Diesel hatchback ideas £3500 and under

[Speed Badger]

Hi all, Miss Badger's son is off to university and it's about an hour's motorway drive each way and needs a car (just in general as well as for uni). His grandfather has kindly offered him £1500 towards a car, but on the proviso it be a diesel as he says it will be more economical and last longer (his words). He won't be doing much pootling around in towns or stop-start traffic and his friends live about 45 mins the other way up the motorway, so will be mostly longer journeys.

I know nothing about diesels, so just looking for ideas for a decent reliable diesel hatchback-sized car that would be suitable in style for a young person, be cheap to run and capable on the motorway.

Cheers

[Drezza]

1.9TDI Fabia vRS

They're mostly abused dogs these days so would need to find a good one, but they're great if you can get a un-abused standard one.

[waynecyclist]

Honda Civic, for that budget you should get a really nice one

[Largechris]

Focus mk2

[whytheory]

Drezza said:

1.9TDI Fabia vRS

Or any other SKODA/SEAT/VW/AUDI with that engine, preferably not the later 105 bhp, in-fact as a general rule the older the better with diesels IMO.

[codenamecueball]

whytheory said:

Or any other SKODA/SEAT/VW/AUDI with that engine, preferably not the later 105 bhp, in-fact as a general rule the older the better with diesels IMO.

As long as the town/city the University is in hasn't got a low emission zone planned.

[GT911]

I’d be having a word with his grandfather about the whole cheap diesel thing. It sounds to me like he is out of touch with what’s happening to rid the roads of these over the next 5 years or so, particularly in urban areas.

Where is the University?

It might end up being more of a punishment than a present.

[blue_haddock]

Drezza said:

1.9TDI Fabia vRS

They're mostly abused dogs these days so would need to find a good one, but they're great if you can get a un-abused standard one.

Good luck finding one thats not been abused or with moon mileage!

My money would be on something like a toyota auris, which generally will have lead an easier life than a fabia vrs and almost certainly more reliable too.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109287...

[Drezza]

blue_haddock said:

Good luck finding one thats not been abused or with moon mileage!

Seen a few sub 100k totally standard ones pop up on the Facebook groups recently for under 3k, can suss the sellers out on Facebook too which is handy...

[Speed Badger]

Thank for the replies so far. His grandfather is the kind of person that gets an idea in his head and gets the blinkers on! I should add that my other half's son is not a car person in the slightest, so doesn't need to be sporty or anything like that, just something reliable that looks decent and vaguely youthful.

What about a 2011 era Ford Fiesta 1.4 TDCi?

[whytheory]

blue_haddock said:

Good luck finding one thats not been abused or with moon mileage!

My money would be on something like a toyota auris, which generally will have lead an easier life than a fabia vrs and almost certainly more reliable too.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202109287...

That's a good shout

[georgeyboy12345]

No, don't get a diesel. Bad idea. At this price point will be unreliable and he'll most likely be financially penalised with upcoming clean air zones, etc. Find the £1500 elsewhere if grandad isn't on board.

Here are some sensible suggestions

Fiat Punto 1.4 8v
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101117...


Renault Clio 1.2 Dynamique
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110158...


Hyundai i20 1.2 Active
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202105243...


Alfa Romeo MiTo TwinAir
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110108...


Suzuki Swift 1.2 SZ3
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202108306...

[GT911]

There's a very good chance that a £3500 diesel will be worth the square root of naff all in 5 years.

Neither do I agree with the view that a diesel will last longer, if anything, the higher compression can lead to more significant and expensive problems.

Any fuel savings will be completely wiped out by depreciation, borkage allowance, parking/access restriction issues, road tax 'incentives' and the like.

Get pop to read and contribute to this thread if he won't listen to you!

Is the uni is in a typical uni town?

[stevemcs]

I would be looking for an Up, Mii, Citygo or Hyundai i10, all will hit 50mpg on a run, be cheap to own, peanuts to service and have a lot less to go wrong over a 12 year old diesel.

[Speed Badger]

Yes my own suggestions were of that ilk - 1.4 ish ,petrol Mazda 2, VW Polo, Vauxhall Corsa, Seat Ibiza, Ford Fiesta etc. Just this diesel 'incentive' comes with £1500!

I said to him an older diesel could be problematic and that they are going down the pan in the coming years but he won't have it. I thanked him for the offer and said we can find a quite a few well-looked after petrol examples and he said their offer only applied to diesels. I asked why, and he said because they will last longer and he is willing to invest in a car for him that will undoubtedly last longer than a petrol car.

[imck]

First Gen of Kia Ceed Diesel are pretty good.
I had one for commuting. Passed on to a Colleague. Still going well at 200K with very few problems.
Drives OK. Lots of room in it. Practical sums it up.

The 3 Door ProCeed might be more appealing.

[dmsims]

Speed Badger said:

Yes my own suggestions were of that ilk - 1.4 ish ,petrol Mazda 2, VW Polo, Vauxhall Corsa, Seat Ibiza, Ford Fiesta etc. Just this diesel 'incentive' comes with £1500!

I said to him an older diesel could be problematic and that they are going down the pan in the coming years but he won't have it. I thanked him for the offer and said we can find a quite a few well-looked after petrol examples and he said their offer only applied to diesels. I asked why, and he said because they will last longer and he is willing to invest in a car for him that will undoubtedly last longer than a petrol car.

Is he going to make him smoke as well ?

[Largechris]

GT911 said:

There's a very good chance that a £3500 diesel will be worth the square root of naff all in 5 years.

Neither do I agree with the view that a diesel will last longer, if anything, the higher compression can lead to more significant and expensive problems.

Any fuel savings will be completely wiped out by depreciation, borkage allowance, parking/access restriction issues, road tax 'incentives' and the like.

Get pop to read and contribute to this thread if he won't listen to you!

Is the uni is in a typical uni town?

Although I don't agree with Grandad's premise, a 5 year timescale is optimistic for any £3500 car, either from the terminal borkage or trading up point of view.

If I can get to 18 months with my shed / tip car I will be in gravy after that lol.

[GT911]

Investing in a diesel, righto.

Edited by GT911 on Monday 18th October 14:12

[Gin and Ultrasonic]

A small petrol for £3495 and a TDI badge for £5 off eBay