Estate or 4x4 with low boot height under £1500 | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

Wed 25 Jan 2017 17:00

Estate or 4x4 with low boot height under £1500 - logger

Can anyone suggest an estate or 4x4 with a low boot height.

I had an astra van ( engine just blown ) which I measured was only 54cm approx from floor to the boot sill ( needed for my two arthritic big dogs ! ) but I need now 4 seats sometime as well as the boot.

Anyone with suggestions...open to anything not worried about MPG etc

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Wed 25 Jan 2017 17:30

Estate or 4x4 with low boot height under £1500 - Steveieb

VW. Passat Estate or Audi A4 Avant 2001 - 2005 with the 1.9 PD Tdi engine. Very sought after for the long life engine , brilliant fuel consumption and easy spares availability.

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Wed 25 Jan 2017 18:50

Estate or 4x4 with low boot height under £1500 - SLO76

Honda Accord 2.0, Mazda 6 2.0, Ford Mondeo 1.8/2.0, Subaru Legacy all petrol, forget diesel versions of any of these! Subaru is great but hugely expensive for parts. All 4 are great to drive.

VW Passat B5/5.5 preferably 1.9 TDI which is hard to kill if maintained correctly, don't rule out the 2.0 petrol if fuel consumption isn't important though, its robust and much cheaper to buy so you'll get more for your money. Expensive timing belt every 4yrs is likely to be due or overdue on any you look at though.

Astras are cheap and tough if you avoid the 1.3/1.9 Fiat diesels and 1.8 VVT petrol and you'll get a lot for your money here as they're totally unfashionable... no bad thing.

Ford Focus is a good bet with the Yamaha 1600 petrol but not sure of the load height and they're very dependent on regular oil changes so reject any without proof of it. Do not buy a diesel!

Peugeot 406 was a good old smoker in 2.0 8v HDi form but the electrics do get a bit shonky in typically French manner due to age. Citroen Berlingo too if you avoid the 1.6 diesel.

Toyota Avensis 1.8/2.0 petrol. Dull as dishwater and known to use a bit of oil but very robust if correctly maintained.

But it all depends on what's available in your area for the budget. All things being identical I'd prefer the Honda or big Mazda both of which are nice to drive, will do 35mpg and rarely go wrong in petrol form. I love the big Subaru too but you'll be horrified by the price of some parts thanks to low sales and the lack of non-manufacturer parts.

Edited by SLO76 on 25/01/2017 at 18:52

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Wed 25 Jan 2017 19:47

Estate or 4x4 with low boot height under £1500 - RaineMan

Tend to agree with the above. At your price point it is a question of seeing what is around locally rather than looking for a specific model. By purely on condition and service history, and don't even consider a 4x4 as cheap nes have big bills waiting in the wings.

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Wed 25 Jan 2017 20:29

Estate or 4x4 with low boot height under £1500 - logger

Thanks..I'll have a look at the Mazda, Audi, Honda and Passat

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Wed 25 Jan 2017 22:50

Estate or 4x4 with low boot height under £1500 - gordonbennet

Don't forget Toyota Avensis, though in all honesty almost any estate will do if bought dirt cheap with a long MOT.

£1500 should provide a good example, and reasonably serviceable cars a third of that, of any make.

As for Scooby Legacy's, we've now had our 52 plate Outback which cost £1070 for three years, i haven't had to buy a single genuine part for it, flew through the MOT again few weeks ago, couldn't even tell you where the nearest main dealer is now that Spratton (Northants) is apparently closed.

Pattern parts no different in price to other makes, but where Subaru win is that (cylinder head work or spark plug changes excepted due to flat 4/6 design)) they are well engineered they don't fall apart and are made to be worked on.

Edited by gordonbennet on 25/01/2017 at 22:53

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Thu 26 Jan 2017 08:58

Estate or 4x4 with low boot height under £1500 - Steveieb

Newman and Reidy of Earls Barton have taken over from Westaway of Spratton Gordonbennet but I understand that Westaway can still carry out servicing.
New mans have also inherited Isusu and base the dealership in Paulespury.
I am currently in Mears Ashby which is close to you I understand

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Thu 26 Jan 2017 17:01

Estate or 4x4 with low boot height under £1500 - gordonbennet

Newman and Reidy of Earls Barton, I am currently in Mears Ashby which is close to you I understand

Much obliged to me learned friend, and yes we're not so far apart, Kettering is my hideaway now.

