New estate or car with lots of room

starscream · 11 Aug 2006 at 13:01

I play guitar in a band and lugging all my equipment round in my little car is becoming too much hassle as I have to put all the back seats down, and none of it is very secure. I can sell my car for about £4500-5000 and am looking for something that Ideally I could get everything in the boot.

To give you an idea of the space, a 4x12 cab is 760x830x360mm then there is a guitar, amp head and flightcase of pedals etc. When I test drive, I will take them all down to make sure they fit in, but ideally I'd like something that this will fit in without having to put the seats down.

I can put in a bit extra than what I sell my car for if necessary, but what are the best options in that kind of price range. I'd prefer something with a high MPG and clean running over speed/power, although my kit is very heavy so if there is a compromise between the 2, I'd look at that.

Thanks for any suggestions

Bill101 · 11 Aug 2006 at 13:11

what car have you got now that is too small?
I would suggest looking at a VW Bora(TDi) as they have a huge boot if you want to stick to a saloon

v0n · 11 Aug 2006 at 13:12

Citroen C5, will be very delicate with tube amps as well...

Third Opinion · 11 Aug 2006 at 13:14

v0n said:
Citroen C5, will be very delicate with tube amps as well...

Problem is he will be fixing it every week according to the used car reviews. Came 4th from bottom.

starscream · 11 Aug 2006 at 13:22

Bill101 said:
what car have you got now that is too small?

Just a Corsa SXi

tblocksom · 11 Aug 2006 at 13:27

Skoda Octavia Estate? Lots of examples well within your price range, and with reliability to boot (not to mention a huge boot

)

OllyM · 11 Aug 2006 at 13:43

A bit predictable, but what about a Ford Mondeo TDCi estate?

I don't know if it's big enough, but some should be in budget now, and the TDCi engine is decent. Just make sure that you get the 130PS version.

Richand · 11 Aug 2006 at 13:43

Citroen Piccaso? I got mine for 3.5k with 30k miles on the clock.

Nice flat boot (no "lip") and big with the seats out. Cheapest MPV I could find. and I like the look of it aswell but the interior is pretty cheap looking.

starscream · 11 Aug 2006 at 13:54

This seems very cheap to me

http://www.exchangeandmart.co.uk/iad/car/object?emcode=7356988&sid=3coPA1Eh3719068&pos=10&tot=71

Is that a good car?

OllyM · 11 Aug 2006 at 13:58

It looks okay from the advert, but the pictures are a bit small to see in detail...

Mondeos are very cheap to buy, especially used.

For your budget, you could get a Mk3, though.

carpmaster · 11 Aug 2006 at 15:00

Audi RS6 Avant.

Matt-Page · 11 Aug 2006 at 15:18

starscream said:
This seems very cheap to me

http://www.exchangeandmart.co.uk/iad/car/object?emcode=7356988&sid=3coPA1Eh3719068&pos=10&tot=71

Is that a good car?

No it's a Mondeo...... Of course it's not good and yes it will be cheap (only kidding Fox)

To me they are ugly as sin, but they are reliable, fairly economical and very pratical. It has FSH, electric everything, air-con, alloys, etc. Ample space comes as standard with these estates and they're not tooo thirsty.

Black is a bad colour, and 91k miles isn't too bad, around 15k a year which is average.

DanB · 11 Aug 2006 at 15:20

Doubt he'll get a decent Avant for that money, and they are surprisingly small in the back.

Can't say fairer than the MKIII Mondy estate - would suit you fine, great drive and should get a nice one for that price. (Owner approved

)

Not sure why he'd look at that older Mondy, which is higher priced simply because it's a V6 and an ST24, nor at the RS6 - I think the petrol-heads are getting carried away. He didn't say he wanted performance, he said he wanted economy. Get the plain 2.0TDCI - fine performance, but reasonably frugal too...

Liverpool-Lad · 11 Aug 2006 at 15:49

carpmaster said:
Audi RS6 Avant.

And they are 5k, right?

[TW]Fox · 11 Aug 2006 at 16:02

Mondeo Mk3 or C5 Estate are both enormous, largest load space in class.

C5 has added advantage of self levelling suspension, Mondeo has added advantage of being excellent car.

starscream · 11 Aug 2006 at 16:02

I don't mind what it looks like really, I only really see cars as functional items. The priorities are reliable, economic and be able to hold all my stuff safely and securely. The value of what I'm carting around will be about the same as the value of the car :eek:

starscream · 11 Aug 2006 at 16:09

Looking around, a lot of dealers are doing mondeo estates that are the same age as my car for about the same value (I assume the mondeo depreciates quicker?). Do you think a dealer would do a straight swap if I chose one around the same value?

Hate · 11 Aug 2006 at 16:55

Richand said:
Citroen Piccaso? I got mine for 3.5k with 30k miles on the clock.

Nice flat boot (no "lip") and big with the seats out. Cheapest MPV I could find. and I like the look of it aswell but the interior is pretty cheap looking.

our band use a picasso, two trips can usually see us shift the bass amp and head, the guitar amp and head, the 1000W pa system, the entire drumkit (with about 8 toms) including rack and the instruments themselves.