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Hello everyone, I hope everyone had good xmas! I'm looking to buy a used diesel car with a very tight budget of £3k. The reason I need a diesel car is because we've got a petrol VW Polo in the family and would like to buy a good reliable diesel car mainly for motoway. Ideally I would like a small hatchback because my Mrs doesn't like driving large saloons or hatchbacks. The main requirements are car has to be reliable (so no French cars because I had nightmare with them in the past). I quite like VW Bora and what else could I buy for this price?
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Just better point out that a Bora is NOT a hatchback or small being around 18" longer than the Golf.
Diesel Fabia 1.9SDI maybe? Or a Golf Mk IV SDI? No ball of fire but cruised OK at motorway speeds and gave over 50mpg.
--
I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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£3000 equates to £2995 on a pitch and for this you will find lots of overpriced or over mileage tat
its a quagmire price
go to a local auction for a better idea and value (no 106,s though ;-) )
or just spend £2000 and keep a £1000 for the unexpected
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How about the Skoda Octavia? It's about the same size as a VW Bora but cheaper and it is a hatchback (unlike the Bora)
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I'd second the Octavia, it is a Bora (put them side by side) but with a better boot. Go for the SLX / Elegance model and get the 110bhp engine and climate control.
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£3000 is almost as dire an amount to spend as £2000. I'd suggest spending £1000 on the best Peugeot/Citroen you can find. A ZX/Xsara should be a good size/choice. I saw a lovely 98 S estate version with the 1.9 D for sale at £695 on a private driveway a few weeks ago.
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Thanks for your replies so far guys but I'm not going to buy a Peugeot/Citroen and definitely not a Renault car. Unless I see one which I really like and has got full service history.
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You might be cutting off your nose off to spite your face by not looking at Peugeot / Citroen.
The PSA group make by far and away the best diesel engines in your price range. A decent Peugeot 306 d-turbo would be fun to drive, economical and reliable.
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SEAT Toledo too. Note that while the engines on high mileage cars like Bora's are likely to be good for quite a while, the rest of the car (suspension, electrics etc) will be closer to needing replacing...
My personal opinion would be to spend £1,500 on a low-ish mileage 306 1.9 TD and then spend any of the rest on potential fixing, or go on holiday.
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Rover 200 diesel? still good spares backup `L` spec engines good i get 45ish from my 420td and you can tune them at home,link if you want it.
Ray
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For your budget do not ignore french cars as the french generally know how to make older diesel engines last, open your eyes and see how many older pugs,citroens and renaults are still going strong usually on starship mileages. Sadly vw group cars do not last the course and that would include skoda and seat. look at ford focus as well a cracking diesel, as with all cars at this level a good service history or proof of srevice ork is essential.
I make my remarks purely on repair and service costs as i work in the fleet industry and whole life costs are essential to us.
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Appreciate it's not the size you want, but you should see the well-cared for 405 that cost me £600, and does 45mpg, now has 178k miles. Don't fear a high miles Peugeot if it's got a good SH. Disasters apart, I see no reason why it can't do another 100k. The PSA 1905 diesel XUD is very well understood.
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Ive seen a few diesel & turbo diesel 405 / Xantia / 306 / ZX in the scrapyards all with over 250K miles on them & its always accident damage that has sent them for scrap.
Apart from the odd head gasket the 1.9 diesel lumps are very very good.
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Early Toyota Avensis or Corolla diesels available for under £3k.
I can vouch for 106/Saxo diesels - lots around many over 100k miles (so do last with maintenance) - lots with under 60k for £3k or less.
madf
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If you look at at 106 make sure its the later 106 with the 1.5 TUD diesel lump, the early 1.4 is very troublesome.
Saxo always had the 1.5 TUD fitted
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I like the looks of Bora and I'm also considering Peugeot 206 HDi (ideally).
What's the best place to fork out a decent fleet cars?
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Peugeot 206 NO!
Im a 206 owner & theres no way on earth I could recomend one to anyone!
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Not wishing to be contrary LM, but the squaring-the-circle approach to car buying,
imo, can land you with the worst of both worlds (sorry about the cliches)
If the car's sticker price is £3K & it's a diesel (and you get average value) it'll
probably be fairly elderly and/or high mileage. Some people insist diesels can magically
shrug-off high mileages, well maybe the engines themselves can, but so can well maintained
petrol engines. Running gear (steering gear, gearboxes, shocks, axles etc) are the same for both,
& with your £3K you'll be paying the 'diesel premium' for just the engine. The same applies to all
the ancilliary equipment & cabin condition. Older diesels may be much nearer major component
replacement time - think, injectors, glow plugs & cam belt (yes alot of petrol engines have belts
not cam chains, but less %-wise, I believe ( ..and maybe turbo, if applicable)
Of course, they'll probably be more fuel efficient,( but do the math on projected mileages
vs. maintenance) but also less refined generally. You may be able to buy a more
modern petrol engined car for the money, whose fuel efficiency may not be too far behind
the 'vintage' diesel on a run. You mention the Bora - why not, recce used prices for say, a 1.6
petrol - you may get a pleasnt surprise!
