+1 V70 D5. Two bikes, camping kit, gubbins for 24/12 this weekend.

PS The Civics have ace back seats that flip up as well as down. With both seats up my road bike slides in along the back without taking any wheels off, and I still have a boot space left.

Didn't you slag off your Astra on another thread? Something went really wrong with it?

Had swirl flap failure – which was fixed under warranty but would have been bad out of it.

It also had a terrible dash but otherwise, for the money, it was a decent allrounder.

Surfmat:

I think the 335d has a slightly smaller boot due to the two exhausts but I may be wrong.

Transmission tunnel for the Ultimate Driving Machine, probably reduces boot space a bit too…..

Stumpy – the rear suspension struts are the biggest robber of space TBH. Still a useful sized boot though – better than older Tourings which were tiny.

I did the same exercise last month. Shortlist was: Octavia, Mondeo and Mazda 6 (all estates). After taking a look at all 3 – the 6 won hands down (VFM, Style, spec(press a button to make the rear seats go down!)) Put my order in 2 weeks ago, delivery due mid September

VW T5 combi??

Still a useful sized boot though – better than older Tourings which were tiny.

jeez, the old ones must have been really small. have a current one and we struggle on hols with the kids and kit. Bikes always go on the roof, never eveen tried to put one insde.

If you are looking for space i woudl definately not reccomend.

Volvo T5, no one will suspect a thing untill you get the urge to be 9 years old again and floor it, those thigns are biblicaly quick and with the seats down you could mistake it for a newbuild flat's living room. Only problem is I'm 6ft, and still feel like I need a cussion to see over the bonnet which ends somewhere in the next county!

A friend has one and happily reports that it cruises at 140mph+ (Norwich to Bracknell in 1hr30min in the days before the average speed cameras on the M4).

If you are looking for space i woudl definately not reccomend.

Well it's a lot more than a hatchback which many families cope fine with!

Mondeo or Mazda 6

Saabs et al cost a fortune to fix when big things go wrong

surf mat – mine has no more space in the boot than my father in law's 02 focus hatchback. I'm not moaning as I didn't get it for the space and it fits most of my needs well though 😆

For what its worth I can get a full bike into the boot of my Passat saloon without folding the rear seats , with the wheels and seatpost removed of course.

Whatever your buying be wary of the clockers. Sold my old car two months ago showing in excess of 250k and its back in the ATrader with 118k !!!

Ian – is yours a current shape?

Our boot is definitely bigger than a Focus one!

lalazar – I can't (new shape Passat).

FWIW I looked at a new focus and the strut towers really intruded quite a lot into the boot….

surf mat – yeah, a 2010 model. just googled – focus is 385 litres and the 318 tourer is 460 litres, so apologies. just looks smaller I guess 😳

I have a 08 plate Saab 93 Estate. Twin turbo diesel. plenty of room for bikes and kit, stupid quick and most importantly doesn't turn heads. Especially in black. Brilliant car.

Iain – I think they are similarish with seats folded though!

Nols – I like your style. Took a similar route with an SE 335d (i.e. no silly plastic bodykit or giant spindly alloys that crack) Touring. Not too shouty, properly rapid. Yours is 180bhp I think? Does the FWD cope okay? My 150bhp diesel Astra (same engine as yours but single turbo) used to torque steer and understeer a bit.

Molgrips mines the older on 2002. Back right hand corner theres a recess for bits/ fag lighter, you can get the rear mech in there and keep the bars towards the back. My medium Yeti 575 goes in no probs.

