Van or estate car?

[dirtydog]

You'd be better off with a car, you'll get more car for your money than you would a van.
You can get the 5/6 seat crew vans but it doesn't give yuan great deal of room in the back for tools etc that of course depends on how much stuff you need to carry though. Plus you'll be disappointed with just how slow most vans are. Most seem to be round the 100bhp unless you can find the fairly rare-ish 200ps transit. You'll also be disappointed with how it handles in comparison to your Clio.
Depending on the size of van you're thinking of you'll be restricted where you can go with it, car parks for example.
The local dumps (Surrey and Hampshire) won't allow vans/commercial vehicles in unless they have a permit and even then you're not allowed to dump trade waste

[Trev B]

Who was it building the 3D printer?,maybe you could print some infills for rear seat covers !!!

[timwilky]

Owning 3 cars and a van. The van is my most practical vehicle. when just me, I always tend to grab that.

No worry about getting tools in, ladders on top etc. No worry about getting it **** up, it hasn't had a wash for 3 years, sails through the MOT every year, only failed when I first bought it 6 years ago for £1200, fixed those problems and just change the oil/filters etc each year.

OK the insurance costs £300, but when I am already paying a further £700 for the cars it does not really bother me.

Pain is I have been pulled by plod in it 3 times for VOSA checks as they target white vans.

[maviczap]

Originally Posted by timwilky

Pain is I have been pulled by plod in it 3 times for VOSA checks as they target white vans.

Thought you said it hadn't had a wash in three years

BMW 5 series estate? LOADS of room, comfy and fast too.
Might tick all boxes. Love mine, it's superb.

[DomP]

Ive gone self employed and do carpentry and repairs/od jobs, so far ive been solid working at a stately home wedding venue so my boot is too small but im not sure a van like a kangoo etc. Ticks all the boxes where as i think i can get all the kit i need in an octavia and the seats can go down if need be. So it satisfies picking up my four kids too. Bonus is the choice of engines and more vehicle for my money. Petrol Vrs all the way!

[johnnyrod]

You could always get a trailer in case of stuff that won't go in the car

[Popy Fresco]

If it has space enough, go for the car.

I have a van to be able to take the bike to the track, when I bought it I looked how easy is to put a bike in a family car as the van is, as I expected, far from fun when driving it...

[Bibio]

if you go far a large hatch or estate remember to check that the seats are 'lay flat' so it gives you a better floor space. remember its going to be a work horse not a show car.

how about an older moneo estate?

I'll help you out on the vRS argument. They are great cars. I worked in Skoda Dealerships for 6+ years and ran a few vRS estate company cars. Mileage was over 50mpg with some spirited stuff thrown in and boot is huge. I'm a carp angler and family man so like to have the space.

I actually preferred the diesel over petrol vRS albeit giving away 20bhp, in real world the diesel works better. Petrol mpg is IMO vastly overstated in all cars, so the 200bhp Octavia vRS of a few years ago is likely to be returning no more than mid 30's unless you drive it like a nun. Great engine though but needs working to enjoy. So the pump price argument is negated, as 55 real world MPG v's petrol 30's is a lesser argument.

I'd also consider the Skoda 2.0 diesel 150bhp engines they are suitably quick enough also.

Other diesels i've rated are Focus Estate ST3, a bit (read: a lot) more sporty than the Octavia and sublime handling, smaller boot (ok though) but stingy on rear passenger legroom, also a lot newer car so more expensive. Currently in a Peugeot 308SW which has a big old boot, it's the 120bhp 1.6blue HDI and surprisingly nippy.

My own owned car is an Lancia Delta Integrale so as far as comparing what is considered 'quick' that's what i'm comparing too, I guess LOL