Your best ever all rounder?

[Cento16v]

The XF is by far the best all-rounder I've had, but that's to be expected given the cost of it.

50 MPG on a run, 5.9 to 60, 1200w stereo, will pull the caravan like its not there, is comfy in standard mode, handles superbly in Dynamic.

Can't think what I'd swap it for.

My S60 is probably next, but the D9 406 V6 is close, that was a superb car. Shame Peugeot lost their way.

But, I'd be interested to try a new 508 Peugeot Sport in a couple of years to replace the XF if they prove to be reliable. As that seems to be the closest they have got to the 406 formula in recent history.

[mk2_craig]

Sierra 2.0i Ghia auto. Bought at over 20 years old but brilliantly looked after by the chap who had owned it for most of that time. 
 

Only niggle was the head gasket (DOHC engine) but that didn’t get to the point where it became a costly problem in my ownership. Do miss that car a lot. 

[St.Jude]

20 minutes ago, Soundwave said:

Bucking the trend a bit here perhaps, but my modern daily is probably my best all-rounder. 2017 Fabia TSi. it's the Colour Edition so it gets this natty two-tone paint with matching wheels plus a few extra goodies. It's easy to drive, easy to park, more than quick enough to overtake, quiet, comfortable and has a great spec for such a small car. It can "car" better than any other car I've had. Has its downsides though, lack of character and (non) ease of maintenance being chief among them. Probably wouldn't be able to fix it myself, but fortunately it hasn't given me cause to (yet).

I think what separates it from my previous daily drivers, the Panda and Clio that came before it, is that I feel pride in owning it. I like cleaning it and look back at it when I park up. Never did that with the previous ones, they were just disposable transport. I'm not sure what it is about the car but I just really like it despite it being just another modern box.

So yeah, much as I love my more characterful shite, this does the whole "being a car thing" the best by far.

The mother in law has this, and I've driven it a few times.

It's a nice car, in that it's nicer than it has any right to be, and is nicer to drive than some bigger cars. I'm thinking of the Vauxhall Insignia and Hyundai Tucson. It just feels a much better ride, power delivery and interior fit finish and feel than those two cars which I had as hire cars.

[GeordieInExile]

4 hours ago, wesacosa said:

probably my 2005 Saab 9-5 Aero HOT .  Paid £1400 for it in 2013 and it was my daily until some fecker wrote it off whilst I was watching Shakespeare's sister in Nov 2019

super comfy seats, 250bhp, 110 liter LPG tank, pulled like a train, super reliable.  If only it was an estate it would have been perfect

Mine was an estate, and a manual one to boot. An incredible all rounder.

 

My current 850 T5 estate might be an even better one, though. 

[AnnoyingPentium]

45 minutes ago, Soundwave said:

Bucking the trend a bit here perhaps, but my modern daily is probably my best all-rounder. 2017 Fabia TSi. it's the Colour Edition so it gets this natty two-tone paint with matching wheels plus a few extra goodies. It's easy to drive, easy to park, more than quick enough to overtake, quiet, comfortable and has a great spec for such a small car. It can "car" better than any other car I've had. Has its downsides though, lack of character and (non) ease of maintenance being chief among them. Probably wouldn't be able to fix it myself, but fortunately it hasn't given me cause to (yet).

I think what separates it from my previous daily drivers, the Panda and Clio that came before it, is that I feel pride in owning it. I like cleaning it and look back at it when I park up. Never did that with the previous ones, they were just disposable transport. I'm not sure what it is about the car but I just really like it despite it being just another modern box.

So yeah, much as I love my more characterful shite, this does the whole "being a car thing" the best by far.

I love the Race Blue paint on this one, and those blacked out headlights. The estate one isn't a bad design either - I keep seeing one at Ingram's in Ayr but I'd rather not finance out a car, plus I'd have to give up my red nugget to make room.

[Cookiesouwest]

Best all rounder, I have ever had?

Zaffy mk1 2.0 dti.

Agricultural engine, but good mpgees and did everything asked of it.

Commuting, tip runs, holidays with two kids, two dogs and a boot full of luggage.  Bloody loved that car.

