James

Ok, i'm doing a few more miles now and fancey something cheaper to run, my current daily driver is a mk4 r32, which i want to become another weekend toy and just get something cheap to run for going work and back really. I'm probably only doing about 200 miles a week so not much but it's all on b roads mostly, no motorway work at all.

I was thinking, nice little 1.4 tdci fiesta or 1.5 clio, for about £2500 but after looking on ebay a e46 320d with about 110k miles is the same money. Soo i've got down to a few options tell me what you think/what you can recommend:

2004 x type diesel sport manual, £5000 with 120k miles, only that puts me off are all the same old mondeo related problems?

2000 320d touring/saloon £3000/2500 with 115k miles ish. really cannot see a reason not to buy this any views?

2005 focus 2.0 tdci titanium three door £3300, again really tempted by this.

2002 leon 110 1.9 £2500 100k miles, are the vag tdi cars old hat now compared to the high pressure sysems ford/bmw use?

2006 focus econetic with 110k miles, £5000 read alot of issues with this 1.6 engine relating to turbo/oil pressure problems, anyone with experience like to comment?

2003 passat saloon 1.9 tdi 4 motion, £3200 90k miles, really like this as its 4wd & vw!

2002 audi a4 1.9 tdi £3500 115k miles. better looking than the passat!

2004 s-type 2.7 tdv6 manual. 100k miles £6000

2002 audi a3 1.9 tdi 130 95k miles£4000

2007 peugoet 407 coupe 2.7 tdv6 £6000

And a bit of a wildcard, 1998 Audi a3 1.8t in lime green with 125k miles for £1000 i've no idea what these are like on fuel though ?

Don't really fancey a 530d or even a 330d as the all seem to be high milage, spares or repairs, ex police/taxi or automatic. Or over priced. I'm not really after something quick as have 2 v6 golfs that are plenty quick enough. I dont really want a mondeo either old ones seem to have problems a plenty and new ones are just huge!

I'm really swaying towards the 320d touring as i'll be able to use it to lugg stuff around that i currently use my land rover for so save putting more miles on the land rover. can also use it come summer time for camping trips.

Any views?

Cars & prices all from ebay classifieds and local to me!

neilscott83

I'd go for the BMW lovely car.

adam151082

Passat or a A4, no question

Robs Frst

Passat

Flucker01

Fabia vRS?

SMILER258

passat. And have you considered a skoda fabia diesel? like the 1.9 sdi or vrs? Just a thought.

TrevCos

iTrader: (1)

Mondeo ST TDCI. Fantastic car and definitely in your budget now. I do long commutes and it's very very economical but extremely torquey, and has all the toys you'll ever need.

Rs(555)

iTrader: (8)

I run a fiesta tdci 1.4 van ...
05 plate done 128k
Returns me 150miles on £20 diesel, local driving ...
Not very fast though

WongRS

iTrader: (11)

330d msport, 03 would be my choice.

Oranoco

BMW, Audi or VW.

In saying that my missus has a 57 plate Clio and it's very easy and light to drive with good visibility, and the little bugger is alwats seeing mpg's into the 60's

bishbashbosh

Bmw 320D or the Focus Titanium out of that list.

Bailes1992

Abit of an odd suggestion? Citreon C5 2.0 HDi 138?
My Uncle just bought a 58 Plate one of these, on 22,000miles for £5,800!
If you don't mind mileage then there was year old models (ex lease cars) in the Auction with 100k+ on them for around the same price.
Lovley to drive it is too!

Oranoco

After the grief my friends had with their C4 Piccaso and stories that came back from a friend that sold them you would do better burning your cash than buying one of their cars.

Bailes1992

You get lemons in every make and model of car!
PSA cars are just as reliable as any other in my opinion!
Infact, you know the recent 16v 2.0 TDCi engines in Fords? It's based on the 2.0 HDi I have in my current 406, with a 16v head!
You know the 1.4 and 1.6 TDCi's? Again a Peugeot derived engine!

RS Grant

iTrader: (1)

I'd go for a Golf GT TDi Estate... quite a rare find in GTi trim, but you can get 130bhp TDi Estates in SE trim without too much trouble from memory.


