What cheap diesel?

[paps]

So this topic has been done before many times I'm sure but I'm looking for slightly left field options.
Two I've thought of are Alfa Romeo GT and Citroen C4 coupe. Both can be had with tractor units/manual 'box, both around 45mpg (owners correct me if this is not the case). Both can be had for between £3k-£4k at sensible mileage (c. 70k miles).
So what other cars fit the bill of being slightly unusual/fun/frugal/cheap to buy etc?
I'm not a badge snob so suggest anything genuinely interesting regardless of brand.
I'm doing 18k miles a years so derv is a necessity. As are back seats. I've looked at BMWs but too expensive for year/mileage/condition at this price.
Your thoughts?

[Slow]

Mk1 focus, tddi engine.

Had one as my first car, took a freaking beating and it still works fine.

Had a few issues for a while but were easy enough fixes.

[joema]

Alfa gt if I wanted a diesel in a car I liked. Potential trouble but fk it. It's a nice car

[paps]

joema said:

Alfa gt if I wanted a diesel in a car I liked. Potential trouble but fk it. It's a nice car

Cimertainly looks nice, inside and out.

[Condi]

Pug 306 estates. The HDi engines are very good and they can be had for £1k upwards depending on milage. Tbh even the high milers are nowhere near the end of their lives.

[anonymous-user]

Isn't the standard reply to this questions either of the following?

1)Volvo S60 D5
2)Anything with the VAG 1.9 TDi engine.

Personally I am also looking for a cheap diesel and am looking at either a VW Passat or a Skoda Octavia/Superb.

[iangex]

Condi said:

Pug 306 estates. The HDi engines are very good and they can be had for £1k upwards depending on milage. Tbh even the high milers are nowhere near the end of their lives.

I agree on all of these points (sub £1k is easily possible too, selling mine to a friend for a quarter of that shortly), however I wouldn't class it as interesting. Mine has been a great workhorse, and even at nearly 160k miles does not feel worn out but I wouldn't say it was all that interesting.

For me, it was the cheapest car to own. Insurance has been very cheap, parts are cheap, mpg is great and it has been reliable.

[Matt UK]

Passat Highline 1.9 130 tdi.

Good blend of comfort, kit, price, mpg, reliability and performance.

[paps]

Matt UK said:

Passat Highline 1.9 130 tdi.

Good blend of comfort, kit, price, mpg, reliability and performance.

Interesting and left field?

[Matt UK]

paps said:

Matt UK said:

Passat Highline 1.9 130 tdi.

Good blend of comfort, kit, price, mpg, reliability and performance.

Interesting and left field?

Ah, no - sorry about that.
More on the boring and predictable side of things I'm afraid, so not really what you are looking for. A pointless post

[Slow]

Matt UK said:

Passat Highline 1.9 130 tdi.

Good blend of comfort, kit, price, mpg, reliability and performance.

Might as well say golf/bora as well then?

They all have the same engine?

[talksthetalk]

Seeing as you're looking at coupés, how about a 407 coupe 2.7d GT
Lot of motor for the money.
It'll either float your boat or not.

Edited to replace the non-working link

Edited by talksthetalk on Sunday 24th March 13:50

[Matt UK]

Slow said:

Matt UK said:

Passat Highline 1.9 130 tdi.

Good blend of comfort, kit, price, mpg, reliability and performance.

Might as well say golf/bora as well then?

They all have the same engine?

Yeah, but I found the Passat to be a better long distance / worst B road car - so I guess it depends on what you want the car to do.

[Kitchski]

C4 Coupe if it's a VTS HDi. My dad has the Alfa GT and love it as I do, it just sounds wrong when it fires up. Would have been more interesting with the 2.4 5-pot motor.

C4 VTS is the only hot hatch I've driven where I think it would work better as a diesel. Sufficiently interesting inside and out....if I could get one for £2.5k - £3k in Iron Grey I'd be happy.

[Dr Doofenshmirtz]

Saab 93 tid?

[donaircooleone]

Peugeot 306 HDi is underrated.

The Alfa GT doesn't really seem to be that unreliable compared to most modern DERVs - and the 1.9 Fiat Diesel is pretty damn good.

[paps]

Had pug 306 with a 1.8 petrol. It was ok but the pugs are getting quite dated now.
The Saab is definitely left field and one I hadn't considered. Vauxhall vectra underneath?
I really like the look of the the Alfa GT but worry about the reliability a bit. One break down could wipe out the potential saving I make on running costs over my current car.

[BE57 TOY]

A cheap diesel won't be cheap if it goes wrong!

[paps]

BE57 TOY said:

A cheap diesel won't be cheap if it goes wrong!

Indeed.

[Condi]

BE57 TOY said:

A cheap diesel won't be cheap if it goes wrong!

I disagree with that. Its no more expensive than anything else really, 99% of bits on the car are common across petrol and diesel models and there are no bits of a diesel which are inherently going to need replacing aside from common service parts. Yes the fuel pump and injectors are expensive, but you can always get used parts and its not that usual for them to fail on a regular basis. The turbo again, is expensive if it goes, but except vag engines which have a known problem with the turbo there is no reason to suspect that the part will fail quicker than anything else on the car.

So far anything on my car which has broken has been general across all cars of the same model, not specific to the diesel version. Starter motor, wiring, windscreen wiper etc were relatively cheap fixes.