I am considering at the end of the year buying a diesel as i do 500 miles a week on motorways. I will have about £2500-£3000 to spend. Can anyone give some ideas on what is the best diesel for the amount of money i will have.
Many thanks
Drew
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Hi Drew:
Many others will probably flame and disagree with me, but I'm not scared! I would suggest you consider carefully whether you really want a diesel.
Consider whether you like the driving characteristics of a very narrow and peaky power curve and the noise.
500 miles a week isn't really that much, somewhere near the same as I do on average. My 1999 1.6 Mondeo does over 40 mpg (average over several tank-fulls) when driven fairly gently at a max of about 75 mph. OK, a gently driven diesel would maybe manage 50 mpg which would save you about £400 per year i.e. little. Is that enough given that the diesel will be more expensive to buy initially? Don't ignore depreciation as a cost though.
Only my opinion, but I think that the current rush to diesel means that petrol power is better value at the moment. You'll find some far nicer petrol cars in your area at £2-3k on Autotrader's website than if you restrict yourself to diesel.
Good luck with the search
Andy
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Thanks for the info.
Currently i drive a Mercedes C180 L reg which has done 139000. Still going strong! At the moment i can get a maximum of 28-30mpg.
I am also doing about 100 miles at the weekend aswell so therefore spending about £300 a month on petrol overall. Surely Diesel would be better, but i can also see your point.
Thanks again Andy
Drew
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Anything reasonably big and French would be cheap and should have had any reliability bugs ironed out. Bigs French cars depreciate quickly so are potentially good buys in your market range - and they're the masters of diesel.
I had 2 XMs and never had a moment's bother with them - your could probably get a nice Xantia for your money - 50 mpg on a run.
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Terry
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You could perhaps look at a peugeot 306 or citroen ZX (essentially the same car). Reliable when looked after and the excellent XUD engined ones will give close to 50 mpg on a run. 2-3000 should get you a good FSH 306 on around an S reg with average miles. ZX's are MUCH cheaper due to the styling of the pug attracting lots of young buyers.
Good luck with the search.
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Although I am a diesel convert myself, given your budget, I would say you would get more 'petrol powered' car than diesel for your mone.
This additional VFM would I think more than pay for the diesel fuel savings you might make on an older or lower-spec diesel car.
There are drawbacks to diesels, such as slow warm-up in the winter, plus less driving flexibility around town etc, although granted they are invincible on the motorway.
Diesels are also getting a bit complicated now, with common-rail injecttion EGR valves MAF sensor issues etc etc, and to be honest I think a lot of garages still aren't good at troubleshooting diesel car faults.
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Thank you all for your comments.
Pug 306 seem to be a good choice for a french diesel. Pug 306 shall definatly be at the top of my list!
keep the comments coming
Thanks
Drew
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When Ive had diesel cars in the past, I found the servicing was much more expensive and twice as often, I know the service intervals have increased but I saw something recently where the servicing on a FIAT stilo diesel cost twice that of a stilo petrol.
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I would recommend you get a turbodiesel rather than a naturally-aspirated one. My current ZX TD replaced a BX with the same engine but non-turbo (the XUD that also goes in Peugeots). The TD performance is streets ahead of the other, yet fuel economy is actually slightly better, not worse. Both engines reached 200,000 miles without anything more than one head gasket each, so longevity doesn't seem to suffer either.
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Having only ever driven petrol-engined cars for the first 40 years of my motoring career, I switched to a 306 HDi a few months ago and am totally converted. Forget noise as an issue - from inside the car you wouldn't know it was diesel. Yes, you do have to use the gearbox more than with a petrol engine, but the compensations are m.p.g. figures well in excess of 50 and excellent acceleration, especially between 50 and 80 m.p.h. As regards servicing, I had mine done just before setting out for a motoring holiday in France a few weeks ago. It cost £169.30 and that included the replacement of oil and fuel filters and new rear brake pads. And of course, if you motor in France you'll find the supermarkets sell "gazole" for the equivalent of about 65 pence per litre. I believe Peugeot produced the 306 with the HDi engine from T-reg onwards and I would think early examples would be within your price range, though in my experience you have to search hard - my guess is that once people get their hands on them they hang on to them.
