Thinking of buying my first diesel car - Advice please

[annie90]

Hi
I'm a student who has come over from Ireland and I'm looking to get a car over here. I have a irish VW polo that i plan on selling at home to fund a car over here. I found this 2007 Ford Focus 1.6 diesel

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...

I'm just looking for advice as I have heard diesel cars can have more problems than petrol. The driving i would be doing would be from Crewe to Manchester and back 2 or 3 times a week as my university is in Crewe and I have gotten a job in Manchester and have family there also. That trip is 30 miles one way. Other time I would be driving short journeys of about 10 minutes or it could not be driven at all some days. I'm only looking at the diesel car as it is £650 pound cheaper than the 1.4 2006 VW Polo SE i was also looking at.

If anybody could give me advice on if a diesel is a good choice for me, I would appreciate it

[ohtari]

You'll not do enough miles to warrant the diesel. It would only take one thing to go wrong (and there are many potential problems) and you've wiped out any saving you had on fuel and then some.

Not to mention that it's almost always cheaper to buy a petrol in the first place!

ETA: The reason the polo is more expensive is because they're the "in" thing at the moment with the sideways cap people. You can get far more for your money if you look at other brands/bigger cars

Edited by ohtari on Saturday 26th October 14:03

[rallycross]

Have a look for a polo 1.9 tdi sport 100, 2002-2005 model.

We had one recently 2004 on 120,000 miles, sold for £2.5k averaged 40 mpg driven rather quickly or 45 mpg driven normally, really comfy sports seats, good spec for a small car, strong mechanicals on the 1.9 tdi's from vw up to 160k miles and quite cheap to fix.

They did 2 versions a Tdi Sport 100 5 speed and a GT TDi 130 6 speed (rare and expect to pay £1k more than the 100 bhp).

Heres a 130 at a great price.

http://www.pistonheads.com/classifieds/used-cars/v...

[annie90]

ohtari said:

ETA: The reason the polo is more expensive is because they're the "in" thing at the moment with the sideways cap people. You can get far more for your money if you look at other brands/bigger cars

Edited by ohtari on Saturday 26th October 14:03

What other brands/bigger cars would you recommend?
The polo i have at the minute is my 2nd car and perviously to that i had a micra

[Superhoop]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

This 100% ^^^^^^

The PSA derived 1.6 has big issues with heavy carbon deposits in the lubrication system - this leads to turbo failures, then after you've had that replaced, it will probably fail again, and then.......

I wouldn't touch one with somebody else's 40 foot pole, let alone my own

[nipsips]

I wouldnt touch a 1.6 PSA engined car if you paid me.

[annie90]

This is the polo i was looking at that was 650 more than the focus
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...

My irish reg car i currently have is a 1.2, would you recommend the above 1.4 polo better for motorway driving as going to and from manchester is nearly all motorway. With the motorways being the M56 and the M6. I find the 1.2 can be slow when picking up speed to merge on to the motorway from junctions and overtaking. That may just be me though as I'm still getting used to motorway driving over here. Motorways in Ireland hardly anyone uses them as they are all tolled !!

[Rickyy]

Someone will be along shortly to recommend an ageing V8 BMW as a suitable car.

Try not to get too obsessed with the age of a car, buy on condition.

If I were doing motorway driving often, I think I'd want a bit more than 1.4L in a petrol engine and possibly a bigger car than a Polo.

How about this? Low-ish mileage, 1.6L petrol engine and fairly trouble free cars.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...

[hairykrishna]

30 miles one way a couple of times a week? Get something fun, not a 1.6 diesel.

[junglie]

For the mileage you are doing you can't beat a 1.6 / 1.8 petrol Focus. Reliable, fun to drive, cheap to repair and plenty to chose from.

Rickyy - grow up.

[y2blade]

hairykrishna said:

30 miles one way a couple of times a week? Get something fun, not a 1.6 diesel.

This^^^^ In my experience Diesels are a false economy
Buy something fun, that you will enjoy owning/driving

[annie90]

junglie said:

For the mileage you are doing you can't beat a 1.6 / 1.8 petrol Focus. Reliable, fun to drive, cheap to repair and plenty to chose from.

Rickyy - grow up.

The problem with a 1.6/1.8 petrol is I'm only 23 so would be hit with a high insurance cost and also the higher tax

[V88Dicky]

High tax? I'm sure an eight year old Focus would only be around 200 per annum?

[Rickyy]

annie90 said:

The problem with a 1.6/1.8 petrol is I'm only 23 so would be hit with a high insurance cost and also the higher tax

Try a quote with a 1.6 Focus. I insured a 1.8 when I was 19 quite comfortably.

[BorkFactor]

annie90 said:

The problem with a 1.6/1.8 petrol is I'm only 23 so would be hit with a high insurance cost and also the higher tax

Shouldn't be too bad, I am 21 and my Astra 2.2 SRI costs just under £400 to insure, and my E46 328i is about £600!

[annie90]

Rickyy said:

Try a quote with a 1.6 Focus. I insured a 1.8 when I was 19 quite comfortably.

BorkFactor said:

Shouldn't be too bad, I am 21 and my Astra 2.2 SRI costs just under £400 to insure, and my E46 328i is about £600!

what put my insurance up higher is the fact that i have only been in the country since september

V88Dicky said:

High tax? I'm sure an eight year old Focus would only be around 200 per annum?

yeah it would be like that but if i ever imported it back to ireland when I'm finished with uni i would be facing a €514/£439 tax bill in Ireland

[Rickyy]

I visited Ireland last year and was shocked by the cost of running a car over there! We visited my Girlfriend's cousin, she and her husband were paying silly money to run a 1.8 Laguna and a 1.4 Xsara!

There are plenty of small engined petrol cars to choose from, Polos will probably hold their value better, because of the VW badge on the front. Have a look at Skoda Fabias or Seat Ibizas, pretty much identical cars, but won't have the premium of the Polo.

[annie90]

Rickyy said:

I visited Ireland last year and was shocked by the cost of running a car over there! We visited my Girlfriend's cousin, she and her husband were paying silly money to run a 1.8 Laguna and a 1.4 Xsara!

There are plenty of small engined petrol cars to choose from, Polos will probably hold their value better, because of the VW badge on the front. Have a look at Skoda Fabias or Seat Ibizas, pretty much identical cars, but won't have the premium of the Polo.

yeah its a joke the cost of running a car in ireland but i think we save slightly on the car insurance

[annie90]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2013...

There polo I'm looking for here. Can somebody tell me if the price is decent for a car like this? and would anybody know what a car like this would be worth in the trade as I may know someone in the motor trade who might be able to go that route for me and try to get a trade price for it on my behalf

[Leins]

Rickyy said:

I visited Ireland last year and was shocked by the cost of running a car over there! We visited my Girlfriend's cousin, she and her husband were paying silly money to run a 1.8 Laguna and a 1.4 Xsara!

There are plenty of small engined petrol cars to choose from, Polos will probably hold their value better, because of the VW badge on the front. Have a look at Skoda Fabias or Seat Ibizas, pretty much identical cars, but won't have the premium of the Polo.

Yep, the cost of motor tax over here is just ridiculous at this stage, and has decimated the enthusiast scene. I use a Golf 1.2 as my daily now, which sits in one of the cheapest bands at €280 per year. However, my 3 old BMWs, with a combined age of 52 years, have a combined motor tax bill of €4,698 per year, which is a bit annoying


OP Annie, now that you're free from the tyranny, and you're not relying on the car daily or for big mileage, I'd be having a look for something a bit more fun too