£2000 to spend. Which motorway munching barge/eurobox?
Discussion
I need a little help please chaps. I have an absolute maximum of £2k to spend on a motorway muncher. It needs to be diesel (I think), have excellent MPG and be dirt cheap to insure and tax (NCB used on fun car). It's going to be doing circa 1000 miles a week initially so it also needs to be reliable.
I'm stuck pondering whether the older mechanical diesels (306 D Turbo for example) are better with my budget than say the TDCI Corsas & Fiestas or 1.9 TDI VAG cars. Is the improved MPG worth the potential for bigger bills when it goes wrong?
I'm stuck pondering whether the older mechanical diesels (306 D Turbo for example) are better with my budget than say the TDCI Corsas & Fiestas or 1.9 TDI VAG cars. Is the improved MPG worth the potential for bigger bills when it goes wrong?
Someone will come on here telling you to get an E39, so before they do I would advise against it if you want it to be cheap, 2 or 3 things go wrong with it and it can match the price of the car. Stay away from the MK1 Focus 1.8 TDCI, I know of more than one of these which have been utter ball aches, it's an unreliable hateful engine. Something like a 306D turbo with £800 left over would be ideal for your needs. Absolutely fantastic litte cars.
Edited by sparks_E39 on Saturday 9th July 17:06
A mate of mine purchased a 3 and a half year old, 50k mile Renault Laguna diesel a couple of years back for £2548 at auction. A couple of bills have crept in, nothing too horrific and 65k miles later it's still a fine thing. Not fun, not exciting but rides better than any BMW 3 series and averages 50+mpg
You won't find it all that easy to find something as in the current economic climate that is exactly what everyone is looking for and they're not cheap. If you want a petrol you could get something for £3.50 with change.
Go for something unfashionable - Volvo S40 (old shape), VW Bora, SEAT Toledo etc. and you'll get newer and lower mileage for the money.
If you're going to be putting 1000 miles a week on it that is a big ask for a £2k car so don't be unreasonable and expect to spend nothing on it.
Go for something unfashionable - Volvo S40 (old shape), VW Bora, SEAT Toledo etc. and you'll get newer and lower mileage for the money.
If you're going to be putting 1000 miles a week on it that is a big ask for a £2k car so don't be unreasonable and expect to spend nothing on it.
sparks_E39 said:
Someone will come on here telling you to get an E39, so before they do I would advise against it if you want it to be cheap, 2 or 3 things go wrong with it and it can match the price of the car. Stay away from the MK1 Focus 1.8 TDCI, I know of more than one of these which have been utter ball aches, it's an unreliable hateful engine. Something like a 306D turbo with £800 left over would be ideal for your needs. Absolutely fantastic litte cars.
Thanks for that. I had actually looked at 1.8 Foci as a prime choice! One of the few things I can see working against the older cars is the tax. a 306 is about £200 to tax where as most of the newer cars are circa £30.Edited by sparks_E39 on Saturday 9th July 17:06
:Edited after reading your post properly D'oh!
Edited by Ponk on Saturday 9th July 18:01
Ponk said:
Thanks for that. I had actually looked at 1.8 Foci as a prime choice! I'd prefer to stay away from the premium brands. As much as I'd love to waft along in a 5 series things like brake pads etc are surely going to be a fair bit more than Ford, PSA, Vauxhall etc?
The Focus is a great car when it's working, it's just a shame that engine is so badly made. You can get a decent set of brake pads for an E39 for £35 if you know where to shop. But when stuff like sensors break (and you must get genuine BMW parts as unbranded ones don't work on these cars) etc costs mount. Are early CDTI Vectras not down around that kind of money now?
The most dull and uninteresting drive but they soak up miles and the CDTI's can be chipped to about 130-150hp while retaining pretty decent economy. The normal DI's aren't too good or so I've heard though.
Sure a TDCI Mondeo should be around that kind of money too but I'm sure there's some stories about their injectors going pop and costing £loads to replace. Others will be more knowledgable though.
ETA:
as an example, the one above is going for £1695 but needs a clutch (advert says that the clutch is noisy), but it has done 130k. It's a CDTI 150 too.
The most dull and uninteresting drive but they soak up miles and the CDTI's can be chipped to about 130-150hp while retaining pretty decent economy. The normal DI's aren't too good or so I've heard though.
