[Paul B]

New Electric Mini? No fiesta ST, but sounds like it actually drives pretty well.

I bet they do! Different price bracket I'd imagine?

I've put a deposit down on the A6. 

[teestub]

When you say starship miles, what are we talkin?

[Paul B]

When you say starship miles, what are we talkin?

Only 84k miles above average. In all seriousness though, I bought the vRS at 104k (now at 150k), the E46 before that was 140k miles (and I traded it in at ~200k miles) and this had services listed like clockwork (and no signs of towing; interestingly looking at the A4s I was finding it a lot harder to find them without tow bars).

I'll send you a link on either Insta or Twitter.

[Fiend]

Should have saved the old (and ex- the old man's) V70 XC for you. Comfy, nippy, semi-economical on LPG, great boot for dogs, and a snip at 255k miles (actually starship miles, it's greater than the average distance between the earth and moon, not that I tried....).

[James Malloch]

My Berlingo's timing belt/water pump is due a change and the local garage quoted £350-400, Halfords is £450 and going to the main Citroen Dealer is £520.

Is there much benefit with going for a main dealer for this kind of work? Better warranties etc? No idea how easy a job it is to mess up and ruin the engine if it went due to a bad installation.

Got a potential big drive coming up so want to get it booked in soon as I'm just reaching the recommended 100k changeover mileage. 

[tomtom]

It’s a tricky ish job but very common. Local garage would be fine imho. Check if they need to change water pump at same time. If it’s the psa engine that’s often done at same time.

[James Malloch]

It’s a tricky ish job but very common. Local garage would be fine imho. Check if they need to change water pump at same time. If it’s the psa engine that’s often done at same time.

Cheers - I'll probably go local then. Means I can walk home and not bother with courtesy cars etc too. 

Get the servicing done at the main dealer but normally end up getting work done elsewhere. This was one of the few jobs that I thought actually had a decent quote from the main garage. Beats the £60 they quoted to change two bulbs!

Will get the water pump done as well (edited the original post when you were typing).

[tomtom]

Worth asking garage about the water pump first. If its the diesel PSA engine - then if the water pump goes - you have to take the timing belt off to change it (so the labour is the same as the timing belt change). If its the same engine as in my car - then they had a look at the water pump and said it was looking alright when it was all apart etc..

[Will Hunt]

Looking for car recommendations. My other half is wanting to move onto something a bit more suited to having two young kids.

Her requirements:
Generous boot to fit pram + other kid related shite - maybe camping gear. i.e. able to fit in the gear for a family Font trip etc (strong preference for something without a lip).
Reasonably reliable
Reasonably fuel efficient
Price around £10k at <50k miles and <5 years old
Looks reasonably nice (she doesn't really like the sticky out boot of a saloon design)
Some nice interior features like bluetooth connection
The moon on a stick

Does a car exist that meets these requirements?

[tomtom]

Octavia estate

[Will Hunt]

I'm advocating an Octavia (maybe even the hatchback if the boot is big enough) but it seems to be falling down on the price criteria at the desired age/mileage.

[tomtom]

I'm advocating an Octavia (maybe even the hatchback if the boot is big enough) but it seems to be falling down on the price criteria at the desired age/mileage.

Plenty on autotrader within your criteria

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202010275497025?atmobcid=soc3

[sxrxg]

Left field estate choices: Kia Optima, Honda Civic, Peugeot 308

7 seater family car: Ford Grand C Max. 7 (5+2) seats sliding doors on the rear

[dunnyg]

I saw octavia estate with less than fifty on it going for 10.5 k. Could probs get em to 10. Was white though. Might not jave been high spec interior. Have you looked at a ford kuga?

[tomtom]

I saw octavia estate with less than fifty on it going for 10.5 k. Could probs get em to 10. Was white though. Might not jave been high spec interior. Have you looked at a ford kuga?

That reminds me - lower cost rebrands (due to manufacturers sharing platforms etc..) are that under the skin (and of course built in a different factory) Renault Captur is the same as a Nissan Quashquai, Ford Kuga (if you get the right year) is a much cheaper Volvo XC60

[nai]

I've just bought a Kia ceed estate of the age and mileage you're looking at for under your budget.

You'll be able to get a a ~3yr old ceed or Optima, it'll still have the balance of their seven year warranty (as long as it's been serviced as per recommendations) and be equipped with everything you could wish for.

[tomtom]

I've just bought a Kia ceed equipped with everything you could wish for.

It even has a downgrade button on the dash Will

[Will Hunt]

Well, the good news is that her ladyship has had an epiphany this morning and realised that she doesn't want a Ford Kuga after all.

The bad news is that she has decided that, because my Fabia hatchback is a chalk-ridden mess, ALL Skodas have an undesirable interior.

We're going to one of those car supermarket places today. She's leaning towards a Ford Focus estate (I'll get her to look at some of the alternatives mentioned here so thanks for those), either with a diesel engine or one of those petrol ecoboost things. I've heard good things about the ecoboost so if anybody has any horror stories then please speak now!

[tomtom]

I’m going to punter you for being lazy Will.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ecoboost+problems&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari

But before you waste 10K I’d avoid the petrol ecoboosts. Great engine. Goes bang regularly.

[spidermonkey09]

My mum recently picked up a Mondeo estate for 1200 quid so might be worth looking at them at the value end of the spectrum. Obviously no high spec stuff though!

[cowboyhat]

Why do people always reach for an Octavia on this thread?

What’s so fucking great about them?

[Andy F]

Seat Leon ST. I got a 5 year old 2.0l diesel DSG for under 10k with only 21K miles on the clock. Slightly less space than an Octavia, but better looking and better handling.

[tomtom]

Why do people always reach for an Octavia on this thread?

What’s so fucking great about them?

I was only trying to sandbag Will :D

[cowboyhat]

Seat Leon ST. I got a 5 year old 2.0l diesel DSG for under 10k with only 21K miles on the clock. Slightly less space than an Octavia, but better looking and better handling.

Good shout though it’s weird that people are buying vag diesels. Maybe it’s less of an issue if you don’t live in the ULEZ.

[Will Hunt]

I’m going to punter you for being lazy Will.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ecoboost+problems&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en-gb&client=safari

But before you waste 10K I’d avoid the petrol ecoboosts. Great engine. Goes bang regularly.

Hmmm. The problems seem to be predominantly on the earlier models. The issue is that the age and type of cars that she's looking at (she is in love with the focus estate now) generally only come with Ecoboost or Tsi engines or theyre diesels. I'm not in love with the idea of a diesel for emissions reasons so there doesn't seem to be much alternative to Ecoboost, even though they do give me the jitters.