first of all thanks for your recommendations of a deisel estate car to use for work (instead ofa van)
i am looking at around £5k mark an was wondering what you guys would be looking at in this price range.i ideally would like as low mileage as possible and as new as possible for the price.
ones ive been looking at,
honda accord 2.2 cdti estate
skoda octavia 1.9 tdi or 2.0 tdi (not sure which one is best between these 2)
passat 1.9 tdi
volvo v70 D5 (these seem to be higher on miles and wose on fuel) but i like them
seat altea 1.9 or 2.0 tdi (again not sure which is best) and these seem a bit small compared to others

are there many other options to consider,and which of the above would make a good,sensible car for work/touring? cheers

Knowing 3 people with newish VAG diesels I would avoid like the plague. Older stuff pre DPF may be OK though.
For real value a mondeo is hard to beat. But also worth remembering that estate cars that have a van variant often do well as they seem to have extra space in a smaller package (at least that used to be the case) but depends what you intend using it for.

Currently running a 2002 v70 d5 volvo with 168,000 miles and it averages 45+ on a run. Lovely to drive and well screwed together.

The Scoda's seem to be well regarded, never owned one but hear good reports of them. My local garage owner drives one, and is always telling to swap my Xsara for one, but as the Xsara gives no problems, (regardless of what people say about Citroens), I will stick with it. Cheers Ray

Hi .....I would also avoid anything VAG , I hate to say this but you can't beet Honda or anything from Japan they are bullet proof, I work in a local Garage where I live and see all sorts and hardly see japanese cars as they very rarely go wrong.......

Do you have any idea what the 2.2 cdti Honda engine is like! I've read reports of well over 50 mpg and good reliability,even high milers at 150k plus? Cheers

Our Honda (2004) Accord 2.2CTDI Tourer was brilliant. Enormous boot, great tow car bomb proof reliabilty, and drove nice enough too. My issue is all newish diesels cost the earth to maintain after a few years (outside warranty!). A clutch will cost you £1500 on any of them. That is why I just bought an E46 320i (2.2 straight 6 petrol).... I could not justify the higher maintenance costs for the mileage I do in it...

We also looked at the Altea - nice car, modern feel, but poor reliability record, and not a great substitute for an estate car (they are tall, but not that long!).

quote:

---

Originally posted by daniel mason
Do you have any idea what the 2.2 cdti Honda engine is like! I've read reports of well over 50 mpg and good reliability,even high milers at 150k plus? Cheers

---

If you want to spend a lot less, if Glasgow is anything to go by a fair number of BMW diesel powered Rover 75 and ZT estates are hitting the car auctions with anything from 55k to 155k miles they are ultra reliable and as cheap as chips (way below for they are asking on eBay) , the biggest expense you would be likely to encounter with one is new wishbones or a new clutch.

The clutch is a fairly heavy job to change because the sub-frame has to be lowered and the Getrag gearbox is heavy but not that expensive.

[Edited on 3/6/12 by britishtrident]

I'd keep your options open to any of them mate, just look for the best deal. You've named 5 pretty good cars, but each one will have a horror story attached if you ask enough people. VW probably more than most because they're so common. Laws of averages. I'm obviously a fan of the V70 having put 90k on mine in the last 2 years. The seats in the Volvo are excellent. Much better than my old passat. Go blag a drive of them all, then buy the 5 pot 'cause you'll love it! I just wish mine was a D5 rather than a pokey 1.6d.

I have a 2004 A4 1.9TDi estate, its just done 161000 miles and I get 50mpg from it. It had fsh when I got it and I have kept this up with a local independant. The only extras have been a strip and lube of the wiper mechanism, a known problem and a failed alternator.
A couple of things to mention, if going VAG the 1.9 seems to last, the 2.0 has many reported injector problems.

And, with the wonder of google, if you look hard enough you will find problems with ANY car out there.

My advice would be go look and drive youre favourites from that list. Judge the cars as you see them and ask to see the history.