I'm not saying your buying criteria are wrong, but sometimes the contrarian approach
can yield benfeits & is always worth considering.
woodbines.
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Woodbines makes a valid point. If the car is just for long motorway trips then a petrol can be almost as economical. I had a 2.0 Cavalier that gave over 40 mpg if treated sensibly. Diesels score on high mileages over mixed trips, as they don't chew as much fuel when used on short runs compared to petrol engines.
I still think that £3k is a horrible amount to spend though.
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I bought a 2002 '02' 406 HDi with 109,000 miles on in October for £2895. So far, so good. It's been back for a couple of niggles but overall it's very good (touch wood). Cambelt change was done just before the previous lease expired and I've got a full print out of services etc.
At the time I was warned away from a £3000 diesel by members of this forum, but it's been (so far, at least) no problem for me...
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Would agree with that. Had no problems with last two Citroens, and absolutely love my current Xsara. Bizarrely a friend with a same age Golf has even mentioned would consider a Xsara as next car (has certainly got less interior rattles than the Golf).
And at auction, including Joe Dowds fees car cost me £4100 for a fully serviced, MOTd 53 reg SX with under 30,000 miles with climate control, electirc windows all round, multichanger, auto lights + wipers.
Certainly feels a lot more upmarket than the price tag would suggest. And feels like a very solidly built car- and to me the interior looked and felt better than the brand new dual fuel Saab 9-3 I recently drove.
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changed to a 1.9tdipd bora from a primera 2.0lt petrol. thought i would miss the horsepower but
the torque more than makes up for it. the bora is a nicer ride on A roads but no match for handling.
that said i'm getting older so comfort is getting more important. the bora also has galvanised body
(golf of same age doesn't) ,another reason why i didn't want another primera. jag.
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Why not get a Mazda???
I bought my wife a 323 Diesel 18 months ago for £2500 at auction. It was a 2000W with 100k but still runs very well. Economy is mid 50's on long runs, insurance is cheap at £300 comp. Looking on autotrader its still worth £2500.
The interior isn't much, but it serves its purpose, has ac and electric windows, mirrors etc. Boot is reasonable.
For £3k you should be able to pick up a good one at auction or a slightly older/higher mile one from a forecourt
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I've got a 2000 reg Mitsubishi Carisma petrol - boring, but very reliable. It always does at least 40 mpg. They are very cheap second hand - you could get probably get a five year old old one for £1500 with FSH and reasonable mileage. Alternatively, Nissan Almeras are cheap too. I quite fancied a diesel at one point, but unless you do a lot of miles it doesn't add up.
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Ok, I won't be looking at Peugeot 206 as suggested by someone in this forum. I think my choice is pretty much limited to Bora, Mazda 323 and Golf for now. What's the best auction in South East? I live near Heathrow.
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That would be me then ;-)
27 visits to 2 main dealers over 18 months & only 2 of them for scheduled maintenance, Peugeot customer services dont care, leave you to the mercy of the dealerships & 1 wont now speak to me & both dont want my car back ever again!
By the way, my 206 is still faulty ;-)
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I too have just brought a Carisma petrol 1.8 GDi for £800 with 95,000 miles on the clock and full dealer history, one owner. Climate control, electric everything, nice to drive, computer says 41mpg, starts first time even after a few days in the frost, cannot fault it just a little boring to look at. Sold my 53 reg Focus TDCi in an effort to save money and scared of all the horror stories I hear about modern diesels. If I pushed my TDCi it would only be doing 40mpg anyway. If you don;t care about the looks, then 5 year old japenese cars are very good value.
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Although I'm a diesel fan, I agree with Woodbines too. I work from home and drive once or twice a week to the office - a round trip of 240 miles. My 2 litre petrol Mondeo (7 yrs old, 120,000 miles) used to average around 36 to 40 mpg depending on conditions. Replaced it with a Picasso 2.0 HDi which used to give me 40 to 42 mpg, driven the same way or probably a bit slower because it was a fair bit slower. IMO given the price differential between petrol and diesel fuel there's not much in it.
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2.0 petrol Mondeo. If you accelerate slowly you can pretend it's a deeseal.
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I bought a £3k diesel car (haggled down to £2,600 as it was overpriced and the dealer knew it) and 18 months and 30k on, have had no regrets.
I get 48 mpg on my commute, and outside of servicing and tyres it has needed a water pump, CV joint and an engine mount. Total cost on a DIY basis =£100 ish
I understand the concerns of spending £3k, but you get a much nicer / later car for £3k than you do for £1k. Just buy carefully.
Cheers
DP
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For £3000, I would be looking at a 306 HDi- you should be able to pick one of these on a V-X plate for around £3k with sensible mileage (70-80k), service history and all the mod cons including aircon. Better fuel economy than the old 1.9TD lump- 54mpg combined compared with 42-45 for the 1.9 and performance is pretty similar to the 1.9 in terms of acceleration and torque. I'll be looking at one when my 1994 306TD gives up the ghost, but my main worry will be repair costs i.e. replacing the fuel pump which is a common failure on the early HDi's by all accounts.
Martin
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