Help - new car

padraig.od

Hi,

Baby on the way and we need to upgrade the car. Currently driving a 1.6 petrol Hyundai Coupe. I'm doing about 25km a year (mostly motorway, and mostly done over 2 days). Its currently costing me about 250E a month in petrol.

Preference would be for a comfortable diesel for the lower fuel cost. Car size will need to accomodate all of the associated baby things, and also cart around a couple of dogs. We have had good experiences with the Octavia estate and reckon we will need the space that a hatchback estate offers.

Apart from the Octavia what other estates would people recommend? Any experience with a Subaru legacy?

Budget is up to 15k. Any ideas?

bazz26

What size are the dogs?

A Ford Mondeo estate should have a fair size boot to cope with baby gear and dogs:


http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Ford/Mondeo/MCA-ZETEC/53914025623516120/

padraig.od

Two smalls and one big. They all get lumped into the boot at the moment, but that will have to change when baby gets here.

Any opinions on something like this Seat?

http://www.carzone.ie/search/SEAT/Exeo/2.0-CR-S/49013989608558570/advert?channel=CARS

That mondeo looks nice. I've never driven one before. How would they compare to the Octavia or say the Mazda 6 estate?

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Mazda/Mazda6/2.2TD-TS/54714035619541020/advert?channel=CARS

Or this i30 looks good value.

http://www.bolandmotors.com/used-vehicle-details-at-boland-motors-new-ross.aspx?vid=1007876&run=norm&pg=2

bazz26

The Octavia is from the class below the Mondeo and is more a rival to the Golf. The Seat Exeo is basically a rebadged Audi A4 from 2001 which was not really that big back then.

Honestly with 3 dogs, a pram/buggy and other baby baggage you probably need to be looking at something with a large cargo area like a Mondeo or Passat.

Another one to consider is the C5:


http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Citroen/C5/Tourer-Exclusive/54514029175257970/

Wailin

bazz26 wrote: »

The Octavia is from the class below the Mondeo and is more a rival to the Golf. The Seat Exeo is basically a rebadged Audi A4 from 2001 which was not really that big back then.

Honestly with 3 dogs, a pram/buggy and other baby baggage you probably need to be looking at something with a large cargo area like a Mondeo or Passat.

Another one to consider is the C5:


http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Citroen/C5/Tourer-Exclusive/54514029175257970/

Boot size on the Octavia is one of the biggest in it's class (610 litres with seats up compared to 560 litres on a BMW 5 series estate) and they are a bigger car than the Golf, similar in size to Audi A4 Avant, Superb is similar to A6 in size. The Octavia is definitely one to consider.

padraig.od

Wailin wrote: »

Boot size on the Octavia is one of the biggest in it's class (610 litres with seats up compared to 560 litres on a BMW 5 series estate) and they are a bigger car than the Golf, similar in size to Audi A4 Avant, Superb is similar to A6 in size. The Octavia is definitely one to consider.

The wifes company car is an Octavia. She'll be losing it when she goes on mat leave. We are well used to it, and it suits us well.

Mostly wondering what would other options be out there, similar size, mpg etc.

padraig.od

bazz26 wrote: »

The Octavia is from the class below the Mondeo and is more a rival to the Golf. The Seat Exeo is basically a rebadged Audi A4 from 2001 which was not really that big back then.

Honestly with 3 dogs, a pram/buggy and other baby baggage you probably need to be looking at something with a large cargo area like a Mondeo or Passat.

Another one to consider is the C5:


http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Citroen/C5/Tourer-Exclusive/54514029175257970/

My father-in-law is racist against French cars. They do look like good value mind.

What would reliability be like?

bazz26

Wailin wrote: »

Boot size on the Octavia is one of the biggest in it's class (610 litres with seats up compared to 560 litres on a BMW 5 series estate) and they are a bigger car than the Golf, similar in size to Audi A4 Avant, Superb is similar to A6 in size. The Octavia is definitely one to consider.

The Octavia platform is the same one as the Golf, Leon and A3. The Octavia just has a larger boot but rear leg room is not that more spacious than a Golf or Leon. The A4 Avant is not that big either as it is more a lifestyle estate than a load lugger, similar to a BMW 3 Series Touring.

OP needs to go out and start trying out some of these cars for size.

Moneymaker

What about a Superb estate?

Or one of these?

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/honda-accord-2-2-i-vtec-ctdi-executive/7170188

Or this?

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/volvo-v70-2009-volvo-v70-2-0-diesel-r-d/6608465

padraig.od

Moneymaker wrote: »

What about a Superb estate?

Or one of these?

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/honda-accord-2-2-i-vtec-ctdi-executive/7170188

Or this?

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/volvo-v70-2009-volvo-v70-2-0-diesel-r-d/6608465

That Accord looks nice. Good spec. I would be intimidated by the high mileage. Would that be of concern? What would I be looking out for in a car with that mileage? Timing belt has been done I suppose. Anything else?

Volvo is a bit above our price ceiling, a good option though.

Moneymaker

padraig.od wrote: »

That Accord looks nice. Good spec. I would be intimidated by the high mileage. Would that be of concern? What would I be looking out for in a car with that mileage? Timing belt has been done I suppose. Anything else?

Volvo is a bit above our price ceiling, a good option though.

It's not high mileage for what it is. My mothers Volvo had 240,000 miles on it after 5 years.

It is a diesel, and the ad states Full Service History so once this can be verified, I wouldn't be overly concerned. It is a Honda after all. Those diesel engines are stellar.

My advice though is to draw up a list of all the large family cars, test drive them all and give the boot and back plenty of checking over.

Staying with Volvo, you could look at the XC90 if you don't mind driving an SUV. Probably one of the most practical and safest cars out there. Expensive however.

I'd say Octavia is your best bet if the boot and rear space is sufficient. They are cheap, reliable and come with decent spec if you shop around.