Mum and Dad are going to be buying a caravan and, seeing as their Rover won't have the torque required for proper caravan-towing, they are looking to buy either a Ford Mondeo or a VW Passat.
They have around £3,000 to spend on a second-hand car and I have a few questions
1. Considering the cash involved, which would be the better buy?
2. Is there a better alternative vehicle suitable for the job?
Dad prefers a diesel engine.
|
Given their budget I'd recommend a 2.8V6 4 motion Passat. Not a diesel though but given 3K the best you'll do.
I'm betting they don't do that many miles so why get hung up on having a diesel. The V6 in the Passat is torquey and lazy enough.
|
If you tow, it's a no brainer - diesel every time. The 130 PS PD engine in the Passat develops nearly as much "useful" torque (at low revs) as the V6 petrol engine and uses a fraction of the fuel when unhitched.
At that price, check that the correct spec oil has always been used and thet the timing belt and water pump have been changed as required - they are a weak spot on these engines.
I would not recommend a game of Delphi roulette with the fuel system fitted to the diesel Mondeo.
659.
|
|
|
|
|
dont know if this helps but.................. i drive a w plate diesel passat 90ps (silver T,D & I) the slow one. it has 175k on the clock and still runs like a dream. we have a 5 birth tourer that i tow regularly with no problems. on top of that +i only do 20 miles a day for work and am still getting 47 to the gallon. deecee
|
"check that the correct spec oil has always been used"
And how do you do that? I saw someone topping up a 52 reg Passat using 5 litres of general diesel oil. I bet if you asked him he would swear blind he always topped up using VAG spec oil.
|
I find that mondeos wear a little better at high mileage than Passats, I've driven a few of both.
You'll be looking at somethign with a lot of mileage on either of them for £3k and both have the potential to go wrong expensively. Unless they're doing a lot of miles then I'd spend £2k on a 2.5 petrol Omega f similar vintage with fewer miles and save the pennies for fuel. Likely to be cheaper in the long term.
--
I read often, only post occasionally
|
|
£3000 on a pitch for a mota is like lambs to the slaughter ,please go auction or private or your dad WILL have his pants pulled down
|
My brother-in-law has just sold a 70,000 mile Passat Sport TDI 130. Lovely car, but was forever springing bills on him. Water ingress on two occasions, air con leaked, clutch and DMF needed replacing at 50k, window regulator failed, central locking died, alarm would go off at random, fuel gauge intermittently dropped to empty, and various other minor niggles. Not a reliable car by any stretch of the imagination.
It was a main dealer supplied car with a full VW history.
Not all Passats are this bad, and the Mondeo has its share of problems, but don't assume buying a VW gets you trouble free motoring.
Cheers
DP
--
04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
97 Ford Fiesta 1.4 16v Chicane (for sale)
|
wow dp ive struggled all day to get the fan working on a poxy vauxhall
with that list of errors i would have no hair in a week
|
|
I have had my 2002 Mondeo from new, now 120k miles, drives pretty much as new, for me the key factor though would be that the 5/6/7 year old Mondeo is sooooo much better to drive than any Passat of a similar age.
|
|
That being said for 3k you might get a 1999 / 2000 Passat TDi 110 with low ish mileage for the age, simpler to sort out it it goes wrong than the PD Passat or 2001 on TDCi Mondeo, the latter would be a struggle at £3k, otherwise perhaps a 2000 to 2001 MkIII TDDi Mondeo.
|
Mondeo every time - more choice around, and passats are over priced. You get more mondeo for your money.
------------------------------
TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
|
|
|
|
