Show us your estates

[mk1_4dr]

I've only had 4 estate cars, we currently still have 3 of them and I think I'd always have at least 1 now. 

The first was an '89 E30 320i Auto in 2010, it was a lovely car, in a good colour and a decent spec. It was slow though, but it made a good noise. 

I've had the 945 Turbo since 2012, it's probably a keeper but hasn't been on the road since 2018.

2001 V70 I saved from the scrapman with a slipping clutch, cost me what he would've got for the cat stuck and now 3 years later it really does need that clutch, I think this is a keeper too as it does everything I'd ever want a car to do even if it's a bit thirsty. 

And the 2003 Z11 Cube, not sure if it's really an estate but it does all of the estate car things.

[Scruffy Bodger]

I've just bought a 405 Quasar to replace the V50 which I'll be selling at some point. I haven't had chance to use it yet apart from driving it home after purchase because I have a suspicion it's on the original cambelt.

[willswitchengage]

I currently have this which was purchased from here...

I always liked the look of them, from the back especially. Strictly speaking they're based on the Jetta not the Golf and were all made in Mexico not Germany. Build quality is second to none, nothing feels 'cheap' at all, and it's great to drive despite being the basic 1.9 flavour. The boot is huge.

[Austin-Rover]

No idea why the estate has fallen out of favour, as in terms of 'load carrying' versus 'amount of road space taken up', no other body style comes close! There have been a few in our household over the years;

Express tip runs, and fastest dog transportation around; Vectra 2.5 V6SRi.

The Vectra was replaced by this MG ZT-T diesel. A lovely spec, including the useful fuel burning heater. It should have been a great car, but it was always broken and not particularly fuel efficient. It did not stay for long. 

This Logan MCV diesel turned up as an 'additional' car in the fleet, primarily to eat up motorway miles which it did superbly. It felt a bit more substantial for such duties than the equivalent Sandero. 

It was back to what we knew in terms of replacing the MG ZT-T. Same age, spec and engine... but a different badge. This one was a 'Sport V6' rather than an SRi

A classic estate came along in the form of this Mk2 Cavalier. One I regret selling as it was a lovely example. Sadly trashed by the next owner who had an aborted attempt to turn it in to a gothic themed hearse. 

Now the only remaining estate on the fleet. Another Dacia, this time with a turbocharged three-pot petrol engine. A better car than the first, what with it being a facelifted example with some trim and design differences, but it sadly lacks the torque of the diesel. 

 

[JayB]

Estates - well I've had a few, mainly due to the fact I've always needed one for my job. My first was the extremely rare Carlton Diamond 24v with the manual box. I sold this to my dad and he still has it - surely must be one of the only ones left now.

Next up was a very nicely looked after E39 540i Touring which I bought off a chap on the BMW 5 forum.  This is the car I kept the longest, at 3 years. I loved it immensely but ultimately had to sell it to go down the diesel route when I was doing more miles.

This Alpina B10 4.6 V8 Touring was an impulse buy and the most I've ever spent on a car and also the furthest collection caper (I flew up to Aberdeen to get it). While it was an amazing car, I got cold feet about the running costs and went back to the 540i which was actually a better daily IMO.

 

Citroen Xantia HDi Exclusive - my first french car and my first diesel. It was a bit of a shock after 3 years of V8 BMW ownership and even more of a shock when the insurance went up. Once I'd got the car remapped it went really nicely and I loved the floaty ride. It was surprisingly chuckable on a country road too. I ended up selling it to @gadgetgricey through the French Car Forum.

I wanted something a little more refined and after driving a friend's S60 D5 and being really impressed I bought this beige V70 D5. I really enjoyed the comfy seats, amazing stereo and 5 cylinder soundtrack but this one had quite a few niggles. It let me down quite a few times, and the classic Range Rover V8 I had at the time had to become my occasional daily when the Volvo had a strop.

 

After I got sick of the D5 I decided to explore the realm of budget motoring and go for this 500 quid 850 T5 which I found on RetroRides. Glad I scratched the T5 itch as they're getting rare and expensive now. Owned for 6 months and then sold it to my friend as an even cheaper 850 TDi came up. I had a Ron Tuning Box on this and it went like stink. Unfortunately failed the MOT in spectacular fashion so had to weigh it in.

