Second Hand Car Recommendations? Estate?

[Adam]

I'm looking for a car (no, not a van!), it must be an estate (as I'm always moving beehives around, and need to seat 4 adults). I have a budget up to £5K.

Anyone recommend anything in particular? Or more importantly not recommend anything?

At that price I could get a high mileage Volvo/Audi, or a much lower mileage Vectra/Mondeo type car - anyone any views on which is better?

Adam

 

[LyNx]

round near use is a 52 plate Passat going for £6k. Over your budget but i think thats alot of car for your money and worth looking out for.

 

[mailee]

I can rate the Volvos as I have had four of them now, all estates. My favourite was the 740 but a bit old now. I have a 850T5 now but it is smaller than the old 7 or 9 series. Still it carries most of the things I need and still doubles as the going out car. Expensive on fuel but sails through every MOT with little or nothing needed each year as did all the rest of them. :wink:

 

[Colin C]

I have just got a year old Mondeo and I am very happy with plus it is big inside.

You can get a 52-53 for that and have a look here for reviews on some of the cars you are thinking of

 

[Scrit]

Minus side to the Mondeo is the cost of clutch replacements. I have a Citroen Xantia TD estate but I'd not recommend it unless you can get a low-mileage one and they're now getting a bit long in the tooth. The C5 which replaced it is cavernous but I'm told is less reliable whilst the Xsara is just too small for my needs. One of my relatives has a Xsara people carrier which seems to have a useful load area when the seats are all folded away, would something like that do?

Scrit

 

[Colin C]

Scrit

What are the clutch cost for the Mondeo :?:

 

[DomValente]

The wife has had three Volvo estates, Can't even start to tell you what they carried, but I do remember the largest thing I got in one were Two wine racks measuring 6' by 3' by 1' each.
The only problem she ever had was the offside sidelights burnt out too regularly.

Dom

 

[cant-weld-wood]

last placed i worked at they charged £250 fitted for the clutch
and extra for the hydrolics if the need it.
they had the good deal i was the bu---r that had to fit it.
horrible 4 hour job.
vw/audi do have electical problems tdi is the one to go for
verry good on fuel.
volvo 850t5 clutch replacement is more than the mondeo and
are a horrible job to change (t5 turbo never again )
(drive a van all day now) and yes its white

 

[Chris Knight]

This site looks useful for folk needing spares http://www.247spares.co.uk/

 

[Slim]

Adam. You need to find your local car auctions. They will usually have a stock list on their website (although normally approx 1/2 the cars they have won't be on it). You will save £1,000's on the price you would pay if buying from a dealer. After all that is where the dealers buy there cars and they put a big mark up on them. I went with a mate and was flabbergasted at how cheap the cars were going for. A large majority of the cars are also VAT free.

For £5,000 you could get a 1 or 2 year old car. In the age of manufacturers warranties, there is also no gamble with getting a dud as you can have any problems fixed for free.

I will never buy a vehicle from anywhere else ever again.

 

[cant-weld-wood]

i agree with slimjim81 get youre self down the car auctions.
i have done work for a lot of secondhand car dealers and they put on £1000 or £2000 after a good vallet job done.
and when you bye from them the say they will get a service done on it
like s---- it goes round to s---fit for a oil and filter change only.
be carfull have some one that knows wot is wot look at it for you if you are not sure.

 

[ByronBlack]

How about a Subaru? Built like tanks, go like poop of a garden implement, look cool, and plenty of space. My own personal choice would be a T5 but then i've always liked volvo's, my dad had a 240

 

[dennyk]

I had a 1989 Rover 827Si Hatch back, from 07.91 until last year it was a great car for distance and I could get an 8 ft lenght of timber in the back, sorry to have to get rid of it , headgasket problem after 96000 miles, I now have a 2001 Astra 1.4 estate cost me £1800 in a pivate sale with FSH, it had 73400 miles when I bought it , It runs like a dream and will carry all the stuff I need , luggage for 4 on holiday and comfort for all the passengers, also 46 MPG, IMHO the modern Vauxhall's ar very good providing they are serviced when due

 

[Escudo]

Missus has got an audi a6 avant (estate) which I borrow when I need boot space. It is a solid car and very reliable if a little uninvolving to drive.

