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