advice wanted

[scooters]

Amigoshaving spent 10 hours in the last 2 weeks waiting for the RAC I have decided that I need a new daily driverhere are the criteria:Must be economical to run (the Daimler addiction has been kicked)Must be comfortableMust be able to take a mileage - I do around 2000-4000 miles a monthMust be able to cope with adverse weather and driving conditions - snow, rain, ice etcideally can seat over 5Must be under £1500"Volvo 940 Estate!!!" I hear you cry ....and yes that would be the sensible option however, the missus has an 850 and I had a volvo last year and whilst it was great I fancy a change - and the MPGs were not THAT good (at least not on a high pressure turbo with boost)I was thinking about a landy Disco Tdi or maybe a V8 on LPGI was also thinking about going Jap MPV - Toyota Lucida or Estima.....any other ideas or opinions on the above?

[Cheggers]

As far as I recall, a lot depends which Disco diesel you go for. I've always been warned off the 300 engine by those "in the know" and told to go for the 200 instead.How about a Pajero/ Surf/ Trooper diseasel, or even an older Subaru Legacy estate??

[whitevanman]

I was told the same about discos, having used a 200Tdi I can confirm they are good on fuel, about 34mpg towing a Cortina estate on an A frame from Bridlington to Oban...........

[scooters]

yeah - I've heard that the cyl head on the 300 Tdi can be a bit iffygood shout on the trooper- tough as old boots as well - the Pajero/Shogun is pretty agricultural and quite gutsy Scooby - maybe but the 850 is an AWD - 4DW not essential more for its bus like character

[Guest]

Komatsu D575A Superdozer.

[scooters]

good shout! then I could build my own road between herts and Edinburgh!!

[Cheggers]

Jeep Cherokee 2.5 Diesel maybe??

[Station]

If you want something that will never, ever break down, is good with petrol, has a massive boot and has BMW build quality (honest!), try one of these:

 

 

They feel very solid, the ride is fantastic, the handling is it's poorest point (seems to want to always understeer on worn suspension). It's an Isuzu engine and they are pretty rapid. You won't regret buying one if that's what you want. Get the CDX or whatever and you'll get ultra supportive Recaro seats.

[Pete-M]

If you want something that will never, ever break down, is good with petrol, has a massive boot and has BMW build quality (honest!), try one of these:

I know BMW build quality has dropped a lot since the E30, but I doubt they're letting their ride / handling team mainline absinthe just yet.Those Astras are proper autoshite. Sorry mate, but they're crap. Reliable crap, granted, but fuckin' atrocious to drive.

[dollywobbler]

Citroen BX. Having clocked up 3201 miles in 13 days in mine, I must admit it's hard to beat for comfort, speed (well, relatively - non-turbo) and mpg. 75mph cruising still gets 50mpg. In fact, on the entire trip, the economy ranged between 50 and 54mpg.I don't pretend for a moment that they don't have any issues, but 5 BXs did the entire trip and the biggest problem was a leaking coolant hose (our car...). Good club support and not as scary as people think - which means you'll pick a nice one up for sub £500. Turbo diesels are rapid, and even more so if you squeeze in a 1.9 Xantia TD lump...

[ChinaTom]

What ever has the most comfortable seats for that journey I reckon. Saab or Volvo - wagons for utility, auto for the roadworks crawl, smaller engines for a clubcard points : expenditure balance. A working cassette player for the budget approach to Ipod connectivity.If looking at Cherokees, don't discount the 4.0 Grand. It isn't that bad on fuel at a constant 75mph and always cheaper than the diesels to buy. your budget would bag you that DD6 Insignia on the Bay at the moment - not even slightly tempted?

[pogweasel]

If you want something that will never, ever break down, is good with petrol, has a massive boot and has BMW build quality (honest!), try one of these:

 

 

They feel very solid, the ride is fantastic, the handling is it's poorest point (seems to want to always understeer on worn suspension). It's an Isuzu engine and they are pretty rapid. You won't regret buying one if that's what you want. Get the CDX or whatever and you'll get ultra supportive Recaro seats.

Umm, I wouldn't say these have BMW build quality. Or are massively comfortable for huge mileages. We had two, the first a 1.4LS, that was really good on fuel but quite slow. Well screwed together though. The second was a 1.6 like the one pictured, and despite half the mileage was worse - felt poorly cobbled together. They aren't bad, probably the best choice foe a £500 budget, but for £1500 you can do so so much better.

 

Saab 9-5 wagon ftw, I'd have said. Huge, comfy, fast, refined, and they seem to be unfeasably cheap.

[Milford Cubicle]

<02 Nissan Primera estate if you want something hassle-free and nice to drive.Your thoughts on what to buy jar a bit with your wants and needs.I doubt you'll find a nice, non-neglected Lucida/Estima for example - they all seem to be mega-failures in waiting because of their typical owner profile.My friend has a 1995 Astra TD, it does seem quite well built, but out of the ugliest, cheapest materials they could find. I don't think I could live with the dashboard especially for long. Bit of a strange suggestion considering scooters is after a big car.

