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Sad news yesterday as my sweet deo looks to be coming the end of the road... egr filter, works torear suspension, wheel bearings etc means a big bill coming up.
I'm not prepared to start paying big bills when the car is 11years old and I've had 100k miles out of it, so I'm on the look out for new wheels.
Most likely I'll end up with a mondeo, cos I'm boring 😀.
What alternatives should I be looking at? Budget 10k, needs to cart 3kids, a dog and bikes.
V70
Superb?
Isn't the standard response an Octavia estate
Skoda Superb Estate.
Isn’t the standard response an Octavia estate
I thought the standard answer was whatever the poster happens to drive whether it matches any of the criteria or not.
Have just rebuilt and a bit of paint for my worthless 190k mile V70 with all new suspension/wheel bearings/CV's/steering rack. ~£1500 in parts.
If it hasn't rusted to death then fix it is my mantra
Ford Galaxy. We love ours. 3 kids and dog, bikes out back, no problems.
Dam I was going to say which ever flat 6 naturally aspirated Porsche engined car you prefer
Edit : realistically is it worth looking at a hybrid, do you go in to big cities much?
Tesla model 3
// I thought the standard answer was whatever the poster happens to drive whether it matches any of the criteria or not.//
Porsche Macao.
bmw 3 or 5 series with the biggest engine possible?
Buy my Mondeo and save me the trouble of putting it on Autotrader?
Pickup truck.
I’m not prepared to start paying big bills when the car is 11years old and I’ve had 100k miles out of it, so I’m on the look out for new wheels.
I don't understand this at all. You'll likely loose more than that in depreciation within 3 months of purchasing your new car.
Mine is 17y old and will need new driveshafts and rear wheel bearings soon, but the parts are only £400 and there's only 16 bolts.
Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe
Leon estate? Better value than a lot of the Germans.
Nothing quite has the load capacity of a Mondeo though.
Another mondeo is a good shout tbf, they’re popular/common for a reason, namely they are great all round cars.
I also am of the opinion that the car you already own is the cheapest to run.
Especially if it has proven reliability.
I’m not prepared to start paying big bills when the car is 11years old and I’ve had 100k miles out of it, so I’m on the look out for new wheels.
100k is nothing, pretty much any modern car is capable of double that if maintained correctly. I'm planning to get past 200k in my piddly little Fabia, well over half way at 8 years old and not one single bill outside of servicing yet!
I wish I had the time and patience to work on my car, but I'm not that interested in them anymore. I also don't want the nagging feeling that it might breakdown on me and the kids, I have one autistic child that struggles with situations arising like that.
The aircon went pop last summer, so things are starting to go on it now in any case.
My time of fixing cars passed when I sold my Scimitar, having said that I've just looked at a TVR, not sure it meets the brief though 🙂
Anyway, V70 on the list. The Superb should tick the right boxes but it's just not grabbing me, I think it's the sloping backend that is putting me off.
SMax, not sold, though I could do with seeing one in the flesh.
Ideally I'd get an electric Mondeo, but they don't exist. Yet.
Edit - I've had 100k out of it, it had 50k on it when I got it, and I still might fix it up, but I need it to be reliable for work.
100k is nothing, pretty much any modern car is capable of double that if maintained correctly. I’m planning to get past 200k in my piddly little Fabia, well over half way at 8 years old and not one single bill outside of servicing yet!
My Passat is 10 years old and 110k. The clutch master cylinder went last week. Cost me £170 to get it towed home and a further £180 to get it fixed - I also wasted a day getting home and sorting shit out. I was unlucky that it went 100 miles from home. I was hoping to get to £200k but many more days/bills like that and its getting moved on. There is a lot of luck involved with how cars get mechanical failures - some things hang by a thread for years - other go at the worst possible time.
We have an Smax, which I like for what it is. Before that, we had three mondeos, which were great. We only bought the Smax out of necessity as we needed the extra seats, otherwise it probably would have been Mondeo number 4 (Or maybe a Mazda 6 for a bit of a change).
After test driving the Smax, the Mondeo felt like a sports car.
Another mondeo is a good shout tbf, they’re popular/common for a reason
Not in recent years Mercedes have sold way more C Class for example - nearly 4 times as many last couple of years. It's why it's being discontinued. I like them but when I was last looking they were scarce and expensive in the spec I wanted.
V50 is 17 this year with 113k on the clock - only time it let me down* was an alternator failure when I arrived at a hotel on a job that meant I had to commute to the customer by bike for the week (good job it was in the back - space was not an issue 🙂 ). I wouldn't be too scared by a well cared for high miler.
* Of course, I have now jinxed it and expect to find nothing but a pile of ash when I open the curtains in the morning.
BMW Z4
My Passat is 10 years old and 110k. The clutch master cylinder went last week. Cost me £170 to get it towed home and a further £180 to get it fixed – I also wasted a day getting home and sorting shit out. I was unlucky that it went 100 miles from home. I was hoping to get to £200k but many more days/bills like that and its getting moved on. There is a lot of luck involved with how cars get mechanical failures – some things hang by a thread for years – other go at the worst possible time.
Another way of looking at the is that you paid 1/12th of a an annual pcp payment for a Focus sized hatchback on a series of parts that’ll last for a long while. Approximately calculated and does not factor purchasing the car or depreciation. Inconvenient but cheaper.
Passat is my go-to for a decent sized car that can take people, small people, dogs and/or bikes. Ours is a flexifuel 1.4 TSi/TFSI/small turbo that will take ethanol and gives decent economy when loaded.
