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Hi
Was thinking of buying a small estate Car but wondered if they are still in production. If not is a second hand Astra Estate a good buy ?
Thanks
Ian
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A Google for Small Estate Cars will give you a good idea of what's around.
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There is the Focus estate which is a great all rounder, the Astra estate, Golf, Leon, Octavia, Auris, Civic, all good cars. Estates are still the most practical and best all rounders for moving people and stuff, whilst still retaining decent road behaviour and efficiency. Go for a petrol version unless you do an enormous annual mileage.
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Vauxhall Astra, Ford Focus, Hyundai i30, Kia Ceed, Skoda Octavia, Honda Civic, Toyota Auris, VW Golf, Audi A3, MINI Clubman - all have estate versions so still plenty of choice.
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What we're talking about here are what I'd term medium sized cars.
An Astra was parked next to me on the town multi storey last week.
Until I saw the badge I thought it was an Insignia.
FWIW if you're looking s/h a Skoda Roomster might fit the bill. Slightly quirky looks but lots of space and plenty of felxibility in loadspace with rear seats that move fore/aft and can fold, tumble or come out completely. Weakness is lack of proper third seat in rear.
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Thanks for the replies
I'm currently running a BMW 1 series 118 diesel. It's a great car but the mileage can s creeping up 158000 at the moment but t running well.
My reason. For looking for a small estate is I'm currently delivering parcels locally and was thinking an estate would be more practical. The Roomster was also on my list. My BMW doesn't hav a DPF and would like to find an estate which also didn't have one fitted obviously diesel ??
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IIRC emission regulations efectively mandated DPF fitment from 2009 on. Most engines had them in advance of that as fitment usually coincided with other updates.
A DPF diesel isn't generally regarded as suitable for urban stop/start applications. Be chary of using one for parcel delivery unless you're getting long runs as well as door to door stuff.
The Skoda, 1.6/90PS EA185 diesel engine, seems fine with my 14 mile round trip commute. But I only work three days a week and it gets lots of other use as well.
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+1 what Brompt says regarding diesel and local deliveries. Our Hermes chap had some very big bills when he ran a 308 and a Focus diesel. He has run a 60 reg petrol Astra estate (1.4T I think) for the last couple of years and hasn't had any trouble.
The Astra estate is about the right size for his round, especially at this time of year when it's filled to the roof and with parcels on the front seat too.
Edited by Chris M on 26/12/2016 at 17:22
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What's your budget and will you be doing a run at motorway speeds at least twice a week?
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A Kia Ceed 1.6 CRDi might fit your needs. Get one manufactured before Setember 2010 and it will not have a DPF. The DPF was only fitted to 2011 MY cars that started production early September 2010. Get as late one from a Kia dealer with uner 100,000 miles, a full service history and it will still have 6 months or so of the manufacturers warranty left. Hopefully enough time to get any issues sorted.
We had one the same time as a BMW 118D. Both our cars had DPF's and although its fair to say the BMW was quicker and more refined the Kia Ceed was more economical and obviously was bigger.
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What's your budget and will you be doing a run at motorway speeds at least twice a week?
Motorway every day this week they tend to route it so you do the furthest drop then swing back to town. So it's usually up the M8 east or west then a couple of locals then back down the Motorway to the depot which thankfully is very near the slip road to the Motorway
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Need to know your budget before advising. I wouldn't recommend a modern diesel to anyone shopping on a tight budget but if you've the funds it might be the best option for the sort of driving you do.
Small world by the way, my other half is from Killie and we live not far away.
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Motorway every day this week they tend to route it so you do the furthest drop then swing back to town. So it's usually up the M8 east or west then a couple of locals then back down the Motorway to the depot which thankfully is very near the slip road to the Motorway..
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A petrol previous shape Berlingo Multispace will swallow all the parcels you can throw at it and do multidrop deliveries all day long.
Diesel is a waste of time for this but if you insist get the 1.9, it's great around town as it just lugs from tickover, but a bit breathless getting to 70.
I used one as a work van and still have stuff left on the garage floor that won't fit in the CR-V that replaced it
My local Yodel driver uses one too
Edited by mss1tw on 26/12/2016 at 16:00
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No way is an Octavia small!!!!! How about a Skoda Fabia? Peugeot 208? Renault Clio?
Edited by Fishermans Bend on 26/12/2016 at 17:01
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Diesel is a waste of time for this but if you insist get the 1.9, it's great around town as it just lugs from tickover, but a bit breathless getting to 70. I used one as a work van and still have stuff left on the garage floor that won't fit in the CR-V that replaced it My local Yodel driver uses one too
I think you and I both had same model. The 1.9 went out of production in MY2006. I *think* a 2.0 HDi/90 might have continued for a year or so after that. These are good engines and don't have DPF's.
The later 1.6 Hdi has several sub variants and apart from possibilty of DPF some versions, mainly 16valve, have a tenedency to lunch turbochargers due to a weakness in the lubrication circuit.
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Good point I forgot the 2.0 entirely and that it was a good 'un - I was thinking of avoiding the 1.6.
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Thanks again for all the replies. Lots of good info their many of the Cars discussed were on my list of cars I was thinking of. Had the new shape Berlingo in a 1.6 diesel. That was a great car sold to my Brother in Law as I was leaving the country for a couple of years. I wasn't sure if it was OK to mention who I was delivering for but have noticed a couple of companies being mentioned have worked for both Yodel & Hermes in the past. I'm currently working part time for Amazon Flex only started last week but it's been quite profitable so far. I've never had more than 4 drops as it works on time slots either one or two Hour slots. So you have time to deliver and get back for another slot if you are booked for it. So far the Beemer has handled it well as the packages arent that big apart from the cooler bags which are few and far between. I'm trying to think ahead in case they start upping the number of Parcels or Drops which might put my current vehicle out of the game.
MY Beemer is due for an MOT in Feb next year I know it need shocks frnt and back and the rear off side caliper has a tendency to stick. Have orderd the Shocks and will fit them and do the caliper soon as the weather clears in Glasgow that could be never, but i live in hope :)
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" 2.0 HDi/90 might have continued for a year or so after that. These are good engines and don't have DPF's."
The 2.0 HDi 8v was great engine, I've seen them with over 500k regularly and one with in excess of 850k on the origional engine. Shame Peugeot dropped the ball so much afterwards.
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Dacia Logan MCV
Huge estate boot bigger than a V70
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