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Cars that go on forever


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Honda Accord 5th gen. 1994-1997 or 6th gen. 1997-2002

Mercedes E-Class Estate (W124: up to 1996)

Saab 9000 (2.3 Turbo will really go)

Volvo 850 (T5 or T5R = fast)

VW Passat Estate (B4: 1994-1997)

 

I'm not fussed on c.21st cars, which can be overly complex and less reliable than you might expect, so most of these are older and could be under-budget. You'd need to buy carefully because of age but most of these will be reliable if properly maintained. They're not the most stylish, necessarily but good old workhorses with decent build quality that will carry a fair load.

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They're all equally crap nowadays. Audis did indeed used to be known for longevity (as did the sister VWs) but all cars today are designed for a '10/15 years then bin' life-cycle.

 

Escorts (the last ones) are only good on account of their reliability and only reliable on account of their simplicity. 2 grand would buy you a gold plated one, I should think.

 

Personally i'd be inclined to hunt down a Skoda Octavia

 

The Skoda/VW/Audi/Seat thing is interesting because they're all mechanically the same, and I guess if I'm honest I'd rather have an Audi - but then you'd have to get an older or higher mileage one, but then they'll all be old and high mileage ... Hmm, tricky ....

 

The new Seat that's basically the old A4 (Exeo?) will be an amazing second hand buy in 6 or 7 years.

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Agreed on the Audi, maybe something like an A4 avant. Estate that you can get in a 1.9tdi, mpgs are probably not too shabby as well.

 

I do agree the scrappage scheme does seem counter productive in a lot of ways.

 

I can't really talk though we've having our Mondeo ST200 2.5V6 crushed in favour of a 1.4tdi fiesta, it'll save us so much money in fuel.

 

It'll be sad to see it go in a lot of ways, but this particular example has not been well cared for and has too many problems :(

 

Thats a shame, the ST200 is a decent motor even if it is a bit of a lump.

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The Skoda/VW/Audi/Seat thing is interesting because they're all mechanically the same, and I guess if I'm honest I'd rather have an Audi - but then you'd have to get an older or higher mileage one, but then they'll all be old and high mileage ... Hmm, tricky ....

 

The new Seat that's basically the old A4 (Exeo?) will be an amazing second hand buy in 6 or 7 years.

 

If you go for an Octavia SDI, (non-turbo diesel) you'll get a much newer Audi A4 than if you get an Audi A4. It's a question of the trade off between prestige and age/condition.

 

SDIs are slow but they'll chug on for eternity. That's why so many are Taxis.

 

Seats have quite high resale values. That one won't be any different. The Octavia will remain the better buy

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I only started this for conversation, but now I've looked on autotrader. Whoops.

 

For less than 2k you can get a tidy looking A6 2.5 diesel - only got 144k on it and it has sat nav and everything. Not sure I'd want self-levelling suspension that old though - I think that would fail the 'cheap and easy to repair' criteria.

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I only started this for conversation, but now I've looked on autotrader. Whoops.

 

For less than 2k you can get a tidy looking A6 2.5 diesel - only got 144k on it and it has sat nav and everything. Not sure I'd want self-levelling suspension that old though - I think that would fail the 'cheap and easy to repair' criteria.

 

Be aware that..."144k...not thats nothing..these engines go on for ever"...yep they do...but remember that all the rest of the car such as suspension..electric windows.....steering conpoments...dont....These high milage cars might run allright...but can also drive tired...because they are.

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Be aware that..."144k...not thats nothing..these engines go on for ever"...yep they do...but remember that all the rest of the car such as suspension..electric windows.....steering conpoments...dont....These high milage cars might run allright...but can also drive tired...because they are.

 

Ah I know - I sold a 140k car with a big modern diesel for exactly that reason - engine was superb, but electronics were packing up and it needed a new set of bushes almost everywhere (again).

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