ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k

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Mon 6 May 2019 19:11
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - trebor1
My brother is looking for a vehicle thats upto £2000 that can carry 6ft house doors with the seats down but carry 4 passengers plus luggage to the airport twice a year.


Key points - reliability, space, not worried if petrol or diesel, comfortable drivers seat. Any thing else is fine he is not a boy racer and not bothered about looks more practically and reliability and length to get occasional doors in being a carpenter.


I suggested a Toyota avensis estate or a petrol mondeo estate.


Any other or better suggestions? Thanks
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Mon 6 May 2019 20:12
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - oldroverboy.

Volvo v70 or 740?

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Mon 6 May 2019 20:38
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - SLO76
I agree with your choices. A Volvo V70 is more complex but reasonable petrol examples can be had for this money. My Avensis has never caused a moments bother. I think a Honda Accord and Mazda 6 will be too small but both are worthy again if you stick with petrol.
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Tue 7 May 2019 08:24
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - trebor1
Hes looking at Ford Galaxy tonight , I've said i think the seats are a pain as don't drop away but need to be taken out , far from ideal for him..

Anyone know of a comparison sites for load bay lengths on estate/mpv cars rather than looking each one up individually?

Thanks
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Tue 7 May 2019 11:04
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - Paulsxf

Go for the Mk3 Galaxy. I bought a 2K one for towing and tip runs. 6 months in and its a great thing. Seats dont need to be removed to make the load area flat.

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Tue 7 May 2019 14:59
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - corax
Anyone know of a comparison sites for load bay lengths on estate/mpv cars rather than looking each one up individually? Thanks

www.ridc.org.uk/

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Tue 7 May 2019 16:38
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - badbusdriver

>£2k, can carry a 6' door and can carry 4 adults plus luggage twice a year?. Pretty niche set of requirements isn't it?!. To be honest, i think you might struggle to find anything other than the very biggest estate or MPV that could fit a 6' door inside.

But why the need to put the door inside the car?, couldn't he put it on a roofrack?. This would greatly increase the potential choices.

Edited by badbusdriver on 07/05/2019 at 16:39

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Tue 7 May 2019 17:19
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - barney100

Mate of mine does all sorts of jobs. He had a Mercedes E class estate, £600 and lasted 3 years, has a Jag s type now, estate again, well under a grand and sails along merrily. Thing is when it's broke the bits are worth a bit on this type of car.

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Tue 7 May 2019 17:47
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - dan86

Did they do an Estate s type? Thought it was a saloon

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Tue 7 May 2019 18:35
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - KB.

Throughout the many years I worked with building materials I used a ladder rack (not a roof rack) on every car I owned. Always made sure when I changed cars that the roof line was flat enough to allow the ladder rack to be spaced apart enough to accommodate full size ladders and can report that those ladder racks carried more stuff over the years than I will ever be able to recall. So a few 6 foot doors will present no problem.

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Wed 8 May 2019 00:57
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - trebor1
A few people have asked why carry a door internally and not on a roof rack ( meaning any car will be ok) , I asked and it was explained. For several reasons , ever tried to lift a solid oak door onto a roof rack alone and without damaging it or damaging your back? Doors will get wet if its raining and sheeting up in the rain and wind is awful. To secure heavy loads it needs tight tie downs that can nick or even warp some doors. Roof racks are noisy and kill fuel economy.

I think his explanations are logical, carrying expensive doors inside a car is not such a silly idea after all it seems! :-)
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Wed 8 May 2019 07:58
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - Oli rag

I'm not sure if you can get a door inside, but an Astra estate is surprisingly big inside with a long load area. I once carried a 3 seater sofa to the tip in one with the hatch closed!

Edited by Oli rag on 08/05/2019 at 07:59

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Wed 8 May 2019 09:14
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - RT

Doors are surely longer than 6' - otherwise more of us would be banging our heads - I'd have thought more like 6'6".

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Wed 8 May 2019 11:54
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - trebor1

Doors are surely longer than 6' - otherwise more of us would be banging our heads - I'd have thought more like 6'6".

