Workhorse cars

Allright guys here's the deal, I started my own bussines that requires me to travel to alot of fairs, festivals, and stuff like that.
Please help me my fellow Veeky Forums gurus, as I need to pick a proper car for the job. I am an europeasant, so no american stuff.
Car must meet the following criteria :
>must be a car ( I don't want vans )
>cheap to buy
>cheap to maintain
>boot space especially
>reliable ( crucial factor )
>decently economical
>reasonably comfortable
>must cost under 5000 euros to purchase, register, and insure

So far, my choices are :
Skoda Octavia mk I 1.9TDI 102 bhp
VW Golf IV 1.9TDI 105 bhp
Opel Astra H Caravan 1.7 CDTI 101 bhp
Ford Focus 1.6 CDTI 90 bhp
VW Passat B5.5 1.9TDI 105 bhp

Which one would you pick ? Any advice ?

Grande Punto 1.9 Multijet Sport Van

You're welcome.

In order to up my topic, I will make short descriptions of every contender.

VW Passat B5.5 1.9TDI 105 bhp

The classiest of the bunch, it's also the biggest of the bunch. It has the most luxury, comfort, and boot space.
Disadvantages are that the 1.9TDI, whilst mostly bulletproof, suffered from camshaft issues, and cold starts.
The biggest downside tho is that most of these have been poorly maintained, skipped maintainances, and have been driven at very low RPMs, which makes the turbo prone to failure

I need something with a big boot, and a sturdy diesel engine. Performance is not my priority, fuel consumption and reliability is.

He said reliable

Fiat chroma 1.9 m jet

Not big enough for you?

It's more reliable than any other cars OP mentioned.
Keep being mad.

Keep telling yourself that Zé Manel

Nope, boot is too small.

Sounds tempting, but a neighbour of mine had a Fiat Albea, the bodywork was made out of toilet paper...I also got in a mild crash with some old fart in an Albea, he also proved that the car's bodywork was made out of cardboard

t. VAGfag

>520kg payload
>too small
???

Please, let the working men talk here, not the teenage fanboys.

Payload and cubic capacity are 2 very different things.
You try to fit a 520kg motorcycle in there

Dude stop shilling your car, he doesn't want it.

És pior que os italianos do autohoje, foda-se.

>1 cubic metre
>1000L capacity
It's way more than any car mentioned in OP.

Ford Focus Touring 1.6 CDTI 90 bhp

The cheapest here to buy, run, and insure. Extremely acclaimed as one of the best second-hand cars to buy atm.
Downside is that it does look and feel cheap ( not that the others aren't, but the Focus leads ), and I don't know much about their reliability..

I do know a guy that has an old ass Focus wagon, rusted as shit, he uses it to carry around potatoes and construction materials, the car just refuses to die

Compares a 2 door hatch-back to a full size 4 door station wagon, on boot space and capacity

>Fiat Albea
but that's not a Croma

I'm worried about the bodywork quality, and general reliability, not boot space.
I am aware that the car will get it's share of dents and scrapes, especially at fairs parking lots

In what shithole of a country do you live to see a Fiat Albea?
Those are literally refreshed Fiat Palios.

>scared about reliability
>buys an old used diesel
nigga, get your shit together. If you really need a one of these cars, buy one which is in the best shape. You're gonna spend a lot of time looking for a particular Astra or Passat.

im really happy with my skoda scout 2.0 tdi and my mazda premacy 2.0 tdi. Lots of boot space - i need to fit alot of stuff inside. fuel consumption comes to 4 liters if you have a light foot.

Not necesarilly. I know 4 people with 4 generations of Golfs
1. Golf VII 1.2 TSI that car started to fall apart at just 8k km and aparently it's not a singular case. Bad engine, bad car.
2. Golf VI 1.6 TDI 89k km. The car is great, but the turbo's tend to clog up, and the ocassional EGR.
3. Golf V Plus 1.9TDI 295k km. Apart from the ocassional turbo clog up and the ocassional camshaft, the car is going strong.
4. Golf IV Variant 1.9TDI 420k km. The engine does show it's age, but it's still going strong.

I also had a college friend with a 1.7 CDTI Astra G, the car was still going strong at 340k km.
And I once took an Octavia 1 taxi, 1.9TDI engine, it had 770k km, with 1 engine rebuild..

I do believe in the reliability of the agrarian diesels of old, vs the newer stuff

Well, buy a station wagon then.
But like said, you're gonna have a tough time getting a diesel station wagon in perfect working condition.
Essentially because station wagons are generally used as family transporters and that normally implies being usually driven slowly which is quite bad for the turbo's health.

Go for a car that did a lot of motorway, even if it has more kms.

I don't need it in perfect working condition. I just need it to do the job, initially.
I am going to change all the fluids and filters, brake pads, clean the turbo, after I purchase the car, but I need it to keep me going for atleast 2 years and 50k-70k km, general reliability is my main concern, and fuel consumption second ( I can't drive fast with stuff in the boot anyways )

Neither are what I'd call particularly good. My choice would be the Octavia, although I'd advice you to look at Mazda 6 stationwagons and Toyota Avensis stationwagons

Japs can't into diesel engines.

I heard that japs are shit at diesels, and that petrol is where they excel at...Mazda 6 is a sexy beast tho

Go with the Focus. Reliable, cheap to repair.

Maybe a Mondeo estate if you can splurge a bit.