[Closed] What is fun to drive, capacious, does 40+ to the gallon and cost less that £5K ?

old mondeo? vauxhall zafira?

ok - not fun to drive I'll admit!

maybe need more info..

A van driven carefully

Avensis estate, petrol, to avoid any DPF/EGR/DMF issues.

I have an accord estate ctdi, very big boot, can be thristy if driven for fun, but drive like an old man and it frugal. Avensis is a great car too, not thrilling but v reliable, smaller boot..

MG-ZTT diesel . I've got the softer Rover75 version and get over 43mpg urban and over 54mpg on a run.

Peugeot 406 HDi Exec (saloon is even cheaper than estate but is still pretty massive inside). Loads of change from your budget.

or

LPG converted Lexus LS430 - just swapped my 406 for one of these and it is great fun to drive (4.3 litre engine is fast....). Economy wise it is about the same as my auto 406 was. Fun wise is would be hard to beat for the price.

Vw touran, if you can find one for that money. Go for the base diesel model unless you're bothered about tiny details. I get forty to fifty mpg out of ours. Oh and the early ones can be found in five sweater or seven. Unless you have loads of kids go for the five as the boot is bigger.

check out diesel Berlingo/Partner range

e.g 2007 Berlingo 1.6HDI (cost 7k with 7000 miles), about 50mpg in normal use (roughly to speed limits, mainly rural, driving), drops to about 30 at 90 on motorway. Rear seats can be unbolted easily(as a 1 or 2 or 3)) - so it cn be vanned, it's NOT a sport drive ie it rolls on orners and lacks overtaking power on A roads

I didn't notice a steering wheel attached to the stick at the end of the moon 😆

Oops - double post

My 06 citroen c6 does all that even with 100k on the clock

A motorbike for commuting and a van for moving stuff?

subaru legacy

Legacy won't achieve that fuel economy.

I have an E39 525d Touring - they're getting a bit old in the tooth now but excellent to drive, 40+mpg is achieveable - easily on longer, faster runs, and I can get three bikes and three peeps inside. Nearly 170bhp.

Having said that, it is a lot more expensive to run (surprise!) than the Passat I had before - tyres £90 a corner, bits have gone wrong and have been pricey to fix, complex suspension etc.

A 525d falls in budget and just about fits all the criteria. However even though they much better to drive than anything listed above, a petrol 528/530 would be far better especially as I'm guessing your coming from a Renaultsport Clio.

If you just want a hack then a mk1/2 Mondeo estate would be very useful as a second car and you don't need to worry about damage to the inside.

Older shape Seat Leon Cupra, 1.9TDI, 150bhp, nippy, fun and economical or the new shape Leon 2.0 TDI, Iver had the latter and a friend had the older. Great cars and good value for money compared to VW

Vauxhall Signum diesel? Kinda cool in a quirky way.

The practical option is something like an S Max 2.0 diesel should do the fun and practical bit well.

The fun option is one of these

[url= http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201221472785844/sort/default/usedcars/fuel-type/diesel/body-type/estate/model/159/make/alfa_romeo/postcode/la15dr/page/1/radius/1500?logcode=p ]alfa 159[/url]

Or if you have Germanic leanings
[url= http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201220472038794/sort/default/usedcars/body-type/estate/fuel-type/diesel/maximum-mileage/up_to_100000_miles/engine-size-cars/2-6l_to_2-9l/model/3_series/make/bmw/radius/1500/page/1/postcode/la15dr?logcode=p ]bmw autotrader[/url]

Go Skoda octavia tdi VRS. It will do 52 mpg driven sensibly or 139mph (not that I've driven it that fast).

Have you thought about a Nissan X-Trail? 😉

I've had one for a couple of weeks and really like it.

It's definitely capacious, fun to drive in a sort of 'Tonka Toy' way, should return close to 40mpg (with the right engine) and can be had for less than £5k.

I got an octavia vrs tdi estate at new year for 5700. 56 plate FSH so you should be able to get a hatch version of that for 5k.
mid 40's easily and much more fun than an a4 to drive

My 51 plate mondeo estate is surprisingly good in the corners, drives nicely. Certainly better than the more 'sporty' hire cars i've had recently.

higgo - Member

Have you thought about a Nissan X-Trail?

I've had one for a couple of weeks and really like it.

Funny you should ask, I used to have one and I think I'm going to regret selling it 🙂 I didn't expect to find a new house to buy so quickly....

Glad you're enjoying it anyway 😀

BMW 330i petrol... Mine last week after a motorway run 🙂

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Golf mk4 1.9 TDI ?

The VII gen accord 2.2 estate we had was a decent drive and big. Also a Mondeo ST diesel or an early Skoda Vrs diesel. They are probably some of the better handling big busses.

I'd go for a mk1 focus estate ......they handle really well and diesel would give you 45 mpg

I've loved my Peugeot 306 1.9 turbo diesel estate. Carries huge loads, fun to drive, does 50+ to the gallon, lovely ride and reliable. What a pity they stopped making them and now they're getting hard to find.

Vauxhall Signum diesel? Kinda cool in a quirky way.

Yes I would second this, one of the most underrated cars out there, and they are pennies on the trader. Built in Germany too.

£5000 will get you a Mondeo 2.0 or 2.2 TD without too many years or miles on it- very big boot, especially with the seats flat, easy access, and there's a million of them out there.

(a lot of estate cars have boot lips which make a big difference to usability... If you're carrying heavy or awkward stuff you'll want to be able to slide it straight in and out)

You could get something huge- Galaxy etc- but if you're carrying building materials weight might be a limitation too. And it's less convenient to have to remove seats than to just fold them flat.

