What to go for

Slig

I am having a bit of trouble deciding what to buy. At the minute I have a commercial 4x4. I wanted to sell this and go for a van (business use and towing a trailer) and a comfortable saloon car (I drive from Roscommon to Dublin and back once a week along with everyday driving)

The wife has point blank refused to let me get 2 vehicles and I'm completely torn as to what I want. I dont really want another 4x4 as most of my driving is motorway now and dont really want the fuel costs or the bad road handling. however, I do need something that can pull a big boat trailer and have plenty of room in the back for survey gear and muddy boots preferrably with roof racks. My thinking at the minute is something like a merc c220 estate or maybe a VW transporter swb crewcab. Budget is about 3-4K so something 99-02 is what I've been looking at.

Any suggestions from outside the box would be nice as I'm not 100% happy with either option.

Legacy outback

Mr.Boots

RoverJames wrote: »

Legacy outback

Was thinking that as i read the post.....

911s

Slig wrote: »

I am having a bit of trouble deciding what to buy. At the minute I have a commercial 4x4. I wanted to sell this and go for a van (business use and towing a trailer) and a comfortable saloon car (I drive from Roscommon to Dublin and back once a week along with everyday driving)

The wife has point blank refused to let me get 2 vehicles and I'm completely torn as to what I want. I dont really want another 4x4 as most of my driving is motorway now and dont really want the fuel costs or the bad road handling. however, I do need something that can pull a big boat trailer and have plenty of room in the back for survey gear and muddy boots preferrably with roof racks. My thinking at the minute is something like a merc c220 estate or maybe a VW transporter swb crewcab. Budget is about 3-4K so something 99-02 is what I've been looking at.

Any suggestions from outside the box would be nice as I'm not 100% happy with either option.

VW Crew cab would be ideal - if you lived in any other country. SWB crew cabs are not legal in this country as they don't have enough cargo space to
satisfy the revenue.
If you read any of the forums on VW websites you will see that they
are a popular and practical choice for work / hobby /kids etc. especially if
you get the 4wd, but not in this country where you cannot go to shop in
your commercial vehicle.

Slig

like the Subaru Outback but there dont seem to be many for sale in my price range, any actually. Can anybody suggest other 'crossovers' prefferably in diesel

fletch

An A6 TDI?
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2045670
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2055408
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2054258

Slig

maybe but I'd prefer RWD or 4x4, maybe I'm just being picky

Top Dog

Subaru Forester?



€1500 - http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2047947

fletch

Slig wrote: »

maybe but I'd prefer RWD or 4x4, maybe I'm just being picky

Quattro A6 TDI?

colm_mcm

I wouldn't go buying a forester to save on fuel.

What 4x4 do you have now?

Big Nasty

fletch wrote: »

Quattro A6 TDI?

+1 but they're like gold dust. Good luck finding one within OP's budget!

J77

Sorted

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1931182

Top Dog

J77 wrote: »

Sorted

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1931182

With a budget of 3-4k? It'd take a fair negotiator to knock a grand off that

gears

J77 wrote: »

Sorted

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1931182

I don't know about an All-Road for economical driving, I've heard of these getting less than 30mpg. Does any one know if this is true, thats a good buy all the same.

166man

What about a Skoda Superb??

Or this surely this is perfect

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Volkswagen/Passat/TDi-130B/201104201051668/advert?channel=CARS

colm_mcm

A superb is a big passat, its not the ideal machine for transporting a big boat.

166man

How is that passat not ideal??

Slig

166man wrote: »

How is that passat not ideal??

lovely car but a rwd would be better for my needs as the boat trailer puts too much weight on the back thus reducing traction on the front wheels. Its not like I'll be pulling the boat everywhere with me, maybe once or twice a month, but I'll still need something that can safely tow it without getting damaged in the process. Most of my driving will be motorway or around town and country, I dont have a family or lots of heavy goods to haul around so the jeep is really overkill at the minute. I dont really mind circa 30 MPG as long as its comfortable to drive but something that only does 12-20 MPG would be costing too much to run especially with fuel prices only going up and wages going down.

That quattro a4 would have been ideal but someone has already bought it. Like the Outback aswell and I might take that one in Fairview for a test run over the next couple of weeks

166man

Right so you would like something RWD/4WD, Diesel, fuel efficient and comfortable, in all honesty its alot to askfor a 4k budget.
What I would suggest though is something like this

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/5-Series/530d/201105201087709/advert?channel=CARS

It comes under budget with relatively low mileage, great engine for towing, RWD too, comfortable and wouldn't be too bad on fuel either! Perfect!

Or this one

http://www.carzone.ie/search/BMW/5-Series/new525di/201049200524880/advert?channel=CARS

waxon-waxoff

Seen just what you want Slig. Good value, comfortable, reasonable economy, large load area and only up the road from Ros. Well able to pull a boat, in fact id say it handles like one Hopefully you get commercial tax though!

http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/commercials/2058085