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Thu 26 Jan 2017 09:37

Estate or 4x4 with low boot height under £1500 - Fishermans Bend

Thanks..I'll have a look at the Mazda, Audi, Honda and Passat

Astra, Vectra, Citroen C5 and Berlingo will probably have the lowest load heights.

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Thu 26 Jan 2017 10:22

Estate or 4x4 with low boot height under £1500 - Tester

Citroen C5 estate is huge and has a low sill even at normal ride height, plus you can raise and lower the back end with a switch in the boot. Of course, as with any car at this price it's a gamble but if it has at least some evidence of recent servicing then it could be worth a try. If you can find a reasonable one then you'll struggle to go back to a 'normal' car!

(I don't know but suspect there were never many petrol versions sold. I believe that the original C5 diesels only had a DPF on the 2.2 HDi; this is the one that I've had since 2002 and I'm very fond of it. I had to replace the DPF at just past 90,000 miles but it wasn't hugely expensive - £350 IIRC. Eolys needs re-filling about every 50,000 miles. The only other parts I've replaced in 132,000 miles apart from wear-and-tear items and timing belt are the MAF sensor (around 90,000 miles) alternator (last year) and rear brake calipers (this month).)

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Thu 26 Jan 2017 17:43

Estate or 4x4 with low boot height under £1500 - Steveieb

The A4 Avant beats the rest on style and prescence IMHO. A sport model was up for sale recently for £1500 with the sought after 1.9 PD Tdi engine.

With used examples with epic mileages approaching 330 K still commanding £1000 the demand is undeniable.

With the evolution methodology used by Audi the styling still looks modern and its hard to find a car which combines the look of a saloon with the usefullness of an estate.

Once your wife AKA management takes a look you will have no other choice to consider!

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Thu 26 Jan 2017 19:23

Estate or 4x4 with low boot height under £1500 - Fishermans Bend

The A4 Avant beats the rest on style and prescence IMHO. A sport model was up for sale recently for £1500 with the sought after 1.9 PD Tdi engine.

With used examples with epic mileages approaching 330 K still commanding £1000 the demand is undeniable.

With the evolution methodology used by Audi the styling still looks modern and its hard to find a car which combines the look of a saloon with the usefullness of an estate.

Once your wife AKA management takes a look you will have no other choice to consider!

I suspect the needs of his two arthritic dogs will be higher than his wife's.

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Thu 26 Jan 2017 20:56

Estate or 4x4 with low boot height under £1500 - logger

LOL !!

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Thu 26 Jan 2017 21:11

Estate or 4x4 with low boot height under £1500 - logger

Re the Avant 1.9 Tdi... I do see some trade cars at £1000-1500 but at least 170k miles, is this something I should be very wary of ?

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Thu 26 Jan 2017 21:16

Estate or 4x4 with low boot height under £1500 - SLO76

Seen plenty of Octavia taxis with this engine and well over 300k under the belt. If it's been looked after it's perfectly possible but then again if you're only doing a limited mileage why not buy a vastly lower mileage petrol model with the 2.0 130bhp that's got less to go wrong and will have vastly less mileage for the money? You won't save enough to bother with a diesel and any number of expensive issues are possible from turbo failure through costly injector problems etc etc. Forget image at this money and buy on condition, history and mileage rather than performance and prestige. A good Passat 2.0 SE or Accord 2.0 with 80-100k and a full history would be a better bet that a mega mile A4.

Edited by SLO76 on 26/01/2017 at 21:18

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Thu 26 Jan 2017 23:39

Estate or 4x4 with low boot height under £1500 - Avant

If you go for an Octavia estate, make sure it's got the variable boot floor. If it hasn't, there is a lip and a drop which your dogs would find difficult.

If you don't need four seats at the same time as carrying the dogs, a Citroen Berlingo or Peugeot Partner would be your best bet, avoiding (as I'm sure someone has said above) the 1.6 diesel. These have a very low loading lip.

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Fri 27 Jan 2017 10:06

Estate or 4x4 with low boot height under £1500 - corax

Seen plenty of Octavia taxis with this engine and well over 300k under the belt. If it's been looked after it's perfectly possible but then again if you're only doing a limited mileage why not buy a vastly lower mileage petrol model with the 2.0 130bhp that's got less to go wrong and will have vastly less mileage for the money?

Agreed. The engine, if looked after, will go on and on but when approaching 200k it's the ancillaries like alternators, pulleys, power steering pumps that could start whining plus wheel bearings, driveshafts, gearbox. And dampers, ball joints and bushes are all getting old. Fine if the owner has kept on top of it, but it's rare that people do this, because they're busy keeping money back for their next car by this stage.

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