Hi,
Can forum members give any advice to best small diesel car?
Like the look of the Citroen C3 and Skoda Fabia, need something that fits a 6'3 tall driver, nice to drive and comfortable.
Long term reliability is important as I will probably buy used 3 to 4 years old and keep to high mileage.
Any suggestions, owners comments will be much appreciated.
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Thought about a Seat Ibiza? Mechanically pretty much identical to the Fabia - just depends which model you prefer, really. I'm 6' 6 and drove one of the original Sport TDI 130s in perfect comfort for the year or so that I had it.
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For headroom , reliability and economy, not much beats a Yaris.
imo of course.
madf
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Have a look at the VW Polo BlueMotion - 72 mpg/103 g/km
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New Clio 1.5dCi (86BHP) - £50 tax!
Everything else fits
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New Clio is a very nice car but have you seen the price list?
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I'm about 6'3' and fit into a Suzuki Swift with plenty room to spare above my head. They do a Diesel (its the 1.5 out of the Clio) - about £9k I think. Nice little car to drive.
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Renault diesels everywhere - Nissan, Mitsubishi, Volvo, Vauxhall and now Suzuki.
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Renault diesels everywhere - Nissan, Mitsubishi, Volvo, Vauxhall and now Suzuki.
Maybe wrong, but I thought that the GM diesels (Vauxhall, Saab etc) used Fiat/Alfa Multijet units??
Citivanvin
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The Swift has the FIAT 1.3 multijet diesel (70) from the Panda, not the 1.5 dCi from Renault.
Personally my vote is nodded towards the Clio or the FIAT Grande Punto diesels.
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Go and test the C3 and Fabia and see how poor the leg room is, then go and test a Colt.
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If image is not an issue you can pick 1-2 year old, low mileage Fusion sized Mitsubishi Spacestar DI-D (not Spacewagon or Spacerunner) or bigger but not Focus big Nissan Almera 2.2 dCi for about 6-7k. Both are very decent and lasting cars with respectable road manners and equipment levels, if a little bland and considered visually challenged and untrendy...
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[Nissan 2.2 dCi are NOT Renault engines. Grrr...]
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Thanks for all your comments.
Thinking of looking in the auctions after new registration comes out next month to see if there are any good buys to be had.
Cheers, Ian
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No one mentioned the Toyota Corolla 1.4 D4D - surely worth considering.
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Oops, sorry, too new for the OP.
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I think its more than £50 unless its running on water (hydrogen ?)
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No £50 is it. That's what I pay.
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I stand corrected £50 it is
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Any suggestions, owners comments will be much appreciated.
Can you let us know when you've made your choice and how you get on - particularly from the leg-room point of view? Many thanks, Waino.
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If a Skoda Fabia VrS is available in your budget then have a close look. Easy big enough for me (6´1") and stupidly fast, uses no diesel, 6 speed for the motorway, well built.
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"a Skoda Fabia VrS....uses no diesel"
That's certainly true of lots of cars, from the Mini One to the Rolls-Royce Phantom, but not perhaps the Fabia vRS!
Seriously, even if the budget doesn't run to a vRS, the 100 bhp 1.9 diesel Fabia is pretty fast, athough quite noisy. More solidly built than a C3 I would say, although someone one be along to disagree with that in a moment.
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From experience, check out the servicing costs before you buy. Diesels can be more expensive to maintain than their petrol equivalents and often need more regular servicing. Also, take note of the many comments in the BR questioning the reliability and durability of modern common rail diesel engines (Renault in particular stand out) and, more worryingly, concerns that even main dealers in some cases aren't up to speed with the technology. I for one will think twice before buying diesel again - it's cost me £1,100 to service my Mazda 323 diesel over 4 years (including a timing belt change but nothing else outside normal service parts/labour) and 54k miles. In contrast, my 1.6 petrol Astra cost just £650 over the same period by main VX dealer (including a belt change).
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