‘Sometimes you just need more space and pace’
Matt and Matt take their pick of the bargain estate market
Matt Tomkins
A bargainous car trailer upgrade at the end of 2020 presented me with a problem. The stated gross weight of the new trailer was more than my
Citroen C15 would be able to handle, while said van had sat unused on SORN since
Boris told us to go home. The C15 was duly recommissioned and sold with a fresh MOT, and I sent a few other spare parts and unstarted projects packing, too. Soon, I had
£1400 burning a hole in my pocket and a list of requirements for a new purchase.
A new addition to the fleet would need to be cheap to tax, run and insure; it should have a large enough load space to replace the C15’s role on the fleet while also being able to do ‘car’ and it should be smart enough yet unglamorous enough not to stand out in a train station car park. It also needed to be able to tow more than the 1300kg gross weight of my new trailer and itself weigh less than 2200kg, keeping me below the 3500kg gross limit of my licence.
I put the question to a few respected colleagues. Russ Smith suggested a Volvo 740, and Clive Jefferson offered to sell me his own 740, too. There was no question that a Volvo estate was what I needed, however, a chance encounter on Facebook marketplace and subsequent research had sewn a seed for something a little more modern.
The 2010 Volvo V50 1.6 Drive model I eventually purchased after several months of continuously browsing the classifieds costs just £20 a year to tax, a little over £200 a year to insure and is so far returning a respectable 55mpg on local runs. It is also the most modern car that I’ve ever owned by an enormous margin.
It came without much recent service history, but the fact that it was equipped with a towbar that would have been an expensive thing for me to have to fit, and an option rarely specified on 1.6 models, allowed me to see past that. At the asking price, there was just enough cash in the kitty to be able to
book it in for a new belt, water pump and a stamp in the service book. Before letting a garage change the belt, I swapped the fuel filter, cabin filter, air filter, engine oil and filter and thoroughly cleaned the EGR valve with a preparatory cleaner from JLM, as the car had gone into reduced power mode with EGR and
DPF faults showing as the cause. This hasn’t solved the problem entirely and, as I write this, I’ve got a new light on the dash stating a fault with the diesel additive pump . I fear I’m just starting to experience the complexities of modern car ownership. Bangernomics gone bad? Only time will tell…
Matt George
I wouldn’t be exaggerating if I was to say that the past year or so has changed the way that most of us live our lives. Along with the restrictions that have been imposed upon us in a wider sense, the biggest difference for me is that I’m no longer driving to and from an office each and every day, given that the PC team has been working from home since late March 2020. My wife, Abby, also now works from home, so last year we dropped down to just one ‘modern’ motor for general usage – our trusty 2007 Renault Megane 1.5 DCI.
Bought in early 2018 to provide cheap and economical transport for Abby’s daily 50-mile round trip to her office, the Megane has done exactly what we wanted of it. It has racked up 35,000 miles all across the UK and has required nothing other than regular servicing, while replacement brakes and tyres quite reasonably come under the banner of general wear and tear.
However, with our combined annual mileage having been slashed,
I began to think about finally replacing the Megane with something a bit more desirable. I was prepared to lose a bit in the fuel economy stakes and also spend a bit more in terms of road tax, with the payoff being that I could get something bigger and more spacious, with extra prestige and maybe a bit more power.
Of course, it didn’t take me long to decide to try and seek out another BMW! My criteria led me to decide that an E46 3-Series Touring would definitely fit the bill. I also decided to swerve the many 320ds I saw being offered and stick to my guns – the straight-six 330d was the one that
I really wanted. After some online searching could only come up with a few ropey-looking examples, it became clear that my initial budget of £1500 was perhaps a bit on the optimistic side.
But, having joined a few BMW enthusiast groups on Facebook, I eventually received a message from a chap called David Horner, which sounded very promising. ‘I’ve been thinking about selling my Touring and, having looked at your profile, it seems like you could be the person to give it the attention it deserves.
Dave had owned the car since 2013 and thoroughly enjoyed it, but it had started to look a little bit tatty body-wise and he’d decided to move the car on rather than invest in the repairs himself. The rear arches had begun to bubble (a classic case of ‘they all do that sir’), while the tailgate lip was rusty and, most pertinently, the nearside front wing needed replacing after a coming together with a minibus. There was also a ‘clunk’ coming from the rear suspension.
None of this bothered me as I knew that these niggles could be rectified over time with some TLC in the PC workshop, so a deal was done and I became the proud owner of my latest BMW! David kindly supplied a spare front wing, while Matt Tomkins did a great job of giving it a fresh coat of Titan Silver. I then chose seemingly the hottest day of the year so far to get it fitted up to the car, but I got there in the end. So, the ‘To-do’ list is already getting smaller, while covered enough miles so far to realise that I’ve made the right choice in buying this car. Being a late model E46 from early 2004, it boasts a six-speed manual gearbox, while the three-litre straight-six engine has plenty of poke. This thing is an absolutely fantastic motorway cruiser, of that there is no doubt. Plus, with the seats folded down, it’s great for tip runs and trips to DIY stores alike.