[Dyslexic Viking]

Of the cars I have owned, there are 2. The first is the 1990 Volvo 740 estate comfortable world's best seats in my opinion, covers distances very well, built to last, reliable easy to work on and had better fuel consumption than what people believe. Together with 240, they are among the best cars ever made in my opinion. Has no weak points other than that they are starting to get old and that together with 240 and 940 they have been popular as first cars and among young people in Scandinavia means that the number of cars has decreased a lot.

Number 2 is probably conversational and I'll probably be laughed at. This is my 2017 Hyundai i10 that I own now. It is surprisingly comfortable and good to drive, covers distances very well, is very simple mechanically for today's cars and is easy to work on and maintain. Uses almost no petrol and is very economical to own.  And I like it and like to drive it. These will probably be among the last relatively simple petrol cars we can buy.

I have driven many modern cars and most of them are so depressing that it makes me want to drive to a high bridge and jump from it. But this little Hyundai does not do this I do not know why, And I like it surprisingly much and will do everything I can to keep it alive for as long as possible.

[carburettor]

My best ever was a Saab 900i, in a terracotta red, some flaking lacquer  with a little flat paint in places and a saggy headliner but at £32.00 on Ebay no one else seemed to want it. I kept it for 3 years,  it passed the next mot with nothing doing except for 2 tyres and the following year it just needed  a title welding, the size of a 50p piece  on the inside N/S wheel arch. 
it did absolutely everything I asked of it, moved house and tip runs, holidays in Wales too. It was a lovely old car and I’m a complete cnut for selling it, even if I did make £218 on it 😕

[Spottedlaurel]

It's a fairly predictable answer from me:

It didn't often look this tidy, most of the time it was like this:

Remained on the road after two different, non-fault accidents in my ownership. Good to drive, spacious, not too bad on fuel, lovely feeling of built-in quality. If it wasn't for the ABS fault and house move then I'd still have it.

My daily driver RX (an SUV currently on PCP!) is also doing a good job, and I'm going to buy it outright when the finance ends in a few months' time, but as it cost 40x what the Camry did I would hope so too......

[straightSix]

As a few others have said, my Subaru legacy spec B is probably the best all round car, drove great, fast, discrete, practical, reliable, made you feel good driving it. Wish I'd not sold it not. Second best is probably my astravan 1.7cdti

[maxxo]

my 2003 C5 estate

effing massive, the load capacity is insane, can fit anything in it

beautifully smooth due to the correct suspension, effortless due to the autobox, and a good diesel engine means i can often average 45 mpg

i like how it looks

sure i've spent a lot on it, but it's over 18 years old, 170k miles and i suspect it's been neglected in the past

i like it, i dare say, i love it

[vulgalour]

Without a doubt, the Citroen BX estate I had.  It was far from the best example but answered every need I had.  Massive carrying capacity, comfortable, easy to park, great visibility, frugal to run.  Even the styling was appealing.  If only the rot hadn't been so extensive.

[Dave_Q]

Citroen Berlingo multispace.

The one car that could be all things to all men, just that none of them are ready to admit it

[danthecapriman]

Got to be a Volvo 740 for me.

Theyre fantastic cars, even now. Comfortable, pleasant to be in, roomy, bright and airy interiors which I’ve never ever gotten out of thinking ‘thank fuck that trips done!’ For someone with a bad back the seats and seat position is perfect. 
They’re well made and solid, very reliable (I’ve never been let down by one) great to drive over any distance, easy to keep them going and useful for everything… towing? No problem. Cavernous boot? Yep, easy. Run to the shops? Piece of cake. Run from one end of the country to other and back again? Piece of piss. 
Nowadays they even stand out given their old fashioned styling and that’s never a bad thing either! 
 

I love these cars and wouldn’t be without one tbh. You don’t need a modern car when stuff like these still exist.

[captain_70s]

Mk7 Civic 1.6

Roomy, quiet, well equipped (heated seats and aircon), 40mpg, fold the seats down and it's a small estate, proper wheel/tyre sizes, engine/gearbox practically indestructible. Handled pretty well, could bounce it off the redline all day and slam it into gear like a yobbo to no ill effect, disc brakes all round so stopped well.

Not interesting, but easily the best car I've owned for being able to simply be used as reliable transport. My '08 Yaris was good also, but too small/underpowered to be properly versatile.

[iainrcz]

I'd say the silver coupe of doom.

I'm in to my 4th year with it and in terms of breakages I've had to replace a couple of bulbs. It just works.

