Estate car recommendations

[MegBusset]

Our old Toyota Corolla has bitten the dust so we need a new (well, new to us) car. Would be nice if it could fit in our camping gear as well as two kiddies so maybe an estate car. Budget is around £3-4k so we need something that's reliable even with a few miles on the clock.

Any recommendations welcome...

We're very pleased with our Ford Focus estate - ours is only about 2 yrs old but friends have the previous model which I think was also pretty reliable. Suprisingly spacious as it isn't one of the biggest cars (fits into a standard garage which most don't). Ours is diesel and we get over 50 mpg (mostly do long journeys).

How much did it cost?

I bet you could get a not very old Mondeo for that. One local dealership is selling 57 plate ones for £6000, so you could probably get a 2005/6 one (before it was revamped) with your budget.

I'm a great fan of Fords. We're just about to get rid of a 10 year old one that has been very reliable and cost next to nothing to run and maintain.

Having searched online a bit more, we are leaning towards getting a people-mover rather than an estate car (I'm not very good at reversing and think I might struggle with an estate!). ATM we're looking at the Citroen Xsara Picasso as it's in our price range and seems to get good reviews...

quite liked our touring bmw - not sure how much they go for. have s-max now cos needed bigger car

We have just downsized but our old car was a Nissan Almera Tino... v similar to a Picasso. Good value for money and it ran well

dh has a rover 75 estate ( or is it called a 'tourer'?). Plenty roomy. child, 2 dogs plus much luggage etc. No problems with break downs. Would be in your budget I think. Not v popular car as considered bit 'old man'...

I have a 6-yr-old 2.0 tdi Zafira & apparently they're only worth about £4k now. It has the 2 extra seats in the boot but a massive boot space with both folded away, it gets about 45mpg generally but goes like stink when you need it to (eg when overtaking).

I've had it 5 years & touch wood it's been no trouble at all

eg this blue one (the twin of mine apart from the poncey blackout windows)) for £3500 or this red one (slightly older, lower mileage, much cheaper!) for £2850.

Have a look with your own post code on autotrader (you need to register in order to be specific about what you want but it is free)

Thanks all

We have looked at the Zafira but the problem is that DH bought a new Corsa years ago that was a total pup and he's reluctant to go for another Vauxhall!

I have a skoda fabia estate, it's very good, huge boot space. It was 9k pre registered so I expect you can get a very good second hand for 3-4k

You can't beat an Audi A4 estate, or VW Passat estate. Diesels are better as the engines can go twice round the clock. Very reliable. I currnetly have a Mitsubishi Galant Sport Estate, which is fab, but they are quite rare.

What can I say - mine is fab and DD1 has a Corsa (Y reg) which is too. In user surveys Zafiras are generally highly recommended by users, & Vauxhalls tend to be more reliable than Citroens.

There are lots of Zafira drivers on MN & they're usually keen too. What Car gives it 5 stars - Picasso only gets 3...

We've had a Citroen C5 estate for years. It's taken us camping all over France and Spain with no bother. It has nearly 150,000 miles on the clock and is still going strong. Its a disel automatic.

Oh.. and the C5 also swallows Ikea beds and wardrobes with ease.

We love our Rover 75, although not the Tourer (estate) but lovely car anyway. Am definitely not an old man though

Thanks everyone, in an unexpected twist DH went out and bought a Vauxhall Zafira this morning!

Good choice

How old is it? What model? Hope it is a good one anyway

It's a 2005 1.8L automatic, that's all I know . It's BIG!