Dear Guys, 

 

I have a question currently which puzzled me for some time. We are going to have our second child soon. So our little fabia will not to big enough for four of us of our family. (two adults & two kids) 

Our fabia 1.2 is from 2004 and it's mileage is low which is 78000km so far. Everything is in good condition. We are quite happy with it (except no aircon).

I am planning to exchange our fabia with a Gold 4 combi also from 2004, but it's mileage is about 200000km already. Another choice in my mind is a 2003 Mazda 6 with also about 200km mileague. 

The roadtax is going to be higher than our fabia for sure. But it's going to have aircon and definitively bigger space.

 

What is your suggestions about my choice? Thanks a lot.

Edited 28 September, 201510 yr by crazybeeliuzhe

If the Mazda 6 is a diesel, I'd not touch it as they were appallingly unreliable engines.

If the Mazda 6 is a diesel, I'd not touch it as they were appallingly unreliable engines.

the mazda 6 is a petrol 1.8 engine. Does it a have a good fame?

I don't want to disturb the peace of the universe, but IMHO, a diesel E46 BMW estate would be perfect for a family. I find it cheap to maintain, that 6 speed gearbox gives a pretty-good-to-awsome mpg and it has plenty of room inside. 

Edited 28 September, 201510 yr by Alexandru

If you do low mileage and can avoid bigger bills on the higher mileage car, then yes. A lower stress car environment with more space/toys and aircon sounds like a good idea.

If you do low mileage and can avoid bigger bills on the higher mileage car, then yes. A lower stress car environment with more space/toys and aircon sounds like a good idea.

thanks for the advice. In my case, i only drive less then 10k per year. only few thousand actually.  

I have a later model Mazda 6 Estate (2009), 2.0 petrol, with two kids aged 8 and 4, and it's a fanatastic car for the money.

 

When I was researching what to buy I couldn't find any documented problems with the petrol engines, but the diesels read like a horror novel.

 

I'm not totally up on the pre-facelift 6 so do a bit of research. The main niggles I've noticed on mine are extremely 'thin' paint so it's already picked up a load of scratches, but these should polish out, and there was no spare wheel, just a can of gunk. I bought my own spare wheel and adapted the boot slightly.

 

Here's a link to my original thread about it:

 

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/344459-ive-turned-japanese/?hl=%2Bmazda+%2Bestate#entry4141522   

I don't want to disturb the peace of the universe, but IMHO, a diesel E46 BMW estate would be perfect for a family. I find it cheap to maintain, that 6 speed gearbox gives a pretty-good-to-awsome mpg and it has plenty of room inside. 

Given that the OP mentioned insurance costs I guess that might rule out the BMW - pity as I think the E46 diesel is great !

What about the fabia estate/combi - if your going to change car it is no big deal to get one with Air con and the estate has a lot more rear (boot) space. In UK the estate/combi has the same insurance rating as the hatchback - engine for engine.

Given that the OP mentioned insurance costs I guess that might rule out the BMW - pity as I think the E46 diesel is great !

What about the fabia estate/combi - if your going to change car it is no big deal to get one with Air con and the estate has a lot more rear (boot) space. In UK the estate/combi has the same insurance rating as the hatchback - engine for engine.

I think this is also a good idea in my case. Since I just found out that the local Mazda dealer has a very bad reputation. The price for second hand golf 4 is just too crazy. 

just found this, sorry for the deviation of the topic. but this ford focus also looks not bad according to my requirement (bigger and has aircon). I also found out that this 1.6 focus has the same road tax rate as my 1.2 fabia. Amazing!

http://www.autoscout24.com/offers/-277508020?smid=de-vm-contactconfirmation-button_ad&rtmsg=de-vm-contactconfirmation&id=277508020

another two skoda fabia i found are below 

http://www.autoscout24.com/offers/-277022717?smid=de-vm-contactconfirmation-button_ad&rtmsg=de-vm-contactconfirmation&id=277022717

http://www.autoscout24.com/offers/-271095666?smid=de-vm-contactconfirmation-button_ad&rtmsg=de-vm-contactconfirmation&id=271095666

 

Too many choices now and i am puzzled again. 

How about the Dacia Logan MCV?

How about the Dacia Logan MCV?

I heard it's based on Renault engine and transmission which are know not reliable. Don't know if that is true.

Didn't had one for myself, I know a few people which a pretty ok with them. 

Later edit: that Renault petrol engines are able to do 250.000+ miles without major issues. They do seem to be pretty reliable IMHO..

Edited 29 September, 201510 yr by Alexandru

latest update is that my plan to change the car is rejected by my wife. she loves our little fabia. I think we will stick to it till it's broken down. 

Roof rack...

Hey, I would definitely recommend vw golf mk4 combi model. you get more width and length compared to the present. At the same time you get any rust-free body. I had a mk4 golf. Vehicle model year was 1998 and it was driven 143.000 kilometers when I bought it in 2005, I sold it off in 2010, and when the meter was 300.000 km.

Body was still rust free, there were no technical problems with the car, regular maintenance, of course, the dog bone was the only part which had to be replaced. and of course the brake pads and discs as well. My car was 2,3L V5 engine and I was satisfied even though the general opinion is that it is not a good engine.

But, if you search looking for 1.6 petrol engine and great equipment the opportunity to exist. Models until the late 2006 mk4 exists. And best of all, if you want to do retrofits as parts for sale at a reasonable price. Sure, late models 2004 onwards are already equipped quite well. There are air conditioning units, cruise, etc etc ...

And best of all! As the car body and parts begun to do already since 1998 until 2006, you can be sure that the maintenance parts have been available for a long time and at a reasonable price.

A good example I can compare the parents 10 years old Toyota Camry had not been available as an OEM brake parts because the car was so old ...

In fact, at least I would buy a car which is available in parts even after years