Mercedes vs Audi vs Volkswagen
Discussion
Hi peeps
Buying a new car in the next 3 months as the clutch is getting high on my a4 tdi and its the excuse to get a different car
I like: W203 merc C220/C270 CDI's, Audi A4 B6/A6 C5 (130 tdi 2002 onward), Volkswagen Passat B6 2.0 tdi's
Roughly upto £2500 to spend.
What would you pick and why?
Many thanks!
Buying a new car in the next 3 months as the clutch is getting high on my a4 tdi and its the excuse to get a different car
I like: W203 merc C220/C270 CDI's, Audi A4 B6/A6 C5 (130 tdi 2002 onward), Volkswagen Passat B6 2.0 tdi's
Roughly upto £2500 to spend.
What would you pick and why?
Many thanks!
Not the best period in Mercedes build quality - the old man had a couple. I'd have either the Audi or VW, had both, like all cars, can have 'known issues', at that age, buy on condition & service history.
The 1.9 is a solid slightly agricultural lump can have injector issues - never experienced them, sold a 1.9 tdi 130 with 185k on it all it had was services, still on original clutch - the most reliable car I've owned in 26 yrs of driving. I added 148k in just under 3 years.
The 2.0 tdi less agricultural, not as nice as the Audi overall, however still a nice place to be - only kept for 40k miles. Missus had issues with the turbo on two different (Golf 2.0tdi) company cars, both around 60k, limp mode, replaced.
The 1.9 is a solid slightly agricultural lump can have injector issues - never experienced them, sold a 1.9 tdi 130 with 185k on it all it had was services, still on original clutch - the most reliable car I've owned in 26 yrs of driving. I added 148k in just under 3 years.
The 2.0 tdi less agricultural, not as nice as the Audi overall, however still a nice place to be - only kept for 40k miles. Missus had issues with the turbo on two different (Golf 2.0tdi) company cars, both around 60k, limp mode, replaced.
With cars of this age and type I wouldn't set my heart on any one model, I'd buy the first one you see of any type that isn't a knackered nail. Most of the bargains in the £2000 - £2500 bracket are petrol engined cars with low mileage and a few careful owners, diesels like these will likely be well used and good ones hard to find. It's my least favourite bracket to shop in actually because it's too expensive to really consider totally disposable but cheap enough that the chances of there being something expensive lurking around the corner is high.
dme123 said:
With cars of this age and type I wouldn't set my heart on any one model, I'd buy the first one you see of any type that isn't a knackered nail. Most of the bargains in the £2000 - £2500 bracket are petrol engined cars with low mileage and a few careful owners, diesels like these will likely be well used and good ones hard to find. It's my least favourite bracket to shop in actually because it's too expensive to really consider totally disposable but cheap enough that the chances of there being something expensive lurking around the corner is high.
i do 14k a year. not buying a petrolcars1993 said:
i do 14k a year. not buying a petrol
Those cars will average 45mpg I'd imagine, whereas a comparable petrol might get 35mpg - 10mpg difference seems about right to me. At current fuel costs you can expect to save £400 a year with the diesel. Considering the sort of mileages and ages of cars you're going to be looking at for £2500 I would happily bet you £50 that over three years the faults and repairs you are likely to have to carry out on a £2500 diesel car vs a £2500 petrol one will mean you will save no more than £400 in three years, if you save anything at all.It really is worth busting out Excel and working out the actual likely running cost savings on these things before assuming the diesel will save you anything worth knowing about. 14k a year is only slightly above average mileage. I'd consider £33 a month not to have to drive a VAG PDI engined car to be a good deal, even if you don't consider likely repair costs.
14k a year be mad to get a diesel imo
I do 22k a year and struggled to justify my B7 A4 TDI around town hardly any better than a petrol only on a long run do you get decent MPG and even so probably only approx 10 - 15mpg more than a petrol equivalent. Also higher service costs more stuff to go wrong, diesel costs more and cars themsevles cost more to buy
Get a nice 1.8T A4 diesel one will be a leggy mess for that money whereas should get a nice clean petrol for £2.5k and may cost you an extra £50 a month in fuel at the most on 14k for a much nicer engine.
I own a Diesel A4 so by no means bias but only because I do a 200 mile round trip once/twice a week for 14k miles would always go for the petrol option as the TDI engine is slow and grumbly!
I do 22k a year and struggled to justify my B7 A4 TDI around town hardly any better than a petrol only on a long run do you get decent MPG and even so probably only approx 10 - 15mpg more than a petrol equivalent. Also higher service costs more stuff to go wrong, diesel costs more and cars themsevles cost more to buy
Get a nice 1.8T A4 diesel one will be a leggy mess for that money whereas should get a nice clean petrol for £2.5k and may cost you an extra £50 a month in fuel at the most on 14k for a much nicer engine.
I own a Diesel A4 so by no means bias but only because I do a 200 mile round trip once/twice a week for 14k miles would always go for the petrol option as the TDI engine is slow and grumbly!
ChasW said:
1.9Tdi. My old Quattro is going strong with nearly 200k on the clock.
Hehe every time I drive one with massive mileage I swear the noisy, clattery thing is hanging on just out of sheer spite. They can be ultra reliable, but unless you're a mini cabber surely the ability of the engine to reach moon mileages is not your absolute only priority?dme123 said:
Those cars will average 45mpg I'd imagine, whereas a comparable petrol might get 35mpg - 10mpg difference seems about right to me. At current fuel costs you can expect to save £400 a year with the diesel. Considering the sort of mileages and ages of cars you're going to be looking at for £2500 I would happily bet you £50 that over three years the faults and repairs you are likely to have to carry out on a £2500 diesel car vs a £2500 petrol one will mean you will save no more than £400 in three years, if you save anything at all.