Decided to give the V70 D5 another go, and bought the grey one from a dealer in Glasgow. It was in lovely condition and great spec, but after it developed a few niggles and I found I was only getting 35 mpg (it was the later 185 Euro 4 engine), I got rid and bought an older, high mileage red one which was much better. Sold at 310k miles as a really nice one came up and I couldn't resist (should have learnt my lesson!)

 

 

I bought this Impreza as a second car to scratch an itch. It was very quick and the most grippy car I've ever driven. Also probably one of the most thirsty -  I never even worked out the mpg but I was frequently filling it up. I scratched the itch and I didn't end up using it, so sold it on for pretty much what I paid.

 

 

I paid quite strong money for this V70 D5  - it was a facelift car with the more economical Euro 3 engine, and had the best spec I'd seen on one of these. It was high mileage but the previous owner had spent a lot on it, including a Shark remap, so it went very well. After a few niggly problems I got a bit sick of it, and decided to put it up for sale on here. @inconsistant bought it, sorted the niggles and made it look a lot better - I believe he still has the 'Dark Beast'

 

 

Bought from this parish from a friend of @purplebargeken. It was nice to be back in a HDi engined car, and this was the Executive, so it had heated leather and all the goodies. Very reliable car, which I sold to buy a Mercedes CL500 which was very much an expensive mistake!

 

I wanted to get into the strange world of veg motoring and after my Citroen Synergie blew up (diesel runaway, scary stuff!) I got this Laguna 2.2 DT from @95 quid Peugeot. It happily ran on veg oil for a few months and I loved the talking dash and cooking chips aroma. Unfortunately the driveshaft went 100m from my home, just before Christmas. I did look into fixing it but ultimately ended up weighing it in.

 

And my current steed is this beauty - W210 E320 CDi bought from @HMC last year. I absolutely love this car, it's tatty on the outside but goes really well and has been incredibly reliable for an old bus. It's got its MOT tomorrow so fingers crossed it behaves. I plan on keeping this one for a bit I think, especially considering the recent rise in the cost of 2nd hand stuff.

[catsinthewelder]

My first estate was a 405 with a 1.6 petrol engine.  I loved it but wished it was a diesel so bought this one years later.

In the meantime this turned up on Freecycle, 19RD and 190k.  Loved it for 2 years till it died.  Ownership of it lead me to Autoshite and on to this.

Which I just didn't gell with as well, better condition meant I felt the need to preserve it so I swopped it with Wobbler for a ratty Disco.

The diesel 405 arrived but then broke the same week as the Disco so an emergency purchase lead me to a Vauxhall.

Was far better than expected for £225 and survived 2 years of daily use but dropped to bits when I tried to look after it so back to the 405, a couple of Rovers and my Focus.

I'd buy another estate though.

[LessThanEqual]

1 hour ago, JayB said:

Estates - well I've had a few, mainly due to the fact I've always needed one for my job. My first was the extremely rare Carlton Diamond 24v with the manual box. I sold this to my dad and he still has it - surely must be one of the only ones left now.

Next up was a very nicely looked after E39 540i Touring which I bought off a chap on the BMW 5 forum.  This is the car I kept the longest, at 3 years. I loved it immensely but ultimately had to sell it to go down the diesel route when I was doing more miles.

This Alpina B10 4.6 V8 Touring was an impulse buy and the most I've ever spent on a car and also the furthest collection caper (I flew up to Aberdeen to get it). While it was an amazing car, I got cold feet about the running costs and went back to the 540i which was actually a better daily IMO.

 

Citroen Xantia HDi Exclusive - my first french car and my first diesel. It was a bit of a shock after 3 years of V8 BMW ownership and even more of a shock when the insurance went up. Once I'd got the car remapped it went really nicely and I loved the floaty ride. It was surprisingly chuckable on a country road too. I ended up selling it to @gadgetgricey through the French Car Forum.

I wanted something a little more refined and after driving a friend's S60 D5 and being really impressed I bought this beige V70 D5. I really enjoyed the comfy seats, amazing stereo and 5 cylinder soundtrack but this one had quite a few niggles. It let me down quite a few times, and the classic Range Rover V8 I had at the time had to become my occasional daily when the Volvo had a strop.

 

After I got sick of the D5 I decided to explore the realm of budget motoring and go for this 500 quid 850 T5 which I found on RetroRides. Glad I scratched the T5 itch as they're getting rare and expensive now. Owned for 6 months and then sold it to my friend as an even cheaper 850 TDi came up. I had a Ron Tuning Box on this and it went like stink. Unfortunately failed the MOT in spectacular fashion so had to weigh it in.

