Help me choose a Diesel
Discussion
I'm tend to miss the obvious choices, jsut landed a job which involves 106 miles of M40 every day so need an oil burner as the M3 would cost me a fortune to drive every day...
My budget is up to £3.5k - needs to be 100% reliable, very comfortable, the more barge like the better and needs ot return 45+ mpg, I love old 5 series but not sure they would return high mpg and perhaps getting a little long in the tooth.
Ruled old small hatchbacks as want a good smooth cruiser... What are my options?
My budget is up to £3.5k - needs to be 100% reliable, very comfortable, the more barge like the better and needs ot return 45+ mpg, I love old 5 series but not sure they would return high mpg and perhaps getting a little long in the tooth.
Ruled old small hatchbacks as want a good smooth cruiser... What are my options?
Zero7 said:
I'm tend to miss the obvious choices, jsut landed a job which involves 106 miles of M40 every day so need an oil burner as the M3 would cost me a fortune to drive every day...
My budget is up to £3.5k - needs to be 100% reliable, very comfortable, the more barge like the better and needs ot return 45+ mpg, I love old 5 series but not sure they would return high mpg and perhaps getting a little long in the tooth.
Ruled old small hatchbacks as want a good smooth cruiser... What are my options?
Saab 9-5 2.2TD?My budget is up to £3.5k - needs to be 100% reliable, very comfortable, the more barge like the better and needs ot return 45+ mpg, I love old 5 series but not sure they would return high mpg and perhaps getting a little long in the tooth.
Ruled old small hatchbacks as want a good smooth cruiser... What are my options?
Zero7 said:
Saab is an option, what do they return on a run? Not sure what their diesel engines are like, my wife had a 9-3 Aero hot and it was gutless but expected.
I have a 9-3 TID, 150BHP so enough power, slighyly quicker than a Mondeo or a Passat. Gives about 51mpg. Previous Mondeo tdci will give 47mpg.Handlng is better on a Mondeo. The handlign on a Passat is also ok, but the Mondeo is best in class.
A Skoda, probably a Superb, is also a possibility.
None of these cars, at 3500GBP will be perfect. Most likely issues are suspension wear, the chance it's been used as a taxi, clutch (and possibly DMF) worn.
Mondeo has a common rail injection system, very effective, but if it goes wrong then it will be expensive.
VAG cars of that age have pumps in each injector, Pumpe Douze, or somethign similar. Slightly cheaper to sort when it goes wrong.
Saab and Vectra have old style injectors, so potentially less efficient but likely more reliable.
None of them are bad cars, though that's not what an internet search would suggest. In reality they do not contain monsters.
Find one that has been well looked after, not gone to the moon and back and you're likely to be ok. If you're not driving 20+k miles PA I'd go with a petrol.
Just a thought for you but if you want something bargey with low running costs how about a Lexus LS400 running on LPG. You should be able to get a very tidy one for £3,500. They have an excellent reputation and even if you saw 25mpg out of one then with LPG costs you'd be looking at a similar cost to a diesel.
I was in same predicament, facing a 120 mile round trip everyday so two years ago forked out £650 on an M reg Xantia TD with 75k, now two years and 50k later all it has cost me, apart from regular oil changes, is £17 on a new door look from fleabay and 2 new tyres for the front and a couple of filters. It returns 48-52 mpg, and is extremely comfortable due to the hydro suspension, and I love it. It has never let me down and can't fault it at all.
Zero7 said:
Which engine is in the MG ZT CDTi.
2.0 turbodiesel, the M47 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_M47
Honda Accord 2.2TDi, I've have one for 4 years, only thing I've done is service it and put new boots on once. I can highly recommend them.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2004-HONDA-ACCORD-CTDI-EXECU...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2004-04-HONDA-ACCORD-SPORT-T...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2004-HONDA-ACCORD-CTDI-EXECU...
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/2004-04-HONDA-ACCORD-SPORT-T...
spikeyhead said:
Zero7 said:
Saab is an option, what do they return on a run? Not sure what their diesel engines are like, my wife had a 9-3 Aero hot and it was gutless but expected.
I have a 9-3 TID, 150BHP so enough power, slighyly quicker than a Mondeo or a Passat. Gives about 51mpg. Previous Mondeo tdci will give 47mpg.What about a Vectra? Don't dismiss them without having a look around, they can be pretty good mile-munchers. I had a 52-plate Elegance 2.0DTi. Had loads of toys, and did 700 miles to a tank.
Andy_J_G said:
I was in same predicament, facing a 120 mile round trip everyday so two years ago forked out £650 on an M reg Xantia TD with 75k, now two years and 50k later all it has cost me, apart from regular oil changes, is £17 on a new door look from fleabay and 2 new tyres for the front and a couple of filters. It returns 48-52 mpg, and is extremely comfortable due to the hydro suspension, and I love it. It has never let me down and can't fault it at all.
I quite like the sound of this idea, my mate had one of these in petrol and ran it to the ground, it was a really smooth drive. Not many low mileage cheap diesel ones though... Will check my local paper... Gassing Station | General Gassing [Archive] | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff