Volvo V50 V Passat estate

Hi all,
Looking at estates and always liked volvo estates but feel it may be a wee bit small boot wise (have a dog and we have twins on the way). Have been looking at Passat estates and seems big enough, just wondering if anyone can let me know what V50 is like to live with, do people think its too small, which, if any would people recomend?

Volvo = 417 litres
Passat Estate = 505 litres

I have a Passat Estate & have no complaints with it - not familiar with the Volvo

Have you looked at the Mondeo estate?

Thanks for replies. Not sure about Mondeo, my wife not too keen on Fords and I'd be especially concerned about depreciation.

nyhols said:

Thanks for replies. Not sure about Mondeo, my wife not too keen on Fords and I'd be especially concerned about depreciation.

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You should try a one year old Mondeo. I had one while my car was being serviced and it drives like a 5 series BMW. It's far better than the Passat (I had one of those before; it's as boring as they come). I don't know about the Volvo.

I have driven the Passat 1.4 TSI estate on holidays with my family and was very happy with the space and surprised at the power & fuel economy from the engine.

You might also want to take a look at the Mazda 6 estate: Japanese reliability and looks great for an estate (IMHO).

Have a V50 2.0D and I love it. The boot is a bit smaller than rivals (Petermack is right, it's a platform share with the Focus but is a little larger than that). It probably falls between the Focus and the Passat for boot size.

On a side note I test drove it against an A4 Avant. I thought the V50 cabin 'felt' more spacious due to the design of the centre console (floating and narrower in the V50) and in general better laid out, and better looking to. A touch of Scandinavian design... I also found the A4 a bit dead when driving it. That said the V50 is a sport model and I've since noted the firm ride against a couple of other cars I've driven on our 'beautifully maintained' roads...

If it were my choice again I'd still go with the Volvo. I love the look of it (in sports trim), it's plenty big enough until you need to move a Chesterfield ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BkEvUuy5ko ) and its a bit less ubiquitous than a Passat.

Just to go on a bit more... I would be tempted to change my mind for a Passat R36 Wagon. I saw one today in Cork on UK plates and it looks cracking (and I bet it goes like the proverbial off the shovel too...)

guy in work recently got a V50 estate and I thought the boot was tiny compared to my legacy estate which is not the biggest in the class either
I couldn't live with it
I like the rear seats though in the V50 with the integrated child boosters