You've no chance of getting 42 mpg from a 525d auto
Why not - my father has a 530d, albeit manual, and has seen more than 42mpg, his regular trip taking in A roads as well as Motorways yields 40mpg.
I would take the 525d, it's a simply fantastic car. Never heard the styling described as 'old man' before - I intend to buy one when I am 23 - and in any case you'll soon forget any old man rubbish when you have a drive.
Beautiful cars.
The 3 Series is nice but its when you compare both 3 and 5 back to back that you appreciate how much nicer the 5 is.
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>> You've no chance of getting 42 mpg from a 525d auto Why not - my father has a 530d, albeit manual, and has seen more than 42mpg, his regular trip taking in A roads as well as Motorways yields 40mpg.
The problem is that economy with a diesel automatic suffers. HJ wrote in Car-by-Car breakdown "Steptronic auto increases fuel consumption of 330D by around 25%."; and I have seen this point made in other publications.
There was a thread covering this:
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=11847
The most plausible explanations for this stated
"I suspect that the reason many diesel automatics do not show good fuel consumption figures is due to the high engine torque at low revs, which maximises torque converter slip. Coupled with the weight penalty of a diesel, this is a sure-fire formula for bad figures unless the box has a torque converter lock. ....... Around town, an automatic gearbox is using the torque converter as lock-out doesn't occur until 50 mph, or thereabouts. The gear ratio might be slightly more efficient but the torque converter efficiency is quite poor."
As economy is the main reason for most people buying diesel, perhaps this is why few diesel automatics are produced.
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The audi/vw 2.0 tdi with the DSG gearbox doesn´t seem to be on your list, GeatestDancer. HJ raves about them, and if anything that auto box gives better MPG.
Skoda Superb 1.9tdi 130, or a nearlynew Mondeo tdi 130 from a supermarket....? Not flash enough? Just ideas. Couldn´t afford either... Happy looking anyway.
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The audi/vw 2.0 tdi with the DSG gearbox doesn´t seem to be on your list, GeatestDancer. HJ raves about them, and if anything that auto box gives better MPG. Skoda Superb 1.9tdi 130, or a nearlynew Mondeo tdi 130 from a supermarket....? Not flash enough? Just ideas. Couldn´t afford either... Happy looking anyway.
Hello there. Yep you're right that would be ideal but sadly my £12k won't cover this....
Rich
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After much looking I have just bought an M reg Mercedes E class W124 diesel with air con, leather, auto and a sunroof that works (a bonus with these), the last of the old upright headlamp models. Only 78k genuine miles on the clock and the first couple of tanks of fuel have returned 41 mpg, although mostly motorway miles rather than commuting over country roads to work. I have put a new set of tyres on it, gassed the aircon and changed the fluids and filters and allowing for the trade in value reckon it stands me in at around 4.5k, so hardly an expensive car. After a lot of elbow grease the interior trim and exterior paintwork look very presentable. I plan to keep the car for the indefinite future as I understand these cars are capable of starship mileage so I am banking on a good old-un beating an upstart young-un - time will tell! If you can find a good one that has not been to Mars and back could be a shrewd buy. Incidentally my previous manual A6 2.5 tdi regualrly delivered 45mpg+ and had done around 135k faultless miles when I said a sad goodbye to it.
MGs
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Audi A4 multitronic 1.9 diesel - averaging 50mpg over the first 22000 miles with normal driving. If I drive carefully it is possible to get well over 60mpg. The multitronic produces better fuel economy that manual and it is just the best transmission around.
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Audi A4 multitronic 1.9 diesel - averaging 50mpg over the first 22000 miles with normal driving. If I drive carefully it is possible to get well over 60mpg. The multitronic produces better fuel economy that manual and it is just the best transmission around.
Sounds amazing - I want one! How can I tell which ones have regular VAG automatic and which have multitronic? I would have though perhaps some adverts say automatic when they mean multitronic? Do the gearsticks look different? I assume both are tiptronic?
If I do an autotrader search for any multitronic Audi A4s for £20k or less within 100 miles of me (High Wycombe) I get a total of 4 cars - surely they're not that rare?
Rich
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Any A4 Diesel Auto from 51 plate ish on (when the B6 was introduced basically) will be a Multitronic. You can tell for sure by test driving. Move off and hit ~2000rpm. If the car changes up a gear (you hear/see revs drop) it's not multitronic. If it is multitronic your speed will continue to increase while the revs remain constant at around 2000.
Regards
Chris
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I have a Merc C270CDi estate auto and it does 46-48 on a looong motorway run, but only 33-35MPG around town. I say looong because it seems to take 50-60 miles for the fuel consumption to settle. So we use the Jazz (petrol) around town - even that kind of use it seems impossible to get the Jazz under 46MPG.
Mt concern with a budget of £12K and the kind of car you're looking at, is the potential for a big bill or two, esp if you rely on the car. Do you have a 'pet' independant nearby who could do your servicing - whatever make they specialise in might be a good steer for you?
To be honest, I'd be tempted to look more at a newer Mondeo TDCi, although a petrol auto might be easier to come by.
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Bit of a long shot - Vauxhall Signum....?
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You mention the Volvo S60 D5.
If you can get one within budget this would be a v.good choice. The auto is a 'geartronic'(like tiptronic?) meaning it can be either auto or manual depending on your mood. This also means you can have some influence of fuel economy. I have done 5,000 miles in my manual S60 D5 S and am returning 48mpg average over this time, across a mix of driving - Motorways and heavy town work. This is more than the official 'combined' figure.
SE spec would give you leather, CD changer, climate control, cruise etc etc but the S spec is already high.
The D5's particularly hold their value and it is a nice drive as well. The 17" wheels that are standard on the SE can make the ride a little hard but try one, you may be suprised.
As well as fuel economy the engine is very muscular with 163hp and 340nm of Torque. This is from 1750 revs. Being a 2.4 TD this means that it is quieter and less frenetic than the VW/Audi 1.9TDI and from my experiance the Volvo delivers the power very smoothly and progressively rather than in one rush. This means when setting off from a junction the power is there instantly rather than having to wait for the turbo to kick in.
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