25, need advice on sub 2k fairly economical nippy Diesel!

[Mcluvinyamom]

Hi, I have a bit of a dilemma, I'm in the market for an economical, nippy diesel. I feel I have looked at all of my options but would really like some input from pistonheads with a bit more experience. My daily driving needs change weekly, I'm a student so during term time money is tight but over the summer I can earn a few pennies for mods, a remap and suspension adjustments. I like the figures of the golf gttdi mk iv but I've read some pretty bad reviews about chucking them into corners and not getting much back. I've toyed with the idea of an Astra 150 but they have expensive reliability problems. I can't picture myself in a skoda, and an a3 appears to be very expensive to fix and service when things go wrong,
Ideally I don't want to spend more than 1500 so obviously I'm looking at high mileage.

During the summer I do 350 miles per week, during term time this will decrease dramatically to maybe 80 at the most, last year I treated myself to an mgf vvc 160 which I loved but due to the age it went wrong often and became expensive, fast.

Throw some ideas my way, I will be very greatfull!

Insurance isn't to much of an issue due to just turning 25, anything sub 10 sec 0-60 would be ideal and the higher mpg the better.

Thanks for the advice !

[Mcluvinyamom]

Please?

[Mcluvinyamom]

That is a good shout! Although, I have a lead foot and I can imagine that I wouldn't be able to hold back in something like that, and its big and heavy haha.

[Mcluvinyamom]

It's not just the badge, I appreciate the reliability and get the 130 engine in a polo chassis but I just can't seem to get over the look of the car 😂. Thanks for the suggestions guys.

[Mcluvinyamom]

That upsets me.

[Mcluvinyamom]

For 4 months of the year I can drive up to my grandads in cheshire and service the car myself (he will do it and I will "help") so as long as it doesn't blow up in the time I'm at university I should be fine. As long as nothing major goes wrong while in 250 miles away I should be o.k.
I'm leaning towards a high mileage Honda Accord 2.2 diesel or an a3.

[Mcluvinyamom]

I really appreciate the suggestions, I couldn't handle the colts image.

[Mcluvinyamom]

What what do you guys think about the ford mondeo st 150?

[Mcluvinyamom]

I haven't seen anything that screams " buy me now!!!" So il keep looking, I'm literally addicted to finding new cars lol

[Mcluvinyamom]

I would love the 147 it's a beaut, do they suffer with reliability issues?

[Mcluvinyamom]

Why would I spend 2k on something I don't want? I can be as picky as I like.

[Mcluvinyamom]

What about a civic diesel 2.2 with 140k and fsh? Are they expensive to maintain?