Big estate wanted, 1k budget

Hi steve
TBH, I think I want to go back to petrol (and I am really dranw to an A6 at the mo, so much car for the money), but I'll keep yours in mind

I've got a 1999 VR5 Passat estate, it's a 2.3 V5 and is averaging just over 27mpg in normal (mostly sub 10 mile journeys) at the minute. I've no reason to doubt it would do over 30 mpg at 80mph motorway cruising.

150k miles but runs mint, MOT 'til next March and tax for just under 5 months. Just had new front discs and pads, alternator and crank sensor.

£750

Let me know if you want any pics or more info! I've got a Jeep Cherokee in the garage awaiting the sale of this thing

EDIT: Camchain on this engine too, so no cambelt changes to worry about

2nd EDIT: I'm in Derby, so not too close.... Still, I'm only a train ride away!! Hell, pay for the fuel and my return ticket and I'll deliver it myself lol

Since when has a Passat been big?

Get yourself a man size estate.... like my RWD 3.0 Auto 960, yeah it does 20MPG, but its awesome!
Mine cost a grand, but you can pick up cheaper ones quite easily, (which should offset the MPGs!).

Get yourself a Mercedes W124 estate

Volvo all the way. V70 T5`s are available sub 1k now. 25mpg around town, but 30-35mpg on a run at 80mph. Bullet proof engines, sound great, parts readily available second hand so nice and cheap and 240bhp too!

Failing this, 9-5 estates are great value now. W124 estates are superb, but pretty rare and certainly not great on fuel; even the diesels!

Hmm, I shall think on the V5 then. Has it had a clucth yet (or how is the original one?)

i have been looking at 9-5's, there are a few of teh 230 BHP ones that are around budget and claim to be better on fuel than teh lower powered ones?

I still think that if you deal with the cheap common faults on them and ignore the 'thought to be expensive' major faults, a Mk3 Mondeo TDCI estate would be good. Excellent MPG. 6 speed manual, massive loadspace. Cheap on spares, cheap on service items and sharing the engine with a transit means lots of spares and people who can do flywheel/clutch/injector work cheaper than the Ford prices.

A grand would get you a high mileage (140k) pre facelift ghia x with lots of toys including cruise, leather, climate, A/C, electric everything etc. Probs with a clutch and flywheel done by that time too.

but tbh the varied prices of them from £600 for an LX to £6000 for an ST estate, there are people who price them poorly (both too high and too low). Me and a friend both ended up getting facelift examples, fully kitted with FOrd options including auto diming rear mirror, auto wipers, auto lights, touch screen sat nav, built in DVD screens for the rear, heated and cooled leather/alcan and all for less than 100k miles (his) and 60k miles (mine) and at quite a bargain for what they should be priced at.

I am biased yes, I own it and love it. Even if I had to fork out a Ford retail cost for a flywheel or injector issue, or both, the car still owes me less than what that spec and mileage would sell for on AT/PH/ebay so i'm happy.

I had my heart set on a E39 530D sport touring. I also considered a Passat TDI. But this has more spec, more load space, cheaper to run, tax, insure, repair, buy. It was the sensible option and I don't regret it.

Ford Tuning potential - off the top of my head, block EGR, remove Cat (still passes emissions test come MOT time) and remap gives you approx 40bhp over the 130 standard. Avoid the 115bhp/TDDI versions.

Petrol 2.5 V6 versions don't hold their value as much but still return 30ish MPG.

All being well, now sorted thanks to Andy