Driving home earlier and someone turned right straight into me and sadly my King of Cars Doblo has been written off. I’ve had it 13 years and would have happily kept it forever if I could. A shed on wheels and so uncool and ugly you could leave it anywhere with the engine running and doors open and know you could come back in a couple of hours and it would still be there 😊

The question is now what to replace it with. I still want something that can lug stuff around but definitely petrol this time. I do less than 6000 miles a year and have been really lucky with the Doblo even though most of the time it does relatively short distances. I’d quite like a petrol one but they seem really rare and most you do see are wheelchair conversions. I really don’t care much for performance or even comfort, I like being able to chuck crap in it, reliability and low running costs above everything else. I’ve seen an older 2003  Focus estate  with only 53,000 miles on the clock and a full Ford service history for £1600 which is tempting, without getting anything off that’s only £550 once I’ve had the money for the Doblo. That’s tempting if only as a short term option. With work still furloughed and no real prospect of properly being working again until the later part of next year a short term option seems to make sense. I’ve got the funds to spend more and if I was looking further ahead then I’d probably be looking at something in the 5-7 thousand range with the hope I could keep it going for at least 10 years. It would be nice to think this will be the last internal combustion engine I ever buy.

This place is always great for getting a wide range of opinions, ideas and advice on every subject know to man so naturally I want to hear the collective STW  thoughts.

Kangoo maxi? Unsure if they do petrol, but electric ain’t too expensive

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/van-details/202012116992935?postcode=ka91jw&model=KANGOO%20MAXI&sort=relevance&fuel-type=Electric&include-delivery-option=on&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&make=RENAULT&advertising-location=at_vans&radius=1501&page=1

Golf Estate. Drives like a hatch, has a bigger boot than most ‘proper’ big estates. Very unfashionable but a nice place to sit and if you can find one with the 1.4 petrol would be perfect. A ‘14-16 plate depending on mileage would be in budget.

I looked at the budget options just recently and something like the Focus Estate you mention would do the trick but Mrs D convinced me we should spend a fairly decent amount and get something newer so I went for a ‘15 Golf Estate. Newer cars have the advantage of having some pretty useful toys; start/stop, an ICE system that will actually talk to modern phones, adaptive cruise (black magic), emergency city braking, hill start assist etc are all standard on the Golf.

Sticking with the budget options a Citroen C5 Estate is worth considering. Any still on the road should be reliable enough and you can fit a couple of moons in the boot. Deeply uncool as well so tick that box too.

While I’d quite like a van I still need a car that can carry passengers and if I ever do need one I can borrow the work one.

No Golf or 5C estates within 50 miles of me, one of the problems living on the coast is you only have 180 degrees to go without getting wet. I did have a Golf years go, slightly put me off them as it was an 87, a year they had issues with supplies from Bosch so a lot of the electrics were Ducellier and lived up very well to the reputation of French car electrics! Funny how something now utterly irrelevant clouds your judgement.

I’ve seen a 2009 Honda Jazz for 3K very close by, not an estate but supposedly pretty good for boot space and there is always the work van if I do need to move anything big. I think I’ll see if I can go and have a look at that over the weekend.

My last car was a 1.8 petrol civic, 40mpg, cavernous interior, all the toys, full leather, sold it for 2k in summer, something like that would do you.

Truly bombproof car.

see are wheelchair conversions.

If they still have the ramp, be ideal for getting bikes in!

Can you find a Multipla near you. The odd looking one with the mono-brow with half the headlights in it. Surely the ideal replacement for a Doblo.

Nobeer’s suggestion of a Civic is a good one. The wedge shaped one (the FN2) has a huge boot and has the added advantage of loads of space under the back seats. Get a Type R and you have a petrol engined car as per your requirements that will be a hoot to drive (I know, I had one).

Berlingo?

Ive got a 2.0 HDI now but did test drive a 1.4 petrol. TBH the petrol was painfully slow, but then the 2.0 is so lumpy Im not sure the extra torque ever outweighs the lumpy gearbox and clutch.

Low milage petrols are pretty cheap, or at least the same price as diesels but have rarely done many miles.

If they still have the ramp, be ideal for getting bikes in!

Or riding out in full skinsuit! 😊

I think I probably will go Japanese, had a Toyota Carina which had been my dad’s and only got rid of that as I needed 3 proper seats in the back at the time. Don’t think in the 15 years we had it between us either of us ever opened the bonnet and he’s now had his Picnic 20 years and not once has it failed to start or break down. I rather wish the Japanese exported more of the cars they have for the domestic market. I don’t think I’ve ever been anywhere where so many vehicles seemed to be built with function put before all other criteria.

