Estates £5k

[Belle427]

Currently looking at family estates around £5k, have a few i like the look of but started to look at Volvos yesterday which I have never owned before, particularly a V60 D5 with geartronic transmission. Just wondered what they are like as an ownership prospect, seem to have a decent level of performance and an interesting engine but reports say they are not like Volvos of old and that spacious compared to others in that sector.
Cars I fancy are

Merc C220/250 Cdi
Jag XF 2.2d
Volvo V60 D5
Honda Accord (leftfield choice)

Dont specifically need Diesel but they seem to offer the best blend of poke and reasonable running costs, would like to keep tax under
£300 as its a third car.

[stevemcs]

Ford Mondeo or Vauxhall insignia, you will get newer and better condition for your money

[BoRED S2upid]

Well the V60 is £30 tax and they go well. Ours is on 135,000 miles and is a great family workhorse.

[Belle427]

Should have clarified i would prefer an auto this time around and the ford offering is a definite no go, not sure on the Vauxhall. Not a complete deal breaker though as I do like the Mondeo to be fair.
The Smax is another I have considered but they do suffer with a fair few issues.

[Belle427]

BoRED S2upid said:

Well the V60 is £30 tax and they go well. Ours is on 135,000 miles and is a great family workhorse.

I read that the design R is probably best avoided as they are not that comfortable?

[ZX10R NIN]

Insignia's are a good shout & they're reliable too:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202509206...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202502098...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202506263...

As is the 508SW especially in GT spec:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202507084...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202509056...

1.6T Mondeo Titanium:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202509126...

E220 SE:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202509276...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202509246...

I'd normally say Mondeo but like all dual clutch gearboxes they need to have been serviced on time & that's not always the case which is why I'd steer clear of the VAG stuff too.

[Davie]

Belle427 said:

reports say they are not like Volvos of old and that spacious compared to others in that sector.

I think this "no like Volvos of old" has been done to death by the motoring press... but no they're not like Volvos of old just like most modern cars aren't much like their older counterparts. The V60 isn't a big estate, far from it but it depends what you need it for? If you need big then do you go next size up with the likes of a V70 or an E Class Merc of similar? The D5 is pretty solid more so in 160bhp guise. Geartronics are much improved over the first generation but they can still give issues more so with neglect. Everything has it's inherent issues / common faults and with any car, a lot of the time it's down to luck and also how well the car has been looked after - has it had the belt done on time etc etc. The R-Design is slightly firmer, more so due to the wheel / tyre combo and also at this age and miles, how shagged the suspension is... two identical cars could drive very differently depending on how well they've bene looked after. You probably need to go and look at a couple. But get the facelift, the pre-facelift front end is pretty terrible...

[Scootersp]

Kia optima? £35 tax

[stevemcs]

Belle427 said:

Should have clarified i would prefer an auto this time around and the ford offering is a definite no go, not sure on the Vauxhall. Not a complete deal breaker though as I do like the Mondeo to be fair.
The Smax is another I have considered but they do suffer with a fair few issues.

Because of the gearbox ? if so go for the 2.2 it has the torque converter. For the money the mk4.5 is a great car. Pug 508 is a wild card to, I had the 2.2 GT for 6 months and if i could have got comfortable would have kept it.

[Belle427]

stevemcs said:

Belle427 said:

Should have clarified i would prefer an auto this time around and the ford offering is a definite no go, not sure on the Vauxhall. Not a complete deal breaker though as I do like the Mondeo to be fair.
The Smax is another I have considered but they do suffer with a fair few issues.

Because of the gearbox ? if so go for the 2.2 it has the torque converter. For the money the mk4.5 is a great car. Pug 508 is a wild card to, I had the 2.2 GT for 6 months and if i could have got comfortable would have kept it.

More to do with injector problems really, workmate had a kuga that suffered with it.
Seems to be lots of it on the facebook groups too.

[Jamescrs]

Not sure which V60 you are looking at but I had an 11 plate one a few years ago which was a T4 R design and it was riddled with electrical faults which were expensive, all the door locks failed one after the other which were around £400 each to replace then whenever it rained the BLIS system failed too which I never bothered getting repaired.

When I looked into it online these seemed to be fairly common complaints

I would look at an Insignia or Mondeo instead at a 5k budget.