Sub-£2k diesel saloon...

[Rich1973]

surveyor said:

greggy50 said:

stevemiller said:

itcaptainslow said:

MG ZT CDTI? Remappable, handles very well but ride is also good, looks different and £2k buys you a decent one. Bonus is the engine is chain driven.

Second this.

This they are great cars

Dad had two of these from new as company cars sticking 35k a year on them for 3 years and then handing them back he never had an issue and they were thrashed from day one.

Of all the company cars he has had last 10 or so years Passat/A6/A4/3 Series/Mondeo/156 these were the only ones that never had an issue during his ownership and they are still his favorite from the bunch.

Read up on fuel pumps. They have three and are a nightmare

The face lift ones only have two same as any other diesel - tank and high pressure.

[McSam]

DJP said:

You're having a laugh, my friend.

The absolute best that mine's ever managed is 36mpg – over two tankfuls and about 800 miles of French motorway.

OK, mine's a 2.3 but it's essentially the same engine and it's coupled to the more efficient 6 speed autobox.

Hard to see how 45mpg would be obtainable, unless you drove everywhere at 50mph.

Slightly ridiculous comment, saying "you must be wrong because my bigger engine and different gearbox, driven much further over higher-speed motorways, didn't achieve the same"

[Krikkit]

I think we can lay to rest the idea of a petrol, so take the bickering elsewhere!

I think I've settled on the Alfa or the Ovlov. Both have great-sounding 5 cylinders, I just need to drive the Alfa and decide which one I prefer.

Is the autobox in the Volvo a liability? I think I'll go for a manual, but it'd be interesting to know.

[blueacid]

Krikkit said:

I think we can lay to rest the idea of a petrol, so take the bickering elsewhere!

I think I've settled on the Alfa or the Ovlov. Both have great-sounding 5 cylinders, I just need to drive the Alfa and decide which one I prefer.

Is the autobox in the Volvo a liability? I think I'll go for a manual, but it'd be interesting to know.

Hi Krikkit,

I've a 2004 S60 D5 SE Auto. The general synopsis seems to be that the boxes are fundamentally alright but Volvo deem them "sealed for life". Life being artificially shortened as the box is killed by old, contaminated out-of-spec fluid.

The exact same box is fitted to some Saabs from the same era and a few Renaults - but in both cases Saab and Renault have fluid changes every 60k in their service schedules. Oddly enough, the gearboxes in those cars aren't commonly discussed as common failure items.

Thankfully I bought my car at 65k and changed the fluid by 67k, so one could argue I was just a bit late to the first service. It's still shifting gears smoothly and showing none of the signs of a dying box.

Fuel economy wise I get around 45-50 on a run. My average is 35ish but then again I'm in stop start traffic & I don't really drive with the MPG in mind. I agree, the engine sounds very good for a diesel, especially in the higher section of the rev counter!


As for your 70 mile round trip commute? Well, heated leather armchairs and the Volvo stereo make it a very pleasant place to spend time.

Cheers,
Blueacid