hey guys,
I thought I'd open my dilemma to you all. I?ve got £4500 to spend on a diesel estate, and keep going around and around in circles on which one to go for, any help would be greatly appreciated.
Skoda Octavia / VW passat ? not so sure about these they don?t get very good feedback in carsurvey org (even though their supposed to be great)
Ford Mondeo ? I?m a Vauxhall man, so prejudice kicks in, and I am concerned how they fair at high miles on the clock
Vauxhall Vectra 05 plate onwards ? one of my fav?s unless I?m missing something
Mazda 6 ? Nice but don?t know much about them
Jag Xtype ? concerned about the wood and cream interiors.
Merc C class ? it?ll be a older model and although I?d quite like a premium badge, the desire to have reliable cheap to run car out-ways this.
Old shape 3/5 series BMW?. Not sure might be paying for the badge and an outdated design.
Honda accord ? don?t know much about them other then they are reliable
Toyota Avensis ? don?t know anything about them.
£4500 is a stretch for us, so it?s a long term purchase run it as long as it will go for so longevity is a priority.
I do about 25k miles a year. Mainly motorway, and I am replacing a Mark 4 Astra diesel estate 249k on the clock, which has been great: a few EGR valves, steering rack, exhaust, discs and pads, tires and that?s it but its getting tired and shabby but I could probably do another 50k miles in it without major spend.
What would you spend your hard earned / saved cash on if you were me?
Thanks!
|
|
Double check that a diesel is the best, and least risky car for your needs. There are some horror stories about modern diesels, though it's hard to quantify the chances of you experiencing the same.
|
|
I figure diesel is the way to go when doing high miles, especially when buying second hand, because Im not really paying a premium for the diesel engine unlike new cars. My astra returns about 45mpg, so thats the bench mark.
|
|
|
|
If you can get another 50k out of the Astra then do so. No one is going to give you much, if anything, for a quarter of million mile Astra.
Add to your £4500 and keep your eyes open in the meantime.
If something really jumps out as a bargain, go for it but it sounds from what you say as though you have time on your side (or is that cash burning a hole in your pocket?)
|
|
I quite fancy the idea of a change, but you're correct time is on my side assuming I can choose what to go for.
|
|
|
|
If £4,500 is a stretch and you are on a tight budget, people on here will be concerned for you that if you are unlucky and have a significant problem with a modern diesel from mid - 2000, it will be expensive to repair. You may want to consider if the extra costs of fuel for a petrol vehicle are worth it and similar petrol cars are cheaper to buy and cheaper to repair. If your mileage is mainly motorway then the difference in fuel consumption may not be that large and derv is more expensive.
Last year a guy on here was running a Mondeo TDCI and a Signum 2.2 petrol and found the fuel costs were about the same.
If it's got to be diesel then the engineers on here seem to think something with the VW TDI engine is least likely to risk big bills. Having said all that if it's a long term purchase you need to like the car and this may mean not the lowest cost option.
|
|
|
hey guys I thought I'd open my dilemma to you all. I?ve got £4500 to spend on a diesel estate and keep going around and around in circles on which one to go for any help would be greatly appreciated.
Vauxhall Vectra 05 plate onwards ? one of my fav?s unless I?m missing something
Have you read the CBC for each candidate? bear in mind the 150 bhp 1.9CDTi in the Veccy has a reputation for killing swirl gate actuator valves as mentioned therein.
|
I'd suggest a B5.5 Passat with PD130 motor, the engines are very robust providing the right VW spec oil has been used. They're also fairly immune to misfuelling (no high-pressure diesel pump).
The big weakness is the front suspension. If it clonks, it's £400 per side because the knuckle joints corrode into a big lump, which means replacement arms etc.
Tends to happen about once every 4 - 5 years, mine did it on one side only.