[scooters]

Citroen BX. Having clocked up 3201 miles in 13 days in mine, I must admit it's hard to beat for comfort, speed (well, relatively - non-turbo) and mpg. 75mph cruising still gets 50mpg. In fact, on the entire trip, the economy ranged between 50 and 54mpg.I don't pretend for a moment that they don't have any issues, but 5 BXs did the entire trip and the biggest problem was a leaking coolant hose (our car...). Good club support and not as scary as people think - which means you'll pick a nice one up for sub £500. Turbo diesels are rapid, and even more so if you squeeze in a 1.9 Xantia TD lump...

yup - good call - problem is finding one!!!!I had a 1996 BX 1.9 Txd estate will all the trimmings that I sold in 2001 for £700 and have regretted doing so ever since!!

[Guest]

I have a lot of time for MK3 Astras, I reckon they're a pretty safe bet. They do seem to be built quite well for what they are, don't seem to have any major faults (other than a very simple headgasket job), don't seem to rot too badly and I think they're a quite smart-looking car. Especially if you can get one in that mad champagne gold colour, or a nice 4-door saloon.Availability/cheapness of parts is the best bit, if I inexplicably ended up with one as a daily, I'd be straight down a yard to pick through the scrapped examples to spruce it up - replace some bits of tatty trim, get some nicer condition seats, cheapo set of stock alloys, all that lot. You could get a rough one cheaply, spend not much money and end up with a really tidy one.It's too easy to moan about cars really, I think out of all the vehicles in the world that are worthy of a kicking, the MK3 Astra comes pretty far down the list. If I was stuck with one for a week I certainly wouldn't mind.

[scooters]

your budget would bag you that DD6 Insignia on the Bay at the moment - not even slightly tempted?

As one of the few forum members who has owned an XJ40 Double Six I can categorically say it is not a cheap car to own!!!I ran one last winter as my daily - what a car!!!!!! faster than a ferrari, more luxurious than a rolls....but the MPG - 6.0 V12!!! - ouchI eventually sold it to Rob Jenner of the XJ40 owners club who knows more about these beasts than anyone I know - I sold it as the transmission control unilt had failed and a new one is £1500 - only you can't get a new one because they only made about 5000 units in total - so 2nd hand ones are like gold dust and change ands for £400+ and that is not the only unique part to the V12 XJ40 - there are many many like it....and then there is the potential dizzy failure - this essentially means one of the rotor arms fails on you only you don't realise it as you only lose 6 cyls - but the petrol is stll pumped in which then spurts all ofer the very hot exhaust manifold and.....whomp!btw - this one doesnt look in great nick - rusting round sunroof is rare in these and suggests a "friday pm" car. I think he is overpricing this by at least 800

[Spottedlaurel]

I like our ’99 Primera 2.0 and it’s certainly a good suggestion, but if I was doing serious mileage I’d be after a ’96-on Camry. The 2.2 is reasonably economical but they have big car space and feel. Parts prices a bit steep on the hopefully rare occasions you do need them though, and difficult availability on some components is why I wouldn’t suggest a pre-96 model. You’d easily get one within your budget, sometimes they pop up with LPG. Sport looks a bit sharper, and there seems to be a mix of manual and auto models but if/when I get one I’ll be more interested in good history. I’d love to give the V6 a go, but I suspect economy not great.If you really want the occasional ability to carry more than five people look for a pre-96 Camry estate.For the mileage you say you’ll be doing, a decent 2wd car with winter tyres sounds way better than some horrible old 4wd.

[Station]

Umm, I wouldn't say these have BMW build quality. Or are massively comfortable for huge mileages. We had two, the first a 1.4LS, that was really good on fuel but quite slow. Well screwed together though. The second was a 1.6 like the one pictured, and despite half the mileage was worse - felt poorly cobbled together. They aren't bad, probably the best choice foe a £500 budget, but for £1500 you can do so so much better.

Only had two door versions. These were built in Germany (as opposed to the five door ellesmere port version), the build is awesome.

[strangehighways]

I was also thinking about going Jap MPV - Toyota Lucida or Estima.....

I have to ask, why do you want one of those? I am very curious about the Lucidas/Estimas. Why is it that there are no Previas anymore, but loads of import Lucidas/Estimas?? I can't understand this, it's like there is some sort of secret invasion going on!

[trigger]

I had a Mk 3 Astra 1.4 Si years ago, paid £300 for it with rotten wheel arches, It went like crap of a shovel but i ended up ragging it to much and damaging a sensor and it wouldn't rev over 3000 rpm so i flogged it for £250 on ebay.How about a Renault Laguna 1.9DTi or 2.2D?, They have the most comfys seat i know and wouldn't have any worries doing that mileage, they seem pretty cheap as well, For your budgut you could get a pretty good spec as well with CD player and Air Con, Think the only troubles with them are the electrics.

