Servicing costs vs miles per gallon

[Mick23]

After noon all

Over the past six months i have been looking for something to replace my 206 gti, I am a part time musician ( and hopefully a full time IT support technician soon). The 206 just about fits all my gear and covers all my transport needs, but it does on avarage 30mpg and even less in town driving. I like my cars to have a bit of over taking power, but with me doing more traveling more then usual, sooner rather then later my wallet it going to hurt a bit.

Ive been looking at diesel Saabs, Alfas, Volvos, BMWs with about 140-150bhp, this should be enough to fulfill my power needs. Unfortunately one thing i hate about diesels is that they can sound like a tractor.
After some quick research i found an affordable 330d, it had a nice sound track being a diesel V6 and looked like it was in good condition.

But a recent thread on these forums brought up a important issue with servicing diesels. it brought up the question of if i bought a diesel such as a 330d and something goes wrong, then it blows away the reason why i would buy a diesel in the first place, which is to cut running costs.

So at the moment im not sure if i should go for a petrol or diesel saloon?

My budget is at max 6k so it would be very hard to find a low miles and power on a diesel.

[Arese]

I'd imagine a £6k 330d (they're a straight 6, not a V) will be ropey. You'd be best of going for one of the cheaper many 4 cylinder cars, Astra/Vectra/Saab 1.9CDTi kind of thing IMO.

[dave144]

The 330d is a straight 6 cylinder not a V6.

If you read all the bad stuff on the net about what could go wrong with cars then nobody would buy them. Most diesel cars have common faults, turbos failure, dmf, egr valves etc.

Have you thought about Volvo s60 D5? 163bhp?

[Arese]

dave144 said:

The 330d is a straight 6 cylinder not a V6.

If you read all the bad stuff on the net about what could go wrong with cars then nobody would buy them. Most diesel cars have common faults, turbos failure, dmf, egr valves etc.

Have you thought about Volvo s60 D5? 163bhp?

Good call! I had one for a little while. Loved it, great cruiser, but not a handler. Remapped to ~195bhp and 400 torques too, it went well. I think I also averaged 44mpg.

[kieranjholland]

Arese said:

dave144 said:

The 330d is a straight 6 cylinder not a V6.

If you read all the bad stuff on the net about what could go wrong with cars then nobody would buy them. Most diesel cars have common faults, turbos failure, dmf, egr valves etc.

Have you thought about Volvo s60 D5? 163bhp?

Good call! I had one for a little while. Loved it, great cruiser, but not a handler. Remapped to ~195bhp and 400 torques too, it went well. I think I also averaged 44mpg.

Agreed - I've just got one and I know y2blade has one too - great cars, good performance with strong mpg numbers

[Arese]

kieranjholland said:

Arese said:

dave144 said:

The 330d is a straight 6 cylinder not a V6.

If you read all the bad stuff on the net about what could go wrong with cars then nobody would buy them. Most diesel cars have common faults, turbos failure, dmf, egr valves etc.

Have you thought about Volvo s60 D5? 163bhp?

Good call! I had one for a little while. Loved it, great cruiser, but not a handler. Remapped to ~195bhp and 400 torques too, it went well. I think I also averaged 44mpg.

Agreed - I've just got one and I know y2blade has one too - great cars, good performance with strong mpg numbers

And the Hi-Fi

[Fatman2]

Maybe with the exception of a few brands the horror stories you're speaking of seem to be from the usual suspects that have poor standards when it comes to suppliers.

Just make sure you do your homework and find a reliable brand that suits your needs.

Best of luck!