Something estate (ish) £20k budget

Original Poster

11,033 posts

233 months

Sunday 11th February

Fairly similar to another thread, but with more focus on load lugging.

I need help. More help that this thread will cover, but right now I'm concentrating on my car situation.

Right now I'm kidding myself thinking that the GR86 can be used with two young kids. It can't. So I need something with proper rear seats and ideally a big boot to chuck my bike into.

It doesn't have to be sporty, but it won't matter if it is, the other car is an Alpine, so I'm ok for something interesting to drive.

I'm thinking something that's all about capacity to put stuff in. (I don't want a Skoda Superb).

Budget is £20k. Ideally not mega milage or too old. Would like to have Apple Carplay as a function.

Things I've looked at so far

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2023091520...
Leon Cupra (could be too crashy in terms of ride)

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2023122049...
Left field, not sure I like it though

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2023100426...
Apparently these are good

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2024020161...
Loads of these around

What am I missing? Should I just buy a new Dacia Jogger instead?

ollyh1988

961 posts

207 months

Sunday 11th February

Personally I really like the 3 series estate and with your budget I’d be looking for a 340i touring.

imck

809 posts

114 months

Sunday 11th February

For family and general use, the Corolla estate is worth a look if the size is suitable
2.0 180BHP goes pretty well. I have a hatch. 1.8 a bit sluggish I believe.

CVT box is a bit unusual compared to other autos .Better than a Honda CVT I hired.
10 year/100K warranty if serviced through Toyota.
ACP (via cable I think) standard or can be added with SW upgrade.

2fast748

1,145 posts

202 months

Sunday 11th February

ThisInJapanese said:

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2023091520...
Leon Cupra (could be too crashy in terms of ride)

I've got the 1.4 TSI "version" of this and the ride is rubbish (17" wheels).

Had an Octavia VRS estate before it and they are like night and day in terms of quality.

Original Poster

11,033 posts

233 months

Sunday 11th February

ollyh1988 said:

Personally I really like the 3 series estate and with your budget I’d be looking for a 340i touring.

Those listed on Autotrader in budget are all big miles

Pablo16v

2,223 posts

204 months

Sunday 11th February

Had a 2020 Cupra ST for three years and my wife and I still miss it a year after handing it back (was a lease car). Great all-rounder and we never tired of the performance. DCC is a must though, as Comfort mode is great for just pootling around on a slightly softer suspension setting.

Panamax

5,048 posts

41 months

Sunday 11th February

ThisInJapanese said:

It doesn't have to be sporty, but it won't matter if it is

Mercedes C200 estate (petrol) will tick your boxes, but you can always choose a bigger engine if you like.

Original Poster

11,033 posts

233 months

Sunday 11th February

Panamax said:

Mercedes C200 estate (petrol) will tick your boxes, but you can always choose a bigger engine if you like.

Are they spacious in the boot?

Panamax

5,048 posts

41 months

Sunday 11th February

ThisInJapanese said:

Are they spacious in the boot?

Not especially, but if you want more space an E-class ticks all the same boxes with a bigger boot.

Buying in your price bracket I'd want either a Merc or the Octavia.

Original Poster

11,033 posts

233 months

Sunday 11th February

Pablo16v said:

Is DCC the option that includes the dynamic dampers?

MrSpanky49

140 posts

69 months

Sunday 11th February

ThisInJapanese said:

Is DCC the option that includes the dynamic dampers?

yes, DCC is standard on all mk3 Leon Cupras- I have a 290 hatch and the ride is acceptable in comfort mode on 19s

ZX10R NIN

28,358 posts

132 months

Sunday 11th February

Original Poster

11,033 posts

233 months

Sunday 11th February

ZX10R NIN said:

2.5 Mazda GT Sport Nav+:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401215...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202312204...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202402096...

The Mazda 6 is one of the best looking estate cars of recent years. I'm a fan of the looks. However, my dad has one and it's horrible to drive

Whataguy

1,028 posts

87 months

Sunday 11th February

Skoda scala - looks like an estate and has lots of space but is a bit smaller than an Octavia.

You could get an almost new one in budget.

Corolla estates are great, and you can have up to 10 years/100k miles without hardly any maintenance costs and covered by Toyota warranty if you use main dealer servicing. The front brake pads on my auris hybrid (previous corolla) lasted 60k miles.

Original Poster

11,033 posts

233 months

Sunday 11th February

MrSpanky49 said:

yes, DCC is standard on all mk3 Leon Cupras- I have a 290 hatch and the ride is acceptable in comfort mode on 19s

I had an Audi S4 (B8.5) that had adjustable dampers, it was fine in comfort, anything stiffer was pointless...

spreadsheet monkey

4,545 posts

234 months

Monday 12th February

ThisInJapanese said:

Right now I'm kidding myself thinking that the GR86 can be used with two young kids. It can't. So I need something with proper rear seats and ideally a big boot to chuck my bike into.

I'm thinking something that's all about capacity to put stuff in. (I don't want a Skoda Superb).

Budget is £20k. Ideally not mega milage or too old. Would like to have Apple Carplay as a function.

Things I've looked at so far

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/2023100426...
Apparently these are good

I bought a petrol 2018 Passat estate eight months ago and I'm very happy with it. Loads of room for both passengers (if you have two young kids in car seats) and stuff (you mentioned a bike). I don't know much about the GTE, but as it is a plug in hybrid, you would be able to run it predominantly as an EV for short trips, keeping it topped up by plugging it in overnight. Depends on your usage, I guess.

Others have mentioned a 3-series touring. Presumably it would be a F31 model (previous generation) at £20k budget. I looked at these, and they are nice cars with a great range of engines and the split tailgate is very useful, but they are noticeably smaller than something like a Passat. Up to you whether you need the extra space or not!

spreadsheet monkey

4,545 posts

234 months

Monday 12th February

Whataguy said:

Corolla estates are great, and you can have up to 10 years/100k miles without hardly any maintenance costs and covered by Toyota warranty if you use main dealer servicing. The front brake pads on my auris hybrid (previous corolla) lasted 60k miles.

It’s not very PH, but the new Corolla estate is a very good car, and gets good reviews. You can get a GR sport version, with a 2.0L hybrid engine with 180bhp which is decently quick.

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/toyota/corolla/10906...

StuTheGrouch

5,812 posts

169 months

Monday 12th February

5 series?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401285...

Baldchap

8,354 posts

99 months

Monday 12th February

Don't forget the cavernous Superb estate.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-search?advertisin...

Also, already mentioned above, but for white goods motoring an Insignia estate is a hell of a lot of car for the money and surprisingly *good*. It would be the one getting my money.

FiF

45,499 posts

258 months