£2k to spend on a diesel estate

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Wed 28 Jul 2010 14:48
£2k to spend on a diesel estate - E17latic

My neighbour has got roughly £2k to spend on a diesel estate. He's content for hefty mileage and anything up to 10 years old. What car should he be looking for?

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Wed 28 Jul 2010 14:54
£2k to spend on a diesel estate - Collos25

Buy a petrol and save some money.Mondeo 1.8

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Wed 28 Jul 2010 19:48
£2k to spend on a diesel estate - SteveLee

The Mondeo would be a good choice, cheap, well equiped and reliable. If he is carrying some serious weight the Citroën C5 is well worth a look thanks to the self levelling suspension and is cheaper still, you get more niggly (usually electrical) problems with the C5 but they are reliable in the sense that they don't break down very often. Both cars share the same diesel engines in slightly different tunes.

If you can find one, older generation Mazda 6 estates are bullet proof.

As the other posters said, petrol will be more reliable. if you get a good diesel for £2K great - but it is rather a gamble.

Left-field pick: A well looked after late (2000) Citroën XM 2.1 TDi estate would be a good buy, being an "old tech" diesel they are reliable, XMs are supremely comfortable on the motorway, probably the most comfortable car this side of a Roller. Mk1 XMs were terrible, late ones are pretty reliable.

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Thu 29 Jul 2010 00:08
£2k to spend on a diesel estate - Avant

For £2k he should choose on the basis of condition rather than make or model, although starting the search with a Mondeo or Octavia would make sense.

I agree with the others - he should go for petrol unless he does a huge mileage, which for his sake I hope he doesn't if he's obliged to buy a high-miler in the first place.

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Thu 29 Jul 2010 22:33
£2k to spend on a diesel estate - danidge

I had the same brief in 2006. However, bought a low mileage Primera petrol estate because of their reputation for reliability and build quality. After just 4 years use and reaching a current mileage of almost 150000 it has been brilliant. My only fault has been play in the wiper linkages. Two points to consider. First, I am not getting diesel mpg (I am averaging 48mpg at present) but then I have not run the risk of a failed turbo, injector, intercooler etc. Second, finding a Primera estate for sale will not be easy

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Fri 30 Jul 2010 07:26
£2k to spend on a diesel estate - MrTG
I agree on Primera, and add a further £500/600 a P12 is possible with 6 airbags, a high crash test rating and vast load area. French designed, so electrical niggles, but still the Nissan bits under the bonnet (chain driven - no belt). Up to £2000 is an awkward sum though. If I wanted a Mondeo Zetec from the late 1990s I'd be looking at £1000 max - nowhere near £2k. Also instant cambelt change too - fiddly on the Zetec. Avoid diesel high milers all marques - (including Volvo) would be my advice. Also what about cheap MPVs?
Kia Carens cheap as chips with vast load area when seats down - but watch the gearbox/gear changes.
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Fri 30 Jul 2010 09:40
£2k to spend on a diesel estate - injection doc

I had a Kia Carens, loads of space but very noisey & very slow & thirsty for a Diesel ! it was Auto but it did about 30-33 whereas the Passat 2.0Tdi DSG ( auto) prior would do 55+. Hence to say Kia lasted about 6 weeks even the seat was a killer, cheap cheap cheap & as they say you get what you pay for!

Cheap est P405 1.9 est go on for ever & 50mpg & much more reliable than Diesels of today

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Fri 30 Jul 2010 23:27
£2k to spend on a diesel estate - dereckr

“Second, finding a Primera estate for sale will not be easy”

Finding another petrol Primera estate that really does average 48mpg is certainly going to be a challenge!

Edited by dereckr on 30/07/2010 at 23:28

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Sat 31 Jul 2010 04:38
£2k to spend on a diesel estate - MrTG
Re: Primera Estate MPG. I was actually wondering where this figure came from myself but didn't want to be impolite. Mine's a 1.8 2002 and the MPG is not the best feature shall we say. Last 1.8 Estate I had was 9 years ago - a 1996 Mondeo Zetec. Primera returns about the same.

Actually the Mondeo was a fine car. but I was into 4x4s at the time otherwise I'd probably still have it as a cheap TPFT runaround.
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Sun 1 Aug 2010 21:36
£2k to spend on a diesel estate - gramar

Buy a late 90's VW Polo TDI Estate. I had one for 8 years and only parted with it recently. If you look around you might find a well cherised one with 60-70k on it. They are solid and built like a tank. Mine was 100% reliable and gave good mpg only needing regular servicing during the 97k miles I ran it for.

At 114k miles I p/ex'd it and got almost £1000. So it owed me nothing - a damn fine car.

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Mon 2 Aug 2010 10:03
£2k to spend on a diesel estate - Pizza man

as above says a polo estate is good, the Seat cordoba is better value for money though (get a 1.9 TDi and you'll be doing 50mpg around town and 60 on motorway), depends what your carrying if it'll fit in the though as it's natrually not as wide a load area as a volvo V90 lol.

If your willing to go older and save some dosh the volvo 850 diesel estate is reliable and vast with good safety other wise a newer V70 (find the best condition you can, don't worry about mileage just make sure it's been serviced).

Edited by Pizza man on 02/08/2010 at 10:04

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Sat 7 Aug 2010 14:04
£2k to spend on a diesel estate - danidge

It gets driven with respect for its age!

The P11 models can return excellent figures-we have two. One gives approx 40 mpg on short journies ,eg school run ,rising towards 50 on a run-have checked this driven fully laden on the continent. The other has the less efficient older 1600 engine and has dropped as low as 44mpg in winter. Is currently returning 48mpg.

IMHO the subsequent P12 models were a retrograde step in terms of economy ,reliability and customer satisfaction-this being taken from reports over the years.

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