[pogweasel]

How about a Renault Laguna 1.9DTi or 2.2D?, They have the most comfys seat i know and wouldn't have any worries doing that mileage, they seem pretty cheap as well, For your budgut you could get a pretty good spec as well with CD player and Air Con, Think the only troubles with them are the electrics.

I'm sure the OP said he DIDN'T want to spend any more time broken down at the side of the road.... OM NOM NOM EATIN' UR EGR VALVEZ

[trigger]

Are the earlier one's really that bad?, My mate and a 1.8 petrol for years and never had any problems. I always thought it was the newer shape ones from 2001- that had all the problems?.

[r.welfare]

A 2.2 might be an OK (if slow) way to travel, but the 1.9DTis from 99-00 or so have a reputation for eating gearboxes. I know two people who have personally suffered this. Otherwise, motheaten rear arches and French electrickery are the main things to watch for. Pretty sure the estates can be had in 7-seater guise.

[Cavcraft]

I know you didn't actually mention reliability as such but that along with MPG should rule out any Discovery.If you go for the Lucida/Previa route just avoid the 2.4(?)TD ones, unless you like self destruct engines.Sorry but Laguna of any description but especially the dizzler would be like recommending he gets a seventies Fiat, chuck water instead of oil in and hacksaws the wheels in half.Most boring suggestion EVAH but I'd got for a Sharan*/Galaxy/Alhembra with the 'red i' TD engine. Go like fook, very good on fuel and will hold value well.*Write that down if you wish as quite possibly the only time in my life I've ever recommended a VW and probably the last.

[MrRegieRitmo]

 

I was also thinking about going Jap MPV - Toyota Lucida or Estima.....

 

 

I have to ask, why do you want one of those? I am very curious about the Lucidas/Estimas. Why is it that there are no Previas anymore, but loads of import Lucidas/Estimas?? I can't understand this, it's like there is some sort of secret invasion going on!

I've been struck by this too (ouch!). I knew nothing of Lucidas & Estimas until about 10 years ago, I started to notice them & they struck me as a sort of Previa 'gone wrong'. Same sort of look but somehow squashed looking. Now oddly, like the grey squirrel / red squirrel situation, native MkI Previas seem to have dwindled in number & these alien versions are common place....some sort of conspiracy to replace all our genuine versions with foreign Mickey Mouse lookalikes?!

To a lesser extent the same kind of thing has been happening with genuine MX5s & all these bloody Eunos roadsters that have appeared from nowhere!

[scooters]

well, thanks for all your advice.I've spent most of the day looking ito this and have come to a conclusion - that my demands are essentially for a car that does not exist for my budget - spmething has to give so I am settling on MPGsthe Jap import MPV is not a route I wish to go down - now in Japan you can only drive cars less than 10 years old - as a consequence there is a rare ol' trade in importing to blighty. Now ask yourself why the 90'2 Prireva, an excellent car in petrol form, was never sold in Tdi form over here - Lucidias and estimas were only sold in Nippon I suspect it is because Toyota realised the 2.2 tdi engine was a lemon but only likely to cause problems as the car got older and as most would be scrapped by the time they were ten - well..... as it is the interweb abounds with horror stories of cracked cyl heads - not in itself a huge problem but the engine is buried uner the driver!!Discos - decided no - not enough solid examples in my budget and too many lemons out there I have also decided I want a proper 7 seater and not jump seats in the back - so that really leaves me with an MPV - Prieva maybe but once again , finding a decent one is tough and the 2.5 petrol lugs a big car around and doesn't return excellent MPGsI found a mid 90's top spec 3.0 V6 auto LWB Shogun that looks pretty decent and has 7 proper seats - only £1200 as well so I am going to check her out tomorrow and will report back

[dollywobbler]

Jeepers. Can't see a V6 Shogun being economical!I think Cavette's recommendation was sound. The Galaxy and associated siblings is a sound motor. I've driven a few and they're definitely alright.

[Guest]

There's no 10-year-limit in Japan, where'd you hear that? They can drive what they like, provided it has their equivalent of an MOT.

[Milford Cubicle]

Excellent MPGs + Shogun V6 = tiresome internet meme rhyming with 'pail'?Hirst, what's the truth behind the grey imports? I thought it was insanely difficult or prohibitively expensive to MOT a car after a decade over there or so or something like that.

[trigger]

I think you will be disappointed the the V6 Shoguns MPG unless it's a LPG, I do love the Shogun, One of the best 4x4's imho but try and see if you can find a 2.8TDi model in your budget, you'll get the better MPG, they are not that gutless neither plus you have the power bulge on the bonnet which i loved! (Yes i am sad!)