Surf-mat
It manages it ok although mine has had the MAP tun chipping done so its 205hp.
Ultimately it understeers when its pushed very hard, which I dont mind as my wife also drives it. (She grew up in the South of France and drives accordingly). Never had any real torque steer though, brilliant on the motorway and not too big either if that makes sense. I was trying to describe to a friend the other day. Its one of those cars that I never lusted after, dont have an emotional connection to etc, but I would really miss it if it went…

nols – some cars just get the job done well without making a fuss. I like those sort of cars. Just over 300bhp in the Bimmer but it looks (to those not in the know) like a 145bhp 318d… 😉

We've just bought a Galaxy, nice to drive & still does 40mpg. Took the seats out to clean & its like a furniture lorry!!! Not as comfortable on long trips as a big hatch/saloon though.
If you can find a nice one, the early Mondeo could be had with a TDDi engine, as opposed to TDCi. Not as prone to the potentially costly injector issues on the TDCi. That said, we've a rattly old 150k TDCi thats still a hoot to drive. If spending a bit more I'd get a D4D Avensis, but dont bother paying more for the 180hp model.

Now being an owner of an E class I can confirm their general massive-ness (even compared to my previous Accord estate) and there suitability for putting bikes in. They are big! Just make sure that you go for either a pre-2003 model or a post 2006 model, since the 2003-2006 ones we a low point for Merc quality and tend to throw up electrical issues.

since the 2003-2006 ones we a low point for Merc quality and tend to throw up electrical issues.

😆

Is that a low or a low-low or possible rock-bottom? Lets face it with Merc there are varying degrees of quality issues since the late 90's.

VWGs are driven by bad people 😉

any anyone who says they are more reliable than any other type of car is talking out their arse, you see just as many of them stuck on the hard shoulder as an other type of car.

To that end, im going to suggest an frenchy HDi engine, rather than a German TDI or Italian JTD/multijet

Rock bottom is definitely the Vivano 🙁 The worst, lowest quality Mrec product ever. My boss had one, bought new and it was unbelieveably unreliable.

Low point for E classes were late 90's Merc experiments with water based paints (see how many rusty late 90's mercs there are around) and general cost cutting. By the mid 00's MB had got their act together and now seem as well built as anything. They almost screwed it up though with the cost cutting.

generic estate car 🙂 anything a bike fits in is good in my books 🙂

surf mat

nowt wrong with a

145bhp 318d

😛

uber economy and as mine is a company car cheap tax !!!

surf mat

nowt wrong with a

Nowt wrong at all. But looking like you have one but actually having twice the power is rather fun 😉

The 318d loaner I had appeared to use NO fuel at all!

LOL. the 335 must be an amazing drive. I love the 318 and on a twisty road it is just about as much fun as the Golf GTi it replaced, albeit it took a while to get used to the drop of 60bhp and different torque curve. Handing certainly is as good as the golf, just not the same feeling under the right foot 😆 the 43mpg average, with mainly town driving/bikes on roof/carriers permanently fitted makes up for it vs. the 27 mpg I got from the golf !

mate of mine as a Diesel Avensis Estate – huge inside, ideal for bikes and sprogs..

Iain – it's lots of fun and even makes a nice noise when pushed hard! I suspect your 318 is torquier than the Golf? And it's "proper wheel drive" too although the GTI (mk5 I assume?) is a cracking car and definitely rapid.

I had a mk4 R32 – the only mk4 that handled – and loved it. Also had a mk3 GTi 16v and a mk2 GTi 8v. Bit of a Golf fanboy!

Surf Mat – yes, was a Mk5, crackin' car but punted it after 3 yrs and took a company car instead ! still miss it sometimes 😛

Surf-Mat – Member

Iain – it's lots of fun and even makes a nice noise when pushed hard! I suspect your 318 is torquier than the Golf? And it's "proper wheel drive" too although the GTI (mk5 I assume?) is a cracking car and definitely rapid.

I had a mk4 R32 – the only mk4 that handled – and loved it. Also had a mk3 GTi 16v and a mk2 GTi 8v. Bit of a Golf fanboy!

Oh dear, & you always spoke as if you had a little bit of authority about you until you said the Mk4 R32 'handled', let yourself down on that one old chap 😉

Pwned!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!