Saloon vs hatchback (and possibly estate)

Poppy9

We have a BMW 5 series saloon. It's a a fabulous car with a huge boot but it's not very practical for loading it up for taking DD to uni (or bringing her home at year end) but we figured we do that twice a year so not worth being saddled with an estate for the other 300+ days a year and DD finishes Uni this year (time flies).

In the past we've had hatch backs and estates but now we are at the comfort stage!

If bikes are your only issues then buy a bike carrier.

chrisw

I've got a Volvo V60 which is quite a small estate - sport wagon they call it. Works out quite cheap as a company car as very low emissions but still 190bhp.

patman99

I've mainly driven hatchbacks and estates. In fact, if my memory serves me, the only 2 saloon cars I have ever owned were a Mitsubishi Colt Galant (my first ever car) which had a huge boot with a tiny opening and an Austin Montego.

All the rest have been estates with the exception of a Renault Espace (superb as you could remove all the seats to create a huge carrying capacity) and a Zafira (the most comfortable and versatile vehicle I ever owned). These were MPV's rather than esates.

My current car, a Berlingo Multispace, can carry my son's bike upright in the back, but I do have to drop 1 section of the rear seats.

Iceweasel

Of course it all depends how often you foresee moving wardrobes or taking stuff to the tip -sorry civic amenity recycling centre.

I've had hatchback and estates in the past for the convenience of carrying big awkward loads - but when we sat down and worked out how often we actually needed that capability it proved to not be cost effective.

So now we go for the comfort and added security of a saloon with a large boot for hiding things from public gaze.

Having folding rear seats in a saloon helps with things like skis - and bikes too - but they can more readily be put on a roof-rack or roof box.

The other thing to consider is having a small trailer - or even hiring one when needs must.

Gloomendoom

I drive a saloon. If I want to transport a wardrobe or similar with it, I just hitch up a trailer. Bikes go on a bike rack.

gzoom

Don't forget folding rear seats on a BMW/Audi etc are often NOT standard and must be ordered as optional extras!!!

We have had a saloon in our family for the last few years and now expecting our first baby. All I can say is that I'm gald the other car in the family is a hatchback .

bigjl

If you think a couple of electrical issues on a Mondeo is bad then perhaps avoiding German stuff like Audi/Merc/BMW might be a good idea.

They are not as reliable as many think.

AdrianC

JP08 wrote: »

Actually shopping is the one occasion where it can be a slight drawback. Be ready to catch the odd items that have escaped from the bag - they can roll out when the tailgate is opened as there's nothing to stop them !

And that's why I rarely use the boot for supermarket shopping - no matter whether saloon, estate or hatch. I put the bags on the back seat or and in the rear footwells. Much less likely to go fall over and spill their contents everywhere. If I've interviewed all the apples individually before selecting them, I'd quite like them to get home in a similar condition...

Unless you're folding the back seat down, ease of access is the only difference between saloon, estate and hatch - and estate and hatch are going to be very similar. It's only that a saloon may restrict easy access to the forward end of the boot space.

Skintski

I love Estates. I love the practicality and in a lot of cases the looks too. I'm waiting on delivery of my company car which is a Focus ST Estate. I carry a huge amount of gear so having an estate makes sense for me. We already have a Mazda 6 estate too. It's made itself useful so many times that I've lost count.

Folding back seats has come at no extra cost on both the Audi A3's I've had, I've not heard of that being a chargeable extra ever when picking cars.

masterlumps

Get a Passat or a superb, both have split boots so hatch/saloon at the touch of a button. Lovely and reliable cars. Problem solved.