A mark 1 Octavia (with the 110bhp pre-PD motor, I think a few also got the 130bhp PD lump) could also fit the bill, the hatchback boot is absolutely huge and the passenger space is about the same as the Astra. My dad's had his for 8 years and only had to replace a coolant temp sensor, it's been a great car.
|
|
Octavia with 100k on the clock for 2 to 2.5, save the money to fix the bits that wear out....
|
|
you haven't mentioned French cars? I have Megan Estate on a 57 plate with the 1.9 CDi with 130bhp. Loads of toys like cruise and has returned close to 60mpg on the M-way twixt Durham and Luton, covering 54,000 so far and only a blown headlight bulb with FSH. Comfy, roomy and hassle free. I'd have another when the time comes. The C5 is huge and I am considering one against the Megan, but close call.
|
I'm often tempted with a C5, then I look at HJ's CBCB..........
Mind you, I bought a diesel FIAT Stilo estate in the face of a stinging review by HJ (probably the worst review he gives any car, to be frank) and found it to be excellent. These are brilliant value and may well do a job for you. The 1.9 diesel is a well proven and widely used engine across FIAT, Vauxhall, SAAB and Alfa. Couple of known problems (show me an engine which hasn't), but buy a good cheap Stilo and you'll have money to spare if a problem occurs. Last February I traded in my 30k miles 2005 (05) 1.9JTD estate for only 2.5k. Idiot that I am.
|
|
|
|
£4500 is a stretch for us so it?s a long term purchase run it as long as it will go for so longevity is a priority.
I would not do anything until after the GE.
See what the future Government plan by way of taxation.
It's no good buying a car over xxx g/km emissions as a long term purchase if the future Government decides they do not want such vehicles on the roads.
£4500 is not going to get you into a low enough emissions vehicle for this not to be a consideration.
Edited by Pugugly on 21/01/2010 at 11:46
|
6 years ago I bought my Octavia SLX Tdi estate with 47000m on it and 1 retired owner. Bought it privately for £4700 it was 5 years old and immaculate. I ran it till July 25 last year when I traded it in on the scrappage scheme it had 160000m + on it and I gave it a hard life but still looked good, clutch was beginning to slip though and there was a fault with the instrument panel(did not matter) so car would have been difficult to sell privately.
I worked out that my mileage expenses would have been around £25000 over the 5 years, including writing off the entire cost price of the car my running costs were approx £19000. This car was bracketed before the emissions thing. Funnily enough the car I scrappaged it against was a V50 2.0d which quotes higher emissions(CO2).
So I would say go for an Octavia, Passat or as someone else suggested a Mazda 6 which does not seem to carry the same premium as an Avensis.
|
Despite the fact that my old shape Octavia diesel is currently in bits because my mechanic can't work out what's wrong with it (see thread in technical) I would recommend one - they'd probably be less than your budget and you'd be able to keep some money in hand for unexpected repairs. Mine's done 140,000 miles and until new year's day it had only required consumables and an alternator.
Mazda 6 2.0 diesels seem to have long term reliability issues with the fuelling system (again, see technical forum), you could probably get a pretty reasonable Mondeo for that money.
|
|
|
|
|
Wondering whether an '03 A4 Avant 130PD (say about 100K miles) would be a big enough workhorse for your needs? I think you could get one for £4500. Really can't fault mine - had it since new and it has never missed a beat. Rock solid build and I don't see any reason to change it for change's sake.
As you probably know, you would need to make sure that all servicing has always had the correct VAG spec oil - not worth taking the risk if it hasn't. Also, check that tensioner has also been replaced on the last cambelt change.
|
If you want an estate I assume you need load carrying ability. In which case you'll get a fairly recent MKII Citroën C5 estate for this with the superb 173bhp sequential turbo 2.2, the best engine in it's class. The self levelling suspension is a bonus. You can put any amount of weight in these things and you just won't feel it. If you buy German you'll be spending at least £1,000 towards the badge before you've bought any amount of car!
|
If 4,500 is a stretch, you are heading for trouble. Don't do it.
If you can get more life out of the Astra, then do it. It's dirt cheap motoring.
Shabby? Take hold of a bucket of water and some car shampoo. Some alloy wheel cleaner. Then a bottle of t-cut and polish the thing to within an inch of its life. Some tyre black. A vacuum inside, and maybe some upholstery cleaner. Then a pot of paint and tidy up the stone chips. A pair of scissors and cut the snags off the seats. Treat it to some new mats.
Total cost £20 and half a day.
|
|
|
|
