"Lifestyle estates"??

[Long_black_coat]

Cheers,

I want to ask you your opinion on this:
What is all this talk about "lifestyle estates" about?
It´s one of those new fashionable terms I don´t really get. Mostly, cars like C class estate or Audi A4 Avant are termed like this. Does it mean that that these cars are just fashionable and not practical? The thing is, I am dreaming of new C class estate (C220 cdi, auto, elegance) and all this talk makes me doubt, if these cars are practical at all. What are your experiences with practicality of these cars?
Also, is C estate practical enough for young family? Guess I will be a new dad in near future
Thanks very much,
TLBC

 

[Smiley]

For a new family these days you will need at least an E class estate and a small trailer
This to put the buggy, the shopping attachment thing, the cold bag for the food, the carry cot thing, the bag for all the nappies, change of clothes...it goes on and on I could not believe it.
When they get older you still need the E class and the roof box to put the bikes, the wet suits, the surf boards.......
Just bite the bullet and get the bigger one!

 

[fredT]

never heard that term..

anyway you can easily get away with the c estate if you only have one child, with 2 kids it would be getting tight but still possible. 3.. forget it

i bought ours (c estate) just before we had our little boy and though im saying you can easily get away with it i would recommend getting a bigger model like e class a6 or bigger..

when i change our car sometime next year i will buy something silly big like a range rover or q7, just because all the **** you have to cart around alongside the little one('s hopefully by then..)

 

[grober]

Lots of folks who cut their motoring teeth on a small hatchback (hot or otherwise) experience a culture shock when they move to an "Executive"saloon when they find the loading restrictions of a boot. If they are lucky the rear seat will fold down but the main encumbrance is the size of the entrance and height restriction of any liberated space. The forward looking who had difficulty cramming all the accoutrements of a growing family into a hatchback anticipate this and buy the estate version of the executive saloon right away. "Lifestyle" estates can be more accurately described as "stylish" estates because they retain the sporty looks of the saloon coupled with increased "accessible" storage capacity. It might not be much more space but its advantage is its get-at-able! There are restrictions on the absolute dimensions of things that will fit in them due to lower rooflines and sloping back windows but its a small price to pay unless you are into transporting antique wardrobes etc in which case the only car you need is a old volvo estate or a transit van. I feel the nicely styled ones, the W203 comes to mind, altho more expensive to buy initially, tend to hold their value better than the saloons in the longer term .

 

[Sp!ke]

I dont know what the fuss is about.

When I had my first child, the only family transport was a Lancia Y10 Turbo. (about the size of a chincecento [sp?]) and we managed just fine.

Until only a couple of years ago (with two kids), the family transport was my W124CE and again, we had no problems at all.

That said, I've always had a roof rack for any car I own so that big items can be transported.

 

[renault12ts]

^ cinquecento

Think of the Alfa 33 estate and other such offerings. They look like estates but are not. In fact some of them are less easy to fill than their saloon counterparts!! An estate car has to be big. Why Volvo ever got rid of their big ones I find incredible.

 

[whitenemesis]

My motto has always been "If it doesn't fit in my car you're not taking it"!!

 

[Long_black_coat]

My motto has always been "If it doesn't fit in my car you're not taking it"!!

yeah, I have the same philosophy, I´m just not sure Ms. LBC has it to

 

[renault12ts]

Yes but you can get a lot in and on a big estate:

 

[SilverSaloon]

W124 doing its thing:

 

[crockers]

I dont know what the fuss is about.


I've always had a roof rack for any car I own so that big items can be transported.

Hope SWMBO isn't reading this.......

 

[Long_black_coat]

Thank you very much for your replies and interesting discussion (it is such a pleasure to discuss here about all MB related issues!!)
The problem is, C class is the longest car I can talk Ms LBC into buying. As much as I would LOVE to have an E estate (most beautiful estate outhere in my opinion), it is far too long for my wife to drive, park etc. I have also my doubts about driving&parking E class in the city. On the other hand, I read on this forum that it is not a problem, if you have parking assistant. Oh, what a pain. But sweet one!

 

[Long_black_coat]

Couldn´t they make E estate 8 cm shorter?

 

[SilverSaloon]

Couldn´t they make E estate 8 cm shorter?

if your wife is that bad at parking then i'm sure she could remove a few cm from the bumpers

 

[fredT]

like you say its not that much bigger. the difference is on the inside, not on the outside...

if you know what i mean

 

[Mr E]

Mrs E find it no problem to drive and park my S211. It certainly seems to shrink as you drive it.

The problem I found was that the load floor was not big enough on other estates, including the A6. I still gig, and insist that my gera travells flat, not unsupported at an angle. The only cars I could find that could handle guitar cases flat on the floor were the E class and Passat.

I'm also amazed at the amount of tat people cart around with their babies/toddlers. With our first I had a Rover 600 and we coped fine. With the second we had an Omega estate - of course the amount of tat we carried around expanded to fit as we found we could cope fine in Mrs E hatchback when needed.

 

[SilverSaloon]

I'm also amazed at the amount of tat people cart around with their babies/toddlers. With our first I had a Rover 600 and we coped fine. With the second we had an Omega estate - of course the amount of tat we carried around expanded to fit as we found we could cope fine in Mrs E hatchback when needed.

very true. I had a CLK convertable and coped with luggege for a few months fine with 1 new-born but car was packed full.

Got a large saloon (bmw) and squeezed all we needed into no problem with now 1 toddler and 1 baby but car was packed full.

Now got a W124 estate, with 2 toddlers, coping fine, but, again, car packed full!

you just end up carting more stuff around 'cause SWMBO sees some extra space in the boot.....

dont mention roof boxes.

 

[renault12ts]

And in an E the golf clubs fit in length ways.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

How on earth did my parents manage in the 60's and 70's?

Dad wouldn't have considered an estate for my benefit, in fact if the mood took them I'd be transported on the back shelf of Mum's 2 seater.

Some modern parents seem to have their brains turned to mush upon reproduction.

 

[Neiltodd]

You expand to fit the available space no matter how small or large the car.