16 to 18k budget - estate car.

Pepp1989

Looking to buy. Diesel due to mileage. 2015 up ideally. Where would you spend your money? Needs to be estate really due to need to lug gear and dogs occasionally.

bazz26

Not 2015 but what about a Skoda Superb:

http://www.carsireland.ie/detail.php?ad_id=1848649&r=s.php%3Fm%5B%5D%3D80%26o%5B%5D%3D683%26f%3D2%26nn%3D12%26b%3D3%26pp%3D50%26g%3D0

elperello

bazz26 wrote: »

Not 2015 but what about a Skoda Superb:

http://www.carsireland.ie/detail.php?ad_id=1848649&r=s.php%3Fm%5B%5D%3D80%26o%5B%5D%3D683%26f%3D2%26nn%3D12%26b%3D3%26pp%3D50%26g%3D0

Good choice.
You will get a much bigger selection and probably save money in UK.

It's probably not to everyone's taste, and I own one, so will likely seem biased, but I have drove a range of cars in my time across lots of brands (used to do car valeting so would be collecting/dropping cars off, etc.), and I love my Citroen C5.

I think it's interior is far and away the best off any car I've seen. Despite it being a 2008 interior with very few tweaks since then, i still think it's the nicest i've seen in any car, by far. It has a subtle high end feel to it, with all matt finish on the console and soft materials on the dash, doors, etc.

I find it very comfortable (I do a lot of mileage and this was very important to me) and it can be got with a decent spec for not a whole lot of money. It's also got a very respectable cargo area (more so with the back seats down, obviously) and looks classy in general, in my opinion.


My car recently blew it's engine (the 1.6 is apparently not a great engine, but i've been driving mine hard for 2 years, doing approx 45k km a year, and this is the first real trouble it's given). It came with a bill of €3k to fix it, and even at that, I was weighing up my decision of fixing this, or buying another C5 estate. No other cars really entered my head at all (and I think the engine issue is probably not a common one, so not something i'd get hung up on, but i'd keep to proper servicing or if possible, get the 2ltr... I wanted the 2ltr but not a single one for sale when I was buying.. as soon as I bought, a load of them appeared.. typical!).


So even with the few issues it's thrown up, I'd still buy another C5 in a heartbeat. Even if you hate the look of the car, I'd still advise a test drive just so you can have a feel for it. You might hate it and think it's a ball of shite, but i'd still advise a look.


And because it's a Citroen C5, they're not loved on a grand scale, meaning they cost feck all. Here's a quick example:

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/citroen-c5-1-6-hdi-vtr-nav-110bhp-5dr-sat-nav-all/15337483



I think it's a sexy car, but to each their own.




... and now I'm gonna go against my advice altogether and make a completely separate recommendation:

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/opel-astra-sports-tourer-sc/16614733



It's an Astra estate with a 1.4 petrol engine. And my reason for recommending it is because it's a petrol. I had a 2001 1.6ltr petrol Focus estate before my C5. And although it broke my back on long long drives (12-16hours at times) the difference in cost of that on petrol, and my C5 on diesel isn't as big as people would have you believe.

I'd never, ever touch a diesel car again. They're the biggest false economy you'll ever come across. The difference in running costs are negligible in the grand scheme between petrol and diesel, but diesels are much more exhausting to own. Between your DPFs and DMFs you're better off not touching the POS.

On top of that, presumably if you're dropping the guts of 20k on a car, you'll have it for a while - the dogs on the street know that private diesel usage will be crucified in the next few years of budgets. Your car will be worth a total of fcuk all. Definitely opt for a petrol if you can.


But that's just my thoughts on things Grain of salt and all that.

Nuw

Depends how big a car you need, I'd strongly consider Volvo V40 (in D3 or D4 form, avoid D2, underpowered ford engine). You could also probably source a 3-series in 318d form for this price, probably not in the best specs though... and wether the engine is powerful enough for the car is debatable. You might also be able to source a Civic Tourer with the 1.6 d-tec engine, which is supposed to be excellent (no first hand experience with them though).

