Estate, auto, £5-8k - any ideas?

danlightbulb

danlightbulb

danlightbulb

Soldato
Joined
14 Jul 2005
Posts
8,988
Location
Birmingham
Hi all,

I currently have a 2005 BMW E91 325i straight six automatic petrol estate on 116k miles. I had to buy it in quite a rush after my previous car lunched it's engine in 2022, and a work friend was selling this so I bought it.

I was really hoping this car could go 5 years or so before having any major issues, but with it potentially on the blink (see other thread) I'm looking at options. It might be a good time to swap it if it's looking like engine issues are creeping in.

I'm aware the used car market is crap at the moment.

I mostly do motorway miles these days as my commute is 25 miles each way on the M6. Very little local short distance driving. So I'd like an automatic and I suppose diesel should be fine given the longer distance driving, although my current car is petrol and there are still high repair cost risks with diesel?

I need an estate as I carry my bike, camping gear, and DIY stuff regularly.

At a push I could spend £8k, but I don't really want to. £5k would have been much better. I've looked at auto trader and I'm struggling. If spending a bit more gets me into something with a lot less miles or materially better condition then I can do it.

Does anyone have any suggestions please?
 
bobuk said:

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Plenty on auto trader
Click to expand...

I don't know what's reliable these days, or what max mileage I should go for, or what is good value for money in this inflated market. Even at £8k there are a lot of cars on 100k miles or more, which is not far off what I already have got.
 
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I wouldn't worry too much about the mileage. With today's pricing you are probably looking at 8 year old cars and people don't buy an estate to sit in the garage and look pretty.

There are stacks of options though. Straight off the bat I'd personally be looking in to Mazda 6's (although the boot is deceptively small on these), Skoda Superbs and Octavia's.
 
With how crazy used car prices are i don't think you'll get much of an upgrade on what you've currently got unfortunately :(

I'd look at Avensis, Mazda 6 (but look for rust on these), Accord. I don't personally like the VW group stuff as i know far too many people who just seem to have endless issues with them compared to the Japanese stuff.
 
As said above Skoda Superb / Octavia will be decent bang for buck I'd imagine.

I have a 2015 Focus 1.5 TDI. Being the Titanium X it does have a lot of spec. It's on around 73k, and should be within your budget. No VED to pay, LEZ compliant, and hasn't let me down in over 5 years. Not the sexiest option for sure, but an option for you (not mine as mine is neither auto or estate, but similar should be doable).

EDIT: (Actually just had a look, and surprisingly, might just be above your max budget. But could potentially negotiate into budget. I'm surprised to be honest. A lower spec model should be doable though).
 
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this dont look bad

www.ebay.co.uk

**CLEAN** 2015 AUDI A4 S LINE 2.0 TDI MANUAL ESTATE GREY DIESEL 150 BHP START | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for **CLEAN** 2015 AUDI A4 S LINE 2.0 TDI MANUAL ESTATE GREY DIESEL 150 BHP START at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.
www.ebay.co.uk

www.ebay.co.uk

2014 VW PASSAT 2.0 TDI EXECUTIVE ESTATE, FULL SERVICE HISTOR, LOW MILEAGE | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 2014 VW PASSAT 2.0 TDI EXECUTIVE ESTATE, FULL SERVICE HISTOR, LOW MILEAGE at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.
www.ebay.co.uk
 
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jeffspuds said:
this dont look bad

www.ebay.co.uk

2014 VW PASSAT 2.0 TDI EXECUTIVE ESTATE, FULL SERVICE HISTOR, LOW MILEAGE | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 2014 VW PASSAT 2.0 TDI EXECUTIVE ESTATE, FULL SERVICE HISTOR, LOW MILEAGE at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.
www.ebay.co.uk
Click to expand...

Looks dodgy to me. Has a trade plate on the front yet says in the description "Sad to see her go but I need a bigger motor".


sovietspybob said:
With how crazy used car prices are i don't think you'll get much of an upgrade on what you've currently got unfortunately :(

I'd look at Avensis, Mazda 6 (but look for rust on these), Accord. I don't personally like the VW group stuff as i know far too many people who just seem to have endless issues with them compared to the Japanese stuff.
Click to expand...

It's a real minefield and just doesn't make sense to me where any value is. My car is 19 years old and on 116k miles and at a push is worth £2-2.5k.

