VAG/ Citroen/ Peugeot - Best diesel Estate/Hatchback for approx £1500.

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Mon 23 Aug 2010 23:56
VAG/ Citroen/ Peugeot - Best diesel Estate/Hatchback for approx £1500. - tarifa

I have read quite a few threads and come to the conclusion that to buy a 2nd hand old diesel I should look for VAG/ Citreon/ Peugeot/ Mondeo engine.

I was going to get an astra 1.7 then read it is unreliable at high mileage!

I have seen several Passat saloons for that price but is seems that VAG engines are not that cheap in an Estate.

I have seen a Xantia with £150,000 miles for this price. Is that a good model?

What is a better diesel engine on a 10 year old Citroen/Mondeo or Peugeot car?

I plan to drive 15-20K miles in a reliable, economical car with boot space.

Thanks for your replies.

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Tue 24 Aug 2010 01:15
VAG/ Citroen/ Peugeot - Best diesel Estate/Hatchback for approx £1500. - tarifa

I have found 1999 SEAT Ibiza 1.9 TDi? VAG engine. Looks good.

Any things to look out for?

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Tue 24 Aug 2010 07:59
VAG/ Citroen/ Peugeot - Best diesel Estate/Hatchback for approx £1500. - SteveLee
With cars of this age and mileage, unless you're buying simple petrol city cars which tend to be reliable by nature of not having much to go wrong in the first place - you're putting yourself in the lap of the gods.

If the car has been looked after it could be a good buy, the make doesn't really come into it, any ten+ year old car that's been abused could be a disaster. Diesels, especially older ones, require frequent oil changes, any evidence of these being carried out is a good sign. Try to find a privately owned one or two owner car, the fact they've had the car so long is a good sign. Cambelts are the other worry on older cars. Budget to get a cambelt/water pump change on anything you buy regardless of what the previous owner says, unless there's documented evidence of a recent change.
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Tue 24 Aug 2010 10:45
VAG/ Citroen/ Peugeot - Best diesel Estate/Hatchback for approx £1500. - madf

My advice in the price bracket is search for >10 years old under 60k miles on Autroader, Apart from the lying rogues who misquote the miles or the price or the model (report them to Autotrader - I do), there are real good bargains..

Petrol/diesel? Wast of time discussing it.. All will be old technology. One repair could cost £500+.

You want best car. Period..

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201032365813737/sort/priceasc/usedcars/maximum-mileage/up_to_40000_miles/price-to/2000/price-from/1000/maximum-age/over_10_years_old/make/toyota/page/1/radius/1500/postcode/st87dr?logcode=p

is a wonderful example if you look..

Edited by madf on 24/08/2010 at 10:47

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Tue 24 Aug 2010 11:18
VAG/ Citroen/ Peugeot - Best diesel Estate/Hatchback for approx £1500. - tarifa

Thanks for the good advice. I know nothing about cars and have a phobia of car dealers.

I thought some engines were bomb proof? Of course they have to have been well looked after well. I have read many times on this forum of people raving about how good VAG engines are.

I also read on this forum of a skoda okatvia that had done 600,000 miles. I am really keen to get a diesel that does 55MPG as I resent spending so much £ on fuel.

It is a good idea to go Japanese but all the super reliable cars are petrol so you end up spending your repair cost savings in fuel bills. There is always the Nissan Micra but I'm not sure it is comfortable.

Cheers.

Edited by tarifa on 24/08/2010 at 11:27

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Tue 24 Aug 2010 11:27
VAG/ Citroen/ Peugeot - Best diesel Estate/Hatchback for approx £1500. - madf

At £1500 an experienced buyer will struggle as there are lots of liars and theives at this end of the market.

If you know nothing of cars, you have started correctly by asking advice. In my view you need soemone who is knowleadgeable and done it before to help you.

Far too many people trying to sell clapped out rubbish... you need a discerning experienced eye to buy at this end of the market - and some good luck.

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Tue 24 Aug 2010 15:54
VAG/ Citroen/ Peugeot - Best diesel Estate/Hatchback for approx £1500. - 659FBE

Get somebody to help you with this if you don't have specialist knowledge.

At around the year 2000, most VAG cars (VW, Skoda and Audi) changed the 4 cyl diesel engines from a conventional type with an injection pump, to a later "unit injector" design called PD.

On your budget, get one of the earlier units as they are far less prone to expensive damage by mis-treatment such as the use of the wrong engine oil. The economy of the earlier engines is also excellent although they lack the performance of the later units.

The Octavia changed to the PD engine relatively late in its model life (about '04 I think). Get the best one of these you can afford - but get advice.

A friend of mine has just bought an '04 Octavia diesel estate for buttons - and it's a cracker.

659.

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