Decided to give the V70 D5 another go, and bought the grey one from a dealer in Glasgow. It was in lovely condition and great spec, but after it developed a few niggles and I found I was only getting 35 mpg (it was the later 185 Euro 4 engine), I got rid and bought an older, high mileage red one which was much better. Sold at 310k miles as a really nice one came up and I couldn't resist (should have learnt my lesson!)

 

 

I bought this Impreza as a second car to scratch an itch. It was very quick and the most grippy car I've ever driven. Also probably one of the most thirsty -  I never even worked out the mpg but I was frequently filling it up. I scratched the itch and I didn't end up using it, so sold it on for pretty much what I paid.

 

 

I paid quite strong money for this V70 D5  - it was a facelift car with the more economical Euro 3 engine, and had the best spec I'd seen on one of these. It was high mileage but the previous owner had spent a lot on it, including a Shark remap, so it went very well. After a few niggly problems I got a bit sick of it, and decided to put it up for sale on here. @inconsistant bought it, sorted the niggles and made it look a lot better - I believe he still has the 'Dark Beast'

 

 

Bought from this parish from a friend of @purplebargeken. It was nice to be back in a HDi engined car, and this was the Executive, so it had heated leather and all the goodies. Very reliable car, which I sold to buy a Mercedes CL500 which was very much an expensive mistake!

 

I wanted to get into the strange world of veg motoring and after my Citroen Synergie blew up (diesel runaway, scary stuff!) I got this Laguna 2.2 DT from @95 quid Peugeot. It happily ran on veg oil for a few months and I loved the talking dash and cooking chips aroma. Unfortunately the driveshaft went 100m from my home, just before Christmas. I did look into fixing it but ultimately ended up weighing it in.

 

And my current steed is this beauty - W210 E320 CDi bought from @HMC last year. I absolutely love this car, it's tatty on the outside but goes really well and has been incredibly reliable for an old bus. It's got its MOT tomorrow so fingers crossed it behaves. I plan on keeping this one for a bit I think, especially considering the recent rise in the cost of 2nd hand stuff.

W210 on an 11 plate? How?

[HMC]

35 minutes ago, LessThanEqual said:

W210 on an 11 plate? How?

It was ordered new by a high up military person (whilst in Germany) and it followed him wherever he went- the uk, Europe and his last job before he retired was the effective resident head of state in jersey. When he came back in 2011 it was given an 11 plate. Possibly a mix up generated by the potentially unique position it held as the personal transport of the effective head of state. When if first came back to the uk just after purchase first time round it was on an x plate IIRC.

[Rusty Pelican]

I guess this ex van kind of counts .

Bought for £50 in 91 from a scrappys and still running  , although its a bit triggers broom really as over the decades its had so much changed I think all thats left of what I bought in 91 is the roof and some of the floor , its shat a few engines and a transaxle , been hit twice in my ownership and at least once before .

Still works for a living , unpolished and not a straight panel on it.

I guess its staying til either it or me pops off 

[maxxo]

owned for almost 10 months now

it's great, really a fantastic all round

2.0 HDi 110 auto, perhaps one of the best matches for the car

hydropneumatic suspension, so it rides and handles properly

well, i like it an awful lot

[stuboy]

i got an estate on steroids ie my ford galaxy

[delux]

At the chippy!

[Dick Cheeseburger]

I've owned a few estates but this is by far the best one. Such a capable car, pulls like a train, beautifully put together and acres of interior space. Basic maintenance and it's been ultra-reliable. Almost five years in our family to date. It's difficult to believe it's fifteen years old in a few months.

Our greyhound was in boot on this occasion. 

 

[Six-cylinder]

I wish for 29 previous offences of having an estate car to be taken into account before my current Estate car confession list.