I think most people understood the approximate size and didn’t take is quite so literally. To clarify with some exact measurements for those that are remotely interested I was asked to post this. Hopefully regardless of the exact mm of length this shows the need for him to have a very long estate car. Internal Standard Door Sizing UK 1981 x 457/533 x 35mm – door sizing usually most popular for wardrobe or cupboard door use 1981 x 610/686 x 35mm - door sizing used where there may be limited wall space and a small fitting door is needed. 1981 x 762 x 35mm - often mentioned as a 2' 6" door is the most typical internal door sizing in England and Wales. 1981 x 838 x 35mm - in most circumstances provides the necessary opening width for wheelchair access under the Part 'M' mobility specification. This door sizing is also known as a 2' 9". Standard Metric Door Sizing Internal metric sized doors are becoming progressively popular and are most prolifically used across much of Scotland and the continent. Sometimes odd size doors can be present in period properties.The main difference being a door height increase of 2040mm and door thickness of 40mm. 2040 x 526/626/726/826/926 x 40mm
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Sat 11 May 2019 07:24
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - S40 Man

You can fit a blow up mattress in the back of a mk4 mondeo estate. These are 1970mm. There is also a no lip no boot floor.

I used to work late shift and have a kip in the back before work.

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Wed 8 May 2019 11:56
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - corax
Roof racks are noisy and kill fuel economy.

Only if they are the old type with square bars. Get something like whispbar and you wouldn't even know they were there.

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Sat 11 May 2019 21:15
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - barney100

it's an estate, maybe I've got the type wrong. Anyway it's cost peanuts and does the job.

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Mon 13 May 2019 13:34
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - Gibbo_Wirral

A good, well looked after Peugeot 406 estate.

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Mon 13 May 2019 14:03
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - SLO76

A good, well looked after Peugeot 406 estate.

Bit old and rare in good order these days but yup it was one of the best family estates ever made, especially in 8v 2.0 HDi form.
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Wed 15 May 2019 18:02
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - RaineMan

A friend of a friend got an X-type diesel estate without an MOT for £200. A sill needed repair. He now has had three trouble free years! There are bargains out there but also money pits!

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Sun 19 May 2019 01:38
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - SteveLee

Ford Mondeo Estate - no contest.

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Sun 19 May 2019 22:00
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - trebor1
Update to all - He brought a 2 owner 2.0 litre tdci 6 speed 60 plate Ford Mondeo Estate Diesel for £925 with a years mot. I helped him clean and polish it up and apart from a few scrapes its came up very well. Petrol would of been better but like he says at £925 if it does a year and he throws it its a cheap old barge. I had a drive of it today and have to say it drove very well and was very quick. Thanks for those who contributed, he found it very helpful.
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Sun 19 May 2019 22:25
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - Ian D
That is cheap, out of interest how many miles on it and how much service history
?
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Sun 19 May 2019 22:28
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - SLO76
Cheap big car and a good engine. As with any diesel it’ll be in the bin if anything goes wrong with that engine but it could run and run if his luck holds. I’ve seen Peugeot E7 taxis with over half a million miles on this same motor. As long as he can afford to bin it if anything major fails then it’s cheap enough to be worth a punt.
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Mon 20 May 2019 01:27
ALL - Best big work horse for under 2k - SteveLee
Update to all - He brought a 2 owner 2.0 litre tdci 6 speed 60 plate Ford Mondeo Estate Diesel for £925 with a years mot. I helped him clean and polish it up and apart from a few scrapes its came up very well. Petrol would of been better but like he says at £925 if it does a year and he throws it its a cheap old barge. I had a drive of it today and have to say it drove very well and was very quick. Thanks for those who contributed, he found it very helpful.

Blooming good price - I presume that must have been from an auction at that price? Now spend another £200 changing all fluids - including brake fluid (to reduce internal ABS module corrosion) then an oil and filter change at least annually thereafter - it may soldier on for years. Simply brilliant cars - decent ride - good handling, above average reliability.

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If you cover no more than 100 miles per day and have easy access to a charging point at home or work, then an EV is ideal for you.

Is an electric car right for me?