4x4,mpv,estate - HOW DO I DECIDE ? Estate, MPV or 4x4 !

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Sat 30 Jun 2012 19:00
4x4,mpv,estate - HOW DO I DECIDE ? Estate, MPV or 4x4 ! - logger

I am in the position that I have up to £4000 to spend on a car and as usual I am going backwards and forwards on which one to get. I know its presonal preference in the end but i am hoping that I can get some 'sensible' ideas from the great crowd on this forum

My needs:-

-Seat 5 adults+

-Big boot or at least big when rear seats folded for 16st Dog !

-Reasonable MPG would be nice but I going to do around 8k miles a year

I have the following newish cars

MPV- 2.0 tdci CMax, 2.8 crd Grand Voyager, 1.9 tdi galaxy

4x4 - 2.0 crdi Kia Sportage(maybe sorrento), 2.2dci XTrail,

Estate - Mondeo Estate

and I have considered just running an old 'reliable' motor such as

Nissan Patrol, Toyota Landcruiser, Jeep Cherokee 2.5td

I am more than happy to spend £1000 and keep £1000 for repairs over 3 years if it gets me a nice motor

Thanks

Pete

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Sat 30 Jun 2012 20:00
4x4,mpv,estate - HOW DO I DECIDE ? Estate, MPV or 4x4 ! - injection doc

for your budget I would suggest the C-max would be a safer bet.

Voyager & Galaxys tend to be quite tired by the time they reach that Market value, Mondeo est not too bad iether, TDCis are better if they have been looked after so look for something genuine.

Patrols, landcrusiers & Jeeps not bad but again in that low budget band could be quite wallet bending if something goes wrong.

Kia's are very thirsty and choppy ride & Diesel injection system can suffer with fuel contamination from tank delamination.

X-trails not bad, do have to watch timing chains, turbo's and intercoolers as these knock a hole in four figures + when they fail !

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Sat 30 Jun 2012 20:16
4x4,mpv,estate - HOW DO I DECIDE ? Estate, MPV or 4x4 ! - RT

Don't buy a 4wd if you don't need 4wd - more to go wrong and more fuel cost.

At 8,000 miles/year don't buy a diesel - you don't nearly get to the break point.

A conventional large estate like Mondeo or Vectra would seem obvious - but I must admit I'm struggling to envisage a 16 stone dog !!

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Sat 30 Jun 2012 20:21
4x4,mpv,estate - HOW DO I DECIDE ? Estate, MPV or 4x4 ! - logger
Thanks for the suggestions so far

Re 4x4' s ... I have a bit of a soft spot for them as I have owned landies, discoveries and a Nissan patrol in the past..

Re the dog..yes 16st is hard for us sometimes... But at least we don't need a house alarm !
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Sat 30 Jun 2012 20:37
4x4,mpv,estate - HOW DO I DECIDE ? Estate, MPV or 4x4 ! - GavoTheSane

Go for the Mondeo estate.

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Sat 30 Jun 2012 22:07
4x4,mpv,estate - HOW DO I DECIDE ? Estate, MPV or 4x4 ! - Avant

If you take 5 adults regularly, a Ford C-Max or a Honda CRV make sense, or even the rarer Honda FRV if you can find one.

If you only take 5 occasionally I'd suggest a Mondeo or Octavia estate, or perhaps a Mazda 6 or Toyota Avensis estate. You need to check the height of the rear sill for the wee doggie.

Go for petrol rather than diesel.

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