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Looking for a decent estate car for a trip to Denmark and back in October. Been looking at spendingg upto £3500 for a Volvo T5, Volvo 960 3.0 24v, Merc 300TE, BMW Series Tourer, Scorpio Ultima (dont laugh...ther missus likes'em!) but nothing really stands oput and what are the pros and cons. But have also been tempted to keep my money in the bank and spend less than a grand on an old 760 2.3 turbo estate (Trust the Volvo engine miore than the 2.9 Renault thing) or a Granada Scorpio Estate or even an older 300TE. Whats the pros and cons and what do you reckon to all of these.....I'm certainly tempted by the older Volvo 700 estate but will it take the autobahns well as i tend to not hang around (got to take 100mph plus cruising) but whatever I choose will be an auto so thats another thing to go wrong with something older. Bare in mind when I come back the car will more than likely be sold so just a holiday car really!
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If you're looking for a big 'un, a friend of mine swears by -- not at -- his big Citroen C5, which has serious space inside and has yet to let him down after 70k+. See HJ's road test at:
tinyurl.com/5bogx
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For £3000, a nice Vauxhall Omega Estate,
cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=...1
Not an estate or a high spec, but proof you can get a late one under £3000.
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A 940 for £400...:-)
www.findit.co.uk/cars/estates.htm
or
fp.alans.plus.com/
Thee's also the Mondeo estates range from 1993 onwards.
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If it is only for a long trip, wouldn't the most cost effective be to hire a big estate for a few weeks? Expensive, yes, but no worries about MOTs, breakdowns,selling it when you return etc?
if you are going city to city you could take it off hire for a few days, and save the hassle of parking
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in the far north of scotland you can see quite e few old volvos with foreign registrations so they are obviously up to doing the journey in reverse,there are loads of them for sale for next to nothing which will do thousands of miles with no expense other than fuel.100mph no problem even with non turbo models,personally as long as they are able to be bought I will always have one as they are so reliable but like you said I stick to volvo engines .
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How about the autoboxes on any of these cars........how long can the Volvo ones last. I've heard the T5 Auto's are very very fragile and dont last much beyond 120K. Not sure what the older Volvo 760 2.3 auto's are like.....are they any better. The Mercedes ones seem very very good for high mileages and I've seen some Scorpios with 200K on original engine and autoboxes.....it seems to me the auto box, the turbo and the timing chains are the only things I've got to worry about as well as possibly heater matrixes which I'm told are also fragile on the Volvo's. When I say I'll sell when I come back....I may not....depends what I think if it.
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Audi 100/A6. Superb build quality - before German cars went down the pan (as indicated in the Which? survey).
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Trip to Denmark in October then sell when you get back? Surely it would be better, and cheaper, to hire a new performance estate and make this a memorable journey rather than buying an old one with worn springs, dampers and goodness knows what else wrong with it? Anyone know who rents out Alpina's/AMG's in estate guise? :-)
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Just be careful if the car is over 10(?) years old. AA 5 star recovery (which is money well spent if you're in an old car) tends not to be available for older cars.
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We have a 1989 760 Turbo Auto estate and can thoroughly recommend them. Bit heavy on the fuel but otherwise excellent. However, at this age the condition of any car is totally at the mercy of its previous owner(s) so of course you should expect some bills.
The 3.0 litre 960 is NOT a Renault engine. You are thinking of the old PRV V6. The 960 is a straight-six of Volvo design. They are excellent engines but don't expect good mpg.
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If going to Denmark why not pick up one of the daily Ryanair flights to Luebeck (N. Germany) for about £10 each way. Then hire a Hertz car from the airport and up into Denmark - its not far at all. You'll get a nice newish Golf Estate (or MB VAneo if you want one) for about £180 per week.
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Nah, enjoy driving my own car and driving through europe too much to do anything different. Anyone know how good the Autoboxes are on the cars mentioned.
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Merc autoboxes far ahead of manual equivalents. Certainly on the W123, and also I believe on the W124. Am very happy with my Audi 100 autobox.
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Been looking at the 960 Volvo's following the "it aint Renault!" comment. What am I to loook out for and are any of these 900 series Volvo Renault engined in any way.....I was always under the impression they were. Also what are the 2.5 engines like in these 960's and what are the autoboxes like for mileage.....do they need rebuilding after 120k like I've seen a lot of 850's requiring....or are they more long lasting and frugle. Are there any problems reported with electrics....or are they like the 200 and 700 series.....built to last like tanks if well maintained.