Ford Transit connect?

About the nicest of the van derivatives, vastly superior to the Berlingo/Partner, both of which I loath with a vengeance, dreadful auto-‘box, horribly uncomfortable driving position, every existing example should be crushed and turned into razor blades.
Kangoo are OK, but if forced into a situation where I needed such a vehicle, I’d go for the Ford. Good engines, the auto ‘box is fine, comfy to drive, nice features like a heated ‘screen, which is just a wonderful thing on really cold mornings for clearing frost, ice or just heavy condensation, mine was clear within a minute this morning, when I went out to the car and found the screen had a fairly thick layer of ice on it.
I’ve noticed VW using them as well, now, as well as Vauxhall, and about time.

I’m keen on that Ford in manual to replace the Berlingo as I can’t find a Berlingo newer that to ticks the boxes…

I’d go for the Ford.

Not on the Ops budget you won’t.

Ford Connects at that sort of budget (i.e. the old old shape) have really bad problems with rust.

Coming from a Doblo, any other regular car will be a disappointment in terms of load area/changing inside area.

Berlingo is the one. I see loads about within the cash range you mentioned above. Infinitely more sexy looking than the Doblo too.

I had the 1.6 petrol for ten years or so. Absolutely brilliant car. So versatile.
I couldn’t GAS about ‘making progress’ as so many seem to, but it was plenty fast enough and held everything.

I only changed as I needed a full sized van. Would have happily run that car for all my days.

I saw a dude at Cannock loading his bike into a wheelchair conversion the other day actually. Looked to work well.

Jay Kay and his favourite car

 I’ve seen an older 2003  Focus estate  with only 53,000 miles on the clock and a full Ford service history for £1600 which is tempting,

Run away. Early models are prone to structural rust. Lift up the rear seat squab and check the area where the rear seatbelts mount. The over complicated rear suspension will also be shagged or rotting.

If your budget is around £1600, then finding a petrol in any form will be a struggle. Why not just buy another Doblo? I can see over 90 listed on Autotrader.

My load lugger – Merc Citan XLWB.

2k over budget, but its pristine, you’ll get one for 7k, petrol may be a struggle.

5 seats, rears fold flat, massive load area when you do that, pic below was the night of storm Aiden, Mrs and I slept great in there!.

Ah, the rebadged Kangoo, I think…

Friend has one and it does seem to be a nice vehicle. I do think the Berlingo is slightly wider though, but not by much.

Doblo/Kangoo/Berlingo/Partner/Connect/Citan – they are all decent bits of kit of lugging kit and bodies around – they aren’t performance vehicles in terms of speed and acceleration but they outperform ‘normal’ cars when it comes to carting stuff around. They are easy to drive and are generally very reliable.

In all fairness, I doubt you’d buy a bad model from any of those, but each individual vehicle may have a few quirks.

‘My’ Partner is 6 years old and it needs to be replaced – absolutely nothing wrong with it, other than we don’t keep vehicles for long – try to shift them on whilst they still have some value and get something around the same age.

Issue I’ve got with the new Berlingo/Partner/Vauxhall Combi thing (which is the same vehicle) is that the rear no longer goes completely flat, so not great for sleeping in – doesn’t happen often though, so I may just be using it as an excuse not to get rid of this one!

I’d still suggest a Berlingo/Partner though – brilliant bits of kit, but I’ve only ever owned diesel versions, no idea what they are like as petrol.

Ah, the rebadged Kangoo, I think

Yep, just a different front end, and cruise as standard.

’ve seen an older 2003 Focus estate with only 53,000 miles on the clock and a full Ford service history for £1600 which is temptin

mk2 Focus estate were pretty good, I had one for 6 years and put 100k on it – no mechanicals in that time (yes, sample size of one).

2nd gen Tourneo Connect looks pretty good, I’m seeing my own potential next car there.

Just about within OP budget, too.

DickBarton – The new XL Peugeot Rifter (I have one) does have seats that fold flat if you go for the “Magic Flat” option.

You can probably get the Kangoo version of the Citan a chunk cheaper. The crew vans are rare beasties though.

The crew vans are rare beasties though.

Yup, the reason I ended up with a Citan.

