second hand estate car: £2k - £3k: any recommendations?

[varyingdegreesofdeafness]

dh, after suffering driving our crappy much lover rollerskate ford ka, is delighted that it is finally crocked and we need another car.

as we have 2dcs, the ka was rather impractical (i also have a car) and dh is seizing the moment to actually own a car that he is not squeezing into and suffering in

we have been looking at volve d60s and s40s on autotrader, with between 70k - 100k mileage, but after seeeing the insurance quotes (although i have seen a few threads about this problem, so t doesn't really suprise me) we're looking at other stuff. Possibly renault laguna estate, but any other recommendations from those in the know? Any mechanics or garage salepeople out there can give us some hints and tips?

We've just bought a VW Golf estate in that price range. Am loving it TBH. I went from a Polo to this & the insurance wasn't an awful lot more. It has 100K on the clock but its diesel so I'd class that as only just being run in A friend who owns a garage is servicing an Audi A4 (I think) which uses the same engine & it has 400K on the clock & is still going strong.

I have a Volvo V40 Estate. It's cheaper to insure that than it was my old Laguna.

Volvo's are brilliant second-hand buys they have a reputation for reliability and seemingly last forever (mine has done nearly 200K and still going strong).

As JetLi said, if you're looking at a car with higher mileage make sure its a diesel.

thanks, we're still gawping at autotrader, dh has decided hes having a lada....

but thankyou for your replies

Ford Focus estate. Massive massive boot, easy to drive, cheap parts (though I never needed any), Loads of them about so reasonably priced second hand

Dh was looking at them Littlepushka, but read some reviews saying buttons fell off loads of stuff and broke?? So now he has pah'd the notion, but i found a really nice tidy looking one and it would really fit the bill! The insurance didn't cause a either

Now stretched the search to citroen c5 estates.. ?

I currently have a Renault Megane scenic,..exactly the same as the Citroen Picasso - not an estate though. But it is a brilliant family car. Does a family of four with two dogs on holiday no problem. Removable middle back seat is ace.

I have a seat altea 2.0l tdi and love it! Am sure you could get a decent one for £3k. Loads of room, nic driving position and plenty of oomph for motorway driving.

don't buy a 54 diesel Mondeo estate

otoh I recently traded in my 52 reg Zafira diesel (at 70K miles) & have regretted it ever since - brilliant car.

A LADA? Your not serious! Where is you going to find one of them?

I have seen them when in Poland and Hungry but never in the UK. Did they sell them here?

Renault Megane estates are great, huge boot (bigger than the focus) and even a 54 plate would have Isofix as standard. Diesel's are more economical and you can certainly get something decent with your budget that hasn't done a million miles. Renault's are 5-star rated for safety too :)

We've just bought an Audi A4 with 99000 miles on the clock, diesel, 2004 plate. It was a little more - £4500 but worth it. I think one could be got for a slightly higher mileage and a year older for a thousand less.