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If you seek reassurance about Volvo mileages visit the Volvo owners website. They have a high mileage section where 200,000 miles is as common as wasps at a summer picnic. 300,000 thins them out a little but it goes up and up. They have a guy in NY-where else-who has done over a million in a volvo (the one like the Saint had) Looked after well a big volvo estate could last a indefinitely.
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just had a look on the website, this Volvo in the states has done 2 million ..not one.
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Many of my Swedish colleagues drive Volvos in all manner of guises, as do I. One is a 850R that is driven very hard, sits outside in all weathers, is chipped to high heaven, and has covered 120,000 miles (on the original cam belt, but that's an other story).
The auto gearbox is still in perfect fettle.
Silky smooth changes, instant kick down on demand, no hunting between gears on a partial throttle, and no funny noises.
In fact, the whole car drives like something that's just been run in, handles and brakes crisply, burns no oil, and at this mileage, is still a complete blast to drive.
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Just wondering is an 13 year old plus 760- 2.3 Turbo Auto isn going to take the hammering over to Denmark when its got 150K plus on the clock. Dont mean to sound nervous but never owned a proper Volvo before (had a 340 which was a great car for budget money!)
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Proper Volvos go on for ever - my parents gave away a 30-year old 145 auto earlier this year because it was surplus to requirements but too good to scrap. I (partly) learnt to drive in it, they owned it from new. Wish I had the space to have kept it myself :-((
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Big decent estate - that must be Highgrove then?
Roger. (in the UK for 2 more weeks and then back to the sun! )
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Are the newer volvos as reliable as the old ones? i have seen some amazing reports on the 850 estate.
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Amazing in what way - parents second car to the 145 became an 850 which they are replacing for a V70 that is currently on order and due late September. The 850 has suffered from a few bouts of non-starting (posted a question on the technical section of this site some months ago) but this has (fingers crossed) gone away with a full clean of the injection system/throttle body. Car has otherwise been reliable. Private-hire taxi service that my parents use to go to the airport has had 2 Volvo 940/960 estates that passed 300,000 miles each, with no dramas.
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I'm selling a 1995 850 T5 estate auto if you're interested. £2495. 164k miles, but drives beautifully, certainly no hint of problems with the autobox at the moment!
I've not got much experience of Volvos, but this one feels like it's done less than half the mileage. If they're all as good as mine, i certainly wouldn't worry about buying with high mileage, as they wear it very well, inside, outside and mechanically.
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Ford Mondeo Estate - the last shape. My boss has a new Volvo V70 and it has significantly less room than the Mondeo. Avoid the 1.8 Diesel (too slow, too noisy and not too reliable I hear). 2.0 Petrol would be fine for 100mph cruising or 2.5 for a more relaxed journey. Very cheap to pick up and easy to sell fast when you return - certainly a very good one in your price range.
All sorts of people use them, antique dealers, publicans, etc. My very friendly (independent) dealer also sings their praises, servicing a lot that have 250,000 miles plus on the clock. As long as they are serviced regularly (especially oil changes) not much will go wrong. I would recommend fabric seats rather than leather as they are far better for long trips. Mine on my Ghia X are not great for either driver or passenger.
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Interesting about the Mondeo. I've always found the Zetec Ford engine to be excellent in all forms.....sold a few old shape Mondeo estate 2.0 and have always fancied one myself..I took a 1995 Escort Estate last year with a 1.6 Zetec and 130k on the clock. It never missed a beat all the way and returned 35+ to the gallon at 100mph+!!
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For a bargain estate, and still quite nice looking, I'd recommend a VW Passat B4 type with the 1.9 Tdi engine. This was the model before the current curvy-roof shaped one. Not as big as a Volvo, but you get 50+ mpg and they're said to be good for 200,000 miles or more.
Rear wheel bearings seem prone to wearing out at around 110,000 miles. They went noisy on each side within a few hunded miles of each other at that mileage on mine. So it might be wise to keep one (or two!) with the spare bulbs when travelling. They are quite simple to change, but you need to make sure they're properly seated in the brake drum/hub before refitting.
Cheers, SS
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