OK, i'm aware that it could already be decided that an Octavia is the answer ... but anyway.
Looking at visiting the UK and Europe for an extended holiday riding and walking and am considering travel options.
Rough idea is a bit of family stuff (Devon, Midlands, maybe Lake District), a bit of time in Scotland.
Then head to the Pyrenees and work across the bottom of France through northern Italy to Slovenia.
Zig zag back through the Alps to Blighty.
Rough cost of hire cars plus trains (London-Toulouse) (Brussels-London) is 3,600GBP
So, if we spent four grand on a vehicle instead and sold it at the end (I could get family to help with some of the logistics hopefully) we'd save a bit.
We'd be 3 adult size people and a kid. If there's something we could fit all of us inside plus bikes we'd bring three bikes, but accept we maybe have to hire bikes along the way.
But what would a good bet be for that kind of money?
Used volvo estate - but you're a bit late as a recent/current thread shows.
Grrrrr...just typed out a longer response then STW crapped out and I lost it. Anyway, can you get car insurance for your own car without a UK address/licence?
I have a UK licence. I can use a family member's address, and even register it in their name and take out a temporary period of insurance.
People carrier of some sort, Alhambra maybe?
Skoda superb estate. Then beg/borrow/ order from roofbox some roof bars & mounts for a bike. It’ll swallow luggage and still have plenty room for proper people. 4k should get you a 2010 or newer with the 170tdi lump. You’ll put 3-4k miles on it in that time and it wont dent any residual value. Lower mileage the better obviously. I’d look out for one with a changed timing belt otherwise that engine should just run and run.
with anything like this budget for brakes, tyres and possibly rear shocks/springs. Familiy holidays can be quite hard on vehicles used to plodding up and down motorways 1-up.
Use the government MOT checker to see how well looked after it has been. One this to consider: really you should have the actual V5 with you at all times when travelling in Europe. They’re usually pretty quick in delivery but it’s something to beware of.
Having said go for the tdi, this tsi looks lovely. this tsi looks lovely.
People carrier could be useful. Not sure about the extra hassle of roof bars etc - keeping the theft risk down would be good.
Good tip on the V5, ideally i'll get things worked out before we arrive and that will give time for the V5 to get sorted.
I doubt you’ll find anything big enough to carry bikes and luggage inside a people carrier. Really you’d need to look at a kombi van of some sort - we’d struggle with our caravelle.
You're right ... I think it might be easier to just hire them and it's one less thing to worry about.
Maaaaaate, you don't want a big flash fancy car, you want a
As mooted above, have you considered a crew cab van?
I'd suggest a Vivaro/Trafic and £4k should get you a decent enough one, have a look on Van Trader and Gumtree.
The key thing here is you can keep the bikes all out of sight in the back, freeing you up to do your other touristy things with less worry.
Could you bump the budget? The only objective is to sell the car for more than £x- £3600 - insurance at the end and you've saved over hiring.
Yeah, budget could probably be flexible.
Nissan Qashqai if you can find one in budget - very popular (lots of them, easy to buy) , very reliable (nothing will go wrong), very easy to sell on or trade in (see again very popular). Something like this:
Something with a V12 or if you can't find one you'd need to settle with a V8.
All seriousness, I'd look at a big Lexus, you'd get a car with: comfort, decently powerful engine and Toyota reliability. And they can be bought quite cheap.
Edit:- I'm tempted to buy this myself.
As mooted above, have you considered a crew cab van?
I’d suggest a Vivaro/Trafic and £4k should get you a decent enough one, have a look on Van Trader and Gumtree.
Need four seats...Not sure the kids would last five weeks fighting over who goes in the back.
That's quite some journey for 6 weeks....
Have you forgotten how much busier, narrower and winding European roads are compared to Australia?
We’d be 3 adult size people and a kid. If there’s something we could fit all of us inside plus bikes we’d bring three bikes, but accept we maybe have to hire bikes along the way.
That has Kombi/Crew Cab vab written all over it, particularly as you don't intend to keep it forever or have to do commutes/town centre shopping trips in it.
Need four seats…Not sure the kids would last five weeks fighting over who goes in the back.
5-6 seats in a Kombi and loads more space than in an estate car with 6 weeks worth of belongings.
