£10k for an estate

[One More Solo]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif.../mondeo/price-to/10000/page/1/usedcars?desc=1

Thoughts? Really hard to determine a fair price on these as there are so few around.

 

[Nathan]

I'm in the same boat at the moment. Just sold the wife's golf. We require an estate due to having a newborn and German Pointer to ship about. I'm struggling to see why you would pay so much for that BMW. We can stretch to 15k but I would rather drop 10k on a Skoda Superb Estate in elegance trim. So much kit and safe/comfy for the family

 

[Tesla]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif.../mondeo/price-to/10000/page/1/usedcars?desc=1

Thoughts? Really hard to determine a fair price on these as there are so few around.

On one hand, it's a reasonable amount of car for the money.
On the other, it's a 7 year old Mondeo that uses a little too much fuel for most people to consider.

The one I looked at buying around a year back was nearer £5k if memory serves me correctly. Similar spec but had adaptive cruise and I think nearer 100k miles.

 

[Tinders]

How about an Accord?

Or does it have to be an estate, maybe a softroader such as the CRV might be a shout?

 

[One More Solo]

Yeah, bit annoyed it doesn't have adaptive cruise but it's a good spec otherwise. The fuel consumption isn't a massive issue as I'm coming from an MX5 and I'll get the standard 45p/mile for work trips. I'll be doing a few longer personally journeys too but most of the non-work miles will be short trips to and from town etc.

Given the car is a fair bit less than what I had potentially budgeted to spend, it could be worse. I imagine it's also a lot more fun to drive than a 320d and it's certainly a hell of a lot better equipped for the money...

I think I'm going to try and haggle the guy down to £6k and see what happens. Bit annoying as it's absolutely miles from me so hard to find faults to drive the price down, but it is overpriced relative to other 2.5Ts I've seen. I just don't want to waste a trip if he won't budge on price.

 

[rodenal]

There is no point looking for faults - decide what you want to pay and tell them that (well lower, once you're happy with the car)

 

[SkodaMart]

If you're considering a skoda then the superb is well worth a look as well.

The Superb is without doubt the best value for money load carrier you can buy but the driving dynamics can't match the Octavia vRS.

You would get a nice vRS, either diesel or petrol for your budget.

 

[One More Solo]

Looked at a couple of Octavias this weekend and sadly the lack of options on the vRS is a bit off-putting, nice cars though they are.

Close to buying a Mondeo Titanium X 2.0l petrol estate for £5k. Full Ford service history though at 86000 miles it's due for a minor service soon. Drives well and interior is spotless. Paint is good too aside from a few stone chips which are to be expected.

Talk me out of it?

 

[Tesla]

Look into the cam belt interval, it's not the same (chain driven) 4-pot petrol engine as in the Mk3s.

 

[One More Solo]

Are you sure?

To clarify, I'm 99% sure it's a chain driven engine.

 

[One More Solo]

Put a deposit down today for it, £4900 in the end. Titanium X estate, 2l petrol, 87000 miles, full Ford SH and tidy inside and out. Going to collect it on Friday. Currently doing a lot of miles up and down the M62 in a mk1 MX5 so it's going to be so nice to be able to hear the radio.

 

[Tesla]

Looks as if it has a cam chain. No idea why I was so sure otherwise.

Look forward to pics of the mk4

 

[HangTime]

Spending less than half the initial budget, that's quite a rarity

 

[One More Solo]

Yeah, I did notice that! It felt a bit like we had to spend a bit more than £10k to get a much nicer car than a Mondeo estate, so this saves us getting a loan for a car that wouldn't be "that" much better. If money was no object I'd have gone for an F11 5 series Touring.

 

[Brynn]

I wonder if I could hi-jack this thread, given that OP has had his questions answered.

We're looking to get a 2nd car (other car is a B8 A4), I'm looking for something estate-y.

The current Tabs I have open on HonestJohn are : Range Rover Sport (the wildcard), Octavia vRS Estate, Mondeo Estate and Audi A4 Avant.

Budget is around about £15-18k.

Other options I'm considering, are trading in the A4 for a S4 estate, and getting a smaller non-estate second car.

 

[One More Solo]

Based on my search, they're quite different cars (especially the Range Rover...). Obviously you want space, but do you want performance or toys? The vRS ticks so many boxes but the lack of options on most used cars put me off.

 

[Brynn]

Based on my search, they're quite different cars (especially the Range Rover...). Obviously you want space, but do you want performance or toys? The vRS ticks so many boxes but the lack of options on most used cars put me off.

I want space, that's the main driver for this. We've got a 2 year old, and number 2 is germinting just now. Couple that with a wife who takes enough clothes to dress a debutant's ball - I need luggage space.

I want something that's practical, but still a bit of fun. Hence the vRS and RR. But the boring family man in me is screaming Mondeo or Avant. However, I quite like the styling on the Mondeo.

 

[One More Solo]

Mondeo 2.5T is an obvious option then - especially if you'd take the fuel economy of a Range Rover?

Picked mine up yesterday, drove it home and the engine management light came on after about 40 miles of mixed roads. Got the code read this morning and it's a problem with the lambda sensor so needs replaced. ****'s sake. Taken it back to the dealer this morning and asked them to sort it, got no intention of paying for it. Part of me wonders if it came up before and the dealer just reset the light hoping it wouldn't come back on for a while. Booked it in for a service too (due in about 500 miles so kill two birds with one stone).

 

[One More Solo]

Update: dealer has agreed to foot the cost of fixing it without any argument which is good news. They need to order the part which means I won't get the car back till tomorrow. I managed to pretty badly kerb one of the alloys this morning so that now needs refurbed. Bad start to life with this car but hopefully get it all out of the way in one hit...

 

[rodenal]

Just be sure to take the car out a few cycles and check the pending codes to make sure that the lambda isn't actually doing its job and showing out of scope readings - it always easy to claim a potential sensor fault first off (not to say that isn't actually the issue)