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I've been driving my IS200 for yonks now and absolutely love it but, with another child on the way, it's going to be too small for the five of us. With a budget of only 10K I'm having real difficulty finding something rear wheel drive that's under 2 litres with decent driving dynamics & the total reliability of the Lexus. (We've owned an e46, e39 & e34 (and test driven the current 5 series) but the missus couldn't get a comfortable driving position in any of them so that rules out BMW Tourings. The Is200 estate isn't much bigger than the saloon - so that's out too). I don't want to give up having fun driving just yet so MPV's are out and I can't justify a second car given we do less that five thousand miles a year. Any suggestions?
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Tried and X5 or X3 ? - plenty on the market now at a good price.
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Hmm, BM's out of the picture, Lexus too, doesn't leave many RWD's under 2 litres to choose from.
So MB C class estate with 1.8 or 2 litre supercharged engine, or maybe a diesel in the same body 270 or even 320, 220d isn't going to light any fires for you.
Whether you'll get the same total reliability as you've had from your Lexus is debatable in anything you replace it with.
Thats about the only car i can come up with, unless you would consider a Subaru Legacy estate, and thats probably going to be 2.5, but you could see if a Forester might be large enough...2 litre turbo for the grin factor.
I don't know if the 2.0 litre turbo was available in the Legacy estate as a UK car.
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If you managed to live with the fuel consumption of an IS200, then you can easily live with any petrol car under 3000cc.
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There are loads of options but sadly few of them with RWD. Mercs are about your only other port of call if this is a absolute requirement. I share your regret at the lack of choice of roomy vehicles with RWD but clearly the market does not demand it.
Having said that, there are a few modern FWD vehicles which manage to be entertaining. Well, a bit.
Edit. - What about one of those big ( Chrysler if think ) 300 estate jobbies ?
Edited by Humph Backbridge on 11/01/2009 at 19:15
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I know that the IS200 is consideded thirsty but mine is delivering about 30mpg on short stop start trips. Ideally I'd have an old XJ but the three in the back thing still doesn't fit. X5's & X 3's are out of budget and the W124 Merc -whilst briliant - is getting too old.
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If your budget is £10k any Mercedes you get will be either ancient or not much fun to drive. I think RWD may be the factor that has to give: maybe try a big estate with a 3.0 V6 under the bonnet. They'll have taken a big hit on depreciation and a used one could be a bargain. For your low annual mileage one of these could be ideal.
I can't remember when the Mondeo stopped being available with a V6, but there's also the Saab 9.5, Vauxhall Vectra and Citroen C5. Maybe an Audi A6 Avant quattro is worth a thought too?
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Can't comment on the RWD issue, since FWD suits me fine and wastes less space inside. But check that the back seat of anything you choose will take the three pieces of child restraint hardware you will require. This is far from guaranteed, even in cars where you'd expect it to be a matter of course, like the Volvo V70. (Saab 9-5 estate is pretty good in that respect, though.)
Check also that the seat belts are long enough for your baby bucket - or that you have a bucket with belt routing that copes with less webbing than you expect. Both Volvo and Saab fit shorter webbing than many - Volvo has an explanation on the FAQ page of its website. They recommend the Britax Rock-a-Tot, which I can endorse, since we fitted one successfully in our Saab 9-3 and then the S60 we have now. But we have only two children!
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I'd forgotten Volvo - but the only Volvos that come into the 'fun to drive' category are FWD or 4WD.
Edited by Avant on 11/01/2009 at 23:05
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OP
With your requirements, surely driving dynamics is the least important criteria. A nice to have. You need to fit in all the seats. You might have to go FWD or AWD.
There are posts on here about fitting 3 child seats across the rear seat of the car. Search the forum....
Rob
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I know what you mean. The problem is as soon as you get a bigger car that will also be too small. If you like that IS200 have you thought about keeping it and getting a roof rack instead? Don't know how old your other sprogs are, but how often are you going to need more space than you already have and would a roof rack be adequate? I have 3 kids and I know that buggies and other "stuff" take up a ridiculous amount of space.
One thing that I would say, even in my BMW 5 estate is that getting 3 kid seats across the back is a bit of a squeeze. Probably could go and buy smaller ones but haven't even looked into that.
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Forget the idea that only RWD can give an interesting/fun drive and/or persuade SWMBO that BMWs are not uncomfortable to drive. The world than opens up - Problem solved.
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Test drive an S-Max. You might be surprised. Handles better than a lot of RWD cars.
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Same goes for the Touran. Read HJ's CBC on the 2.0TDi DSG. I've got one of these (well, the wife has), and it really is a superb drive.
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A glowing endorsement of the S-Max's handling was given by a petrolhead colleague who drives a BMW Z4M. He recently took a hired 2.0TDCi S-Max round the 'Ring and apart from being "gutless" reckoned it gave a remarkable account of itself until the brakes caught fire.
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reckoned it gave a remarkable account of itself until the brakes caught fire.
That definitely ticks the 'fun to drive' box, then!
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Over on the auction report a 55 plate MB C320cdi avantgarde estate 58k miler at £10K sold, sounds like a perfick motor for the OP's needs.
I don't blame the OP wanting to keep RWD, wouldn't want the power that MB would put down trying to feed through the fronts only, nasty horrible things FWD's.
I've got me coat..
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I would recommend a Volvo. Reliable and safe, something much more important than fun and driving dynamics when you have a young family on board
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Sorry to be boring PU
A Volvo...
...or a 4x4
Game over ;-)
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Petrol Jag estate...4WD....goes like something off a hot shovel. Can be sensible when required.....handles too. In fact I think I might want one......
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Petrol . In fact I think I might want one......
>>
Some can be so fickle, one minute they're singing the praises of diesels, and the next its petrols or bust.
;)
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I'll be surprised if any medium-sized estate (X-type or similar) can take three child seats so they sit as they were designed to and don't interfere with each other. The built-in pop-up boosters that are part of the V70 Family Pack might leave space between for a baby seat, but that would depend on the older children being big enough to use them - and you'd have to find a V70 with the pack installed, since it's a factory option.
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There have been a few threads on here about fitting child seats and a Forum Search is well worth while. Depending on the size/type of seat, a lot of cars cannot accomodate three of them. Maybe why cars like the Mondeo are getting a lot wider?
Search to the right: www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/search.htm
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