It really is worth busting out Excel and working out the actual likely running cost savings on these things before assuming the diesel will save you anything worth knowing about. 14k a year is only slightly above average mileage. I'd consider £33 a month not to have to drive a VAG PDI engined car to be a good deal, even if you don't consider likely repair costs.
My current diesel does 53 mpg average. A 1.8 T is going to do about 35 mpg.It really is worth busting out Excel and working out the actual likely running cost savings on these things before assuming the diesel will save you anything worth knowing about. 14k a year is only slightly above average mileage. I'd consider £33 a month not to have to drive a VAG PDI engined car to be a good deal, even if you don't consider likely repair costs.
I want a diesel because of the torque & economy. Im not buying a petrol. Vag diesels are great mines got 245k. im selling it because i don't want to fork out on a clutch instead id rather put my money towards a newer car
cars1993 said:
My current diesel does 53 mpg average. A 1.8 T is going to do about 35 mpg.
I want a diesel because of the torque & economy. Im not buying a petrol. Vag diesels are great mines got 245k. im selling it because i don't want to fork out on a clutch instead id rather put my money towards a newer car
Yeah. Petrol cars don't have torque. I wish people would just say "I value driving something pleasant at less than an extra few hundred a year on fuel". I want a diesel because of the torque & economy. Im not buying a petrol. Vag diesels are great mines got 245k. im selling it because i don't want to fork out on a clutch instead id rather put my money towards a newer car
cars1993 said:
dme123 said:
Those cars will average 45mpg I'd imagine, whereas a comparable petrol might get 35mpg - 10mpg difference seems about right to me. At current fuel costs you can expect to save £400 a year with the diesel. Considering the sort of mileages and ages of cars you're going to be looking at for £2500 I would happily bet you £50 that over three years the faults and repairs you are likely to have to carry out on a £2500 diesel car vs a £2500 petrol one will mean you will save no more than £400 in three years, if you save anything at all.
It really is worth busting out Excel and working out the actual likely running cost savings on these things before assuming the diesel will save you anything worth knowing about. 14k a year is only slightly above average mileage. I'd consider £33 a month not to have to drive a VAG PDI engined car to be a good deal, even if you don't consider likely repair costs.
My current diesel does 53 mpg average. A 1.8 T is going to do about 35 mpg.It really is worth busting out Excel and working out the actual likely running cost savings on these things before assuming the diesel will save you anything worth knowing about. 14k a year is only slightly above average mileage. I'd consider £33 a month not to have to drive a VAG PDI engined car to be a good deal, even if you don't consider likely repair costs.
I want a diesel because of the torque & economy. Im not buying a petrol. Vag diesels are great mines got 245k. im selling it because i don't want to fork out on a clutch instead id rather put my money towards a newer car
50mpg Diesel @14k miles = 280 Gallons = £1,620 per year
Talking £50 per month that's f
k all considering fact the petrol are cheaper to service and maintain and less change of throwing up a big bill.Also the petrol is plenty torquey enough I own a 1.8 Golf GTI and a Audi A4 2.0 TDI trust me the 1.8 Golf is by far the nicer engine I got 32mpg on that currently get 48mpg in mine the 1.8T would leave the diesel for dead in a straight line.
Only reason I got one as said is do 25k+ miles a year mainly motorway miles for 14k I think you would need to be not stable in the head to get a tractor engine.
If you are obsessed that it has to be a diesel but you're only doing low mileage why don't you consider a 5 or 6 cylinder one? The difference between a diesel 4 pot and 6 pot is far greater than between a good petrol 4 pot and 6 pot, and they can actually be genuinely nice engines to drive.
They are also somewhat less likely to have been run into the ground on a shoestring by skinflints than the usual minicabber 4 pot 2 litre stuff selling for £2k. I've no experience of the VAG 6 cylinder diesels but I know the Mercedes straight six and V6 diesels are very good, as are the BMW straight sixes. You'll still get 40mpg or more.
They are also somewhat less likely to have been run into the ground on a shoestring by skinflints than the usual minicabber 4 pot 2 litre stuff selling for £2k. I've no experience of the VAG 6 cylinder diesels but I know the Mercedes straight six and V6 diesels are very good, as are the BMW straight sixes. You'll still get 40mpg or more.
Had the same quandry a few years ago, looked at a few Mercedes and decided against, I chose a late MK4 golf tdi 130 over the various VAG 2.0tdi variants , did 25+k a year for threes years serviced it myself for all 75k, it only went to a Local garage for MOT's and rear bushes £120 if I remember rightly, it was the most fit for purpose car i have ever bought, i bought a late e46 330d auto for the same purpose in Feb... Doh !
dme123 said:
If you are obsessed that it has to be a diesel but you're only doing low mileage why don't you consider a 5 or 6 cylinder one? The difference between a diesel 4 pot and 6 pot is far greater than between a good petrol 4 pot and 6 pot, and they can actually be genuinely nice engines to drive.
They are also somewhat less likely to have been run into the ground on a shoestring by skinflints than the usual minicabber 4 pot 2 litre stuff selling for £2k. I've no experience of the VAG 6 cylinder diesels but I know the Mercedes straight six and V6 diesels are very good, as are the BMW straight sixes. You'll still get 40mpg or more.
+1 They are also somewhat less likely to have been run into the ground on a shoestring by skinflints than the usual minicabber 4 pot 2 litre stuff selling for £2k. I've no experience of the VAG 6 cylinder diesels but I know the Mercedes straight six and V6 diesels are very good, as are the BMW straight sixes. You'll still get 40mpg or more.
Cylinder count is as important as fuel in a lot cars. A bit 4 cyl petrol is less enjoyable than a good 6 cyl diesel.
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