08+ Diesel Estate

Zcott

Looking for an estate from 2008, and buying in the North or in the UK (I'm from the North, so no VRT hassles). I've narrowed it down to the Mazda 6, Laguna III or C5 estate. Has anyone any experience with any of those and common faults that may occur? The Lagunas are worryingly cheap in particular. Budget is around £6000.

punisher5112

Could consider Kia c'eed, focus or mondeo, bmw3 or 5.

Some will swear by the French stuff but its cheap for a reason.

You need to be getting full checks done on whatever you do choose. Get a good mechanic to give a going over and do a mot check on mileage if from UK.

grogi

Zcott wrote: »

Looking for an estate from 2008, and buying in the North or in the UK (I'm from the North, so no VRT hassles). I've narrowed it down to the Mazda 6, Laguna III or C5 estate. Has anyone any experience with any of those and common faults that may occur? The Lagunas are worryingly cheap in particular. Budget is around £6000.

As weirdly as it will sound, the Laguna III or C5 will be better than the Mazda in the reliability department. Mazda does great petrols, but rather unreliable diesel engines... Rust proofing on them is not ideal as well.

If you can - I don't follow the prices, so cannot be sure - get the C5 with Hydro suspension, 2.0 HDI. Laguna with 2.0 dCi.

bazz26

What about a Skoda Superb Combi:

http://www.usedcarsni.com/2010-Skoda-Superb-1-9-TDI-157992706

colm_mcm

Of those menioned id have the Laguna.

Zcott

Thanks for all the replies. It'll probably be a couple of months before I do get around to buying something so I'm not in a huge hurry. I'd heard horror stories about the Mazda diesel engines and as this is something I'd like to keep for a good few years I don't want to be buying a replacement engine at 120k.

grogi wrote: »

If you can - I don't follow the prices, so cannot be sure - get the C5 with Hydro suspension, 2.0 HDI. Laguna with 2.0 dCi.

I'd looked at a few C5s with the Hydro suspension. Are there any issues with the suspension in the long term? How about maintenance on it as opposed to the steel springs? I'd also heard reports of leaky steering racks. I didn't see any major faults with the Laguna, anyone out there have any experience of the Laguna III?

I'm definitely looking for something 2.0 or more, as my wife drives a 407 estate on the 1.6 HDi and it's a bit on the sluggish side. Not much fun on the motorway at 3000rpm because there's no sixth gear either.

Also, thanks for the tip about the Skoda. I'd really prefer to keep it south of 80k so 90 might be a bit too far. Current wagon is an '06 Civic with 157k on the clock, and although the engine is running well, it's still got 157k on the rest of it.

bazz26

I think you need to be realistic about the mileage. Most 7 or 8 year diesel cars are going to have around 100k miles or more on them at this stage. They are bought to be driven.

grogi

Zcott wrote: »

I'd looked at a few C5s with the Hydro suspension. Are there any issues with the suspension in the long term? How about maintenance on it as opposed to the steel springs? I'd also heard reports of leaky steering racks. I didn't see any major faults with the Laguna, anyone out there have any experience of the Laguna III?.

Can't give you 1st hand experience, but wherever I read about it, the opinions are the hydro is reliable and the comfort absolutely worth it. Just don't expect speed bumps to be "invisible"