S-Max - twist or stick?
S-Max - twist or stick?
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Discussion

xcentric

Original Poster:

746 posts

249 months

Wednesday 12th December 2012
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Currently running a 2.0 TDCi 2006 which is on 110k miles, and is now blowing smoke at the rear, so needs the turbo looking at.

Quite happy with the car, but wondering if it's going to be better to sell this and get a new/er one, or whether we should just fix this and continue to run it. A new (or s/h) one would run to about £400pcm (mostly, there's just more to pay in the final pcp payment plus a few £10's pcm difference). The current one is paid for, and if I knew it would run for 200-250k miles, I'd continue it without a thought - but am concerned that many, many things will start to go in the next few months. Last service was close to £1k, and so this the turbo will be another chunk on top of that.....

Views on how much the turbo should be to fix/recondition/repair, and whether the common rail injector system is likely to fail soon (and if it's a big ££ problem) would be welcome.

Apart from the smoking, the transmission, suspension and rest of the car seems fine - so I'd rather keep it, but just don't want to start throwing money down a potential pit if I'd be better off replacing it about now.....



Anyone with experience on this?

Twin Turbo

5,544 posts

296 months

Thursday 13th December 2012
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Turbo replacement on Mrs TT's Mk2 Galaxy was circa £1600 (it failed at about 150k miles).

Seems to me most TD engines will require a turbo replacement between 100-150k miles, which makes buying an older one a bit of a gamble (and it's why I went for a petrol 330i over a diesel when I bought my BMW).

If you can afford the payments on a new one, go for it. Otherwise, just be prepared to keep putting your hand in your pocket to keep the S-Max going.





Pablo16v

2,935 posts

227 months

Thursday 13th December 2012
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Unless you really want a new S-Max I’d say you’d be mad to get rid of a car you owe nothing on for an almost identical one that is going to cost circa £4,800 / year in loans or finance. However, if you do decide to go for a new one may I recommend the 2.0t Ecoboost 240bhp version……my wife has one and it has really amazed me with it's mix of performance and practicality.

rallycross

13,757 posts

267 months

Thursday 13th December 2012
quotequote all
Plenty of smax out there now getting towards 200k miles with fsh.

Turbo is easy to fix get your local Garage to take it off and send it to someone like turbo developments for an exchange unit.
Get a quote from turbo developments, have been using them for a few years and never had a problem with any of their turbos (have replaced vw, audi, bmw, ford, vauxhall, mitsubishi, fiat).

You will also get a 12m warranty from them.

They are mainly used by the trade which means good prices/good service.

http://www.turbodevelopments.co.uk/index.php

tel 0208 560 3927

jason61c

5,978 posts

204 months

Thursday 13th December 2012
quotequote all
Thats some twisted man maths!

New/recon turbo about £1k fitted for £4.8k a year for the next few years. Even if you paid 4k to keep this car going in a year you'd be better off.