Thanks Graham I meant the TDi.
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Focus TDi? The early ones?
Slow, not especially frugal, and generally a pretty unrefined engine IMHO.
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£5k won't get you Seat Leon, old Toledo diesel yes, but not Leon. They are relatively too new and too VW priced to fall to £5k in 3 years.
Saab 2.2 TiD is a fine car, high spec, well put together, engine is good except few niggles. The weak point is air mass meter, often packs up leaving car annoyingly slow and turbo laggy, costs £180 to replace. Fuel lines and injector gaskets are known to let air in causing starting problems when parked up hill. But once again, you won't find fine example of 2.2 TiD for £5k...
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You would get a late model Xantia for that, or less. You may even find an early C5 for between £5k and £6K (they are OK if they have had all the known faults sorted out).
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I forgot to add that there will be plenty of Xsaras around for that price, with the HDI engine.
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Thanks for the replies
Seen quite a few Leon's diesels around the 5k mark, I think I will have a look at the Saab and test drive.
What about Alfa 156 JTD are they reliable ?
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Shan wrote:
Seen quite a few Leon's diesels around the 5k mark, I think I will have a look at the Saab and test drive.
I still doubt you can find Leon TDI for £5k. Just to give you example - if you use autotrader feature on the left hand side, there is only one advertised below £5000 and only two Leon TDI's below £5500 nationwide. Only two out of 196 advertised. My bet is if you can find Leon TDi on private second hand market for £5k it will be absolute stray with starship mileage and pile of fuel bills and receipts for new wipers treated as "service history". If someone sells car for less money than it's worth as trade back to dealer or straight part exchange you have to ask yourself why.
Saab 9-3 TiD is a great car. When you take it for test drive check for acceleration below 3000 on torque meter. TiD normally does 0 to 60 in 10 seconds, it has plenty of low torque power and it should feel like it has absolutely no problem leaving most cars behind on traffic lights. If you feel its lagging and slow and it pulls only when engine is working hard it's almost certainly air mass meter. It's a short unit that looks like corrugated hose just behind the air filter, easy to replace, but costs between £150 and £180 from dealership. Force seller to adjust price accordingly...
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Reasonable looking early Ford Galaxy/VW Sharan/Seat Alhambras are have dipped below the £5K level. A bit big, maybe, but useful cars and the 1.9 TDI ones are pretty economical too - 40 mpg but some people claim nearer 50. I've driven several Galaxies and really liked them. I'm thinking of getting an early Sharan/Alhambra TDI rather than a Galaxy - not so much a case of badge snobbery, more to do with the neater grille and lights.
Cheers, Sofa Spud
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What about Alfa 156 JTD are they reliable ?
You'll get 40mpg all day long from the 2.4JTD. I have had a breakdown in mine at around 40,000miles when the flywheel sensor decided to play up and tell the ECU that I was doing 8000rpm and not 4000rpm. They can also suffer from MAF failure if the air filter isn't correctly replaced. The 156, in common with current VAG cars, uses a hot film MAF which is susceptible to contamination if the filter isn't replaced when due or is replaced incorrectly, allowing dirty air past the filter. This applies to many modern TDs but the particular filter housing on the 156 seems to exacerbate the issue.
All 156 models suffer from suspension bush wear. Just as the Passat has a problem with front wishbones, the 156 can go through rear bushes every 30,000 if driven enthusiastically. Front ones can also go, but tend to last closer to 60,000.
I'm an enthusiastic owner/driver of a 2000 156 2.4JTD SW. You can find more info here in the Car-By-Car breakdown or for specifics try www.alfaowner.com and head for the forum and the 147/156 pages.
No Dosh - Backroom Moderator
mailto:moderators@honestjohn.co.uk
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I find that incredible! Are you sure your trip computer is working ok or have you done brim to brim checks? Are these 1.9's really that good?
I've never had a Passat but if they give that sort of economy then I shall get one.
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I've rented two VW TDis in my time, both of them less than 6 months old.
I drove 400 miles in the Golf - brim to brim it gave 66 mpg (!) on a 90% motorway run and the Sharan gave about 48 mpg on a 500 mile journey that was entirely motorway.
The Golf was a 90 bhp, 51 plate and the Sharan a 115 bhp X plater.
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>>I've never had a Passat but if they give that sort of economy then I shall get one.
I had one for 3 years, 80,000 miles and it was capable of that sort of economy provided you drove it with a very light foot and didn't push it over 70 mph. During the fuel shortages I managed 69mpg on a run from Ludlow to Windsor sticking to the town and rural speed limits and 65mph on the motorways. Boring but can't knock it. Normal brisk driving gave me 45 to 50 mpg. Our current HDi Picasso returns low 40's which is only 5mpg or so better than my Mondeo 2 litre petrol.
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Have to agree that the VAG TDi is capable of excellent fuel economy without compromising on the engine power - I have a Leon and a Passat with the TDi engine and both average in the mid-fifties with plenty of enthusiastic driving.
For £5k, you may well be able to get an early Rover 75 - 1999/2000. It would probably be one of the lower spec ones though, unless you get one with a lot of miles on the clock. Some Passats are available for that money as well, although it may be a 1998 model. Alternatively, look at 8-10 year old BMW 5-Series or Mercs - the mileage may be well in excess of 100k, but the cars are well-built and a good one that's been well-looked after will last over 300k.
--
andymc
Vroom, vroom - mmm, doughnuts ...
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Rubbish!
Focus / Mondeo TDCi's are just as economical as equivalent VW group models under the same conditions not to mention being much, much more refined and generaly better handling. If you get 65mpg from a Passat you are doing well, you obviously have an economical driving style and experience favourable road conditions however you would get the same or more out of a TDCi 115 or 130 under the same circumstances.
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Not so I'm afraid!
I've managed 78mpg on the Passat heading from Reading to Bristol at 60mph on cruise control. Focus hire car managed 61 last week -the Ford's have a reputation for relatively poor consumption for diesels although there exceptions.
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78 mpg - Is this a trip readout display or your own calculation? if the former i wouldnt ever trust the cars computer and if the latter i would suggest you recheck your sums...
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Don't be too hasty, 78mpg was my record in a Golf 90bhp TDI. Recorded over 500 miles driving in France over 10 years ago. It was my first diesel and checked the mileage every fill. And I brimmed the tank toensure accurate readings. Never got near it again, but low 60s were common.
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Ford's have a reputation for relatively poor consumption for diesels >>
Where do you get this idea from, a VW dealer perhaps, tosh!
Perhaps going back four years plus the VW group diesels were more efficient (they launched the "PD" technology before Ford went common rail) i.e in the days of the 115ps PD 115 Golf v the 90ps TDDi 90 Focus (that being said the TDDi Mondeo competed very well with the PD 115 Passat). However today's common rail Ford diesels are every bit as efficient as their rivals and lot more refined than most.
I have never tried such a distance at 60 mph on cruise control to see what sort of MPG is possible, reckon would rather pay the extra few pence and save 15 or 20 mins off the journey. However until a year or so ago I did a regular 280 mile round trip in my Mondeo TDCi 130, Somerset to London, 20 odd miles of back roads, 85mph on cruise up the M4, usually lots of stop and start around Slough, Heston etc. I could easily average 50 mpg. From experience, though I have not measured it, I reckon a Passat PD 130 would do about the same though would be less refined and certainly not as much fun on the back roads.
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