Looking to buy a mildly interesting estate as a daily. Any recommendations?

TL;DR
Looking to buy an interesting estate to daily for ~£4-5k once I move out, for motorway cruising and carrying luggage that the mx5 can’t handle.

My background
I’m 20 years old, still living at home with my parents and own a mk2 mx5 that I absolutely love. I’ve never found practicality to be an issue. I’m even able to carry my mountain bike around with it using a suction cup mount. The few times I’ve needed more space for hauling things about (ikea, tip runs etc.) I’ve been able to use my parents’ Skoda Octavia Hatch.

However, I’m currently in the process of buying my first house and will soon find it a lot more difficult to borrow the family car. After I’ve moved in I’m hoping to have a budget of ~£4-5k to spend on an interesting estate that is all round more practical. After making a 900 mile round trip from Chesterfield to Forress in the north of Scotland, I think I’d prefer something more refined for eating up motorway miles.

It will also mean that I can fettle with the mx5 without the fear of breaking my only car.

Cars I have in mind
I’d love a BMW e46 or e39 touring with either a 2.5L or 3.0L inline 6 (unbothered about fuel type). Unfortunately decent examples that aren’t plagued by rust (I’ve already got one car like that), seem to be over budget and with the experience of rust repair I’ve had with the mx5 I’m reluctant to buy a rusty one, under the impression I’ll be able to repair it for less than I could buy one that’s already had the work done. Newer generations seem to be more in budget, but I’m not a massive fan as they appear to be a step down in both design and quality. A Volvo v70 with a T/D5 would also be pretty cool, but once again decent examples cost a hefty amount.

Realistic expectations
I appreciate that you can’t have everything in a car, but I just want some sense of engagement from the one I’ll be driving most of the time, even if it pales in comparison to that of the mx5. The 2.0L TDI Octavia I mentioned above just feels slow and lethargic to drive in comparison, despite having more power and torque as well as a better 0-60.

The reason I’m gravitating towards the kinds of cars mentioned before is that I know for a fact they’ll never be as fun to drive as the mx5, so I’d like the interior and overall driving experience to be more “refined”. If I had a bottom spec, early 2000s fabia estate that’s worse in every way, I think I’d hate driving it.

I’m not particularly bothered about mileage; I’d rather have an interesting car at 150k miles than a boring one at 20k.

Reading this back I’m aware that the only thing I’m short of asking for is the moon on a stick, so if I’m completely in over my head then please let me know. I’ll just have to put my big boy trousers on and deal with it.

If anyone has any suggestions then I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Cheers :+1:

I have never owned one, but have you considered an Audi A4 Avant, they do come in 2.0L and 3.0L versions?

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Subaru Legacy estate?

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Octy vRS estate might be a good shout? Not sure what your budget would get you. If you go the 3 series route steer clear of the E90s they are just ticking time bombs regardless of which engine is in them!

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Any advance on a sorted Morris Traveller?

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Certainly the cheaper option in terms of road tax, MOT and insurance.

So, as an advance I’m surprised no one yet suggested a Volvo (again old enough for the whole cheap road tax, MOT (though it has a full one) and insurance):

And you can just cruise around thanks to the Automatic gearbox :slight_smile:

VW Passat Tdi. Great cars. Comfy, economical, big, good on diesel and not stupid expensive to insure or repair.

MG ZT-T? There’s only three on Auto Trader and this one at just under £2k is the most expensive. I have zero experience with these cars but hey, at least it’s different!

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About 10 years ago I tried to make a budget purchase of an E46 325ti compact. It cost me about £2.5k at the time and was below average mileage - in the 70 thousands. It was a 52 plate. I really liked the car but it absolutely was not a budget car to run. I was pretty unlucky I think, but the car was crying out for loads of maintenance that had probably been put off by previous owners and a couple of things also went wrong in my ownership. I got fed up of fixing it and sold it after less than a year. By that time it had probably had everything it needed done, but it was such a hassle I didn’t want to know any more. It might be fine if you get an enthusiast owned and well maintained older BMW but the experience I had really opened my eyes to how much of a money pit an older BMW could be.