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Just look at the number of Peugeot problems on the forums-I've driven Ford diesels since the 80's-not the most refined but tough as old boots.
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Just look at the number of Peugeot problems on the forums
-Thats because they are so popular.
I've driven Ford diesels since the 80's-not the most refined but tough as old boots.
-They certainly aren't refined. Probably the roughest, most gutless, horrendous to drive engine of the last twenty years.And with a terrible timing belt failure record (due to that plastic fisher-price style belt tensioner).
(i'm only only harsh on them because i was forced by work to drive one and i HATED it).
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I've got a 1994 Vauxhall Astra 1.7DTL, and whilst it may not be the best advert for diesel cars, it has done nearly 190,000 miles and still runs very quietly and smooth. Quality servicing and maintenance is everything on a car regardless of age and mileage.
Modern common rail diesels are better than ever before. They have the performance of a petrol yet return the fuel economy of a diesel. If I were buying brand new I would definitely buy one.
Because so many people accidentally put petrol into a diesel car I would think seriously about buying one second hand unless I knew exactly where it had come from. This is because petrol can cause damage to the pump and injectors on a common rail engine, and repair work will almost certainly be very costly.
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Hi,
Well, firstly, you want to save money, so you need a diesel which will give you at least 45mpg.
By the time you get down to the £2-3k price range diesels carry none of their original price premium, although they maybe hold their value better nowadays due to the diesel revolution we are seeing.
Ideally you want one of the 'new-age' diesels, as these will give you greatly improved mpg over the old style ones and are generally more powerful, smooth and quiet.
As you do lots of motorway miles, if you enjoy driving even the slightest bit you will want a turbo version.
There's no way £3k will get you into a Ford TDCi, and i doubt that you'll find many modern VW diesels within your price range either. Which leaves the french HDi engine, which is the most economical of the lot.
Again, i'd be surprised if you could find a 306 with the HDi engine for your budget, as they hold their value due to good looks and excellent handling.
Therefore Citroen is the clear choice here. Xantia's especially are incredible value these days, and of course will have the legendary ride quality for all those miles. There will be plenty of Xantia HDi's within your price range.
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Yes, a Xantia would certainly be near or at the the top of my list in these circs. It would be a lot of car for the money, and parts in my experience are not as expensive as some. Admittedly the complications of the suspension system might deter, but my elderly BX has had little trouble (apart from occasional re-gassing) in this department for the 11 years I have owned it - and the ride is still amazing. I understand that the Xantia was as reliable if not more so - but no doubt someone will write in to say otherwise!
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The October Parker's Guide gives a figure of £3115 for a dealer's price for a T-reg Peugeot 306 L HDi - £2860 for a private purchase.
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"Xantia was as reliable if not more so "
2 Xantias, 200k so far, nowt done to suspension except some new spheres at £30 each.
However, no one (correct me if I am wrong) has mentioned cost of changing cars. If you are going to spend £3000 on changing cars, and your present one is reliable you will have to do a hell of a lot of miles to "save" that £3000 in diesel costs. Citroen fan that I am, I have to ask whether you would be better off hanging on to your present car until it starts costing a great deal in repairs, then changing?
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Thank you all for your comments.
£3000 may be not alot but i shall be going to an auction for this purchase. My car dealer friend shall come along when i go to do the bidding for me. So hopefully at an auction i will be getting more car for my money.
Thanks again
Drew.H
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Drew - why not let us know what you end up with? Best of luck at the auction!
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Nobody's mentioned 406 yet, unless I am half blind. Surely this would be a decent choice, if diesel is required?
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Nobody's mentioned 406 yet
Neither as far as I can see has BMW been discussed.
I have a 320d which at 53k miles behaves just like on Day One, except for the benefit that now (3½ years on), it's just about run in.
I took it to Munich in 2003 and checked it out into the 120+ mph area by GPS (would have gone quicker but I was actually catching up to the locals very quickly and had to back off). At the same time the sheer silence of the car (at just over 4000 rpm) allowed me still to be able to listen comfortably to my wacky variety of music tastes.
The car has been 100% reliable (not even 0.1% less). On the above trip I got 47 mpg overall and since new (just checked), 53.7 mpg.
Suits me anyway.
Oz (as was)
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