you decide - estate or mpv or van?

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Sat 30 Oct 2010 00:41
you decide - estate or mpv or van? - P E

Good evening everyone.

It's ages since I last posted but am in need of opinions and suggestions for replacing my car.

At present I run a 1997 Passat estate, worth only £700, I bought it only as a stop gap measure with the intention of replacing it after 6-8 months, which is now.

I travel about 5000 miles a year, surf as much as possible (maybe twice a week, boards I use are 7'3" upto 9'4"), and cut grass/tend gardens for family members which means I am constantly putting the seats down/going to the tip/moving something/standing half clothed in a car park.

Caravelle or Mercedes V class obvious choices as well as Mazda Bongo but I have managed with an estate so far but would like something more flexible.

Basically, have I missed any obvious choices (berlingo etc)

Answers on a postcard.

Cheers

Patrice

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Sat 30 Oct 2010 11:06
you decide - estate or mpv or van? - Alby Back

Well I think I'd start by asking yourself how much you like driving and how important the costs involved are.

Anything van based will be practical of course but highly unlikely to be anything other than utilitarian to drive. This factor may of course not matter to you which is fair enough.

Fuel consumption on any large van type vehicle will also tend to be worse than an estate car.

I went through this same dilemma when I ran my small business which really needed a small van during the week and for shifting our mountain bikes and attendant equipment at the weekends. In the end I went for a large estate car, in my case a Mondeo but anything that size is remarkably spacious and practical.

Friend of mine in the same line of work took the opposite view and bought a van for work but ended up needing to buy a car as well which sort of blew a hole in the financial argument.

If it was me I'd stick with a large estate. Best of all worlds from my point of view, nicer to drive, can be cheaper to buy and run and still offers good practicality.

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Sat 30 Oct 2010 16:31
you decide - estate or mpv or van? - P E

Thanks for the reply Humph. I have given it more thought today and I am leaning towards another estate car.

I am not too bothered about driving dynamics and could live with a van, but after carefully weighing up my needs and continued usage an estate car would be the best compromise.

The low annual mileage I do leads me towards looking for a petrol engined estate, preferably with leather. I am now tending towards the unlikely candidate of a BMW 5 series touring, maybe upto 7 years old.

I did have a Mondeo estate years ago and like the new ones but they're comparitively rare in the specification I would like, ie roof rails and leather seats and petrol engined.

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Sat 30 Oct 2010 20:11
you decide - estate or mpv or van? - Alby Back

5 series would be a lovely car. Take a look at a Mondeo ST220 estate too if you want something really tasty for not a lot of money. Pretty understated by comparison to the BMW but very capable and huge fun to drive while remaining practical.

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Sat 30 Oct 2010 22:22
you decide - estate or mpv or van? - skittles

If you do not need the seats in the back then go for a car derived van or something similar

If you need it for every day use do not but anything to large as it becomes a pain in the neck

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Sat 30 Oct 2010 23:31
you decide - estate or mpv or van? - Avant

Nice to see you back, P E. If I remember right, you've had trouble in the past with a Volvo, but if you need length (for the surfboards) and a low loading height (for the mower) either a V70 or a Mondeo as recommended, with good reason, by Humph, would be your best bet. I don't think a van-based wagon would do any more for you.

Not sure what your budget is. If buying new, include the Skoda Superb estate in your shortlist; if not but you have enough to spend, you could consider a Mercedes E-class estate. But you'll get a newer Ford or Volvo for the same money as an older Mercedes.

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Sun 31 Oct 2010 10:42
you decide - estate or mpv or van? - P E

Thank you for all the suggestions.

Skittle. The size of van I would be going for would be a transit connect type size, but I do need the seats in the back, so a car is really the only option.

Humph, an ST220 would be great value, I had not even considered one that sporty.

Avant, my budget is most likely upto about £8000, so I'd be looking at the cheaper end of the BMW's or MB's. You're right, I did have a Volvo a while ago but that hasn't put me off the make, and I do like the V70.

Even if I could afford a Skoda I wouldn't have one on general principal. Years ago we owned a Fabia with full Skoda service history. Then when an expensive part failed (Throttle body, car lost power on the A1, my wife was driving and she did well to steer it off onto a slip road), Skoda customer services took a hard and heavy line basically saying, 'Tough.'

But I digress.

I really thought I had covered all the options yet am now looking at Volvo's and Mercedes. Thanks guys!

I may pitch up at a Merecedes dealership with my Passat and the mower and surfboard in the back and ask to see if I can get them into the back of one of their E class'...

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Sun 31 Oct 2010 11:39
you decide - estate or mpv or van? - Alby Back

Well good hunting ! Don't think you'd be disappointed with any of those choices. It'll be a case of what feels right on the day now. They'll all fit the brief so to speak.

For an aside, I'm just in the process of loading up my mega miler, 8 year old Mondeo estate for a mountain biking trip this afternoon. The much younger, much better condition but much less useful and much less fun to drive Qashqai is staying on the drive...

Surf up today ?

:-)

Edited by Humph Backbridge on 31/10/2010 at 11:39

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Sun 31 Oct 2010 11:45
you decide - estate or mpv or van? - P E

No surf today Humph, at least not on the north east coast. of England.

Enjoy your biking trip this afternoon.

Thanks again for the advice.

P E

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Tue 2 Nov 2010 16:55
you decide - estate or mpv or van? - Sofa Spud
What about a mid-size MPV (e.g. VW Touran, Vauxhall Zafira) plus a small trailer for all the gardening stuff?
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Wed 3 Nov 2010 17:04
you decide - estate or mpv or van? - P E

Yeah I had thought about either one of those, and had thought about the trailer idea.

I discounted the trailer idea quite quickly as the trade off between owning and storing one against projected usage wouldn't be worth it for me. The main problem of putting garden waste in the car is the hedge clippings and branches ( relatively large, always seem to snag and scrap upholstery) and I think a chipper would solve that problem.

MPV's of that size would do though, I owned a C-max for a year and while thats a little smaller was ok for the purpose I put it too. Though the boards didn't fit in it.

I have eliminated Mercs and BMW's as although they are nice and reliable, any repair could cost lots more than a repair to a Ford Mondeo, say.

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