Diesel Cars

[alansmith7]

Hi All

I will be upgrading my car due to a diesel car because i do a lot mileage and i feel i can get more out of money by getting a diesel car.

Im willing to pay upto 3k but i have been looking at audi a4 tdi and audi a3 tdi.

I wanted to know which diesel cars are realiable ?

Thanks

[amusingduck]

How much mileage is "a lot"?

[alansmith7]

i do about 20 to 30k a year due to motorway mileage because of work

[spats]

in the A4 I would stick with the 1.9TDI.

They aren't infallible but in our family we have 3 cars powered by the 1.9tdi and so far the engines been fine in all of them. Ones 180k, ones 160k the other is my a4 which is on 140k.

I would go for the 6 speed 130bhp model myself. Make sure you look into the plenum area under the bonnet where the battery is to check for it filling with water as the drains can get blocked. This can cause water to get under the carpets in the car itself and show up as electrical gremlins such as poor remote locking range, electric windows failing etc. Also the a4 front suspension is quite complex so make sure theres no noises from the front end.

[Devil2575]

If you need to do 20-30k a year then i'd be looking to spend more than 3k on a car. Is this all commuting or is some of it business miles?

[alansmith7]

its business but i do use my car personally as well. the business wont provide me with a company but they do pay me for petrol allowances

[alansmith7]

spats said:

in the A4 I would stick with the 1.9TDI.

They aren't infallible but in our family we have 3 cars powered by the 1.9tdi and so far the engines been fine in all of them. Ones 180k, ones 160k the other is my a4 which is on 140k.

I would go for the 6 speed 130bhp model myself. Make sure you look into the plenum area under the bonnet where the battery is to check for it filling with water as the drains can get blocked. This can cause water to get under the carpets in the car itself and show up as electrical gremlins such as poor remote locking range, electric windows failing etc. Also the a4 front suspension is quite complex so make sure theres no noises from the front end.

have you had any problems with the fly wheel? this would be the first diesel i buy so im a bit vary about this.

[CraigyMc]

alansmith7 said:

spats said:

in the A4 I would stick with the 1.9TDI.

They aren't infallible but in our family we have 3 cars powered by the 1.9tdi and so far the engines been fine in all of them. Ones 180k, ones 160k the other is my a4 which is on 140k.

I would go for the 6 speed 130bhp model myself. Make sure you look into the plenum area under the bonnet where the battery is to check for it filling with water as the drains can get blocked. This can cause water to get under the carpets in the car itself and show up as electrical gremlins such as poor remote locking range, electric windows failing etc. Also the a4 front suspension is quite complex so make sure theres no noises from the front end.

have you had any problems with the fly wheel? this would be the first diesel i buy so im a bit vary about this.

Plenty of modern petrol cars have dual mass flywheels, as well as the diesels.

[alansmith7]

CraigyMc said:

Plenty of modern petrol cars have dual mass flywheels, as well as the diesels.

on diesel cars do the flywheel need to be changed often?

as you might know i dont much about diesel cars

[anonymous-user]

Late 2003 onwards Volvo S60 D5. Apply the usual used car rules and you should be able to find a very nice one in budget, and you won't find anything more reliable and comfortable for what you need at the same sort of price. The engine is in another league to the robust but nasty 1.9 in the Audi.

Some other suggestions here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=2&a...

Edited by dme123 on Monday 5th January 16:09

[CraigyMc]

alansmith7 said:

CraigyMc said:

Plenty of modern petrol cars have dual mass flywheels, as well as the diesels.

on diesel cars do the flywheel need to be changed often?

as you might know i dont much about diesel cars

On anything with a dual mass flywheel, a failed clutch can break the DMF, resulting in the need to replace both of them. It's not a diesel specific thing, I had it happen on a 1998 petrol BMW (well, in fact it turned out that the DMF was fine, but that's another story).

If the clutch goes the best thing to do on a car with a DMF is to have it recovered. Doing that will stop the DMF from getting damaged. It's when folk try to drive the car after the clutch has worn out that the DMF tends to get broken.

It's not the first thing I'd worry about, in fact it's not something I'd worry about at all.

[Devil2575]

alansmith7 said:

its business but i do use my car personally as well. the business wont provide me with a company but they do pay me for petrol allowances

How much do you get? 44p/mile?

[alansmith7]

dme123 said:

Late 2003 onwards Volvo S60 D5. Apply the usual used car rules and you should be able to find a very nice one in budget, and you won't find anything more reliable and comfortable for what you need at the same sort of price. The engine is in another league to the robust but nasty 1.9 in the Audi.

