What Car? recommends - Reliable load-lugger
04 November 2009
Age 45
Drives Vauxhall Zafira
Budget £20,000
Wants: 'A big boot, low running costs and decent reliability. I do about 10k miles a year, so I'm not sure if petrol or diesel is better.
I'm a bit of a badge snob, too!'
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VW Passat Est' 1.4 TSI R LinePrice £18,800
Target Price £17,459
There are plenty of fine family estates, but the best (the Ford Mondeo and Mazda 6) lack the classy badge Gillian wants. The Passat is upmarket and practical. We'd go for the excellent new 1.4 petrol.
Audi A6 Avant 2.0 TDIe, '08/58 Price £19,700
This 136bhp diesel A6 is designed to be green rather than gutsy. On the plus side, it's cheap and very economical, and has the classy badge that Gillian's after. The downside is sluggish performance.
Volvo V70 2.0D SE, '08/08Price £19,800
Gillian won't be doing high mileages, but we'd still go diesel in the case of the Volvo. It will hold its value better than the petrol versions, and does loads more miles to the gallon. The V70's boot is vast, too.
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