Suggestions, please: £7.5k super reliable, big boot

[TwoWheels321]

Hi everyone

I'd appreciate some car suggestions from some people who are much more familiar with cars than I am.

I'm about to buy my first car in 25 years (I'm in my forties). My top budget is £7500, and I'll be using it mainly for motorway/rural travel every couple of weeks - likely 4-5000 miles a year. I live in London UK, so it needs to be ULEZ compliant, but most of my trips will be heading out of the city.

I want to be able to transport a dog. Maybe a crate in the boot, but as we've no kids, I'm thinking more likely this will be harnessing Fido in the back seat.

I also want to transport 1-2 bikes. Easy enough to pop off the wheels if necessary, but I need the boot to be big enough that sliding the bikes in doesn't take a physics degree. On non-bike days, we'll need to transport the equivalent of 3 large suitcases of boxes (but won't need to worry about the dog on these days).

Other than these requirements, my number one priority is reliability. I'm guessing that with my budget, I'm looking at something with higher mileage, so therefore I want something bulletproof and known for longevity as I intend to own this car for at the very least the next 5 years. I intend to buy something with a full service history, and plan to do what I need to take good care of it (ie full service every year - any other suggestions welcome). Given the higher mileage, I'm probably going to go with petrol, as I understand (perhaps wrongly?) that when diesel engines get old and go wrong, they cost a fortune to fix. Reliability and low maintenance is more important than MPG for me.

All this considered, I've been looking at either an SUV or estate. Ideally any estate wouldn’t be tooooo long as I have to park it on the street outside my house, and space can often be tight.

Shortlist so far is something like:
- 2009 or 2013 Honda CRV (as known for going well over 100,000 miles with few problems)
- Kia Sportage
- Seat Leon estate
- Skoda Octavia estate
- Kia Ceed SW estate

How much mileage is too much mileage for these petrol models?

Wildcard option: a medium sized car (hatchback?) with a big enough boot with seats down for suitcases and I’ll use a roof rack for bikes, though less preferable as bikes are easy to nick this way.

Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance!

[CivicDuties]

Honda Civic Tourer, 1.8 petrol.

Look up the "magic seats", hard to describe in words, but these can be great for bikes and dogs.

I've had mine 5 years, family of 4 (2 teenagers now), a dog, and occasional bike transport. No reliability issues of any kind in that time, not a single fault.

[Jayho]

CivicDuties said:

Honda Civic Tourer, 1.8 petrol.

Look up the "magic seats", hard to describe in words, but these can be great for bikes and dogs.

I've had mine 5 years, family of 4 (2 teenagers now), a dog, and occasional bike transport. No reliability issues of any kind in that time, not a single fault.

This. Also don't discount the Diesel version of these. Can be had for budget even without moon miles. These will be around the 2015-2016 mark, so should be ULEZ Compliant, but always worth double checking before viewing.

You'd do a great job to kill a Honda.

[TwoWheels321]

CivicDuties said:

Honda Civic Tourer, 1.8 petrol.

Look up the "magic seats", hard to describe in words, but these can be great for bikes and dogs.

I've had mine 5 years, family of 4 (2 teenagers now), a dog, and occasional bike transport. No reliability issues of any kind in that time, not a single fault.

Great, thanks. How's the insurance? I read somewhere that Civics and Jazz premiums were rocketing due to catalytic converter thefts.

[CivicDuties]

TwoWheels321 said:

CivicDuties said:

Honda Civic Tourer, 1.8 petrol.

Look up the "magic seats", hard to describe in words, but these can be great for bikes and dogs.

I've had mine 5 years, family of 4 (2 teenagers now), a dog, and occasional bike transport. No reliability issues of any kind in that time, not a single fault.

Great, thanks. How's the insurance? I read somewhere that Civics and Jazz premiums were rocketing due to catalytic converter thefts.

No issue here with insurance, nothing more than I'd reasonably expect. I don't think thieves realise it's a petrol as they're not badged, and they probably assume all estate cars are diesel. I think the cat is in an unreachable or protected place maybe, never heard of these being targeted.

Magic seats vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67bwZ7dHxbc

[LowTread]

Another vote for Civic Tourer here.

Don't discount the 1.6 iDTEC too. It's a masterpiece of an engine. Developed from the ground up to meet EU6 emissions. It's the only diesel engine i'd ever have, having had more than my fair share!!

I used to get a genuine 80mpg out of mine on a decent run.

[bennno]

Hyundai or Honda, something ugly / unfashionable and either a diesel or non turbo petrol.

You will get bored of a ix20 hyundai long before it wears out or brakes down.

[PurpleTurtle]

TwoWheels321 said:

CivicDuties said:

Honda Civic Tourer, 1.8 petrol.

