Safe to buy a low tax used diesel car under 7k ? - logger

I know we dont have crystall balls and even the government seems to not know what its doing but is it a bad idea for residuals and maybe tax over the next three years to buy a diesel car.

I am talking about a diesel car which already has lowish tax ( £ 30-120 )

I have about 6k for a nice 4 seater hatchback/saloon ( yet to be decided but thats another question ) and want to give myself a wider choice which diesel would give me BUT not if that £6k is only with£1k in three years or cant even be sold !

Thoughts ?

Safe to buy a low tax used diesel car under 7k ? - RT

City restrictions on older diesels will rapidly spread across the UK - AND - the date will get progressively closer - if it's not Euro 6 with Adblue, it's a big gamble.

Safe to buy a low tax used diesel car under 7k ? - badbusdriver

With so little info on your requirements other than budget, it is difficult to say for sure. But unless you do a lot of miles, regularly tow a caravan, or never drive into a big city or town, no.

At least, i wouldn't

Safe to buy a low tax used diesel car under 7k ? - Metropolis.
If these parasites in charge ever ban diesel i will at least have a great excuse to put a rover v8 crate engine in my td5!
Safe to buy a low tax used diesel car under 7k ? - logger

Sorry for the lack of info

No we dont tow anything or do lots of miles. I guess we like the torque of a diesel and if looked after the longevitiy..

looking for a good value , reliable 4 or 5 seater car/suv but not snobbish..happy to look at everything from a dacia sandero to a bmw series 3... as long as ( another crystal ball ) its a least unlikely over the next 3 years there are big repair bills

cheers

Safe to buy a low tax used diesel car under 7k ? - SLO76
Looking for longterm reliability on a limited budget and you’re doing fairly low mileage. I wouldn’t really recommend a diesel to you.

But if you must have that turbo diesel slug then two possibilities pop to mind. Avoid at all costs anything fitted with a DPF though!

The Honda Civic 2.2 CDTi was available up til 2011 without a DPF and these pull like a train while still managing well over 50mpg. They’re prone to clutch problems, turbo failure isn’t uncommon and timing chains can rattle, break or stretch on poorly maintained examples. Buy a good one and there’s no reason why it can’t hit 250k.

Kia Cee’d 1.6 diesels also were late to fit DPF’s, even some 2010/2011 registered cars avoided them. Check with any Kia dealer to see if the one you’re looking at has one or simply look for it yourself. Look for rot on subframes and the front crossmember and again clutches are a bit weak but otherwise these are pretty robust if a bit dull.

Petrol options would be the Ford Focus 1.6, Mazda 3, Volvo S40/V50 or Mk II Toyota Auris. All will be far more reliable in the longterm than a DPF equipped diesel and thoroughly enjoyable to drive with possible exception of the worthy but dull Auris.