Sure a TDCI Mondeo should be around that kind of money too but I'm sure there's some stories about their injectors going pop and costing £loads to replace. Others will be more knowledgable though.
ETA:
as an example, the one above is going for £1695 but needs a clutch (advert says that the clutch is noisy), but it has done 130k. It's a CDTI 150 too.
Edited by Mr Happy on Saturday 9th July 18:15
Mr Happy said:
as an example, the one above is going for £1695 but needs a clutch (advert says that the clutch is noisy), but it has done 130k. It's a CDTI 150 too.
Edited by Mr Happy on Saturday 9th July 18:15
Focus/Mondeo TDCi's are not a bad choice but you need to check them carefully.
confused_buyer said:
If it needs a clutch, it will also need a flywheel. It is the flywheels which go on those. They also have EGR problems and you need to ensure the camnbelt has been changed recently. They're OK if all is well.
Focus/Mondeo TDCi's are not a bad choice but you need to check them carefully.
That's good to know - the flywheel info etc, thanks Focus/Mondeo TDCi's are not a bad choice but you need to check them carefully.
Mr Happy said:
Are early CDTI Vectras not down around that kind of money now?
The most dull and uninteresting drive but they soak up miles and the CDTI's can be chipped to about 130-150hp while retaining pretty decent economy. The normal DI's aren't too good or so I've heard though.
Sure a TDCI Mondeo should be around that kind of money too but I'm sure there's some stories about their injectors going pop and costing £loads to replace. Others will be more knowledgable though.
ETA:
as an example, the one above is going for £1695 but needs a clutch (advert says that the clutch is noisy), but it has done 130k. It's a CDTI 150 too.
Money Pit.The most dull and uninteresting drive but they soak up miles and the CDTI's can be chipped to about 130-150hp while retaining pretty decent economy. The normal DI's aren't too good or so I've heard though.
Sure a TDCI Mondeo should be around that kind of money too but I'm sure there's some stories about their injectors going pop and costing £loads to replace. Others will be more knowledgable though.
ETA:
as an example, the one above is going for £1695 but needs a clutch (advert says that the clutch is noisy), but it has done 130k. It's a CDTI 150 too.
Edited by Mr Happy on Saturday 9th July 18:15
Not diesel, but would could get an MB series Honda Civic and have wad of change to spend of some fuel. They're dead reliable, mine needs a few consumables at the next service, but apart from that I'd have no worries about putting 1000 miles a week on it, even though it's now old and into 6 figures.
This Corsa seems good. 60 MPG and Group 4 insurance. Not very PH I admit, but the supercharged Rallye makes up for that 
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2011...
If it's solely a mile muncher and you genuinely don't care about what it looks like / how it drives. I'd go for a mk3 Golf or Vento diesel. Cheep to run, reasonably easy to maintin and reliable enough for your price bracket... And you could even run it on chip fat should the urge take you
sparks_E39 said:
Someone will come on here telling you to get an E39, so before they do I would advise against it if you want it to be cheap, 2 or 3 things go wrong with it and it can match the price of the car. Stay away from the MK1 Focus 1.8 TDCI, I know of more than one of these which have been utter ball aches, it's an unreliable hateful engine. Something like a 306D turbo with £800 left over would be ideal for your needs. Absolutely fantastic litte cars.
Remember a Xsara is the same as a 306 underneath so dont be afraid to look at those too,some decent HDI ones around.Just watch for worn rear beams on 306/Xsara.Edited by sparks_E39 on Saturday 9th July 17:06
I have a Passat 1.9 130TDI Sport*
2003, probably worth iro £2k with just over 100k miles.
I get between 55mpg and 60mpg (has been upto 65 and down to 30) on a typical b-road run (only me on board and a boot that is full).
I would thoroughly recommend them, long life servicing makes sense of you do lots of miles (every service is an "A" but they can be 20k miles apart).
2003, probably worth iro £2k with just over 100k miles.
I get between 55mpg and 60mpg (has been upto 65 and down to 30) on a typical b-road run (only me on board and a boot that is full).
I would thoroughly recommend them, long life servicing makes sense of you do lots of miles (every service is an "A" but they can be 20k miles apart).
- Sport is a relative term... ...bigger alloys, nicer seats, leather wheel and carbon-look trim...
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