£10k estate car?

broona

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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?
 
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 :eek::D🚀 - and still only £30 a year road tax.

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

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...
 
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.
 
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Check the car tax on any of the fast petrolsvs 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.

It's the DPF I'm worried about, know a lot of people with reasonably modern diesels who've needed them replaced at £1k+, whether they do three or thirty three thousand miles a year, so a petrol wipes out that worry for a slightly increased tax price.
 
Sure, it smarts a little when you see some are paying £30 to go quickly and you're paying £300.

I look at everything car related on a monthly rather than a yearly basis, so it's £3 a month vs £30 a month, not too bad really.

Still thinking another VRS might be the way forward, decisions, decisions...
 
I've just had a quick look on Autotrader, loads of Mk3 diesels for under 10k, not many petrol ones though, hopefully a decent one comes up by the time I'm looking to buy.
 
I'd probably be thinking of something like...

Audi A4 2.0TFSI Quattro Tiptronic - probably remap it as well to make it nice :)
BMW 320i xDrive perhaps...
Skoda Octavia 2.0TFSI vRS DSG
Skoda Superb 2.0TFSI DSG
Mercedes C350 Sport G-Tronic

From the list above I probably would walk away with a petrol Skoda Octavia vRS as long as it is a clean example.
 
Does 'nice to drive' mean relaxed or sporty? From your candidates I'm guessing the latter.

If so then the Mazda 6, the Ford Focus ST and the 200BHP+ Mondeo are the obvious ones missing from your list.

A few of the late Alfa 159s would qualify if you fancy something pretty.


p.s. Mini Clubmans are tiny little things with a boot the size of a fiesta. Nice cars, but not really an estate. If you're willing to stretch the definition that much then there's a lot of hatchbacks that would qualify.
 
Does 'nice to drive' mean relaxed or sporty? From your candidates I'm guessing the latter.

If so then the Mazda 6, the Ford Focus ST and the 200BHP+ Mondeo are the obvious ones missing from your list.

A few of the late Alfa 159s would qualify if you fancy something pretty.


p.s. Mini Clubmans are tiny little things with a boot the size of a fiesta. Nice cars, but not really an estate. If you're willing to stretch the definition that much then there's a lot of hatchbacks that would qualify.

Yeah, nice to drive meaning relatively sporty, 150bhp+, but 200+ be nice.

Problem with most hatches is the sloping rear window, my lad likes to sit up, and a straight up square estate back end is ideal.

Almost all of the 159s are diesel too, I can only see 1 1.8 petrol on Autotrader, and being that rare, I can only assume they cost a fortune to repair?
 
I'd probably be thinking of something like...

Audi A4 2.0TFSI Quattro Tiptronic - probably remap it as well to make it nice :)
BMW 320i xDrive perhaps...
Skoda Octavia 2.0TFSI vRS DSG
Skoda Superb 2.0TFSI DSG
Mercedes C350 Sport G-Tronic

From the list above I probably would walk away with a petrol Skoda Octavia vRS as long as it is a clean example.
Agree with the Merc.
 
The Mazda 6 Estates drive very nicely, comfortable too. Golf GTD Estates again very comfortable although I understand DPF is a worry. Honestly I don't think you can beat the Octavia VRS......big enough to get a boxed 65'' OLED in. My neighbour has just bought a 58 plate Merc estate, it's huge.
 
Thanks again for the replies, and I agree with most people, the VRS (or VAG group equivalent) is probably the way forward.

Whilst I'd love a C350 or 159 tbi, the rarity that attracts me to them in the first place is also what puts me off, parts are probably going to be expensive, whereas anything VAG shares a huge parts base.
 
Yeah they’re not the cheapest but in my experience having owned 3 merc vans and a car for the last few years they don’t often break. We have a c250 and have done 30k with no real issues other than a sensor which cost £15. Much nicer place to sit than a Skoda imo.
 
Thanks again for the replies, and I agree with most people, the VRS (or VAG group equivalent) is probably the way forward.

Whilst I'd love a C350 or 159 tbi, the rarity that attracts me to them in the first place is also what puts me off, parts are probably going to be expensive, whereas anything VAG shares a huge parts base.
I wouldn't say that. I had to replace a High Pressure fuel pump on a Golf petrol
That was £250.
The EGR had an issue (the cog for the motor is metal, the rest plastic, which caused them to shear) and that was £250 new (you cannot buy the cog separate, so a 5p cog failure will set you back a load)
Luckily I bought one from ebay for £20
And not forgetting, and diagnosis on VAG requires specialist software, and is not freely available on the open market (though a lot of manufacturers are similar)
And last, the emissions scandal, if you care about the environment.
 
And it's almost time to buy another car...

Struggling to find a decent DSG Octavia VRS estate, but I've found a few different models that I'm going to test drive, any opinions most welcome.

2016 Vauxhall Astra 1.4t Sri/Elite Nav

2016 Ford Focus 1.5t Titanium

2016 Seat Leon 1.4/1.8 FR Technology

2018 Skoda Fabia 1.0 110 SE

They're all around £10k, all automatic, all relatively local, and look to be about the best of the bunch available to buy now.
 
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Don't buy a vauxhall. You will regret it.
Out of those the Leon will be closest in terms of quality to the octavia and they have decent kit in FR trim.
 

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