Cheers,
Grant

andy130

iTrader: (2)

same hear, wont beat the mpg they return

gouch1

id have the bmw

Oranoco

2 of my friends have had C4 lemons and another had a lemon of a C3 and another a lemon with a Saxo and then a van then. That's quite a few odd rogue lemons. The C4 issues are well documented.

Brian

iTrader: (2)

+1

We have a ST Tdci estate and also a 130bhp hatch back that i use for work both are really good on fuel


Brian

zetec-Sam

iTrader: (2)

Leon tdi, it's a Golf without the price tag lol. Go alright with a remap too.

It's Czech Mate

Its not the engines that are shit, its the cars

Thats why they sell fuck all volume and they're so cheap second hand, they're shit and nobody wants them (apart from the odd retard here or there).

bj928

a DD i enjoyed was a ford galaxy, was good on fuel, nice to drive, went well, could get load in with seats removed, but if u need to carry people it would carry 6 or 7 depending on seat config, was a good driving position as well being high up, towed well as well, as an all round vehicle it was ace, but if i didn't need a all in one vehicle i would go for comfort and have an E class or maybe a gangster 300 as they are diesel merc underneath and look mean.

07 chysler 300c diesel well inside 6k, a lot of car for little money
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2007-07-CH...item3a6f78c58c

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

Proton.

Davemurphy007

The wife and I have been going through a similar choice of cars recently.

We ended up with a Saab 93 estate, 1.9 tid (150bhp), fully loaded with toys and leather for 5k on an 08 plate. Now that the main company has gone bust the prices of the cars has plummeted but they can be serviced by any vauxhall dealer or specialist and parts supply is not going to be a problem for these models for quite a long time yet! We're perfectly happy now getting 55 to the gallon with enough poke to get past dawdling idiots and all in complete comfort.

Avoid French, mass production diesel French cars are absolute fucking shit!

James

I had considered Saabs, but with they're recent demise i'm a bit concerned with dealer back-up & parts supply, & tbh it's not like vauxhall are a rock solid company so i cold potentially be left with a car thats impossible to fix, with questionable part supply and difficult to sell on should i want to (bit like rovers just after rover went bust)

I have also considered the C5, but if i remember correctly dont they have hydraulic suspension? i want something thats going to save me money not cost me a fortune at the citreon dealer. And i wouldnt touch a c4 or c3 with a barge pole.

I really dont want a mondeo either, wheel bearings, calipers, turbos, egr vales, pumps, injectors, dmf, crank pulley the list is endless. Hence why i'm not too keen on the x-type. I know all modern diesels have issues but i think the mondeo seems to have every issue going.

Golf, as said above, same as a leon/bora just typically a grand more expensive. & i already have a mk4 golf. Don't want two!

300C/e-class i'll have a look into these but i dont reckon it'll be cheap reliable motoring, in my experience chrysler parts are silly money.

fabia, don't like it at all. Rather have a leon/passat.

Unless someones got a horror story about the 320d i think i'm going to have a look at this, followed by the A4.

bj928

vauxhall parts/saab will be around for a long time, as its part of GM in america

300c/e class are not as dear to run as people think, and you get a lot more car for your money, that 300c i linked to may not have been a good example, as the mileage was high, but it showed they can do some miles, either of these cars will cost no more than a small car to run in parts because in general they don't go wrong, just a sevice ever x number of miles, i say they don't go wrong, because the sort of person that buys the high end cars won't buy an bad car so the makers make sure they work.

RS Grant

iTrader: (1)

Pretty sure I read that some of the earlier 320d had plastic inlet manifolds which can break up and leave a big engine bill to deal with.


Cheers,
Grant

JamesH

iTrader: (21)

What this man said

Bailes1992

It was an option extra on the newer shape, and the last lot of C5's didn't have it at all.
I've driven both, personally I'd go for the Hydronumatic sussy because you can drive around with it on the bumpstops
My Uncles hasen't got it, and it drives perfectly well, but atleast with the adjustable suspension you can stiffen it up abit.

Someone in my family had a 1999 Xantia 1.8 petrol. They had it about 10 years and was chatting to him the other day and he said, other than maintenance the only thing he had to replace was the odd suspension sphere and they are quite cheap.