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Mazda 6; Mondeo; Avensis; Octavia - Hatchback versus Estate: advice sought. - gaddisfan
I wonder if anyone could possibly advise me on a car purchase. With the arrival of a daughter, our Golf TDi is no longer bigger enough to haul our camping gear (and now pushchair etc.) around the country, even with a roofbox. Given our storage needs I'd thought that a (used; <£8k) diesel estate might suit: an Octavia, say, or a Mazda 6, Mondeo or Avensis. When looking up the luggage capacity of these vehicles, however, they seem to carry little more than the respective hatchback, with presumably some disbenefit respecting fuel efficiency. And so my questions: would a hatchback suit our needs; and in either event, which if any of the 4 makes would you recommend over the others? My thanks in advance.
Mazda 6; Mondeo; Avensis; Octavia - Hatchback versus Estate: advice sought. - oldtoffee

No "disbenefit" with mpg. Hatchback of any of those won't be any better than your Golf plus roofbox. Mondeo estate is biggest and arguably best. All your choices are good cars - I'd have a Skoda plus a box because I rate the 1.9 PD engines and the dealer network but a Mondeo would come a close second and first if space was a priority.

Mazda 6; Mondeo; Avensis; Octavia - Hatchback versus Estate: advice sought. - ForumNeedsModerating

Just a thought - camping with a baby won't be that much fun surely - so stop camping - Voila! Plenty of room now & no new car to consider!

Mazda 6; Mondeo; Avensis; Octavia - Hatchback versus Estate: advice sought. - s.v.u.

Obviously you are not a camper yourself to suggest he stop camping. Actually neither am I but that is not the point, given that the quiry comes from some one who is a camper and obviously intends to continue camping your suggestion he quits does not help the O.P. very much at all, go on, be brave pick one of the short listed vehicles ! If it were my choice I`d go for the Mondeo.

Mazda 6; Mondeo; Avensis; Octavia - Hatchback versus Estate: advice sought. - davmal
We use a Passat Estate when camping, just the three of us, with a 540 ltr roofbox, and all of the space is used! I did consider getting a saloon, glad I didn't. Can't imagine a golf would be big enough, as was suggested and whilst looking I thought the Octavia estate looked a little small. I never looked at the stats, it was just the impression it gave. Wouldn't consider anything smaller than a Passat, personally, but we don't travel light!
Mazda 6; Mondeo; Avensis; Octavia - Hatchback versus Estate: advice sought. - Janpan

Hi gaddisfan

Im in the market for a large family car at the moment, primarily because my Peugeot 407SW has terribly limited leg room for my over six foot teenage sons when my six foot husband is driving. The boot is not that capacious either. I narrowed my search for good legroom down to the Mondeo and Skoda Superb. The skoda drivers sport seats are not that comfortable but the rear passengers have a limo type experience so that is top of the list for my sons! Problem is new they have a six month lead time and they are both expensive (not much less than new) and difficult to find in nearly new. They don't have a rear wipe either, even though the car has a clever saloon/hatchback fifth door. We test drove a Mazda 6 and love it but the rear is not as big as the mondeo or skoda, sadly. The Mondeo has 33 inches from my drive position to the back of the back seat, the Mazda 6 has 29 inches and my Peugeot has 27. The skoda feels like it has enough room to set up home in! The Mazda and the Mondeo both have lovely big boots and I suppose the estate version has even more room. I guess for campers, cars never really have enough room and you always have to consider the joys of a top box. Good luck.

Mazda 6; Mondeo; Avensis; Octavia - Hatchback versus Estate: advice sought. - daveyjp
Our X type estate was bought with camping in mind. Everything we need for two adults and a child fits inside it.

The ability to open the boot window separately is a real bonus.
Mazda 6; Mondeo; Avensis; Octavia - Hatchback versus Estate: advice sought. - gaddisfan

Thanks to those who took the trouble to answer my question/offer lifestyle advice/comment on my vocabulary! Rather disappointing to think that the boot space in the models I mentioned would be less than the roofbox/boot combination we already have! Perhaps I should just buy a trailer....

Mazda 6; Mondeo; Avensis; Octavia - Hatchback versus Estate: advice sought. - ForumNeedsModerating

..or try bed & breakfast!