What car??

carpool72

Hi,

Don't know if anyone can let me pick their brains. We have a 1999 VW Passat estate with about 120 000 miles and it's starting to get to the point where we think it will be cheaper to get another car rather than pay repair bills for this one. Question is, what should we be looking for? This is a petrol 1.8 sports turbo so it's a really nice car to drive, and comfortable for long journeys but not very fuel efficient. Most of our driving is the school run (about 5 miles each way in town) but we visit friends and relatives in other towns 1-5 hours away every month or so. We'll be going camping for our main holidays so the space in the estate is really useful, also for holidays to my parents (we are 2 adults & 2 kids and always fill the car).

I've looked at car hire companies and it seems we'd spend a good £2k, if not more, on hiring big cars for our travels, which doesn't seem economical. So if anyone has any tips for an estate car which is economical to run in town but comfortable for longer journeys, and fairly cheap to insure, tax & maintain I'd be really greatful. Or am I asking too much?

C

harveybobbles

You could book a Renaut Laguna Sport Tourer on a free 48 hour weekend test drive for the times you need an estate car for the family visits. All you have to do is fill it back up with fuel.

If you know your Passat is still a good runer, why not spend say £150 and treat it to some nice oil etc.
Megane estates are deviously big! And they have flat folding rear seats. They even come out with ease too if you need to move something REALLY big! The 1.5 dCi is a smooth little thing, the later ones with the 106bhp engine is nippy too! Great for 60mpg+.

All you have to do is sit back and wait for all the Renault haters to come on with there two pence worth lol.

anewman

Your passat will last many more years. I'll be betting most of the "repairs" are for wear and tear items that would go on any car? Brake discs, shock absorbers, brake pads, wheel bearings? I'd advise sticking with what you have myself. 120k miles isn't much for a 99 Passat.

Hintza

Although I am not a huge Ford fan you should really take a look at the Mondeo. Honestjohn now reckons Ford have better build quaility than VAG group cars.

Others to look at would be the Mazda or perhaps the Skoda Octavia.

Slightly different but a Nissan Quashqai might be worth a look (2WD version perhaps) but not much discount around on them.

Hintza

harveybobbles wrote: »

All you have to do is sit back and wait for all the Renault haters to come on with there two pence worth lol.

Ach Renaults were never the same after the Renault 16.....now that was a good car.

bargepole

Not sure from your original post how much you wanted to spend, but if you're looking for outstanding value, go for the MG ZT-T 2.0 CDTi (that's the diesel estate version). A 2005 model (last year they made them) will go for about £8.5 - £9k with under 50,000 on the clock, which is nothing for the BMW common rail diesel engine that it's fitted with.

Some people make the mistake of thinking that, because MG Rover went bust, these ZTs depreciate fast and spares are unavailable. This is absolute rubbish: all the depreciation has already happened, and they are becoming sought after due to their scarcity. The SMC group are carrying spares from X-part, and my local dealership reckon they have enough supply to last 10 years.

The cars are of BMW-standard build quality, drive like a dream, and will give you 40+ mpg from the diesel. Only downside is that the wide low-profile tyres can be a bit expensive, but otherwise servicing costs are very reasonable.

tom555tom

whats your budget?
i work in the motor trade and understand most of it

take into cosideration this, can you afford a new 3year warrantied car?

if not its not really worth it

as any car breaks end of.

so buying another car doesnt mean the end of repair bills
but by fixing yours you know that its fixed and the part which is fixed has warranty,
i actually have a thing with the AA where i pay £5.99 a month extra on top of breakdown recovery and then if i have a breakdown and recover to a garage i pay first £50 then they pay the next £500 which i think is good.

goldspanners

tom555tom wrote: »

whats your budget?
i work in the motor trade and understand most of it

take into cosideration this, can you afford a new 3year warrantied car?

if not its not really worth it

as any car breaks end of.

so buying another car doesnt mean the end of repair bills
but by fixing yours you know that its fixed and the part which is fixed has warranty,
i actually have a thing with the AA where i pay £5.99 a month extra on top of breakdown recovery and then if i have a breakdown and recover to a garage i pay first £50 then they pay the next £500 which i think is good.

im sure there must abe a few clauses in there somewhere,if your timing belt was due changing and you didnt do it then the belt snapped would they still carry out the £500 repair?

tom555tom

goldspanners wrote: »

im sure there must abe a few clauses in there somewhere,if your timing belt was due changing and you didnt do it then the belt snapped would they still carry out the £500 repair?

yes obviously if its something like timing belt hadnt been changed. but say if the rad suddenly exploded or the suspension coil decided to break. then they cover it.

goldspanners

tom555tom wrote: »

yes obviously if its something like timing belt hadnt been changed. but say if the rad suddenly exploded or the suspension coil decided to break. then they cover it.

so if the radiator suddenly exploded due to not having enough coolant in it or the wrong coolant or the wrong mix of coolant or the head gasket blowing then they would still cover the radiator?
have you had to use the cover yet?

hewhoisnotintheknow

your current car is less than 1/3 of its way through life, keep it!

If you do sell it, why not think about a smaller car with a tow bar for a trailer, trailers are great you an always borrow them or buy them from ebay and sell them often for more when your finished