Best estate car-max budget 8k??

Western Pomise

Have 03 Petrol golf to trade....worth around 2k I'd say....looking for good reliable estate.Have couple of questions as am not a car buff.
1-isnt lower tax from 2008 cars on?
2-Will be a family car for small kids so thinking of diesel.What engine size enough for bit of power and good MPG??.....am thinking 1.6.
3-Have Skoda Octavia estate a good reputation??....look like something that could fit bill.
Have around 8000 euro to spend at max.Looking on done deal it will be a stretch to get a 2008 Octavia estate for that money that hasnt massive mileage.
Any advice from estate owners or others appreciated.

The Pontiac

Western Pomise wrote: »

1-isnt lower tax from 2008 cars on?

Yes (in most cases), but I wouldn't necessarily rule out pre-2008 cars either. A 2007 car might be a few grand cheaper than it's 2008 equivalent, and that buys a lot of tax. i.e. it's factored into the price.

2-Will be a family car for small kids so thinking of diesel.What engine size enough for bit of power and good MPG??.....am thinking 1.6.

This is a misconception. Some 1.9/2.0 litres will return better mpg than some 1.6 engines. A low cc/bhp 1.6 might struggle more to pull a heavy car, more gearing, thus heavier on fuel. Also some 2.0 engines will have lower C02 emissions than a 1.6 making them cheaper to tax (post 2008).

3-Have Skoda Octavia estate a good reputation??....look like something that could fit bill.
Have around 8000 euro to spend at max.Looking on done deal it will be a stretch to get a 2008 Octavia estate for that money that hasnt massive mileage.
Any advice from estate owners or others appreciated.

The Octavia is very popular on this forum, so a few owners will undoubtedly be along to advise you more on what engine to go for and what to look out for. Good enough choice imo.

If looking to buy a post 2008, then ignore engine CC size - all that matters is C02 emissions (for motor tax purposes) and MPG. Mazda and Honda both do 2.2 diesel engines. For example, the Mazda 6 2.2d (127bhp version) returns an average of 54 mpg and CO2 Emissions of 133 g/km, so annual road tax on band B2 is €280 for the year.

Just stay clear of the older Mazda diesels as they were woefully unreliable.

cocoman

I have an 08 Ford Focus Estate and find it excellent. 55 mpg every time.
It's a 1.6 Diesel (200 per year tax). Not the fastest car around but does the job and nice to drive. Currently 224000 km on clock. No problems so far (bought 2 years ago with 137100 km).

I have 2 small kids and the estate is fab for carring stuff.
I previously had an 02 1.9 diesel Octavia and found this to be a v good car aswell (wife currently has a petrol Octy). The only reason I didn't change to an Octavia Estate was because with the focus a third person could fit between the two child seats (a little tight but doable) and this wasn't possible in the Skoda. It was either the shape of the seats or a bit of extra width.

My only advice is to test drive both and bring the child seats and try them aswell. Also I think the Ford should be slightly cheaper to service.
Just had a look at Doned and there's a focus estate for sale at nice money - not mine and no connection to seller.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/09-f0rd-focus-estate-nct-8-2015/5238121

Bpmull

Op my parents have a 1.9tdi 2005 and a 1.6tdi 2011 octavia. Neither are estates though. The 1.6tdi is 5mpg better on diesel than the 1.9. It does 55-62mpg although it gets alot of long Trips. Neither cars cause us any trouble whatsoever. There almost 200k km on the 05 and 50k km on the 11. There a good trouble free car once serviced on time. The 1.6tdi is grand power wise in the hatchback. But just after seeing your budget it will be 1.9tdi you would be buying for 8k not 1.6tdi as that engine wasnt out in 2008. Still the 1.9 is a great Diesel engine and the octavia is a reliable car to buy.

Western Pomise

Will be another wee while before I will have finance in place to go looking at cars but cheers for yere feedback.
Are VW Passat estates much dearer than the Octavia equivalent?.....one lady I know was raving about how comfortable one was she had.

tinofapples

Whats the Octavia 1.6 petrol estate like ? We had an 06 1.4 petrol hatchback for awhile but moved it on. Considering the 1.6 petrol cause it might be better able to haul the estate around and I'm not sure we need a diesel. It's the family (2 kids) car. I've just calculated the current car has covered 19k kilometers in the last 12 months. Do we need a diesel car ? Ideally a low engine sized roomy car would be ideal. Budget is only bout 5k.

Any suggestions ?

Western Pomise

Have started the search for an estate car,estates for 8k- budget thin on the ground,rang a few garages,ford,skoda,vw and they had nothing,seems v few coming on market...buying in garage seems to add around 1500 to price compared to likes of done deal but I guess you have value of comeback.

Frankie Lee

Use the change from €8k for repairs
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/alfa-romeo-156-1-9-jtdm-jet-140bhp/5206086


Not really an estate but worth considering especially if you won't be doing massive mileage
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/honda-fr-v-frv-1-7se-5dr/5300491