The seven seater 2.0 Montego Countryman estate variant is available on the 2nd hand market for very reasonable prices. An M reg 1994 with 55000 miles costs around £1500. Compare that to a Renault Espace of equivalent age and mileage, £5500.
Now let me clarify my position. I do not for one ... Read review
Advantages: Seats up to seven, cheap to run and mantain Disadvantages: Style,style, style
The seven seater 2.0 Montego Countryman estate variant is available on the 2nd hand market for very reasonable prices. An M reg 1994 with 55000 miles costs around £1500. Compare that to a Renault Espace of equivalent age and mileage, £5500.
Now let me clarify my position. I do not for one minute suggest that they are equivalents, they are patently not. The Espace is a modern purpose built people carrier, with a large dose of style ... ...no style or street cred and the bodywork and fittings are of poor quality.
However, if you consider three things, a) what can I afford and b) What do I actually need, c)Am I a fashion victim, then I think I can make a very strong case for the Montego.
If you are on a limited budget you want a car which has low maintenance, is reliable and practical. The Montego is all of these. You may have a large family and need ... more
The seven seater 2.0 Montego Countryman estate variant is available on the 2nd hand market for very reasonable prices. An M reg 1994 with 55000 miles costs around £1500. Compare that to a Renault Espace of equivalent age and mileage, £5500.
Now let me clarify my position. I do not for one minute suggest that they are equivalents, they are patently not. The Espace is a modern purpose built people carrier, with a large dose of style and panache. The Montego is an old design with absolutely no style or street cred and the bodywork and fittings are of poor quality.
However, if you consider three things, a) what can I afford and b) What do I actually need, c)Am I a fashion victim, then I think I can make a very strong case for the Montego.
If you are on a limited budget you want a car which has low maintenance, is reliable and practical. The Montego is all of these. You may have a large family and need a car for the school run, shopping trips, family visits. Again the Montego will cope admirably.
The Montego has the same versatility as a people carrier, the reat boot seats fold down to return the car to its estate mode and the middle row fold down to provide a huge load space.
Spares are readily available for the Montego, definitely not the case for some of the imported People carriers, the Montego is cheap and also the engine is basic and lends itself to self maintenance.
My biggest concern is security, I have been told that you can break into one with a teaspoon. It has no factory fitted alarm, immobiliser etc.
I recently hired a Peugot 806 and was impressed with the concept but unfortunately my budget did not stretch to more than the Montego which we bought yesterday.
Advantages: Very comfortable, spacious and reliable Disadvantages: Interior not so wonderful
The Austin Montego 2.0estate is a very big car. It offers lots of legroom for both the driver and passengers. The Montego has been known as cheap and nasty by lots of people but I think they are splendid cars and I am proud they were British made!
Our montego did lots of jobs for us. It managed to take us and lots of suitcases on holidays even when it was in its 90,000 miles! It was also used to transport heavy garden materials and never complained once. The boot was so big you could probably fit a mini in it! In some models you can even get seven seats because it is so big. Space was never a problem. The seats were very comfortable in my Montego, they were great for long journeys!
The montegos are every cheap these days, you can pick a decent one up for around £500. Their not fancy, they do not come with air conditioning ...
