What economical, big estate?

[CanadianScot]

Right this is for my mother as her 9-5 estate is racking up the miles and she thinks it's time for a replacement.

She does about 20k per annum so fuel economy is a pretty big factor for her. Her current 9-5 gets about 35mpg, which isn't good enough apparently.

We frequently go away in the car with 4 people, luggage and our rather large Dobermann so it needs to be a big car. If there's an economical 4x4 that fits the bill, that would be lovely, but as far as I can tell, there are no 4x4's big enough that are also economical (35-40mpg+).

We live in the country but have a 4x4 (Navara) when the snow comes in so that's not a huge issue, although would be a nice luxury.

Well anyway, criteria is as follows:

£20k budget
40mpg
No more than 3 years old (has to be newer than the current one for some reason)
No more than 40,000 miles
Big enough for 4 people, luggage and Dudley (our Dobermann)
Auto preferably

My father and I looked at an 08 V70 and an 07 E-class estate today. Couldn't help but think the E-class estate has quite a dated front end now though. The Volvo was nice though and is a contender.

I'm sure I've suggested near enough everything to her, but thought I'd post here in case I've missed anything.

Thanks in advance guys

[WeirdNeville]

Volvo V70 D5 if Mpg is more important than 4x4.
Volvo XC70 D5 if 4x4 is more important than mpg.

They are big, heavy cars though so don't expect miracles in mpg, I'd say 45-50 mpg is as good as you can expect from the class, really.

[Alec]

Do they make a passat bluemotion estate? Or maybe a 3/520d ED?

[Emsman]

Skoda Superb estate.

Huge, frugal, decent spec.

[anonymous-user]

not my choice of where £20k would go, but it ticks the boxes in OP

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2010...

Edited by anonymous-user on Thursday 13th January 07:54

[smifffymoto]

I've got a Bluemotion,brilliant car,by no means quick but very economical. I usually get about 1200 km per tank but I live in the Pyrenees so you should be able to get much better than that.Unfortunatley Bluemotion is manual only.

[jonnylayze]

Emsman said:

Skoda Superb estate.

Huge, frugal, decent spec.

This - when I was looking I actually thought it would be too big for me but I'm regretting it now. It is huge but is beautifully finished compared to other cars at twice the price and is the estate car to have for £20k.

[Agent 57]

Don't expect brilliant economy from the Volvo Euro IV diesel engines - we get about 30mpg overall, 36mpg on a motorway journey from a 2008 V70 163bhp 2.4D (mechanically the same as the D5). Not too bad for such a big car, but could do better. I'm not sure about the later Euro V engines.

I think my Dad gets about the same mpg from a 2006 Merc E280 CDI. IMO The Merc feels like a nicer exec express, but the Volvo is perhaps the more practical family bus.

Edited by Agent 57 on Thursday 13th January 08:12

[HellDiver]

Mk4 Mondeo Estate. 2.2TDCI, get a high spec and have change from your £20k.

[Busa_Rush]

Agent 57 said:

Don't expect brilliant economy from the Volvo Euro IV diesel engines - we get about 30mpg overall, 36mpg on a motorway journey from a 2008 V70 163bhp 2.4D (mechanically the same as the D5). Not too bad for such a big car, but could do better. I'm not sure about the later Euro V engines.

I think my Dad gets about the same mpg from a 2006 Merc E280 CDI. IMO The Merc feels like a nicer exec express, but the Volvo is perhaps the more practical family bus.

What's he doing to get that little from it ? I can get 40-45 on a run from the previous generation V70 TDi 2.5 5 cyl engine which is basically just an old VW Van engine from the 90's with a 4 speed auto box, without even trying. At 60mph it goes up to 50mpg.

[neil_bmw]

X3 2.0d if you want an economical 4x4 or 520d touring.
Both have huge boot space and will do 40mpg.

[Agent 57]

Busa_Rush said:

Agent 57 said:

Don't expect brilliant economy from the Volvo Euro IV diesel engines - we get about 30mpg overall, 36mpg on a motorway journey from a 2008 V70 163bhp 2.4D (mechanically the same as the D5). Not too bad for such a big car, but could do better. I'm not sure about the later Euro V engines.

What's he doing to get that little from it ? I can get 40-45 on a run from the previous generation V70 TDi 2.5 5 cyl engine which is basically just an old VW Van engine from the 90's with a 4 speed auto box, without even trying. At 60mph it goes up to 50mpg.

We don't drive it gently .

Those figures are from the trip computer, I haven't bothered calculating it myself. The mpg of the Euro IV version is well known to be much worse than the Euro III. Most of the blame seems to fall on the DPF. The gen3 V70 is also a substantially heavier/bigger car than the previous version.

Edited by Agent 57 on Thursday 13th January 09:47

[Ranger 6]

neil_bmw said:

X3 2.0d if you want an economical 4x4 ......

+1 ours has been excellent for four years

[Jw Vw]

WeirdNeville said:

Volvo V70 D5 if Mpg is more important than 4x4.
Volvo XC70 D5 if 4x4 is more important than mpg.

They are big, heavy cars though so don't expect miracles in mpg, I'd say 45-50 mpg is as good as you can expect from the class, really.

. I'd say a V70 D5 aswell - not sure about boot size should be huge though!

[Bluebarge]

Citroen c5 sports tourer - you can get a 59 or 60 plate for £15-18k. Combined mpg is just over 40mpg - you'll see a bit less in real life in mixed driving but a bit more on the motorway.

Ford Mondeo tdci posts 53mpg combined and is available at similar prices.