Vw touran, if you can find one for that money. Go for the base diesel model unless you're bothered about tiny details

higgo - Member

Have you thought about a Nissan X-Trail?

I've had one for a couple of weeks and really like it.

Easy. Mk 2 Golf 16v. There are modern hot hatches which wouldn't know where you went.

If I'm being sensible, it'd be a vote for the 159 though.

I would go with a 5 series BMW too, drive pretty well and boot is ok too.

Otherwise Mondeo would be a newer model and more toys most likely!

I had the same criteria end ended up with a 1.6 petrol Ford C-max

Just driven from Derby to Teesside and got 45mpg (usualy anywhere between 39 and 47 depending on how much of a hurry I'm in, somehow the missus got 33 from it when she borrowed it :S, even trying hard I can't do that! ), with the rear seats out it's big enough for anything, and the floorpans from the 2nd gen focus, so unlike van based (or plenty of purpose built) MPV's it goes round corners without inducing sea sickness or rolling into a hedge.

I'd go for a mk1 focus estate ......they handle really well and diesel would give you 45 mpg

I would not buy another (6 years and 80k in our ours...in garage again for £350 this week)

forget the fords vauxhalls and french stuff get a Mercedes diesel c220 estate well withing your budget !

Auto diesel Mondeo avoids all the known issues.

I'm looking for the same car as a 2nd vehicle because the wife wrote off our old reliable bora. 😉
Preferably german, but on the odd occasion that I can't use my van I don't want to rock up to a trail centre in an Audi a4 estate with bike on top and get stoned to death!
On the short list
Mercedes c220
BMW 320
Audi a4 sorry
Passat
But all I can find for my £4500 has + 115000 miles so may end up going for a c max or mondeo

so may end up going for a c max or mondeo

I'd probably go for the mondeo estate if you could find one for the same price/miles, my C-max just happend to be what the garrage had and I needed a car there and then, it's been great but you do become the but of "it's the S-line version don't you know" Audi driving STW'ers* telling you that your life is over and you have adopted middle aged conformity.

*the correct resposne is obviously to ask them how many photocopiers they've sold this month.

Mondeo ST 155 estate.

Quick, handles reasonably well and has oodles of torque for everyday driving.

Could be found for £6k (just) when I was hunting a few years back, so should be down to £5k for a semi-decent one now.

Preferably german

Out of interest, why? Statistically not all they're cracked up to be on the whole (especially the higher end / 'luxury' cars - lots to go wrong)

Volvo?

While not necessarily as "fun" to drive as others mentioned above I would look for a Mondeo or Vectra hatch. Diesels are pretty economical, there are loads of them, generally cheap as chips to maintain (Vectras are on 20,000 mile service intervals) and very spacious. Both are pretty reasonable to insure as well. Had a Passat estate before (2001-2004) which was very nice and huge. Newer models however seem to have lost some of that spark and reliability. Also pretty expensive for what they are. If you go a bit smaller the Focus or Astra will give you good reliability, economy and there are some fun option amongst them. Skoda Octavia a good sound car that will be cheap and reliable but (aside from the VRS) couldn't really be described as fun to drive either. Avensis - a truly horrific car to drive. Had a hire one for a couple of weeks a few years ago and it was, without question, THE worst car I have ever driven. Well, apart from an American car - but that's to be expected.

Pimpmaster Jazz - Member

Preferably german

Out of interest, why? Statistically not all they're cracked up to be on the whole (especially the higher end / 'luxury' cars - lots to go wrong)

I've had an a3 a bora and a sprinter amongst many other vehicles and always prefered these.

Does anyone on STW run a Vectra estate? They can't be that bad can they?
It seems nobody ever talks about them. They look ideal in that they're huge and built to take abuse
They're quite cheap nowadays as the Insignia has replaced them

Does anyone on STW run a Vectra estate?

MG-ZTT diesel . I've got the softer Rover75 version and get over 43mpg urban and over 54mpg on a run

An Over 75 ? which is the age you should be before buying one

I ended up getting a mercedes c220 estate on the weekend. It is quite fun to drive but it didn't meet the other 2 requirements
Its doing 32mpg and it was over £5k

Are there [b][i]any[/i][/b] modern large diesel cars that do not have issues with DPF, EGR or clutch?

Got something that ticks most of your boxes http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-ot-seat-alhambra-vw-sharan-19-tdi-6spd-7-seater-2002-87k-fsh-towbar-3 It would make an ideal people/bike carrier, remove the five rear seats (no tools required)and you have a van 😉

therag - Member
I ended up getting a mercedes c220 estate on the weekend. It is quite fun to drive but it didn't meet the other 2 requirements
Its doing 32mpg and it was over £5k

I've got one of these on the hit list... You don't fancy measuring the width and height of the boot and the length with the back seats down, do you? It'd be a big help, that info doesn't seem to be out there...

Mmm similar choice, stuck between a bmw 318 ci and a Subaru Forester at the mo.

Northwind - Member
therag - Member
I ended up getting a mercedes c220 estate on the weekend. It is quite fun to drive but it didn't meet the other 2 requirements
Its doing 32mpg and it was over £5k

I've got one of these on the hit list... You don't fancy measuring the width and height of the boot and the length with the back seats down, do you? It'd be a big help, that info doesn't seem to be out there...

Width = 1045mm at back & 880mm between wheel arches.
Height = 700mm
Length with seats up = 1000mm
Lenght with seat down = 1925mm