Arghh what car 7k conundrum
Arghh what car 7k conundrum
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anonymous-user

Original Poster:

83 months

Monday 11th September 2023
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[redacted]

covmutley

3,354 posts

219 months

Monday 11th September 2023
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Skoda superb estate?

It's amazing how little £7k gets you these days. Volvo v70s seem to be incredibly high prices, but the v60 estate seems to be considerably better value for some reason, so I perhaps one of them?

D5 is a lovely engine, although the auto gearbox is a bit meh. It's fine though, and better once warmed up.

7 5 7

4,399 posts

140 months

Monday 11th September 2023
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Insignia Estate, get a rather new one for that budget, I am sure.

Although I always put my bikes on the roof now of cars, and/or use a roofbox, makes a huge difference.

Edited by 7 5 7 on Monday 11th September 08:04

Sslink

127 posts

70 months

Monday 11th September 2023
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Skoda Octavia Hatch can get a 29er in with the seats down and the handle bars turned, is a bit tight on length with the wheel attached still and not sure I'd want to try and stack another bike on top of it.

An estate would definitely have an easier loading hole. A Superb is bigger than an Octavia and one of the longest estates on the market, so I'd imagine without moving to something like a Skoda Roomster or another van-ish type vehicle you might struggle if you need to have all 3 bikes inside the cabin rather than roof rack or trailer.

Jamescrs

6,345 posts

94 months

Monday 11th September 2023
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Exeo estate would be a good shout, when it was released it was essentially the previous generation Audi A4 rebadged.

VeeReihenmotor6

2,558 posts

204 months

Monday 11th September 2023
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I had an Exeo estate for 10 years / 100k from almost new. It was a lovely car but specific Seat parts are obsolete and hard to find (bumper, wings, lights) so a minor parking incident would write the car off if going through insurance. They are also quite small inside, an Octavia/Golf Estate has a much bigger boot.

Mine was immaculate, annual servicing and never put a foot wrong until the steering rack went and it became impossible to find a replacement (obsolete in Germany, but not for the B7 Audi equivalent) and my specialist didn't want to refurbish mine due to time and effort waiting and car taking up a ramp. Sold it for spares repairs for £2k. Bought it for £15k with 3k on the odo so not a bad thing over 10 years.

Superb as mentioned is massive. Audi A6 is another option but you'll be getting an older car of course vs Skoda.


TikTak

3,031 posts

48 months

Monday 11th September 2023
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As in big enough to put the bikes in? Not to mount a thing on the back/roof?

Quite a few choices but I guess it depends what you want to do with age vs mileage.

Passat is gigantic inside and the VWs are robust and easy upkeep. Mondeo is also huge, lesser badge but better to be in than the Passat.

If you want a bit more leftfield, be tempted for a Volvo of some kind, V60, V70, XC60 or XC90 as they're nice to be in but slightly smaller.


VeeReihenmotor6

2,558 posts

204 months

Monday 11th September 2023
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also do look at the XC70 and A4/A6 Allroad. They seem better priced and I guess as they come up as different model on autotrader people don't search for them.

ZX10R NIN

30,525 posts

154 months

durbster

12,042 posts

251 months

Monday 11th September 2023
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For moving three bikes around you really want something van like don't you - something like a Citroen GrandC4 Picasso or an S-Max so you can put a couple of the rear seats down and have the bikes in the back?

FastEdd11e

205 posts

85 months

Tuesday 12th September 2023
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Another vote for the Superb estate.

Our local garage recommended a manual. We went for a 2014 Tour De France model. 4 wheel drive and manual.
We also had Celtic tuning warm it up to 190bhp.

It's great. Utterly huge and will take 3 bikes and a large dog with ease.

loskie

7,080 posts

149 months

Tuesday 12th September 2023
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you'll want/need a towbar bike rack that'll open up the choice of cars for you

Adwillsy

141 posts

89 months

Tuesday 12th September 2023
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+1 for a superb

worked on Mercedes' for 7yrs so may be able to help somewhat.
generally the chassis for the W212 (E-class) and W204 (C-class) were well built with easily less issues than the current generations so I would go for one of those if you did go the merc route. 220d/250d of either is reasonably solid engine which can do a fair few miles. the 350d's are very good just have to be aware of the oil cooler in the middle of the "V" leaking from the seals between 80-120k miles which is the biggest issue with those.
As long as the gearboxes have been serviced on time you will be good. also if you need a little more power the 350d can map up to 300/310hp with no real supporting mods so can be very quick too.