So for £6-8k I should be able to get something at least half as old and with lower mileage otherwise what's the point? I don't want to trade a £3k car that might be having issues for an £8k car with just as many potential issues.

I used to have an Accord estate and mechanically it was ok but the rear arches rusted through really badly. There aren't many around for sale and the newer shape seems be priced quite high plus it's not very spacious in the boot.

Ideally I'm looking at Mondeo estate sized really, the 3 series was smaller than I wanted but I had little choice at the time.
 
danlightbulb said:
So for £6-8k I should be able to get something at least half as old and with lower mileage otherwise what's the point?
Click to expand...

I don't think you will and therefore I agree, what is the point?

I don't think the budget is large enough to fundamentally change your ownership experience - you're still going to be buying a car at the point where things go wrong quite often.
 
danlightbulb said:
It's a real minefield and just doesn't make sense to me where any value is. My car is 19 years old and on 116k miles and at a push is worth £2-2.5k.

So for £6-8k I should be able to get something at least half as old and with lower mileage otherwise what's the point? I don't want to trade a £3k car that might be having issues for an £8k car with just as many potential issues.
Click to expand...

Yeah i feel your pain, i have a 2010 Toyota Avensis which i'd love to replace, i paid 8k for it 9 years ago but if i were to put 8k towards a new one today i'm not getting that much of an upgrade over what i currently have which is crazy.

It's just generally a terrible time to buy a car.
 
Uther said:
At this end of the market the car could still have issues. Maybe it would be better to get the car you know fixed, if it's not going to cost £lol.
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I don't know what's wrong with it. Please see other thread if you can offer any thoughts, I'm all open to fixing it. I don't want to send it to a garage blind as I'm paying for diagnostics which might not reveal anything more than I know already.

I've had no replies over on bimmerforums either, the enthusiast repair/DIY scene is just dead these days.
 
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[TW]Fox said:
I don't think you will and therefore I agree, what is the point?

I don't think the budget is large enough to fundamentally change your ownership experience - you're still going to be buying a car at the point where things go wrong quite often.
Click to expand...

But how does it even make sense that I can't improve on what I have now for £8k, when my car is only worth say £3k?
 
danlightbulb said:
But how does it even make sense that I can't improve on what I have now for £8k, when my car is only worth say £3k?
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It does though. I just did a quick AT search for a 325 estate up to £8k and the first one was 7 years newer than yours with over 40k less on the clock.

Whether that is worth £5k is your decision but it's not like an £8k car is the same as a £3k one.

If it's VFM you are after I seriously doubt it is going to cost £5k to fix your car and whatever you do but could go pop the next week.
 
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Boring choice, but I'd consider an Avensis with the 1.8 petrol engine. Traded in my 2011 one last year on about 185k miles, and the engine and gearbox were still great (although I did have the manual).
 
danlightbulb said:
After what happened to my last car I'm scared the engine will lunch itself and the car is nothing but scrap value.
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Why would it? The N52 is a pretty solid engine.
It's got a missfire I can see from your other thread. Should be easy enough to sort as it's likely to be a coil pack, a vacuum leak, or a lambda issue. Have you had the codes read?
 
Rilot said:
Why would it? The N52 is a pretty solid engine.
It's got a missfire I can see from your other thread. Should be easy enough to sort as it's likely to be a coil pack, a vacuum leak, or a lambda issue. Have you had the codes read?
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Because I know it uses oil and smokes a bit when cold, and now it looks like it's using a bit of coolant too.

I read the codes myself, please could you jump on other thread if you can offer any advice it would be appreciated.
 
danlightbulb said:
I'm aware the used car market is crap at the moment.
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Better than it was 1-2 years ago IMO. The bottom has fallen out of the inflated car buying services which means there's some downward pressure on used car prices, it used to be a case of nobody would sell cheap second hand cars privately because they could get decent money from WBAC/Cazoo/Motorway etc with less hassle.
 
Having read your other thread, I would say just stick with what you have.

There's zero guarantee that your not just buying someone else's problem especially given most people don't tend to change an otherwise trouble free car, they change when they think a big bill is coming.

Without upping your budget considerably you aren't going to really in a much better/problem free car given what the market still is, especially on older stuff...

I'm in a similar situation with my Volvo, but at the moment am of the "better the devil you know " mindset.
 
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