It's comfy, acceptably refined on a long journey and is lots of amusement on twisty roads.

It's even managed a hair under 35 mpg over the 21367 miles I've bothered tracking it.

 

[New POD]

14 hours ago, Asimo said:

Another vote for Mk2 Cavalier. Mine was new, auto and (obviously) a company car. For just being a car, day in day out, thousands of miles a month it really was hard to fault.

Of the cars I’ve bought with my own money, the manual 120 hp ‘04 Subaru Legacy saloon was the best day in day out car.  A shame Subaru products have spiralled down the can since that model.

Father in Law sold me a 19K D reg 1.6 GL mk2 cav in 1993 for £2k, 3 months before my wife gave birth.  It is my biggest regret selling that car in 1997 with 110k on the clock.

He GAVE us a J reg 1.8L mk3 cavalier in  2000. With 20k on the clock. It is my second biggest regret selling it in 2013 with 130k on the clock.

He later GAVE a W Reg mk4 Astra 1.6 16V club with 17k on the clock to my son.  Everyone who has driven it describes it as being just like a cavalier. It's now got 85k on the clock.

Simple. Easy to maintain. Comfy. Safe handling. Big enough boot. What more could you need? 

[stripped fred]

16 hours ago, bangernomics said:

Hideous plop that I’ve just sold but still have outside until they collect it. Moved people and stuff comfortably and economically at a reasonable pace. Only problem with it was I always felt slightly embarrassed being seen in it and I’ve driven so right shite over the years.

What was it?

[paulplom]

My 2005 V70 2.4D that I owned for ten years till partner wrote it off.

Pulled a caravan all over the country, holidays abroad massive flat load space with the seats down, seven seats, best sound system ever and also fast and economical.  In 10 years other than service items, it cost me a battery.

Mid 40's around town, mid 30's with the caravan and over 50mpg on a run. The best was an indicated 58mpg on an 800 mile trip to France fully loaded. I only needed to fill up 50 miles from the destination. It probably would've made it on one tank as the light hadn't come on. I only got 50mpg on the return journey for some reason. Mind you it was on it's arse with kegs of wine.

[AxWomble]

I've only had two cars of my own and driven five total, so can't really give an informed opinion. 

The order was 

Seicento 1.1

Corsa C 1.2 SXI

Micra k12 1.2

AX 1.0 (later 1.1) 

106 1.5D

 

And I also drove a few work vans in this time, a ropey old Transit 2.0td mostly, which gave me my first real world experience of turbo lag. 

Of all of them, the van was obviously the most practical but in terms of sheer 'do-ability' I'd have to vote our current 106. It's not fast but once up to speed it holds its own on nearly every road despite the plastic tyres it currently wears. It can carry a small van's worth with the seats out and we frequently carry significant amounts of clobber in it - 200kg of coal last week, along with a week's clothes and Christmas presents for the whole family. It does all this at 60+mpg and I don't get anywhere any slower than anyone else - it'll do 70mph all day long. In 10,000 miles since August, nothing has broken that stopped it moving and it feels unburstable. Bizarrely, coming from a historically Ford family (read: nobody in my family has EVER owned anything French) the 106 and AX have turned me into a bit of a PSA fan. Our next car will almost certainly be a Citroen, as the world in general seems to think they are worth buttons and they have some of the best diesel engines going. 

[AnnoyingPentium]

10 hours ago, captain_70s said:

Mk7 Civic 1.6

Roomy, quiet, well equipped (heated seats and aircon), 40mpg, fold the seats down and it's a small estate, proper wheel/tyre sizes, engine/gearbox practically indestructible. Handled pretty well, could bounce it off the redline all day and slam it into gear like a yobbo to no ill effect, disc brakes all round so stopped well.

Not interesting, but easily the best car I've owned for being able to simply be used as reliable transport. My '08 Yaris was good also, but too small/underpowered to be properly versatile.

Interesting, one of these has popped up in 'Executive' trim with the 1.6 and I'm quite taken on by it.

[Supernaut]

My 2nd Peugeot 306. I seriously regret selling this in 2014.

It was a 2.0 HDi that I put a stage 1 map on within about a fortnight of buying it. So roughly 120hp and a fair bit more than that in torque. In a roughly 1,200kg (or so) car.

