I need to buy a diesel car and there are just so many choice even in my budget (£2k). Peugeot 306 or 206 sound like good buys to me. A mechanic friend has told me to get one of these because he thinks that they're fairly reliable and refined. He's told me to get TD instead of HDi but I'm not entirely convinced about it because I presumed HDi is a newer engine so it'll be better than TD.
I want a car that's most importantly cheap to run its reliable and its fairly comfy on Motorway because I'll be doing 80+ miles commuting everday from the 1st of March!
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Go with your friend's opinion. Both give similar performance, the Hdi may be bit more economical. Either will cruise effortlessly. The difference is that the TD will run for ever and be tolerant of poor fuel. Any breakdown or misfueling on an Hdi will cost more than your budget to repair.
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Less worries with TD over past misfueling incidents, when contrasted with common rail.
IMHO, common rail is best bought new.
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Hi LM, have you thought about a Citroen Xsara? Is just a 306 in drag, but seem to be cheaper. A few comments here
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=49043&...f
As said previously, got the HDi 110 and absolutely love the car.
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I have a TD in a 405. I got it at 166k 15 months ago and have done another 15k. Totally reliable. Only issues have been a new driveshaft and a new starter. Driveshaft bill was £188, starter i got from the scrappy for £20 and did myself in an hour. Does 40-45 mpg and shows no signs of stopping. Good 405TDs with sensible mileage go for £1000. I've done 700 miles in a day in the 405 and it's not faltered.
If you are on a tight budget I'd go for the TD every time - they are so solid, and every back street garage knows them well.
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The HDis can be reliable and long lived - there are plenty on Autotrader / e-bay that have done >150k, my mate's got a 2000 HDi estate with 150k on it. If buying one of those the most important thing is to try and find out if it has ever been misfulled - that kills the injeciton system. Expensively. The most important thing with the TD engine is to establish that the coolant has been changed regularly (if required - later cars may use the long life OAT coolant) to preserve the head gasket and heater matrix, and to check carefully for signs of HG failure. Changing the HG on one of these engines is a PITA and to be avoided if possible! Also if buying in the 1997/98 range, check the engine code, and walk away from anything with a DHY engine code - they have a habit of throwing con rods out of the block....
Check the bottom of the radiator - they like rusting out - a new one is £100 and not all that easy to fit, so allow for replacement at time of buying if necessary.
As noted, Xsaras are the same as 306s under the skin, and much cheaper - ZXs are even cheaper still, but most are getting long in the tooth now.
Our ZX TD is a cracking car - I can't get the keys off my wife, and she is reluctant to change it for anything else!
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RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
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As can be seen from the Xsara thread mentioned, I?m an HDi fan (but the 2 litre 110 is only fitted to PSA vehicles with enough bonnet space). My brother has a Peugeot 406 Estate with the same engine, 250,000 miles on the clock and only recently starting to show it?s age. When on holiday, he tows a caravan with it. Another job it copes with well.
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I drive my Xantia HDi and the wifes 405TD. Both are enjoyable but do drive differently. The TD seems far more perky whereas the HDi is smoother and more relaxed at cruising. Try before you buy.
Steve.
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Xantia HDi. - Float on!
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I have bought three HDi-engined Peugeot 306s second-hand for various family members and am about to go for a fourth. Absolutely no sign of any fuel-related problems, except that one of them (supposedly with a FSH) had appallingly mucky fuel filters and ran much more sweetly after that was sorted out. Excellent economy - I get around 53 mpg on mine and regard it as the best, most reliable car I have owned.
I can't comment on the implications of mis-fuelling - I would have thought that any damage would be immediately apparent, but you experts out there who are more experienced than me may be able to say if the effects (and damage) of misfuelling can surface a long time after the event.
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I did put a thread in technical recently about a colleague who put petrol in their 307HDi and drove the mile back to the office before getting towed away and flushed.
No signs of any damage yet- and been a few weeks since he did it, although don't want to pre-empt anything going wrong now.
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