Look up the "magic seats", hard to describe in words, but these can be great for bikes and dogs.

I've had mine 5 years, family of 4 (2 teenagers now), a dog, and occasional bike transport. No reliability issues of any kind in that time, not a single fault.

Great, thanks. How's the insurance? I read somewhere that Civics and Jazz premiums were rocketing due to catalytic converter thefts.

I'm a pal of CivicDuties, we occasionally look after his dog and cab vouch for the reliability of his Civic,

I'm actually in the same boat as you car wise, and am probably going to get a CRV, but only because we need to tow a caravan 5-6 times a year s ovalue the 4WD on wet grassy sites.

Were it not for that I'd be plumping for a Civic Tourer too, but the CRV is a great car for doing it all with zero worries.

I'd go petrol if I were you, in view of your mileage and potential borkage costs on a modern diesel.

[BoRED S2upid]

The SEAT and SKoDA are basically the same car and should be reliable and big enough.

[M4cruiser]

Obviously the answer is Toyota Avensis Estate, but then i would say that. Loads on AutoTrader, just check it's ULEZ (some may not be). 80,000 miles already and 10 years old is no problem for these.

[ZX10R NIN]

At around 7.5k you can get a lot of car for your budget.They're all reliable so it'll come down to which you like the best.

1.5T Insignia SRI really does tick every box & they are properly spacious as well as being well (Android Auto etc) spec'd:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202404138...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202404259...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202404118...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202401045...

Estate:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202403227...

Mazda6 Estate:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202310303...

Mazda5 Sport Venture:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202405099...

[CivicDuties]

M4cruiser said:

Obviously the answer is Toyota Avensis Estate, but then i would say that. Loads on AutoTrader, just check it's ULEZ (some may not be). 80,000 miles already and 10 years old is no problem for these.

Yep, excellent call, but for someone who has named bike carrying as a need, then the Civic Tourer or CRV with the magic seats would probably trump the Avensis in practicality terms, as it doesn't have that unique arrangement.

[66HFM]

As others have said, the Honda Civic Tourer, although also look at the Octavia estate and the Seat Leon ST (estate) as the boot on the Octavia is huge, its also very big on the hatchback...

[RSTurboPaul]

Would a Superb be too big / too costly?

[TwoWheels321]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone.

Can't see many Superbs at my price range - is there any reason why you'd go for one over a Octavia, other than being a bit plusher?

Anyone had any experience with the VW Passat estate, prob around 2013?

The most important question: would anyone have issues buying any of the above cars with 90-100,000 miles as long as it had a full service history? I'm concerned that some of these cars are officially (ie manufacturer sites) listed as having lifespans of 130k, and I'm wondering whether getting a car in the last quarter of its life means more regular and more expensive repairs. I know lots of people get double this mileage, but I'm wondering how many of them bought their cars at shortish mileage, then took good care of them into the big numbers...

[CarlosSainz100]

I always look at what taxi drivers use when I think of car reliability and space.

All the ones near me drive Octavia's, Mondeos and Prius; with the odd Mercedes E Class.

For 7.5k I'd probably get a petrol Octavia

[magpie215]

I'll throw you a bit of a curveball if your open to owning a JDM.

Honda Stepwagon could tick a lot of your requirements.

[RizzoTheRat]

BoRED S2upid said:

The SEAT and SKoDA are basically the same car and should be reliable and big enough.

Not sure about the Estates, but in Hatchback form the Octavia is a fair bit longer than the Leon, the Octavia's boot is huge.

[M4cruiser]

TwoWheels321 said:

The most important question: would anyone have issues buying any of the above cars with 90-100,000 miles as long as it had a full service history? ... I'm wondering whether getting a car in the last quarter of its life means more regular and more expensive repairs.

That's the way it works, but with most of the above cars the repairs will cost less than the depreciation on a newer one.
Expect some repairs, nothing is immune.

[PurpleTurtle]

Have you had any insurance quotes yet OP?

Although you are no spring chicken (no offence!) you mention London, first car in 25yrs, so presumably zero No Claims Bonus?

At £7.5K you'd be wanting to go fully comp, have you costed that out yet?

If I were you I'd be more inclined to do a year in a £2k shed on TPF&T, so the insurance doesn't rinse you for your first year.

These Accords are absolutely bulletproof, and (front bumper parking scuffs that a Magic Dent guy could easily fix) this would be uber reliable.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202405099...

If you were to do your 4k annual miles in this I expect at the end of the year you would question why you need to change it.

We've taken the same engine from 60k to 144k miles with zero mechanical issues, they are rock solid.

ETA: although 2008, it is ULEZ compliant.

Edited by PurpleTurtle on Wednesday 12th June 10:56