Cheap estate car....

[Lennox]

Well I was hoping for a LHD bargain for a car to locate at my flat in Copenhagen (still trying to find one) that will be used for airport runs and daily family duties when they are out with me. Initially it's to transport me and my stuff (bikes and sounds) to Copenhagen in the spring. So it must have 5-7 seats, budget is upto £15k but preferably below £10k

Must have: reliability, build quality and presence.
Nice you have: ISO fixing, kid seats and traction(winter tyres could be purchased)
Not wanted: Budget manufacturer, low spec

Well so far I've found a few candidates...

- RR Sports
- Q7
- E class estate
- R class

Love this but I'm sure it's a bad idea..

 

[Alex225]

When I saw cheap, I thought you meant really cheap haha.

I bought this Saab with 136k on the clock for £1,200!! Drove brilliantly, cheap to run and (I think) looked great. Can imagine one with lower mileage and/or newer being an even better bit of kit.

But, of the ones you mentioned OP my preference would be the E Class estate.

 

[219]

E Class , maybe W211 given your budget , or a relatively new Passat estate ?

 

[Deleted member 37751]

I'd rule out the Q7 straight away on the grounds that the boot size is pitiful and it's seating design is plain weird; there's more space for the kids in the back three seats than in the front.

A RRS at that budget will be quite leggy and could end up costing a few quid, but I'd definitely look at a facelift Discovery 4 if only for the cavernous boot and proper seven seat option.

There's also an early S212 E350 CDi but I'm personally not a big fan, the interior plastics are one example of cost cutting gone too far.

If fuel consumption isn't that much of a concern though I think an S211 E55K ticks every box, although again, the nature of your requirement means you'll be looking at something at least eleven year old.

 

[dejongj]

I like the old E, but it does look rather old (yet not classic) outside, and inside would require a refurb in my opinion....

If you can get an R I'd go for that one, 4matic as standard, lots of space, great car.

 

[ianw19]

There is a massive tax on cars in Denmark, so what seems reasonable in the UK will be astronomical.
Not sure about tax on imports.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

[GP801]

You could avoid the huge taxes by keeping it UK registered. Our 124 spends 9-10 months of the year outside the UK. NFU Mutual and Saga both offer year round EU fully comprehensive cover. Only drawback is having to return at least once to the UK for the MOT (unless you buy a new car of course)

 

[gr1nch]

Curious, because I was also looking for an LHD recently.

OP, did you consider a Landover? This beauty within budget has plenty of presence!
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201602241343669

For fun here's this Escalade that jumped out at me. Not many miles to the gallon with this one! Check out the crazy boot contents - they'd have to come out And Elvis on the backseats can't be all bad.
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201611179843261

A Danish colleague of mine was relieved to not be paying Danish taxes on his car any more, over 100%

 

[Lennox]

You could avoid the huge taxes by keeping it UK registered. Our 124 spends 9-10 months of the year outside the UK.

plan would be to bring it back periodically. My father does this with his cars that reside in France.

There is a massive tax on cars in Denmark, so what seems reasonable in the UK will be astronomical.
Not sure about tax on imports.

Yeah aware of the mental taxes so will be avoiding them as much as possible.

OP, did you consider a Landover? This beauty within budget has plenty of presence!

For fun here's this Escalade that jumped out at me.
A Danish colleague of mine was relieved to not be paying Danish taxes on his car any more, over 100%

There was a newer Escalade up recently with low mileage that I may have viewed closer to the time but it sold a week or so ago.

Not a fan of Landies in general but they are growing me....

I like the old E, but it does look rather old (yet not classic) outside, and inside would require a refurb in my opinion....

If you can get an R I'd go for that one, 4matic as standard, lots of space, great car.

Yeah in general it's for the wife and kids (I'm trying to line up a Ducati Duvel for myself out there.). So the R class is probably top of the sensible list. A w211 E55/E63 would be fun though.

Hmmmm

 

[Darrell]

You could avoid the huge taxes by keeping it UK registered. Our 124 spends 9-10 months of the year outside the UK. NFU Mutual and Saga both offer year round EU fully comprehensive cover. Only drawback is having to return at least once to the UK for the MOT (unless you buy a new car of course)

In Greece you can only keep the car there for 6 months max. I thought this was the norm throughout the EU.

