Luxury diesel coupe or saloon for up to £10k?

I am English, retired and living in France. I have a Corolla Verso for lugging stuff about and dogs. The price of diesel here makes that the choice - we are looking for a classy, long distance cruiser for discovering Europe in. Something nice to drive and a bit different. Looked at BMW 320d saloon, 520d saloon, Audi A6 saloon, Volkswagen Passat CC (our favourite so far) and the Lexus IS220d. They are all reviewed well. Any other suggestions?

Asked on 5 August 2015 by Geoff52

Answered by Honest John
BMW 2.0 N47 diesel engines seem to have timing chain issues. Volkswagen and Audi 2.0 TDI has timing belts that need replacing every 60k miles or every 4 years. The Lexus IS220d is a saloon, not a coupe and the engine is a bit coarse and has had cylinder head issues. You seem to have missed off Mercedes C-Class Coupe and E-Class Coupe. The 2.1 litre Mercedes diesel engine (200CDI, 220CDI, 250CDI) is a bit long in the tooth now but is robust until the timing chain eventually stretches and powers millions of vehicles.
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