I’ve narrowed down my next car to one of the following. Any thoughts or suggestions? Got a max of £3k to spend.

BMW 525 Touring
Volvo V70 T5
Subura Impreza Wagon
Mitsubishi Legnum 2.5 Twin Turbo

As you can probably tell, i want something with a “bit of go” that i can throw bikes and muddy dogs in the back of.

Out of those I’d be torn between the BMW and the Subaru, although re. the latter, I’d be loking more towards Legacy Tourer/Legacy Outback Tourer: bigger, seemingly “forgotten” what with the Impreza and as a result better VFM.

From what I have heard the impreza wagon isnt that big. Im thinking along the same sort of lines and after just hearing one at the petrol station Im coming round to the idea of a V70 D5. I would rather the T5 but the insurance and fuel would be a little too high.

£3k won’t get you much of a Swedish Brick, let alone a T5!

It’ll get you a T5 easy at the mo, I saw a V70R with less than 100k on go for 4500 on fleabay the other day.

Those are some nice choices – I looked at similar before I bought my bike friendly wagon. As mentioned above I’d go for a Subaru Legacy estate, or even a forester. Similar performance and reliability without the higher insurance stigma of the impreza, particularly the wrx varieties. I got quoted almost 5k for and impreza estate wrx. The car was only worth 2.5

The BM will be pricey to service and get parts for I would imagine? Im not a fan of the mitsi so ya, I’d go for a subaru but I’d get the legacy, look into them, the 2.5 bi turbo is nice.

I ended up getting a pick up after all that. Most bike friendly car you can get but not much “go”.

I wish i could stretch my budget a little further, but alas, the credit crunch is biting and i need to keep some cash back for bike bits. I just missed out on a V70 R for £3500, so it is possible to get them – just higher mileage. Generally they’re not they type of car that gets thrashed though!

The Legacys a good shout though…….

P.S i Love my Pahse 2 V70 T5, Can get 2 DH bikes in wheels on without trying, 3 DH bikes with front wheels off and 3 people, or 4bikes, wheels off, and 4 people (bit of a squeeze)

AND it’ll still do 0-60 in less than 7 seconds.

MPG – Urban / commuting (with some booting it) 25
General (kinda careful) 27-28
Motorway 30 – 32

Only thing i would replace it with is a VB70R AWD or if i suddenly get rich an RS6, prefer it to the BMW’s & Mercs ive driven.

If you look around you might just get an A6 Allroad for that sort of money. I manage reasonable (30-ish) mpg out of a 2.5TDi one, got reasonable ooomph, bags of space inside (and on top), with the added bonus that it can cope with the occasional dodgy muddy bit – like where bikes like to set off from.

Goes up and down too, which is handy.

If you look around you might just get an A6 Allroad for that sort of money

Space shuttle miles I’d imagine.

aren’t T5s are gonna get absolutely hammered for road fund license soon

I’ve got a Subaru 2.5 Legacy for sale. MOT has just expired, just needs a pair of rear discs and pads to pass. Its a GX with leather, air con, CD etc. X reg with 160k. Metallic bronze. Looking for around £1900.

email me mcmoonter at yahoo dot co dot uk

If I were you… look at SAAB 95 estates esp AERO version. Or slightly smaller the Audi A4 estate. Be prepared for fairly high servicing costs.

These cars were all v expensive when new! I have a SAAB cost 2.3K second hand, huge car and goes like stink. I think when my wee boy is a little bigger and we have less travel cots etc to lug around I will look at a used A4.

Legacy estate 2. bi turbo estate On autotrader. Import so insurance would be steep but still…..£1200, 80k….280 bhp 🙂

2.5 ltr 2003 for 3k

I think I know what my next cars gonna be….some serious bargains to be had on autotrader. Think I’ll just build up another year or two’s ncb first.

With Gnnr on this one. The large pertrol engine Saabs are going for very little at the momement. Take a look at the classifieds on http://www.saabscene.com. The old Saabs are very well built and if you use the forum and a Haynes manual can cut down servicing cost a lot.

The estates are not good in the snow or ice though as I found out just before Christmas with mine.

The estates are not good in the snow or ice though as I found out just before Christmas with mine

Get a quattro of some type – they are bloody amazing in the slippy stuff.

Second the A4 recommendations – the Allroad is a cracking car, but if anything is a wee bit to big and ‘lorry’ like for me. Quick A4 next time I think.

citroen picasso
Peugeot partner
Opel Zafira

My 1999 Audi A6 tdi Avant 2.5 has been fantastic for bike and other hauling. The rear load cover has a built-in folding dog net (although I don’t use it, because I dont have a dog)I’ve had over 50 cars, any of which I have only ever kept for 6-18 months. The A6 is still here after over 3 years. Better build quality than any of the 7 BMW’s or 2 Saabs I’ve had. Decent ecconomy, 36-38 knocking about, 42-44 motorway. Maybe selling soon, but only if I can find a newer one to replace it

All cars are bike friendly, I’ve had very small 2 seaters to Mondeo estates and they were all just as friendly to bikes.

passat…………..great cars

imo bikes & cars is always a dissapointment! Iv had a few estate cars people carriers etc as soon as you want the bikes inside ie not on a rack its a big compromise. Folding down seats pulling our shelves trying to get a sheet to stay in place to catch all the mud. Yeah you may manage 2 bikes but thats no use if you have 3 mates. So a couple of years ago I thought why not get a van………….. Life is so much more simple now. Personally I think the VW transporters are about the best. for around 3K you should pick u a 1.9td in reasonable condition. OK its not going to go like a 2.5 turbo GTi RIP tdi but then its gonna save you on fuel and you can save the speed for the trails……..

Just my opinion of course………