Stumpy- you’d like peaslake – great riding round there (mtb and road).

(Plus you could park your car there in the Executive trail Directors boxes) 😀

I think what the VAG repair guy meant by the ‘more reliable’ comment was that Skoda dealers are more likely to fix any problems first time, whereas the VW dealers can be hit & miss – that might just be down to the local VW dealers around here tho.
He mentioned that the production lines for some of the Skoda models are newer than those at the VW plants – not sure how this affects reliability, but the fit & finish on my OH’s new Skoda is the same as the ex-demo Polos that were looking at; the Skod has all the same kit as a Polo, but just a bit plainer looking inside.
Road noise wise, yes, I’ve found it depends on tyres, the OE Contis on our Octavia were v.noisy, but current Nokians are noticeably qiueter – tho I’ve experienced this with Pugs, Fords and Beemers too, so nothing new there 🙂

BMW 5 series estate petrol?

Probably nicer to drive than anything mentioned so far and the estate class is dominated by diesels which will probably have high miles.

For space the only thing that beats the superb is an e class estate, or a T5 van.

Edit: also consider a v70 petrol I guess.

Audi S4

Er, no. In the OP’s price range you’ll be looking at a B6/7 V8 ones which just aren’t very good. They sound nice, but they’re not great to drive. The B8 one is a different kettle of fish.

I’d be looking at an E60 with a six pot petrol engine at around £10k.

you’ll be looking at a B6/7 V8 ones

The B8 one

at an E60

what is this language he speaks?? 😯

Is it really necessary?

It’s the language of dull self-proclaimed car “experts”
Instead of being human and saying 2003-2008 model they show their superiority by saying E45 (other creams are available).
Don’t complain as they’re doing you a favour. It’s like having a virtual “TWUNT” tattoo
At least you know who to avoid now

Edit: I’m sure that they’re really nice and even their mothers love them (but only after the daily 5mins of being slapped across the face for being such a disappointment)

2003-2008 model

Who the hell says “it’s the 2003-2008 model”??? Surely knowing the exact years of production of a particular model is more dull than knowing it’s a B7 or a B8?

It’s not that difficult, really.

Not really
you can easily work out the model year from the car reg
If you’re looking at cars, say a 56 plate how the hell is a non-geek going to know it’s a B6 or E55 etc?

Why on earth would you be telling a non geek that your car was a B6 or E55 though? 🙄

It’s used when you’re speaking to someone who would know what it was, obviously.

If my mum asks what car I got I say “It’s an Audi, mum. 2011 plate. A black one”.

If my friend who also has an Audi and knows a bit about cars asks me what car I got I say “It’s an A4 Avant, the B8 one. Black edition”

How is that hard to understand?

Just because you have no idea what it is, don’t assume it’s only car geeks who do.

For the summary box on the wikipedia page…it’s not exactly inside information:

I like the Seat- the only ‘problem’ is the interior is more like the A4 for space?

I’ve got a Seat Exeo – they’re 99% Audi B7 A4 – but there are some differences:

The looks obviously, they’re not bad looking per-se, but the design doesn’t work as well as the A4 version – it looks like an A4 with a Ibiza-esq grill – which it is.

The Interior is straight out of the A4 – the cabriolet oddly, but that’s okay because they’re the best in the industry and Seat threw the spec at it – mine has – Bose, Leather, dual air-con, reversing sensors, sat-nav, MP3 player, auto-wipers, auto-lights, Bluetooth.

The suspension is based around a revised A6 set-up, which means it’s less harsh than an A4, but not quite as sharp.

There’s 2 engines, a 2.0 common rail diesel, which is the current one and better than the PD engine the B7 A4 got comes in 120,140 and 170 bhp version – there’s also a petrol 2.0 turbo from the Golf Gti / Skoda VRS / Audi TT everything.

It’s a great car IMO – it’s VAGs 4th go at that platform (Audi face lifted it it once, then seat did to make the Exeo and finally once again for the facelift) so there are no known faults left – so the steering wheel lines up with the seat and pedals unlike the early A4.

Downsides – they’re cheap to buy, they cost less than the older, higher mileage A4s because not many people know about them and ‘the badge’ but they’re depreciating wildly – I paid £15k for mine 12 months ago, it would probably come in on your budget now.

It’s not really an estate, the boot is actually smaller than the saloon version – it’s more of a hatchback really – a more usable space, but not massive.

There’s one mechanical issue, you get the feeling the car and the engine were never designed with each other in mind, which they weren’t – this shows itself when the engine is stone-cold, the clutch can judder a bit for the first few times you pull away, it feels like a clutch or DMF issue, but “they all do that sir”.

Why on earth would you be telling a non geek that your car was a B6 or E55 though?

This was the question posted above!

Everyone has a different level so the people above are being silly waving their high performance German willies around.
Car knowledge looks a little like this:
Level 1: it’s a blue car (my Mum)
Level 2: it’s a 58 plate blue Audi A1
Level 3: it’s a blah blah blah…..
……
Level 10: it’s an E60 with a 545bhp re-map to make me penetrate women even faster (although I’ve never kissed a girl, I’ve wasted my life on cars and I live with my maiden Aunt)

Citroen C5 Touring

Mine does great mpg masive boot, coffy as hell adn all the mod cons you could want.

It’s the language of dull self-proclaimed car “experts”
Instead of being human and saying 2003-2008 model they show their superiority by saying E45 (other creams are available).

Not really – it’s a pretty common way for people to to distinguish bewteen the various versions of the same model. It’s not rocket science.

Nothing to do with willy waving. It’s just easy to understand.

And no I’ve not wasted my life on cars, have kissed a girl (hell more than one) and even live with one who’s not my aunt!