It did constant high-40s to low-50s even with me driving it everywhere like an idiot. Due to being a Peugeot 306 it handled nicely and rode like a cloud. Being an estate meant it could carry more crap than a hatch too.

 

Many memories of flicking it down Aberdeenshire B-roads with the musical accompaniment of my tools rattling around behind me. Even with the toolbox strapped into the load tie-down points they would rattle.

 

A brilliant all-rounder.

 

 

I sold it to buy an Audi A4 1.8t quattro sport. Probably hands down the worst car I've owned in terms of unreliability. It was a nice enough place to sit when it worked, but it just didn't have that joi de vivre of small Peugeots. It would also take massive bites out of my wallet on a regular basis.

[SRi05]

Probably has to be my CRV. I'll never sell this thing, it's spacious, comfortable and safe. Gets used daily and doesn't give us any grief. It's been a novelty having a practical car, I was able to fit a washing machine inside it recently rather than get bummed by Curry's delivery charges. Then fitted an ungodly amount of shite in it for a tip run last week. It's a 2.0 V-TECH so it's also an incredibly fast* sports** car 

[captain_70s]

54 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Interesting, one of these has popped up in 'Executive' trim with the 1.6 and I'm quite taken on by it.

Exec is the one I had and was top spec I believe. 

My only real concern would be the brakes, they suffer from sticky pistons/sliders. Genuine Honda parts aren't cheap either, £400 for a driveshaft! That's another thing they like to break when they're getting on...

[AnnoyingPentium]

2 minutes ago, captain_70s said:

£400

Okay maybe I'm not so taken on by it now. Haha.

[LoftyvRS]

 

Back in 2007 I took a punt on eBay on this 1995 P10 Primera 2.0 eGT 5dr.  The listing said the power steering belt had broken and it was being sold as spares or repairs. 

I won the auction for £270 and went down with a trailer for it, got there battery was stone dead so the lovely fella gave me £40 back for a new battery, I think he just wanted it off his driveway. We got it home and it was the water pump that had seized and thrown the PAS belt off.  Water pump from the local factors, new belt and the car owed me less than £300 all in. 

I kept it standard for a couple of months as it was a cracking allrounder, then i started using it just for track days, kept it 4 years and it was doing about 10 track days a year, even went to Spa in Belgium and Le-mans in France in it. Never missed a beat, would often be out on track for 45 mins a time, all my mates drove it and it just loved it. Never ever let me down and even stood in as a daily when my 306 HDI shit itself. The n/s/f indicator lense is still somewhere round Castle Combe as it flew off on one of the summer Ford RSOC track days. The only mods i did to the car were lowering springs and P11 GT front calipers and discs. Used P11GT 15" alloys for track use with Toyo R888's on (when they were £60 a corner) and the P11 facelift 16" Sport alloys on the road. Interior had two Cobra Suzuka seats and Harnesses in but the rest of the interior was all there, electric sunroof the lot.

Did a track day at Donington Park once with a magnetic Taxi sign on the roof, got told by the marshalls to take it off at dinner time as folks thought we were taking the piss. Which we were.

Sold it to a mate of mine who kept it a further 12m then it was sold again and never saw the road any longer according to the DVLA.

Would love another P10.

[captain_70s]

1 hour ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Okay maybe I'm not so taken on by it now. Haha.

Aye, it's a bit mad. I had mine fixed at a Honda dealer and they fitted a pattern part for £200, apparently nobody shells out for the Honda stuff...

[AnnoyingPentium]

2 minutes ago, captain_70s said:

Aye, it's a bit mad. I had mine fixed at a Honda dealer and they fitted a pattern part for £200, apparently nobody shells out for the Honda stuff...

My Uncle had one about 2008-10 and it cost him a fortune to sort one time and I think it was for the same reason but I can't remember right

[SiC]

Our Audi A4 TDI. Did 210k with hardly any issues of note. Comfortable, reasonably quick, plenty of room and looked decent. 

Gone for salvage today. Sad times.

 

[SiC]

1 hour ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Okay maybe I'm not so taken on by it now. Haha.

8th gen (spaceship/one after) is a much better car and can be had for similar money as the 7th gen. Most 7th gen are knackered as "Hondas don't need maintenance" happens more and more as they age. 8th gens are starting to go that way now too.