£10k estate car?

broona

My Leon Cupra ST lease is up in April, and I'm tempted to go back to used cars, as there just don't seem to be any decent lease offers around.

I'm looking for something up to 10yrs old, nippy, nice to drive, reliable, automatic if possible (never thought I'd write that sentence!), tac band K or below, etc, etc.

Thinking something along the lines of Octavia VRS, Mini Clubman Cooper S, Leon FR 1.4/1.8, BMW 328i, any other options to consider please?

The Dreamer

Volvo V60? My wife loves hers. 8 speed auto, mated to a 2.0 litre diesel - faster than my Saab Aero, and does up to 70mpg on a run (averages in the 50’s).

Very comfortable, and plenty of space for the kids, (16 & 18), with a good amount of boot space too.

Plenty of tech to play with too, voice controlled pretty much everything, Satnav, Bluetooth, etc.

She was offered £12K for it last year, so I’d have thought £10k would buy a similar spec one to hers this year (it’s a 15 plate with 70,000 miles).


If you want something a bit smaller, then the V40, is more Mini Clubman sized, and may be a bit cheaper.

Oh, and hers is the D4, the more powerful of the Diesel engine options, D2 is a bit meh, D3 is OK, and the D4 is - and still only £30 a year road tax.

HTH

ashenfie

My friend has a mini clubman  and it not that comfy. You can't beet a 320d for running costs and does most things very well

broona

Thanks for the replies, probably should have said, I do loads of short journeys, and only do about 5k a year, so I don't think diesel's really an option.

nvingo

I waa going to suggest Jaguar ZF but a quick glance, seems they'd either be over-budget or over age.
I'm sure Focus and Mondeo are quite capable in their sectors.

Abacus

Unless  you do really large mileages avoid anything with a diesel engine, as these will start getting banned from towns and city's sooner rather than later. (Anything over 3 or 5 yrs or will probably be the first to get banned)
Skoda, Seat and Audi are all based on the same VW platform with different body styles and finish, (Seat if you can't afford an Audi, Skoda if you can't aford a VW) so you will be sound with any of those. (Same with Ford or Vauxhall) plus they releativly cheap to service.
Avoid small runs (Jaguar, Volvo, Alfa etc) as their parts and servicing tend to be way over the top and tend not to be the most reliable.
Avoid cars with too many extras on, as those are the first things to go wrong and are usually the most expensive things to fix.
Make sure you try it before you buy it. (Never under any circumstances buy it blind or without a full check)
Have fun choosing

Bill

JimmyMac

I had the Leon FR 187 DSG and loved it, plenty of space, once managed 6ft oak dining table and 4 chairs in it!

lovely drive, pretty swift and very comfortable

IronGiant

Loving my 12 plate Octavia VRS Estate, mine's diesel though, I assume they do a petrol version?

broona

Yeah, they do a 2.0 turbo petrol too, 200bhp in the Mk2, and 220bhp  in the Mk3 after about 2013, had a Mk1 and a Mk2, probably the way forward if I can find a decent one again.

Thanks for all the replies, some food for thought, I was actually thinking 159 for something out of the ordinary, but then thought of the potential bills...

AMc

Check the car tax on any of the fast petrols vs the potential cost of diesel failures.
My most recent was £300 on a 2.0 turbo Golf GTi. It hurts a bit that the GTD is quite a lot cheaper despite the scandals about emissions.