I have photos of most of these but there are lots of repeat offences so I give you my Kadett C and will put up others by request

Past list of Estates

1.    1979 Opel Kadett C 1.2S Caravan

2.    1987 Citroen CX 2.0 RE Familiale (company car)

3.    1989 Volvo 240GL Estate white (company car)

4.    1989 Volvo 240GL Estate blue green met (company car)

5.    1990 Volvo 240DL 2.3 4 speed Estate Atlantic blue (company car)

6.    1990 Volvo 240GL Estate deep blue met (company car)

7.    1993 Vauxhall Carlton 2.0i Club Estate (company car)

8.    1993 Vauxhall Carlton 2.3 Diesel Club Estate (company car)

9.    1968 Morris 1000 traveller

10. 1984 VW Passat GL5 Estate manual grey

11. 1996 Citroen Xantia SX 2.0i Auto Estate Emerald Green Met (company car)

12. 1996 Citroen Xantia SX TD Estate Midnight Blue Met (company car)

13. 1987 Volvo 740 GLE Auto gold

14. 1978 Opel Kadett 1.2S Auto Caravan Lime green

15. 1992 Mercedes 300TE 24v gold

16. 1992 Volvo 740GL 2.3 Auto Estate USA based car that I took my Texas drivers licence in.

17. 1996 Volvo 850 2.5 20v manual Estate maroon

18. 1997 Volvo V70 2.5 10v Auto Estate tortoise

19. 1986 Citroen CX25 manual Familiale Lt blue met

20. 2001 Volvo V70 2.4S manual green met

21. 1993 VW 1.8 Passat Estate red

22. 1989 Volvo 740GLE Auto Estate grey met

23. 1996 Volvo 850 GTL 2.5 10v Auto Estate red

24. 2003 MG ZT-T 190 manual blue met

25. 2001 Volvo V70 XC petrol LPT Auto green met

26. 1988 Citroen BX 19RD Estate Lt blue met

27. 1990 Volvo 740GLE Auto Estate Dark grey met

28. 2002 Rover 75 Club SE Touring V6 Auto Lt green Met

29. 1993 Vauxhall Carlton 2.0i Club manual Estate Satin red

 

One question, is a Renault 4 GTL an Estate?

[Cookiesouwest]

25 minutes ago, Dick Longbridge said:

I've owned a few estates but this is by far the best one. Such a capable car, pulls like a train, beautifully put together and acres of interior space. Basic maintenance and it's been ultra-reliable. Almost five years in our family to date. It's difficult to believe it's fifteen years old in a few months.

Our greyhound was in boot on this occasion. 

 

How heavy is your Greyhound????

[Tam]

Had a couple over the years. First was an Escort C695 BSR 1.6 diesel, not overly memorable!

All been from the same camp since.

[Shite Ron]

I really like estate cars and have not sold any! Edited to say the Mondeo went in 2012, no loss as it was not as great as the other cars, it was competent but boring.

My first was a 2.3Ghia estate auto which was my daily driver from 1993 to 1998

Sadly not looking as good now, this was replaced by a 2.0Ghia saloon for daily duties, I then bought a 2.0 Crusader in 2001 but it needed a lot of welding:

As I was part way through repairing the Crusader a tidy MOT’d 2.3  Ghia manual was advertised in Classic Ford at a price I could not ignore, this car took me to three holidays in 2002, Le Mans, Holland and Cortina’s to Cortina. It was my daily driver until the end of 2006 and took us to LeMans every year and also Gibraltar in 2004.

In 2007 I had a job with a company car but could opt out if I had a nearly new car. I reluctantly bought a 2005 Mondeo 2.0 Ghia estate diesel. Not a bad car but I cannot find a picture of it.

Next purchase was a Volvo 940 estate, bought for £170 with MOT and tax as it was cheaper than putting a towbar on the Mondeo and I was fed up with cleaning out the Mondeo every Sunday night.

A 740 GLE replaced the 940 and is in 3 of these pictures then a friend was selling a cheap tatty mk4 Cortina L estate which I bought to use instead of the 740.

The mk4 2.0 Ghia estate was bought in 2012 and we took it on the Cortina’s to Cortina trip and many holiday’s since

The latest addition to the fleet is the Mercedes E320, great for transporting the dog and should be a great tow car and a great all rounder.

Others on the fleet await repair/ restoration:

The Granada 2.0L manual estate with the mk4 Cortina L estate and Volvo 740 GLE also in shot

The Alvis TA14

[inconsistant]

8 hours ago, JayB said:

I paid quite strong money for this V70 D5  - it was a facelift car with the more economical Euro 3 engine, and had the best spec I'd seen on one of these. It was high mileage but the previous owner had spent a lot on it, including a Shark remap, so it went very well. After a few niggly problems I got a bit sick of it, and decided to put it up for sale on here. @inconsistant bought it, sorted the niggles and made it look a lot better - I believe he still has the 'Dark Beast'

 

Yes, still here. Bought with the intention of running it for 3 months to get us through a tricky patch then move it on, but still have it nearly 3 years later.  Its a lovely thing, far from perfect but we love it. I think it’s a SE Lux spec with all option boxes ticked from what I can tell. Had to throw a fair bit of money at it but even so its been cheap motoring. Here’s the only pics I have on my phone, will do a full contribution to this great thread soon. 