Only the other week had four sets of golf clubs, bags and four people inside when I drove to the airport. Very impressive.

Esc.

 

[tulsk]

Hi Adam, I've got a Berlingo which suits all my needs as a "jobber", the rear seats fold forward or remove so that in effect you have a van. It has a massive payload (I can easily get a cement mixer in there) and with the factory roof basket I can carry everything I need. The only thing I don't like is the single "strutted" tailgate, if I could chose I would have double doors. Beauty is I can quickly vac it out, put seats back down et voila you have your spacious family car back. Hope this helps, John.

 

[Woody Alan]

I'd like to add to the Volvo support I have had a 740 for 10 years and only had to replace track rod arms (common fault apparantly) bought a new V70 in 2000 in a moment of madness and last month had to replace a brake light bulb... was thinking of writing a letter of complaint
Always fancied the T5 but if I went faster I'd just get behind the next person quicker, what's the point, mines 170bhp.
By the way had 5 sheets of 18mm 8x4 on the roof today and have had a tonne of sand in the back once and enough slates to cover half a roof. the car never complains squeaks rattles or whatever. I will echo the fuel consumption 25mpg around town 30-34 on a run but worth every penny in 6 years never regretted buying it and have driven many new cars recently BMW Audi VW and always get back in my Volvo and think Nah stick with this one.
Alan

 

[seaco]

Funny enough I was at the auctions yesterday just looking for a runaround as I've just sold my Audi and need something till I find the right replacement, so I'm sitting up in the stands loads going through couple of possibles went past I started to talk to my son not really listening what was going on when I heard the auctioneer say £25 anyone else "going once" so just out of instinct my hand shot up 50, 50, 50 he said so I said to my son what the bloody hell is it a Nissan Bluebird he said, "going once, twice SOLD"...

There was so many people standing round I didn't really see it drive out, so I went and filled the forms paid my £20 deposit and went to the car park to hunt it down, well do you know what it's a little cracker G reg, five brand new tyres, electric windows and sunroof, central locking power steering excellent interior brand new Haynes manual in the boot, drives great only small fault is worn CV joint on the right but I can live with that...

I went to the cashier to pay up there was a £37 auction fee so I had a total of £87 the cashier even giggled when she asked for the payment...

There are some real bargains to be had but the old saying "Buyer Beware" holds very true when your spending good money...

 

[LyNx]

How about a Subaru? (miss a bit), look cool,

hehhehe, you been drinking :roll:

 

[Slim]

There are some real bargains to be had but the old saying "Buyer Beware" holds very true when your spending good money...

You're absolutely right unless you bid on a car that is less than 3 years old as the manufacturers warranty is still active, so any faults can be fixed.

My mate got a 55 plate renault clio, 20,000 miles for £4400+fees (about £120). I've just had a quick look on autotrader.co.uk and these cars are going for £7000+!

 

[greybeard]

All the major makes in the Uk are good for 6/7 years or 150,000 on the clock, whichever comes first. But you've got to play your part to get them there.
The lower volume ones can also be good, but you may find servicing more expensive etc etc. Parts can also be harder to find.

Always aim for mid to high spec when buying s/hand - cos the 1st owner took the big hit on the goodies. None of the electrical gizmos are worth much of anything when it's a 2/3/4 year old model. Bit like double glazing - doesn't make your house any more valuable, just easier to sell on.

Full service history is a must. And then don't skimp on it yourself. 'A good workman always looks after...etc etc'.

If you don't know motors find someone who does (then the auction route works well).

Final thing on price/cost. Dealers can (and do!!) make more on the finance than they can on the buy/sell margin, and in both cases 4 figures is the target, all the time, however big/small the 'forecourt' price.
So make sure you've got the cash/funds sorted first - if you need to borrow for a s/hand model your bank/bsoc may well be the cheapest.