For something bigger, the obvious choice would be a Volvo V70 (again, avoid smaller engines, the one you want is the D5, brilliant unit, especially paired with the auto box). You may be able to get a 520d for the price... I do think the Volvo is the better car here, unless you do manage to get a 530d for the money. A Hyundai i40 estate with the 1.7 diesel might also be an option, then again, I've no first hand experience with them, just heard they're decent.

photosmart

Hi there,

I got a leon estate a few months ago.Same at this one and I love it so far.
Reason I'm recommending it.

Cheap to run (190 tax) and I'm getting 5.0lt/100km on average since I got it 6000 Km ago
Still under warranty if you get a fairly new model
Same mechanicals etc as VW/Audi/ Skoda
Decent Boot etc

But main reason is price! For some reason they depreciate in the first two years a serious amount. New they're around 26k.

https://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/seat/leon/used-2015-152-seat-leon-st-1-6tdi-105-dublin-fpa-2315282241863256884


P

bear1

I say it a few times but you could probably get a 171 tipo for that.

Scratch that you'd need to hit the 20s for one. Only one saloon for sale for 17.

wassie

bazz26 wrote: »

Not 2015 but what about a Skoda Superb:

+1 for the Supurb, the boot is MASSIVE and also lots of legroom in the backseats. Quality is fairly solid too with VW running gear.

If you would consider importing then check out what's on offer in the auctions (eg ukimports.ie) - you can should easily get decent 2015 with reasonable miles landed & VRT for €17-18K.

If you dont need a huge boot or prefer to buy in Ireland only, check out a Toyota Avensis. Again 2015 models can be had for under €18K. Personally I love these cars and I think they get a bad rap for being 'bland' but have typical Toyota reliability. Their diesel engines in these models are chain driven, meaning no expensive timing belt to replace. Also Toyota dealer servicing is some of the cheapest around.

Have fun deciding.

Gorgeousgeorge

A6 avant.

Stoner

Pepp1989 wrote:

Looking to buy. Diesel due to mileage. 2015 up ideally. Where would you spend your money? Needs to be estate really due to need to lug gear and dogs occasionally.

Thinking of changing ourselves.

Will be looking to trade in our 141 Honda Civic tourer

Regardless of us selling or not, these are great cars IMO

We have two dogs and when my wife bought it new we go the Honda dog guard and the thick rubber boot liner.
A must for dogs imo.

We looked at a lot of estates then and got great help here. Can't really fault the car
1.6 and the average economy since she bought it is 4.6 L/100 KM.

Again it's a great job. So is the skoda though.

We are looking at changing to have more room in the back seats as we have a very large child seat.

Can't beat the magic seats , huge space generator, unfortunately the latest models don't have them.

You might look at a 15 model.

jethrothe2nd

photosmart wrote:

I got a leon estate a few months ago.Same at this one and I love it so far. Reason I'm recommending it.

photosmart wrote:

Cheap to run (190 tax) and I'm getting 5.0lt/100km on average since I got it 6000 Km ago Still under warranty if you get a fairly new model Same mechanicals etc as VW/Audi/ Skoda Decent Boot etc

photosmart wrote:

But main reason is price! For some reason they depreciate in the first two years a serious amount. New they're around 26k.

I also got one of these for much the same reasons. Wouldn't have been my first choice but generally happy with it.

photosmart

Wasn't my first choice either, initially I was thinking Octavia or Superb but
they are far more expensive second hand. My brothers both have Octavias and when they drove my Seat they remarked on how similar it was in terms of drive and layout.

Mine was 16900 at 17 months old with 12k miles on the clock whereas the cheapest equivalent octavia was 21k!

Have to say though that so far its been great and I can fit three children in the back. I'd probably get better than 5.0lt/100km as thats a mix of motorway and town.