1935
i40 1967
mazda 6 1968
passat 1970
smax 1975
mk3 mondeo 1979
new insignia 1985
Vectra 2001
sharan 2005
2011 e class 2010
galaxy 2040
superb 2061
grand tourneo 2175
t6 2565