If you want to get it purchased and registered, within budget and ideally before you land in blighty then I reckon ubiquity is the key, needs to be common and at ~£4k budget it's most likely going to be a decade plus old.
Sadly estates are in decline here, so a Qashqui isn't actually a bad suggestion or even a Dacia (duster is basically the same thing innit?) "family SUV" is now the British norm, there's tons of them about, you might score a Kuga for £4k (if you can trust a ford) or if an MPV feels like a better option a zafira could work, but generally for your timescales and budget keep it common and stick to basic spec, 2L TDI type versions...
Might be worth getting your relatives to put it through a service for you too before flying out, just to be sure fluids/filters/belts have been done before you rely on it for a Euro road trip. Factor that into the costs too.
That’s quite some journey for 6 weeks….
That's no bother. Aside from Slovenia I've driven all the routes before in much shorter times.
I'd look at a 1.8-2.0l petrol Japanese estate - but check for rust. The simpler the betterer.
Surely if 'you come from the land down under' you need to 'travel in a fried out Kombi'
Nissan nv200?
If you can either strip the bikes down into tiny parts, or live with them on boot-rack.
Older Mk1 or facelift Ford C-Max 1.6 petrol for <£1000.
The engine is pretty indestructible because there is nothing complicated to go wrong.
It'll do 40-42mpg.
The legroom in the back is brilliant because it's tall.
Boot is OK (it's a MK2 Focus estate floor with more headroom, so the boot floor isn't quite as generous as a MK1 focus), you can remove the center rear seat if you don't need it (and slide the main seats in/back to make it even more limo like if you don't need the whole boot). Generic roof racks are cheap and easy to install (bolt on mounts hidden in the roof gutters) or there are plenty with towbars.
I had one for 8 years / 160k and the sum total of it's maintenance outside of the service schedule and tyres was:
1 set of pads and disks
1 set of front suspension bushings
1 power steering hose
1 alternator + belt
Cheap, comfy, reliable, nice to drive, and £3k less risk if it does suffer a terminal problem on the wrong side of Europe.
Might be worth getting your relatives to put it through a service for you too before flying out, just to be sure fluids/filters/belts have been done before you rely on it for a Euro road trip. Factor that into the costs too.
Do you have a mechanically minded relative who can look at them for you? Brit's seem to be getting worse and worse at looking after cars. There's loads for sale round here that are just objectively a shiny money pit, they've spent £20 at the local human trafficking ring's car wash to get in shiny, but it's not been serviced for 2 years, the tyres are bald and the EML is on but that's OK because it goes out when you switch it off. The elusive perfect car owned by someone's grandparents and serviced every 500miles for the last 10 years with 4 new Dunlop tyres is really elusive! As someone said, either pick something ubiquitous so there's a lot of choice , or pick someone you trust to go and look at a few cars that meet the requirements and buy the best one.
I would look at the Ford S-Max. Lots of space with the option to carry 7 people and you should be able to get something decent for £4k.
The likes of Qashqai's are great for what they are but have limited luggage space - I would want something bigger for a 6 week trip for four people.
With all those big motorway miles, fully loaded, don't look at anything but a diesel. As said previously, a Skoda Superb est is the way to go, there is simply nothing else out there ( except an E-class est) with as much room. And you won't loose a penny when you sell it on!
I've just been on Autotrader, there's a 275k Superb on there ( the link won't work ) for £1999.00. I dare you!
A few things to bear in mind (if you haven't already).
A £4K car is much more likely to breakdown (possibly involving a long stay in a garage to fix) than a new hire car (which you can just change for another if it breaks down). Also, you'll be driving on the wrong side of the road for quite a few miles. Hire cars mean you can hire the most appropriate vehicle for each leg of your trip.
But, yeah, if you do want to buy, a Skoda is the obvious choice I guess.
How did you get yo £3600 for renting? Plugging a random 5 week date onto the avis home page gets prices from around £200 a week, and that's unlikely to be the cheapest option.
I think getting paperwork for a car you buy delivered to somewhere in time for you to then sell it again might prove limiting
I have heard that this used to be the thing back in the day but given the used car market now the idea fills me with fear. Doing it with a £300 small car, which was entirely feasible 20 years ago means you're only on the hook for £300 if it dies. If you buy a £4k van and it goes wrong you've got to fix it. That could take 6 weeks on its own!
forget the car, I'd be going for one of these!
