Rather than theorise over what we can or cannot afford, indulge in automotive dreams and generally speculate on the impossible, I prefer to stick to reality. So when a mate got fed up being a plumber and had to get rid of his battered but honest and reliable Ford Connect, what would come next?
His Connect is a classic pint-sized white van with 200,000 miles and a marginal value. It has a decent recent history so maybe it would make £650 if buffed up. Part-ex it might give him £400, so that’s not much to play with. All he wants is something that will allow him to do a bit of pipe bending and soldering on occasion, but mostly it should be able to cope with the odd continental holiday.
Well, I didn’t expect to see this, but I found a 2007 one-owner Saab 9-3 D Vector Sport Estate. On sale at a dealer, it had 90,000 miles on the clock and came with an automatic gearbox. That ’box was the deal breaker, but what a stylish old bus to have –and it still looks surprisingly contemporary. Could have had it for £4000. Yes, that’s expensive, but the car was absolutely mint.
The Mazda 6 is a jolly good package, and a 2011 2.2D Sport estate came with a full service history documenting all of the 80,000 miles. Has nine stamps, a bunch of invoices and an MOT, which is a year long. Another stunner when it came to condition, too. Again, this was £4000 to buy. I would have stopped there, but there are just so many other contenders to consider.
Going down the Volvo V70 route is always a safe journey. They are brilliant machines and a 2009 2.0D SE R-Design seemed good value at, yet again, £4k. One owner, 124,000 miles and all the history you would ever need. Here’s further proof that there are superb used cars out there.
More Japanese reliability in the shape of a 2010 Toyota Avensis 2.2 D-4D TR estate at a dealer was another £4k contender. It had 100,000 miles on the clock and was a private-owner example who had paid out for a main dealer history. That was good, but also the dealer selling it plonked a two-year parts and labour warranty along with it for complete peace of mind.
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2020 and Diesels?
Good Old Ruppert. We've just started a new decade he's promoting 13 year old diesels again! James, I will eat my words and agree you are correct, but only if you breathe in the air from near one of these exhausts for a few minutes....
Why have a van when you can have an estate?
Or, more to the point, why have a SUV when you can have an estate?
I find the current SUV trend curious when the lighter, more economical, cheaper, faster, better-handling, better-riding, often more spacious estate alternative exists.
I'm even sceptical of those who claim it's easier to load small children into a SUV - I had a Touareg company car (not chosen by me) when my son was a baby, and my wife refused to use it as she found lifting the baby seat high into the car to be painful when compared with her Golf.
If your PCP is at an end and