Cost about 10k for a car with about 100k Km on. Had it now for three years and the only real expense has been some suspension work after the front bushings dissolved after a hard winter. That was about 1500 UKP to fix at Stockholm prices. Uppsala would have been cheaper.
V70s are as big, but feel smaller to me and do not appear to get as good economy. Skoda == VW == Seat.
If it were me, I'd repair it. It's cheaper than buying a new car and you know tha the bits you fixed are good for the future. If you need reliability, is new an option? The hybrid Kia estates look huge and should be relatively affordable. My go-to suggestion for around town is the new Corolla hybride estate, but that might be a bit small for three kids and bikes.
Pickup truck.
I raise you 6 wheel G wagon.
Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe
Took me a while, but I eventually got it.
Edit. I got curious about what the Mad Max style Fords are worth these days. Jesus, they ain't cheap.
https://www.carsales.com.au/cars/details/1975-ford-falcon-gt-xb-auto/SSE-AD-7031763/?Cr=1
Like many I CBA to deal with cars going wrong, more hassle than it's worth.
With your requirements a large estate like a Superb sounds right, just buy as new/low mileage as you can afford and make sure you've the 'right' engine (not too small nor too large) but do go for the highest spec.
Ideally I’d get an electric Mondeo, but they don’t exist. Yet.
And if they did exist I am guessing they would cost well over £30K so a but over the £10K budget 🙂
Ideally I’d get an electric Mondeo, but they don’t exist. Yet
Hybrid ?
Skoda != VW != Seat
Similar but not the same. Although they share lots of bits the ride, equipment and interiors are designed for each brands target market.
Like many I CBA to deal with cars going wrong, more hassle than it’s worth.
works torear suspension, wheel bearings etc means a big bill coming up.
Do you people throw out your mountain bikes when the wheel bearings die?
Assuming an average annual milage I would have said a Passat with 100k on it was probably the last ICE car you'll ever need to see you through until 2030!
FWIW my last two cars
- Ford C-max, 140k, died a violent death at the hands (bumper, wing, and sill) of a Vauxhall Zaffira. At the time there was zich wrong with it, everything was perfect, still drove like new. I think it had needed new front radius arm mounts, disks and pads and a wheel bearing since 100k, so probably averageing about £5 a month in parts!
- Berlingo bought on 130k now 140k, it snapped a clutch cable with is just a mix of poor design of the LHD/RHD conversion. Although it has faults (mostly that 1st and 2nd can be reluctant to engage). I'm still expecting at least 2 years out of it before I decide whether the cambelt and rear axle are worth doing (they really will be more than the car is worth).
Cars used to die at ~100k because the engine bearings would wear, and the piston rings would wear, and the bores would wear. Basically you were looking at a very labour intensive engine rebuild. You're being conned if you think modern cars, built to modern standards and run on modern synthetic oils are equally end of life at that mileage.
Fix the wheel bearing (typically £35 from ECP/GSF for the whole hub) and in my head, I can only count 8 bolts required to do it.
Get Kwickfit or one of the other drive through garages to do the suspension bushes (I assume it's bushes). It's one of those jobs they'll quote a flat rate of about £200 for because they'll buy the bushings for a fraction of that rather than the whole arm for ~£200/pair and the rest is labour. And 100k bushes have a habit of being a bit reluctant to come out so it's their problem if their penny pinching comes back to bite them.
I love my Superb, but it's VAST, enough to be a bit of a pain to park in NCPs etc if that's an issue for OP.
I'll be getting something smaller next time, I just don't need the size.
Anything V8
Octaia vRS diesel estate.
Not as boat like as the Superb, looks ok, good performance and economy and carries a fair bit of stuff in the back.
Superb
Galaxy
Mondeo
Passat
Sharan
Small cars will be tight. Octavia with 4 people dog and luggage? Will be snug.....
BMW got in touch with me a few weeks ago and wanted to buy mine back off me - they offered me more than they're going second hand (2 yr old X3M40i) - so i said yes, cos although i did like it a lot (and didn't care about the haters), for the last 15 months, it's been a white elephant sat on the drive... so i went out with the cash that appeared in my pocket and bought a 64 plate 2.0l diesel Astra 'sportstourer'. I expected to be very underwhelmed, but actually i'm really quite liking it. It was a shade under £7k and has 45k on the clock. Can't help wondering if the Insignia Estate might be worth a look for you - £10k will get a 5 or 6 year old one with under 20k on the clock...
I did also look at spending a bit more money and test drove a superb (17 plate, 2l diesel, £12k) - hated it. A massive wallowy boat. EVERYTHING was big - i even felt like i was sliding left to right in the seats.. nicely finished though... Octavia would be my choice with Skoda.
My SMax is on 160k and cost me about £750 last Decemeber getting a new DMF fitted. Still goes like a train though. It'll easily get to 200k.
Car I had previously was a Passat B4 that I sold when it was a few miles short of 200k, I'd have kept it if I had the space just for tip runs or bike duties as it was still going great. I took it to the Alps/Pyrenees loads of times and would happily of driven down there again at the time of selling it.
Similarly I'd jump in my SMax and drive it to the Alps tomorrow if I could!
Took me a while, but I eventually got it.
Last of the V8 interceptors. I hadn’t looked at prices, if that is representative 😱
TBH you can't go far wrong with a mondeo, as long as it's not rotten. Which it might well be- they're great cars but they tend not to be loved.
I went with a legacy, because I wanted to go fast and make turbo noises, but tbh most of the time it's worse than my sheddy old mk3 mondeo. And every time I put a bike in the back I think about Galaxies and similar.