A good few Granny Estates around still, from around 5k maybe worth buying to £20k plus! Need to be uber careful…people bought them to work hard…but cheaper to run than you’d think and a lot
if not all are ULZ compliant now. Great if you dont mind 18/20 mpg urban but they will do well over 30 0dd ob Cruise. Mine did…it was a superb thing in Ghia form. I bought mine used from a Ford dealer with 45,000 pre owned 2 users miles on. Cheap…they could not get rid quickly enough. I took it to 150k with just regular servicing but…I cut the oil changes in half and “over serviced” it elsewhere.

Hi F
I have a 2010 NC , and this is augmented by the following…for carrying our 2 dogs and anything else that needs moving.

Its a 2012 140 bhp TDI SEAT Exeo ST (estate). Bought it in Jan 2013 and it was an ex-SEAT management car, from Milton Keynes SEAT HQ. It had approx 3K miles and now has 124K.

The Exeo was a development of the B7 Audi A4…they shipped the entire production line from Ingolstadt to Barcelona when Audi started the B8 platform A4.
Basically its the same shell with a nose and tail job, and the dash came from the A4 Cabriolet (central vents).

The advantage is that by the time the B7 A4 became an Exeo, a lot of the issues of the Audi had been ironed out…Of course it lacks the ‘kudos’ of the Audi rings on the grill. but the price reflects that. I paid £15K back in 2013…list price was 23-ish…and its prob worth about 2-3 K now…but has been for the last few years, and probably will be for the next few years.
Its a good solid car, with a strong Tdi engine. 50-55 mpg, 720 mile range displayed on dash after refuelling.
All being well it’ll live as long as our previous '97 Passat 110 Tdi, bought in 1998 with 10K miles, and which finally became uneconomic to repair in 2021 with 320K miles.
Engine still superb, but undercarriage in need of extensive, expensive work.
In fact the engine was relocated into an old Audi 80 estate which is still in use as a works car for a local service centre/garage.

Good luck in the search.

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Volvo T5r :+1:

Left field choice - Honda Accord had 3 as company cars, loved them!

My dad had a mk7 when I was younger and I think that’s where my love for the estate with a cavernous rear end came from.

He said it’s his favourite car he’s ever owned, second only to the GTM Coupé kit car he had when he was younger.

The only issue I’d have is from what I can gather, the 2.2 CdTI engine is known for clutches slipping due to pressure plate issues, and the k20/24 petrol models have very little torque with them being the economy engines, leading to them feeling somewhat gutless.

Seen some imports that look decent, this is a good shout

Yeh that’s my concern with a lot of them as well. Plenty of people raving about them online, but then you find that they’ve put £10k into a decent one

The Seat exeo is a good shout. I’m not that bothered about the “kudos” the 4 rings brings with it, especially as a young lad in an old Audi, I think I’d give off a different kind of vibe. Just had a quick look on auto trader and they seem to be in much better nick than the equivalent A4s. Probably because they’ve not been ragged.


This is my first one, I handed it back at 100k, unbelievable mileage

Exeo ST, it’s a B7 A4 Avant in almost every regard but with newer, better engine tech…… the Exeo got the B8 diesels when they came out in 2009.

The navigation in either is feeling a little dated . Got a 2020 update disc on eBay which improves matters greatly.

I agree , the B7 A4 is a pretty well regarded model in terms of quality and durability but the Seat badge allows you to buy a younger car with less mechanical wear.

Photo shows my Exeo ST parked beside an A4 Avant in the local park.

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Maybe a bit of a left field option but you could consider a jag x-type estate, nice size and loaded with features and comforts, the 2.5 and 3.0 V6 options only come with AWD which is quite rare and interesting for an estate, also easy to find very cheaply now.


ive had my 2.5 V6 AWD manual estate alongside my NC for a few months now and its a cracking car, very comfy.

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