Just another what car thread, with a difference.

[mattuk89]

Hi all, been reading this forum for a long time now, and made an account quite recently, so thought i would post my first thread, as i have noticed you are a helpfull bunch.

Selling my BMW 330ci at the moment, i do love the car, but i just fancy a change, and 20mpg around town does get boring after a while, as i only do shortish journeys most days, im hoping to get around £4500-£5000 for it, its a 53 plate with 93k, fsh, mot tax etc, but anyways not trying to sell the car, just asking for advice on my next one.

I have been looking at the Astra 1.9cdti 150 sport hatches for a while now, and they are slowly dropping into my price range, i know most people will say dont bother with a diesel for short journeys etc, but i am planning on moving house next jan/feb, and dont know how far i will be from work, it still wont be further than a 10 mile commute though. The main reason in my head for getting a diesel, is i want to go more places at the weekend with the missus, and the big old 3.0 litre does stop me doing this, im not on the best money at the moment, so chucking money away on petrol isnt the best idea, even if the saving is 50 a month, its 50 quid spent on other things, and i know about the turbo issues and DMF, and EGR etc that you can associtate with a diesel, and that would wipe the savings straight away, but a chipped astra with 200bhp, and still returning 35mpg around town does sound good.

I dont really fancy a small engined petrol car, after 3 years with big engined BMW's i feel i would miss the power, even though i would be saving money, and as easy it would be to go and buy a 1.4/1.6 astra, i just cant do it to myself.

Other diesels would be the typical a3/gt tdi, something with 140bhp+


Now my other option is not spend all of the money, buy a small semi quick car, that will be a bit cheaper to run, and cheaper on parts, clio 172/182, type r, etc, quite liking civic type r's at the moment, but auto trader says only 23 mpg urban, surely it cant be that bad if you stay out of VTEC on the commute, and then i still got the vtec when i want to have a play.

I could keep the BMW, and afford to move out, but it's just if something goes wrong, it would wipe all the money i have saved that month, and with the initial cost of moving out, money wont be the best anyway.

Maybe i should just stay out the of the pub

Thanks for reading, and i look forward to your insight.

[mattuk89]

nooone?

[PaperCut]

Have you driven an Astra? I think you'll get pretty bored with it pretty quickly. Even chipped.

I'm not going to go into the diesel/petrol debate, so if you say diesel then fine, but you can do a lot better than an Astra. For starters; BMW 320Cd/330Cd? or the saloon or even 320Td Compact as they're cheaper?

Even a 120d?!

If you want to move away from BMWs, there's also;

Alfa GT / 147 1.9 JTD 150 (same engine as Astra, but a lot more interesting car)

Merc C220 CDi Sport Coupe or CLK 270?

Ford Mondeo ST TDCi

Seat Leon FR TDi 150

[the stigs dad]

If you want a boring and slow diesel that sounds like a tractor look at a honda civic type s.

[sjc]

Whats the difference in value between your 330 and the Astra?

[kayzee]

Is that slightly optimistic with the value of your car? I don't know that much about them but just seen a 330Ci Sport on another thread with 107k miles, manual, FSH etc. going for under £2,500.

[mattuk89]

PaperCut said:

Have you driven an Astra? I think you'll get pretty bored with it pretty quickly. Even chipped.

I'm not going to go into the diesel/petrol debate, so if you say diesel then fine, but you can do a lot better than an Astra. For starters; BMW 320Cd/330Cd? or the saloon or even 320Td Compact as they're cheaper?

Even a 120d?!

If you want to move away from BMWs, there's also;

Alfa GT / 147 1.9 JTD 150 (same engine as Astra, but a lot more interesting car)

Merc C220 CDi Sport Coupe or CLK 270?

Ford Mondeo ST TDCi

Seat Leon FR TDi 150

Not driven the astra, but been passenger and don't find it that bad at all, main reason for putting an astra was because i like the looks of it, will proberly get bored of it, but the thing is im trying to be sensible, but still want slight power when needed, hence why im not looking at a petrol under 2.0

320cd/330cd are basically what i have already got albeit with a diff engine, so would try to stay away, just for the change, the other suggestions ill take on board, and have already looked at a few of them before.

the stigs dad said:

If you want a boring and slow diesel that sounds like a tractor look at a honda civic type s.

I drive a boring slow diesel van, that sounds like a tractor all day at work, so another few hours in a car wouldn't bother me too much, but i do know what you mean, hence why i asked for suggestions like the type r etc, i don't mind getting another quick petrol, but i want better than 20mpg, and not have to fork out £180 for tyres etc.

sjc said:

Whats the difference in value between your 330 and the Astra?

Privatly, i would say there is not much in it all, i would only be looking at a 2005/2006 astra sri. If i was to P/X i would have to pay on top of the bmw, which i wouldn't do.

kayzee said:

Is that slightly optimistic with the value of your car? I don't know that much about them but just seen a 330Ci Sport on another thread with 107k miles, manual, FSH etc. going for under £2,500.

Just going by what i seen on ebay/ autotrader, seen a fair few more the same year with higher miles going for more, already been offered £3800 and £4000 for it, but holding out for more. The facelift ones do seem to hold their value, but as i said, im hopiing for 4.5-5, it doesn't mean i will get it.

[SuperchargedVR6]

mattuk89 said:

a chipped astra with 200bhp, and still returning 35mpg around town does sound good.

But a completely different power band and driving experience.

This is the problem a lot of petrol owners face when going diesel. They read on the internet about dieselers making 4000lbft torque and returning 500mpg. It's horseschitt. Drive a diesel in the real world for a week and you will want your BMW back. I guarantee it.

If anything, consider changing to a BMW 330d instead. At least you'll retain 90% of your old car's refinement.

[mattuk89]

SuperchargedVR6 said:

But a completely different power band and driving experience.

This is the problem a lot of petrol owners face when going diesel. They read on the internet about dieselers making 4000lbft torque and returning 500mpg. It's horseschitt. Drive a diesel in the real world for a week and you will want your BMW back. I guarantee it.

If anything, consider changing to a BMW 330d instead. At least you'll retain 90% of your old car's refinement.

As above, i drive a van all day for a living, so i know what its like, and what the powerband is like, and as much as i would like a 330d, and was very tempted to buy one before i got the 330ci, the same cost for parts if i bought a sport, make it not worth while for me. If i was to get a diesel bmw, it would be a 320d SE.