Some other suggestions here:
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=2&a...

Edited by dme123 on Monday 5th January 16:09

funny you should mention the s60 i was looking at the before but i have never paid attention to volvos before. but i will have a look around the s60

[alansmith7]

CraigyMc said:

On anything with a dual mass flywheel, a failed clutch can break the DMF, resulting in the need to replace both of them. It's not a diesel specific thing, I had it happen on a 1998 petrol BMW (well, in fact it turned out that the DMF was fine, but that's another story).

If the clutch goes the best thing to do on a car with a DMF is to have it recovered. Doing that will stop the DMF from getting damaged. It's when folk try to drive the car after the clutch has worn out that the DMF tends to get broken.

It's not the first thing I'd worry about, in fact it's not something I'd worry about at all.

what would be one of the first thing you would look at when buying a diesel car?

[alansmith7]

Devil2575 said:

How much do you get? 44p/mile?

i get paid 46p per mile

Edited by alansmith7 on Monday 5th January 16:44

[Mr2Mike]

CraigyMc said:

Plenty of modern petrol cars have dual mass flywheels, as well as the diesels.

But petrol engines don't give DMF's the pounding that diesels do, so they tend to be more reliable in petrols.

[mikal83]

Mr2Mike said:

But petrol engines don't give DMF's the pounding that diesels do, so they tend to be more reliable in petrols.

Here we go again...............

[CraigyMc]

alansmith7 said:

CraigyMc said:

On anything with a dual mass flywheel, a failed clutch can break the DMF, resulting in the need to replace both of them. It's not a diesel specific thing, I had it happen on a 1998 petrol BMW (well, in fact it turned out that the DMF was fine, but that's another story).

If the clutch goes the best thing to do on a car with a DMF is to have it recovered. Doing that will stop the DMF from getting damaged. It's when folk try to drive the car after the clutch has worn out that the DMF tends to get broken.

It's not the first thing I'd worry about, in fact it's not something I'd worry about at all.

what would be one of the first thing you would look at when buying a diesel car?

If I was doing 30000 miles a year in anything, I'd be looking at it like this:

• I average about 42mph in total (includes all those 30 limits, sitting in traffic, at lights etc etc. You'll find most people are in a similar range)
• 30000 miles at 42mph is about 714 hours.
• That's about 100 working days of 7 hour drives, plus whatever you actually do for a living.
• I'd be interested in making sure I wasn't being physically damaged by whatever I ended up in.
• I'd want something I was comfortable in that wouldn't make me tired, and work outwards from there.

I buy cars based on what they are for, and how good they will be at the job. I haven't had a budget like yours in many years.

My current car is a 2011 BMW 320d ED (used mostly for business) - I do about 18K per year give or take, and have been the only driver of the car since new, although it started life as my company car and I bought it at the end of its period in my hands.

If I had just £3K to spend on a car for what you're doing I'd be in something big-ish and decent at doing motorways: Mondeo, that sort of thing.
As for what sort of Mondeo[or volvo/whatever/similar] to buy, there are people on here with far more information on them than I have.
If you're worried about it going bang, get a warranty for it (eg. AA parts and labour warranty - is up to 100K on the odometer and up to 10 years at the point of starting cover). It's something like £100 to warranty a car like that for a year.

[JQ]

alansmith7 said:

Devil2575 said:

How much do you get? 44p/mile?

i get paid 46 per mile

at 40mpg fuel costs will be circa 13p per mile, leaving 33p to pay for the running costs of the car, which at 25,000 mile per year equates to £8,250 per year. If reliability is a big issue, why not spend a bit more on the car. £25,000 over 3 years would easily see you in a reliable modern car.

Get a more modern car capable of 60mpg on the motorway and your fuel costs should reduce by circa £1,150 per annum, so spending a bit more at the outset may make savings in the long term, particularly if the older car needs money spending on it to keep it on the road.

If the £3k budget is fixed then I'd be looking at the VAG 1.9 Tdi or the Volvo already mentioned - buy on condition.

[R2T2]

Mr2Mike said:

But petrol engines don't give DMF's the pounding that diesels do, so they tend to be more reliable in petrols.

I somehow doubt that. The DMF in my car failed hideously at 57k, the clutch was less than half worn when it was replaced.
Mine "only" has 120hp, 155lb-ft