Recommend me a new car...

[Spinney]

Plus any bolt on accessories, like a tow bar may be transferable. It's the sole reason I replaced a very smoky Rover 600 diesel with a petrol version (It was only £700 though, so a £200 tow bar would have been a significant % of purchase cost)

Transferring the tow bar never occurred to me, so thanks for that.

I may end up sticking with an Octavia, but some other good suggestions there, thanks to all.

Renault, no. Put off by my last experience with them, a real Friday afternoon car!

 

[Vapin' Joe]

Two whole bikes fit in a Berlingo, but people think they're naff cars. It depends what's important to you.

@Bromptonaut is your man for Berlingos.

 

[Jody]

Personal experience but I would avoid anything French and probably stick with the Octy. Good value and large cars. Ticks all the boxes in your OP

 

[Tim Hall]

Bit bouncy but VFM is hard to beat.

That's no way to speak of the woman you love.

 

[screenman]

I run Citreons for over 25 years averaging 30,000 miles a year and taking each car up to 185,000 miles, I only started getting large bills when I went over to german built vehicles.

 

[Black Sheep]

I liked our Kia Cee'd estate, lots of room, we used a roof rack for the bikes but it wasn't too difficult to drop the seats and stick them in the boot. Many many ikea trips and trips to the dump were done.

Just be careful with the diesel (ours was a 1.4) if having it serviced anywhere other than a main dealer, you have to twist the air intake on so that it clears the wiring loom otherwise it rubs, makes the dashboard christmas-tree and go into limp mode. This will later cause the vehicle to cut out as there's been a power spike to the wiring bus that Kia won't rectify under warranty.
I'd have had another if they'd offered.

So, good car, just be careful of the air intake breaking it!

 

[Levo-Lon]

Kia ceed sportswaggon ..7 year warranty and a superb car

 

[Biff600]

I love my Mercedes E-Class, it's the 2nd one I've had, and I'll have another. However, the rear seats don't fold down, so you can't get your bike in the boot, but then I bought my bike for riding, not carting about in my car.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Another Octavia, but petrol, if that's the fuel you want



One of our Consultants has just bought a Superb (240BHP?) 4x4 Laurent & Klement estate
That's very nice indeed, & even though he's 6'4", he's demonstrated that he could still sit comfortably behind himself

Granted, compared to an Octavia estate, the vast majority of the extra space/length, is dedicated to the rear passengers space

 

[Levo-Lon]

Another Octavia, but petrol, if that's the fuel you want



One of our Consultants has just bought a Superb (240BHP?) 4x4 Laurent & Klement estate
That's very nice indeed, & even though he's 6'4", he's demonstrated that he could still sit comfortably behind himself

Granted, compared to an Octavia estate, the vast majority of the extra space/length, is dedicated to the rear passengers space

Fantastic leg room in the superb

 

[Mrs M]

You could lease an Audi A4 avant (estate).
Or a saloon with a Saris bones carrier.

 

[smokeysmoo]

Fantastic leg room in the superb

I had an 04 Superb when Miss Smoo was very young.

With the car seat in the back she looked positively lost in the cavernous rear space!

 

[MarkF]

Two whole bikes fit in a Berlingo, but people think they're naff cars. It depends what's important to you.

I like these, my pal has just bought a 2002 model for £300! It's a real utility vehicle, like used to be made, like the Renault 4 I had as a teenager, not a wanky SUV. I rode around the Norfolk coast a few years back and I saw lot, used by surfers, add on a rack , a board and some wavy graphics and off you go. Coolio.

 

[Spinney]

I liked our Kia Cee'd estate, lots of room, we used a roof rack for the bikes but it wasn't too difficult to drop the seats and stick them in the boot. Many many ikea trips and trips to the dump were done.

Just be careful with the diesel (ours was a 1.4) if having it serviced anywhere other than a main dealer, you have to twist the air intake on so that it clears the wiring loom otherwise it rubs, makes the dashboard christmas-tree and go into limp mode. This will later cause the vehicle to cut out as there's been a power spike to the wiring bus that Kia won't rectify under warranty.
I'd have had another if they'd offered.

So, good car, just be careful of the air intake breaking it!

I looked at that before I bought the current Octavia, what put me off was the short roof rails compared to other cars, for carrying sea kayaks. The 7 year warranty does appeal!

 

[NorthernDave]

I've run Citroens for the last 14 years, clocking up over 160,000 miles in one of them, and between all of them they have cost me virtually nothing outside routine maintenance and consumables.

Before that I had a VW which was forever needing stuff doing and had a water leak that was apparently unfixable.