 

[brownnova]

Only had the two estates… one current, one recent. 
 

Previously the gold C5

 great all round car, hydropneumatic and waft-tastic. 
 

And the 940

Purpleness personified, it’s a superb car. We love it! 

[bicycle repairman]

right took mrs to work then took pics off victor estate.its been abandon on a slip rd,why i dont know.left a note see if they want to sell it,granada my m8s been in his lock up got be about 15 years still thier now,old viva is old car i owned years ago.and skoda i use every day had about 4 years been good work horse

[AnnoyingPentium]

3 minutes ago, bicycle repairman said:

Nice looking wee motor there. What colour is it?

[bicycle repairman]

its like copper met very reliable car 

[AnnoyingPentium]

14 minutes ago, bicycle repairman said:

its like copper met very reliable car 

Thanks, wasn't sure if it was wine red like my Mk1 Fabia as they used the colour on the Mk2 as well.

[Tommyboy12]

The only estate I will ever need (ignoring the 406 estate I had about 11 years ago)

 

[bicycle repairman]

13 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Thanks, wasn't sure if it was wine red like my Mk1 Fabia as they used the colour on the Mk2 as well.

 

2 minutes ago, Tommyboy12 said:

The only estate I will ever need (ignoring the 406 estate I had about 11 years ago)

 

 

[bicycle repairman]

here another one i owned and swapped it for cortina i still have today

[AnnoyingPentium]

1 hour ago, bicycle repairman said:

 

 

Oh yes I know the one you're on about now. It's more of an orange peel colour.

[hennabm]

Not owned that many estates as there was never the need. I have had several over the past years which amount to the following

The Audi was a 2.2 facelift model
The E30 was a 316i
The ovlov remains with me
The X5 was a 3.0 petrol, sold during the "fuel crisis"
The X3 remains on fleet.

 

[Dyslexic Viking]

I really like estates and have owned some.

 

My first car that I drove. 1985 Volvo 240 2,3 manual was previously a van and had lived most of its life in Oslo delivering food was very tired and rusty. Lived on a bit after me but was eventually scrapped.

1990 Volvo 740 2.3 manual great car had almost no rust was taken in exchange for an impulse purchase and I still hate myself for this. Was bought by a girl as the first car and was driven to death and scrapped. A fate like thousands of Volvo in Scandinavia.

In between these I had a 2000 Avensis which is not worth mentioning that used a lot of oil and was scrapped after a short time something it deserved.

1997 Volvo V70 2.4 NA petrol manual. This was an attempt at what I call modern Volvo and did not like this or anything Volvo has made since. It was difficult to work on, used much more petrol than the older models. It was also very boring and nothing was better than the older ones. Few want these here but managed to sell it after a while and it was finally scrapped when the engine broke.

2005 Citroen Xsara 1.6 manual bought as an extra car, comfortable nice to drive but was uneconomical to repair was taken in exchange for Hyundai and think it actually lives still. Picture below is the only one I have of it behind a timber crane.

And can add 2 that are almost estates.

1997 Mitsubishi Pajero 2.8 diesel manual van. Owned this for a short while it was very rusty and bodged, it was also very tiring to drive was taken in exchange for Suzuki lived a while after but think has been scrapped now.

 

2007 Suzuki Grand Vitara 1.9 diesel manual. Impulse buy previous rental car, it was tired, boring and the Renault engine should never have been in these and was difficult to work on because of it. But took it on some trips to Sweden and explored remote forests as pictured below. It was sold and is still alive.

[Tepper]

Here are the two that I've had, will probably have more because they're great for chucking bikes in the back without having to take wheels off or anything. First this one, bought from here. Turned out to need a new top end, so I put together an engine from the original bottom end and the top end from an engine out of a fire damaged insurance write-off along with doing various other bits. After the work (and a remap) it was brilliant - very comfortable, great stereo and just a quietly excellent all-rounder.

My current car is this, a BMW E61 535d. It's phenomenally quick, and is actually better on fuel than the Volvo above. Apart from the major and ever-present bork potential, it takes some beating as an all-round package of speed, economy, comfort and cost: