The SEAT Leon recommended by Badbusdriver should do 55 mpg on a long run, as SWMBO's similarly-engined Audi A1 does. My V60 diesel can manage only 50 mpg: OK, it's a bigger car and it's an automatic, but I might reasonably have expected it to level-peg with the petrol Audi.
Not sure what your budget is, Scot, but a 1.4 petrol Leon or Octavia will be cheaper than a 1.4 Golf or A3 of similar vintage.
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Thanks for the additional helpful posts. Looking to spend around £10,000 but quite happy to be flexible. Fortunately I'm not yet having to change so can wait for the right buy. I'll continue to improve my knowledge from the threads on here.
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£10,000 budget... If you absolutely must have diesel then here’s what I’d buy. Auto Trader:
www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20171124153...8
If you can live with petrol (still touches 45-50mpg if driven gently) then this...
Auto Trader:
www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20171017036...7
Both will provide longterm reliability and the Civic in particular will always hold its value and be an easy sell when you’re done with it.
Edited by SLO76 on 02/01/2018 at 15:47
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^^^ indeed, in this sector either of those two are good choices, my gut feeling would be towards the relatively simple unstressed Mazda, but that is probably my dislike for the Civic's design as much as anything else, one man's meat etc.
How nice to see normal handbrakes sitting proudly there where one would expect.
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Thanks for the trouble you've taken SLO. I am not wanting to get a diesel,. I prefer a petrol.. A limitation on choice is wanting to buy within 30 miles of Beveley East Yorkshire. This is in case of any issues needing to be sorted.
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A limitation on choice is wanting to buy within 30 miles of Beveley East Yorkshire.
On another thread (the one about spares) I mentioned that the Nissan Pulsar is currently at (or near the top) of our "to look at list". We want a turbo petrol, had diesels but don't do enough miles. Modern N/A petrols are sluggish to say the least unless you get a biggish one and then the mpg suffers badly, been there, done that. So the car has to have a turbo petrol with at least 130 PS and 160 torques, end of story.
Went on Autotrader earlier today to locate a very recent Pulsar 1.6 DIG-T within 50 miles. Only found one, thats right just one. Its a 66 plate (thats fine) 4500 miles ( thats great) in a spec higher than the min we want (getting better) at a reasonable price for a car of that age/mileage spec. Its at a Nissan dealer so should be properly prepped. But its 30 miles away.
I checked while I was on, loads of Pulsar diesels and some 1.2 DIG-S petrols locally (don't want either).
Plenty of Golfs/Leons/Octavias/Focus/Astra etc within a few miles so no need to go out of our local area.
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Modern N/A petrols are sluggish to say the least unless you get a biggish one and then the mpg suffers badly, been there, done that. So the car has to have a turbo petrol with at least 130 PS and 160 torques, end of story.
It is only necessary to use the gearbox provided for the purpose.
Or get an automatic.
Interesting point though. Forced injection, whether diesel or petrol, usually provides immediate strong response from relatively low revs. It's easy to get used to and people get into the habit of availing themselves of rapid acceleration from rest, and forget how to drive a car that doesn't do that.
I have a theory that this habitual, casual rapid acceleration accounts for a lot of the gap between real and official fuel economy. The official tests use very gentle acceleration.
If you don't like changing gear but still want a manual, I agree, get a turbo petrol.
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“Modern N/A petrols are sluggish to say the least unless you get a biggish one and then the mpg suffers badly”
Not necessarily, Mazda’s Skyactiv 2.0 petrols are very good on fuel, far better than many smaller N/A petrol motors. Yes they lack the torque of a turbocharged motor but they’re less complex and less likely to suffer reliability issues later in life. I also ran a previous gen 2008 Mazda 6 2.0 petrol for a while and it impressed me with its easy 40mpg plus economy which bettered many smaller 1600’s from the class below. The size of the engine doesn’t always mean much when it comes to economy within reason.
On the subject of performance I’ve ran loads of cars from small petrol engined city cars to large SUV’s and luxury barges and I’ve never encountered one that couldn’t sustain speed limit bursting speeds on the open road. Yes you’ll need to plan overtaking moves a little further ahead but if a 2.0 petrol that’s capable of 120mph or so isn’t enough then you need to sit down and think about your driving. My Polo 1.2 diesel is perfectly adequate to make safe B road progress.
Edited by SLO76 on 02/01/2018 at 19:14
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Not particularly helpful to the OP, I'm sorry to say, but whats the general opinion on the diesel engines fitted to Nissans?
During my current search I've noticed that the Nissan Note offers just two alternatives in post 2013 form: a rather feeble 1.2 and what looks like a considerably more gutsy diesel engine.
Having never owned a diesel in my life and given the bad publicity for diesels in general, it would be a major culture change for me look at one, let alone buy it.
But somehow, it seems to make sense on the Note when the diesel is nil road tax, more torquey and more powerful than the rather flat petrol alternative.
Edit: in fact there are two 1.2 petrol alternatives, one with 70 odd bhp and the other with over 90. However, I'd still be interested to know what folks think of the Nissan diesels in general.
Edited by argybargy on 02/01/2018 at 17:57
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I think it's great when OPs are later expanded. It helps people like me who have really only started to learn about cars. I can lead in education but here I'm a novice.
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I think it's great when OPs are later expanded. It helps people like me who have really only started to learn about cars. I can lead in education but here I'm a novice.
Nevertheless scot, on reflection its unfair of me to put my own already overpublicised requirements ahead of yours. And from a purely selfish POV my question is likely to become submerged in this thread anyhow, so I'll put it up as an OP.
Appreciate your generous reaction to my intervention.
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Not particularly helpful to the OP, I'm sorry to say, but whats the general opinion on the diesel engines fitted to Nissans?
Nissan now being in partnership with Renault use their diesel engines.
Some of Nissans own diesels weren't brilliant, the Xtrail suffering from it's fair share of problems until they changed to a Renault dci, which also had initial problems with with the DPF's not generating.
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Not particularly helpful to the OP, I'm sorry to say, but whats the general opinion on the diesel engines fitted to Nissans?
Nissan now being in partnership with Renault use their diesel engines.
Some of Nissans own diesels weren't brilliant, the Xtrail suffering from it's fair share of problems until they changed to a Renault dci, which also had initial problems with with the DPF's not generating.
Thanks for that. You say "initial" problems...are they likely to have been sorted on a 13 plate car?
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Thanks for that. You say "initial" problems...are they likely to have been sorted on a 13 plate car?
Yes. They had a software update well before 2013. Good thread here, in particular Xtrailmans contributions.
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=99310
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Thanks for the trouble you've taken SLO. I am not wanting to get a diesel,. I prefer a petrol.. A limitation on choice is wanting to buy within 30 miles of Beveley East Yorkshire. This is in case of any issues needing to be sorted.
These were just examples of what I’d be after but I’d expand that search range if theres a multi branch dealer with a car you like further afield as warranty work can be done at any of their branches.
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Thats often interested me. Don't know of many other than E H and not been too impressed by what I've read. Am I missing out on others ? I would feel under a bit of an obligation. How easy is it to negotiate a deal when you've asked for a car to be brought ? It seems an excellent opportunity for me to extend my range. Interested to hear of BEd I'mexperience s
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“How easy is it to negotiate a deal when you've asked for a car to be brought ?”
It does tie your hands a bit but I was meaning travelling to see the car rather than having it transported to you. Do the deal at the other branch them have any warranty work or possibly servicing done at the local branch. Some dealers charge a fee to transport a car for you and never buy a used car without seeing it in the metal. A 50 mile drive is well worth it to get a good car you’re happy with and possibly save a few hundred quid or more rather than just relying on what’s available locally. I’ve travelled hundreds of miles to view cars, once I was paid to view and negotiate a deal on a Lotus Elise in London. That was an enjoyable drive home and that N/A 1800 petrol certainly wasn’t lacking in go. :-)
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You're in my neck of the woods
I got a good deal from DM Keith, Hull a couple of years ago(June 15) on a 14month old Superb 1.4tsi (just over £10k). My previous car was a diesel but have enjoyed the petrol since - basically the low down pull is not quite as strong (but it still pulls well from 1500rpm) however I'd forgotten about the extra zap you get out of a petrol as the revs rise. Also - it's very quiet!
Economy has been reasonable although clearly not a s good as my diesel - 1.4tsi average 45.8 mpg (my previous 1.9pd was 50mpg on the same journey types)
www.spritmonitor.de/en/detail/720963.html
Edited by Big John on 02/01/2018 at 19:25
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[duplicate - sorry]
Edited by Big John on 02/01/2018 at 19:26
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Thanks for both helpful posts. SLO I was a bit dense in picking up what you meant. Yes a 50 mile drive well worth it and resolving concerns issues not a problem.
I thought you might be BJ when in one of your posts re snow etc I think you referred to Garrowby hill. There is a Big John dealer in the area - any link ?
Edited by scot22 on 02/01/2018 at 19:46
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Thanks for both helpful posts. SLO I was a bit dense in picking up what you meant. Yes a 50 mile drive well worth it and resolving concerns issues not a problem.
I thought you might be BJ when in one of your posts re snow etc I think you referred to Garrowby hill. There is a Big John dealer in the area - any link ?
Nope, no link. I’m in sunny Ayrshire. Was a salesman then a busy home trader as a side to my main business but largely given it up now, thus the amount of time I spend on here.
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There is a Big John dealer in the area - any link ?
Nope - not me!
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My lad bought a BMW estate, a 2007 325 manual estate, from EH a few years ago.
Did the deal subject to it passing the MOT, during which they fitted 4 x brand new runflats, he expected to find some unheard of Chinese make but sure enough 4 new Firestones were on it, they also renewed the brakes, all in all for the price he paid i doubt they made much if anything out of the deal, because they had to wait a few days for the tyres to arrive the car was delayed so they delivered the car to his door, a very decent vehicle it turned out.
He got rid of it after about 12 months and has regretted doing so since as their transport circs changed and the car would have been ideal now, he'd happily use EH again though.
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Thats interesting. I suppose like everything else it depends on the people involved and generally people seem keener to report negative experiences.
In my own world there have been some poor schools/teachers which didn't mean all schools/teachers were poor.
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