 

[219]

How much of the time are you going to be spending there , and needing a car at the door ?

Just wondering if it would make more sense to rent a car when needed , and use taxis/public transport the rest of the time ?

If you only occasionally need estate type car , maybe a classic ( R107 , Pagoda , whatever ? ) might be exempt from oppresive taxes ?

 

[Darrell]

A car insured in one eu country can only remain in another eu country for 6 months.

I would check if I were you. Maybe you have your car in Italy illegally.

 

[219]

A car insured in one eu country can only remain in another eu country for 6 months.

I would check if I were you. Maybe you have your car in Italy illegally.

My sister , with her husband who was stationed in Germany , had their cars , on BFG plates , there for most of the year , but came home at least once a year . I'm pretty sure they were UK insured , but perhaps the rules are different for forces serving in an overseas garrison ( which might be British territory ? ) .

They were there for a number of years and had at least two new cars whilst there - German supplied but RHD and U.K. registered on BFG plates .

 

[Lennox]

How much of the time are you going to be spending there , and needing a car at the door ?

Just wondering if it would make more sense to rent a car when needed , and use taxis/public transport the rest of the time ?

If you only occasionally need estate type car , maybe a classic ( R107 , Pagoda , whatever ? ) might be exempt from oppresive taxes ?

All to be determined, might move there?!? Right now all of know is that I will have a wife and kids there for weeks at a time and my wife cannot cycle so to get about beyond public transport (which is good) we will need a car. Renting is an option but I would rather just buy something. I'm currently seeing this as a good excuse to buy a nice older Merc.

I will probably have it in Sweden and over to France to see the parents as well so I shouldn't fall into any particular issues. Plus I can do an early registration (basically a holder for it maybe being registered there) in Denmark without paying the taxation (yet). Gets the locals off your back.

 

[dinoy]

ml 320 convertible lamella roof with lpg and dual fuel on logbook so no conjestion charge 23.5k ono afriend is selling

 

[Lennox]

ml 320 convertible lamella roof with lpg and dual fuel on logbook so no conjestion charge 23.5k ono afriend is selling

A what???? Pics please.

 

[GP801]

In Greece you can only keep the car there for 6 months max. I thought this was the norm throughout the EU.

In theory yes. In practice no one seems bothered. Certainly not in Italy. The UK is not bothered as long as it has an MOT and road tax. From Copenhagen a trip over the bridge to Sweden would satisfy the 6 month rule. Most insurers will not offer long term comprehensive EU cover but a few will.

 

[dejongj]

All to be determined, might move there?!? Right now all of know is that I will have a wife and kids there for weeks at a time and my wife cannot cycle so to get about beyond public transport (which is good) we will need a car. Renting is an option but I would rather just buy something. I'm currently seeing this as a good excuse to buy a nice older Merc.

I will probably have it in Sweden and over to France to see the parents as well so I shouldn't fall into any particular issues. Plus I can do an early registration (basically a holder for it maybe being registered there) in Denmark without paying the taxation (yet). Gets the locals off your back.

Copenhagen is wonderful like a small version of Amsterdam but then I'm biased. As you say, public transport is really good, but ideally I would encourage her to learn to cycle. I did that with my English wife when I was teaching our children. It is brilliant to see the cycle stands on the trains with the seats opposite.

But anyway, any excuse to get another car is a great excuse. Now if you feel flush, why not a GL class. I've just sold mine after three years but what a wonderful car it was.

 

[Lennox]

Copenhagen is wonderful like a small version of Amsterdam but then I'm biased. As you say, public transport is really good, but ideally I would encourage her to learn to cycle. I did that with my English wife when I was teaching our children. It is brilliant to see the cycle stands on the trains with the seats opposite.



But anyway, any excuse to get another car is a great excuse. Now if you feel flush, why not a GL class. I've just sold mine after three years but what a wonderful car it was.

She can cycle, well last time was on our honeymoon in the Maldives. It's just more a won't cycle.

GL , yes cracking cars, nearly bought a year old one to replace the UK car. But I'm going to hold back until we know what we are doing re main location. Personally I now want a new commuter bike (bad boy) and a motorbike (Duke)

 

[tjamesbo]

Like The E55 how much is it up for ? where is it advertised ?
Tempted ......