RIP Doblo. Had one at my old job and it was awesome. great little van in the size bracket.

Keeping up with the theme of “validate my purchase by buying what i have”, the ford looks good (Ive just moved to a bigger ford from a VW)
Pug Rifter looks great too, but the little extras like the windscreen on the fords would probably swing it.

Thanks all

Coming from a Doblo, any other regular car will be a disappointment in terms of load area/changing inside area.

I fully realise that but I think in the current climate with my job uncertain and about to get another big hit from Brexit (could there be a worse business now than working in live events 95% of which are out of the country and the best money earners all involve taking a truck load of kit into Europe) I think I’ll probably go for something to just get me around for now rather than what I really want which is another newer petrol Doblo type vehicle. While plenty turn up when you search for them it’s often only when you start looking through the pictures you see that it’s been modified for a wheelchair use, many of the dealers don’t even mention it in the initial listing you see on Autotrader.

I’ll update this once I get something

Honda Civic Estate?

I did have a Golf years go, slightly put me off them as it was an 87

If you are looking in the cheap stop-gap option I’m struck by the number of older VAG groups cars on the Golf platform (Seat Leon, Skoda Octavia) knocking about with the 1.4 petrol engine from about 2000 to 2005. From an era when turbo diesels we’re very much in vogue it seems all the basic spec cars from that era, with the smaller petrol engine, are the ones that have lasted out. You rarely see any of the higher spec ones or any of the TDis now

My partner has been driving her 15 year old petrol Seat Leon for the last 10 years / 150,000 miles without any issues or worries. And whenever I find myself following in older car down the road – its one with that engine.

Roomster for something is a similar odd practical car that no one wants to steal option

I’ve had a look at Roomsters parkesie, not many close to me at the moment. Funnily enough I bought my Doblo 13 years ago from a Skoda dealer and they’d just got their first Roomster in the showroom and it struck me that I was only buying the second most ugly car they had. 😊

Not that that would put me off.

What do we think about the Nissan Note as an alternative to a Jazz, seem to be more of them available near me, local dealer has a 2014 and 15 model in.

I test drove a Jazz earlier, would have bought it, advertised with fsh but when I looked through the documents they were unable to explain no stamps in the book or any other paperwork for the last 5 years.

What do we think about the Nissan Note as an alternative to a Jazz, seem to be more of them available near me, local dealer has a 2014 and 15 model in.

Fil has one. Surprisingly capible car for its size. Been super reliable over the years with only a couple of springs for mot(big speed bumps on exit from there street trashes all their suspension on cars) and the boot lid needed a new loom at the hinge to continue to work. They have had it for 8 years

But it is noticibly smaller in terms of useful space inside than the jazz which is class leading on that front

Thanks trail_rat, I’ve found a couple more Honda’s locally that weren’t on Autotrader so I’m going to have a look at them first. I’d kind of assumed that Autotrader was a bit like Rightmove in that while it might be listed elsewhere everything would be on there but it’s clear from looking wider that a lot of cars don’t go on there.

Doblos are ace 😎 I have nothing else to add.

I swapped from an ’06 berlingo which died to a 2011 Ford C-max, which uses the focus platform.

The C-MAX is nicer in many quality of life ways, but I feel sad every time I need to take the front wheel off to fit the bike in the back. It’s hard to beat a flat plastic load area once you’ve gotten used to it.

Up until recently we had a mk3 Galaxy with the rear seats taken which was pretty good for just chucking bikes in but I absolutely hated the fact it was CAN bus and would chuck an engine light up if you had the wrong colour socks on or something equally stupid.

but I absolutely hated the fact it was CAN bus and would chuck an engine light up if you had the wrong colour socks on or something equally stupid.

Unless your shopping in the early 1990s every car is CANbus these days.

It just seemed extra sensitive to small stuff going awry- maybe there was just more stuff going wrong on the Galaxy we had? 😆 Anyway, it’s gone now.

I ended up buying one of the Honda Jazz’s I’d found on another site. 2013 1.4 with 44,000 miles on the clock. Hopefully it’ll last me 10 years and be the last car I buy with an engine!

Another oddity id like is the Nissan Cube. Mrs just won’t agree to it 😂

I’d love a cube

I just like my cars to be basic and to not be replaced alll the time.

If I could buy one and sell it after a couple of year I’d have one . But I don’t operate like that .

But I do love them. The UK do love their shit bland euroboxes.