What estate car should I buy?

[ed-ectrician]

Hello there everyone,

So I'm looking to get an estate car as I have a wife and little daughter and can't afford a van AND a car and even those car-derived vans with seats are well expensive to insure for me. New driver with no 'no claims' etc what a headache!!

So I am looking for something nice and big to get tools etc in and work from but also to use as family car.

So far i have got it down to a few different options. Bear in mind i am poor so would prob be buying a ten year old version of the cars below! Budget is around £800 max unfortunately! Autotrader has most of the cars below fairly cheap.

Vauxhall Astra estate - seems like the best option from doing a bit of research. 200 quid a year cheaper to insure than the cheapest of all the rest
VW passat estate - thought VWs were good (every cab driver in London has one!) but heard different things online
Nissan Almera estate - good reviews
Toyota Avensis estate - good reviews too
Skoda octavia estate - My dad has one - does about 45 mpg around town and 60 on motorway
Volvo - bloody hell I feel like a granddad even suggesting this one! Any ideas here?!

So...what do you reckon. Bear in mind I am not looking for sexy, fun or too powerful i am looking for cheap, economical, reliable! I don't really care if it's a bit boring and family-ish I am a dad now lol! Prob go for a 1.6 - 1.8 engine size. Nothing bigger so insurance and fuel is a bit cheaper.

Any other suggestions or tips for when buying from auto trader or gumtree very welcome!

Thanks

Ed

 

[Geordie Spark]

I've got a friend that swears by these, his last one had 410,000 on when retired (due to being to tatty!) also 250,000 of these were long distance towing as this was his business, he said he could put up with the fuel consumption (circa 24mpg with old e-type on tow) thanks to the money and hassle he saved on repairs (or lack of them!)

Very comfortable cars.

I used to drive from Geordieland to Southend & back in a day & from Geordieland to Wiltshire & back in a day feeling as though I'd just been sitting in a comfy armchair all day ..... no stress or tiredness at all.

 

[ruston]

Very comfortable cars.

I used to drive from Geordieland to Southend & back in a day & from Geordieland to Wiltshire & back in a day feeling as though I'd just been sitting in a comfy armchair all day ..... no stress or tiredness at all.

ar
Yank says to Geordie " Man I can get into my car and drive all day and still be in the same state" Geordie says " Aye a had a car like that once too"

 

[Geordie Spark]

ar
Yank says to Geordie " Man I can get into my car and drive all day and still be in the same state" Geordie says " Aye a had a car like that once too"

Yank driving his Cadillac pulls into Geordie's filling station & says: "Put 20 gallons in".

Geordie does as he's told, then Yank spots one of his tyres is a looking a bit soft so says to Geordie: "Can I have some air?"

So Geordie puts another 5 gallons in .......

(Trev will explain)

 

[ruston]

Yank driving his Cadillac pulls into Geordie's filling station & says: "Put 20 gallons in".

Geordie does as he's told, then Yank spots one of his tyres is a looking a bit soft so says to Geordie: "Can I have some air?"

So Geordie puts another 5 gallons in .......

(Trev will explain)

Same Yank pulls into another up country old fashioned filling station with the old manual pumps an says to Geordie "Fill her up man" and closes the window and leaves the engine running to keep the air conditioning going, After twenty minutes of hand pumping and Geordies Knackered he taps on the window and says to the Yank " Turn her off man an gis a chance".

 

[SPARTYKUS]

No ones' mentioned a mondeo estate.

Peugeot - yeah great but awful to work on. Again, volvos r great until it breaks, you will need the GDP of a small country to fix it. Ford & vauxall safe bets as cheapish to fix

 

[ed-ectrician]

Thanks to everyone for great input on this one!

Does anyone know if you pay more insurance on astra van than bog standard astra estate? I am thinking of getting astra van with seats in the back for the little one and fold-able down if needs be for work. Just looks a bit more professional than turning up to a job in a car!

 

[Swicade]

Jaguar Xtype estate....very nice motor though you might have to start installing PV and do plumbing to afford one..... (dons his tin hat and hits the bunkers)

 

[SPARTYKUS]

Swicade

Fix bayonets

 

[telectrix]

these are a great motor, cheap on fuel, low road tax, and best of all.... nobody in their right mind will nick it.