Hi All
I have 3k to buy a family car which needs to be as reliable as possible (duh).
It needs to have as much space as possible (camping trips), have room in the back (car seat) and not cost loads to run.
Initial thoughts were some sort of BMW estate, mondeo, laguna?
Any advice welcome
E39 Touring
Originally Posted by silverzx
Passat estate?
Mine will be for sale soon and I'd let it go to a member for £3k.
I thought Matt_S invented SXOC
Mazda 6 or Honda Accord estate, they'll not go wrong and return a good MPG
We've got an E46 touring for pretty much the same purpose. Except not camping, as it's the work of the devil.
Has been rock solid. Crap on fuel, but that's because it's a 3l auto. A 318i should be much better. The hugely clocked one that DanDan had for a short period of time did about 35 to the gallon IIRC.
Don't get an M Sport though, the ride is utterly shit.
We've had it about 15k and it's needed new front lower arms and nothing else. And any car of 120k will need new bushes pretty soon! Oh, and the oil level sensor is playing up.
Boot space is good (although not super wide due to shock tower intrusion), ISOfix in the back, and just geenrally quite a nice place to be
Other suggestions would be a Volvo V40 (mine was bombproof!) or something like an Octavia.
I got a saab 9-3 1.9td love it 57plate lots of toys
X-Type Jaguar Estate on LPG was my choice
V70 - D5 would be my choice,
ridiculously cheap to insure, parts are cheaper than German rivals and the spec for the price they fetch is unbeatable
Mg zt-t cdti
Audi a6 avant perhaps.
1998 Nissan 200sx s14a , 2000 std 5 speed with nismo supercoppermix clutch bn6 Sapphire Blue
I went for a Mazda MX5 and got my wife to buy a family car
The Saabs look like really good value for money and the right models tick all those boxes
Only thing to note on the saabs are the ignition control module packing up causing it not to recognise the key, other than that they are pretty much a vectra C underneath just way better specced up
Are they both Vectras underneath?
The 9-3's from around 2002 to 2008 is a vectra C underneath yes. So parts are relatively cheap and easy to fix/work on. But they are much better specced from the factory and interiors are nicer
3 or 5 series 2ltr diesel estates from 12 or 13 years ago with 100k on the clock would be the puppys...
You think the dash is better in a 9-3 than a vectra ???The 9-3's from around 2002 to 2008 is a vectra C underneath yes. So parts are relatively cheap and easy to fix/work on. But they are much better specced from the factory and interiors are nicer
Must have the wrong Saab because mine looks like an 80s throw back
I have a signum which is pretty much a vectra, and yes i think the saabs have a better interior
Saab 9-5 estate. Available in 2ltr petrol turbo. 2.3 petrol turbo and 1.9 diesel.
Reliable. Fast. Comfortable. And Damn safe.
2.3 aero would be my choice. 250bhp. Returns 30mpg average. More if driven sensibly.
I've also got a 2.3t 9-5 that me and my mate 500 quid for and did a charity banger rally to benidorm in lol, did 3.5k miles in 6 days and averaged 38mpg. Was an auto as well. Brilliant car to drive, so much so we kept it so we can do another rally in it
Went for the Mazda 6 in the end.
2200 for a mint condition Katano with 40k on the clock
Thanks for advice
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