PS there wasn’t an E60 with 545BHP… 😉

It was better when they were referred to as Mk3 Cortinas etc

Nice one El Shal ! 🙂

I was too polite! 😕

Volvo v70 – brilliant cars , huge boot and really comfortable seats- I miss my t5

Are Merc C220s any good? Plenty around for about £10k.

El shal, why is it acceptable (normal even) for you to be able to cite the specifications of every sleeping bag and tent youve never owned, yet not so for someone to hold what is in actual fact very basic knowledge about their own cars?

🙂

My point was that most people don’t know a B5 from a B6. If you’ve owned one then you’ll probably know this but statistically most people haven’t owned an Audi Ax
So back to the moment when Johnny or Mary are looking at cars and they are not as clued up as you, then how will they know what that nice blue 57 plate car is?

So if offering advice, the usage of more friendly vocabulary will help. If I say the E56 is way better than the E43 bbecause I’ve had both, it doesn’t really help the average punter who is looking for options and can’t reconcile Exx against that nice blue car on AutoTrader

Oh and by the way I don’t posses the sleeping bag and tent superpowers that you think I do.

ElShalimo
It’s the language of dull self-proclaimed car “experts”
Instead of being human and saying 2003-2008 model they show their superiority by saying E45 (other creams are available).
Don’t complain as they’re doing you a favour. It’s like having a virtual “TWUNT” tattoo
At least you know who to avoid now

Yes, I thoroughly agree. It’s almost as if these people know what they are talking about and speak about it in a kind elitist of shorthand language. I mean, the OP has asked for recommendations about a car and these self proclaimed “experts” have decided to weigh in with their “knowledge”. Who the hell would want to take advice from someone who speaks gibberish like that!! 🙄 😆 What matters is what brand it is and is the colour nice. I mean, £10,000 is hardly a big purchase. Who would want to waste their time googling all this gibberish to decipher it over such a paltry sum.

Anyway, I’m just back from an XC spin, just cardio, busting out a few KOMS on strava, but tomorrow I’m going for an AM jaunt so I need to tweak the lsc on my 36s and put a few more psi in my rp23. Oh and I probably need swap from my 60a Ardents to some WTB Vigilante TCS AMs and seat them on my flows. I’ll probably take my spds off and stick some flatties on too as I feel like wearing my Freerider VXIs. /Sarcasm.

If the average punter reading someone’s advice on STW can’t be arsed using google and wants everything on a public forum spelled out for him in simpleton language so that he can understand it…well…

🙂

Someone is going to the trouble to offer very specific advice. The least you could go is google “BMW E45” (like the rest of us did at some point) and then its problem solved. The rest of the car world uses that very very simple language, you’d pick it up in no time at all if its important to you. If its not, don’t read it and don’t ask about it

We have a skoda estate and its a great car. But the boot isn’t a great shape. You can almost as much in our Honda Jazz.

I’d try and get a Honda estate maybe

I half agree with you but most people just want simple advice like “Mondeos are great after the 2006 facelift, all the cars prior to that are made from cheese”
Once they learn more they may need more help distinguishing between versions.

I really should have put a wink after the maiden aunt comment!

Are Merc C220s any good? Plenty around for about £10k.

The just replaced style are nice but the boot is too small IMO which is a shame. Avoid the round light model (no idea what the model number is). The newer model with the more aggressive angular lights was okay but improved a lot in the 2nd revision that has just been replaced with a new model.

Honda accord is huge too and Honda petrol engines are normally bomb proof…unless they messed that one up.

The reliability thing is not just about the parts – it’s also about how the car is assembled.

We’ve had both an 06 plate golf (the 105 TDI) and an 09 Octavia 1.4 tsi. both were second hand, the Skoda with about 30,000 more miles on it. I have to say (obviously anecdotal evidence) that the Skoda seems to have been put together far better. Less creaks and rattles, for starters. In fact – none.

Ginormous boot space. We’d have got a Superb but were living on a Victorian terraced street at the time, so parking was a bit nightmarish. We’ll probably buy a Superb next.

At the time, we looked at the Mazda 6 estate (massive) and the Honda Accord Aerodeck. A 3 series bimmer also looked good, but was a bit more spendy, and likely more expensive to service and insure, if possibly funererer.

The Octavia has a big old boot and split seats, certainly on the trim level we had. I seem to remember we paid well under 10k for it, and it costs about £250 a year to insure fully comp and £126 to tax.

Audi S4
Er, no. In the OP’s price range you’ll be looking at a B6/7 V8 ones which just aren’t very good. They sound nice, but they’re not great to drive. The B8 one is a different kettle of fish.
I’d be looking at an E60 with a six pot petrol engine at around £10k.

C’mon, be a man… A B5 and a trip to MRC tuning please!

Skoda octavia scout 4×4

If you truly want a big boot, the A4 and BMW3 aren’t really what you’re looking for. You’d want an A6 or a 5.

If you truly want a big boot, the A6 and BMW5 aren’t really what you’re looking for. The back windows slope in too much and the wheel arches are intrusive. The Passat is better. Next stop, T5 !

If you want a car that is cheap to run and massive then the Mondeo estate is your vehicle of choice. The luggage space is much bigger than the A4 or Passat.

We have a Passat and my folks have an E-Class. The boots are, within a couple of cm, the same size. No way is a Mondeo bigger than those two.

I’ve just got a 13 plate Peugeot 508 SW, I know its not German, but the initial purchase price reflects this. Its got a huge boot, all the bells and whistles, full panoramic roof so you can lust after your bike when its on the bike carrier. Dirt cheap to run and tax is low too. Love it.