Interrail Global Pass Adult1 month
1st class
1 month of unlimited train travel
Travel on as many trains as you like for 1 month straight – perfect for a fast-paced, flexible trip.
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Have you considered this mad idea: two little cars? Proper road trip, will take all your stuff and your bikes. I got two big bikes, a pile of wheels and all our stuff for a week’s alpine riding in the back of my old Abarth.
we spent £200 on each of these corsa Bs, drove them from Birmingham, to turin, on to nice via col de tende and back to brum whereupon we scrapped them. With your budget you could do a damned site better 
Ford Galaxy.
21(!) years ago a mate and I bought this for £300.*
We did a bit of fettling, painted it works livery and then joined some others to drive from London to Nice in 24 hours, then back to London via the windy roads to complete in 72 hours.
Whilst it was epic I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be quite the same with family or with both adults driving...putting aside the fact that from Turin on Sunday afternoon to Strasbourg in Monday morning rush hour we were constantly replacing the white cloud that kept escaping from the exhaust. We left the car to be recovered and got an Octavia to the ferry!
*actual photo is a few years later running a Rover V8
@tractionman the train idea is appealing too, but pretty much all the places we want to go will be hard to access that way, especially when we have to lug all our gear plus the youngest ones as he can't carry as much.
@5lab the prices are what I got when I punched in 2 weeks in the UK, 3 weeks in Europe and the specific train trips...
I have a UK licence. I can use a family member’s address, and even register it in their name and take out a temporary period of insurance.
You'll struggle to find someone to cover you for what you want to do if you answer the questions honestly. A non-uk resident main driver on someone else's policy is iffy, and I'm pretty sure you'll struggle to get European cover included thanks to Brexit.
You want an Octavia, just rent an Octavia for £165 a week: https://thegaragecarrental.co.uk/car-hire-croydon/
Check they'll let you take it out the UK.
You’ll struggle to find someone to cover you for what you want to do if you answer the questions honestly. A non-uk resident main driver on someone else’s policy is iffy, and I’m pretty sure you’ll struggle to get European cover included thanks to Brexit.
I did it in 2022 in the UK only by getting a one month policy.
the prices are what I got when I punched in 2 weeks in the UK, 3 weeks in Europe and the specific train trips…
Why not just rent a single car for the whole trip? Plenty of places can sort cross border rentals.
Yep... Van rentals I've looked at for 6 weeks are about £3.5k
Buying a £4K car and expecting it to get around Europe is incredible wishful thinking IMO
You might get lucky but I doubt it
What an amazing statement. It's not the 1980s anymore grandad.
Modern cars are very reliable and once you get over say £2500 the choice of 10 year old cars is pretty good.
Saying a £4k car won't make it another 3000 miles is just nonsense.
You might be unlucky and buy a lemon, but there's every chance of a used car going from 140,000 miles to 150,000 miles without missing a beat.
I would have got into my 312,000 mile Passat , filled up the washer bottle, checked the tyres and headed for Poland and fully expected to drive there and back.
I think I'd forget the bikes and hire where/when needs be.
To be honest I'd probably fly places as well.
Drive to north of Scotland then fly to furthest point and drive back to London. Halves the driving but I concede that you'd be paying more as the car isn't returned to original place of hire.
Buying a £4K car and expecting it to get around Europe is incredible wishful thinking IMO
That’s a worry as virtually every car I’ve ever bought has been under £4k. (Quite a few Hondas which have all been sound)
You can get a good Honda accord for less than 4k it would probably be fine for years and tens of thousands of miles.
Yeah, I drove my Dad's Avensis Verso around 2022 and it was like a new car. Top of the range model and I think he sold it for less than 5 grand. I'd be borrowing that if he had it still.
What an amazing statement. It’s not the 1980s anymore grandad.
Modern cars are very reliable and once you get over say £2500 the choice of 10 year old cars is pretty good.
Saying a £4k car won’t make it another 3000 miles is just nonsense.
I am not saying that - what I am saying is that someone going on holiday wants limited risk. You may get a good car, but also you may get a car that needs some work doing to it, afterall that tends to be why people sell cars. So you end up with the car costing you more in repairs and loose some of your holiday.
Personally I would be just hiring
