Help me buy something sooty!

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Thu 12 Aug 2004 18:58
Help me buy something sooty! - Jamesonic
I'm changing jobs and need to find myself a diesel, as I'll be doing 500-600 odd miles a week. Unfortunately I only have a budget of about £2250... any recommendations? So far I've been looking at Pug 306s and Ibiza/Polo TDIs... anything else worth perusing?

Cheers!
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Thu 12 Aug 2004 19:46
Help me buy something sooty! - spikeyhead {p}
I use an old vauxhall Cavalier, with the Isuzu Diesel engine for very similar work. Cheap, reliable and capable of sitting on the motorway at speed all day long whilst maintaining 50mpg.
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I read often, only post occasionally
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Thu 12 Aug 2004 23:33
Help me buy something sooty! - Sofa Spud
From personal experience I'd recommend a VW with the 1.9TDi engine.

Mark 3 Golf or its saloon variant, the Vento, which is less in demand, so much cheaper. Confusingly, some earlier Mark 3's had the older VW I.9 TD which was indirect injection and less economical. The 'i' on the end of the badge is all-important!

Passat B4 - Estates are more sought after than saloons, so are more expensive. My Passat estate does 50+ mpg and has done 145,000 miles.

Happy hunting

Sofa Spud
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Fri 13 Aug 2004 00:55
Help me buy something sooty! - DavidHM
I've just bought a Pug 406 1.9 TD LX, which is a supremely comofortable motorway cruiser that eats up the miles. It "only" gives around 45 mpg though.

For pure economy (and surprisingly good performance) I think the VW TDi is the best engine of its kind, but the 406 is a better car overall than the Passat of that generation, albeit the post 97 Passat beats it in just about every area except handling.
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Fri 13 Aug 2004 09:12
Help me buy something sooty! - RichardW
That sort of money will buy you a Xantia HDi at auction, or a very nice TurboD in a private sale (they're SOOOOO cheap now!). Supreme motorway cruiser, and the HDi 110 is no slouch......


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RichardW

Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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Fri 13 Aug 2004 10:26
Help me buy something sooty! - dilbert
Agreed. It has to be a Xantia. Great cars.

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Fri 13 Aug 2004 11:38
Help me buy something sooty! - Jamesonic
Heh! Thanks for the advice all... not sure about all these dirty big French tractors (!) but you've gone some way to convince me!!!
Cheers,
James
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