its cheap
its chearful
it will do the job safely
i wouldnt do the belt at this price
i would do the oil/filter
check all the brakes
check the tyres
and run it till it broke
obviously get some breakdown cover cheap as you can too
wang it in for the mot a month before it runs out see what bubbles up
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Had three of those. Bought the last one at 85k. It had never had a service in its life at that point although to be fair it was only 18 months old at the time and was astonishingly cheap as a result. Ran it to 200k with no problems. The two previous ones never gave me any bother either. As Spikeyhead says, change the belt, get it some new oil and filters and it should be fine.
Good cars.
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I've go a '96 1.8TD, 72,000 when I bought it five years ago and now up to 146,000. It's been a good car, 50 to the gallon and hasn't broken the bank, still nice to drive without any rattles or clunks. The cambelt needs changing at 30k and it's not something I would neglect myself. Run it till it breaks is fair enough, but if it goes at 9 o' clock on a freezing winters night in the middle of nowhere and you have to wait for two hours for recovery and then be carless for however long it would soon look like false economy.
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is it a fast car for what it is or is it dog slow?
also is it economical?
any buying advice? things to watch out for?
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Good cars
Agreed. Had a late example (2000 X plate) bought with 97k and sold with 146k. Woefully underpowered, but otherwise good to drive. Taut handling, accurate steering, a good ride, and confidence inspiring brakes. We bought it as kiddie transport for SWMBO, but she never took to it. I got a job with a lengthy commute, so I took it on and she got something else.
In the near 50k I put on it, mechanical reliability was first class. Did timing belts (there are two - one for the cam and one for the injection pump) and water pump after the selling dealer bodged the job, changed oil and filter and diesel filter (costs £3 for genuine one, you might as well) every 10,000 miles. Other stuff as and when. From memory, the other stuff was no more than a bottom engine mount, an expansion tank cap and a CV joint. Parts cost peanuts on these. Just watch for a clutch as it will cost more than the car is worth to replace due to the huge amount of labour required.
These cars are slow and noisy, but comfy and bombproof. If you're doing runs, you'll get an easy 45 mpg as well. Feels very well put together as well, easily up to the standard of the Passat my brother in law was running at the time, and a heck of a sight more reliable.
Cheers
DP
Edited by DP on 24/05/2009 at 21:26
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Yes they are slow and the 1.8 diesel is very agricultural. Unbreakable by me though.
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I bought my one-known-owner 1.8TD MkI GLX estate on 272,000 miles at 5 years old, ran it up to 328,000 miles in under a year and sold it for the same as I paid for it. In that time it averaged 44mpg on busy taxi work, and over 50mpg on a motorway run.
It did eat front wishbones every 30,000 miles or so but they weren't horrendously expensive to have replaced. The fuel pump should be good for around 240,000 miles and the oil and filters need changing every 6,000 miles. I would also drain the fuel filter every 2-3000 miles, as when it's full of water it makes the car very smoky and sluggish.
The only real problem I had with my Mondeo was the breather pipe from the turbo getting clogged up with gunk, but simply taking it off and flushing it with petrol cured that. I'd have another one tomorrow, in fact one of my neighbours has a T-reg on 198,000 miles with worn out glowplugs, I'm just waiting for him to get fed up with it so I can make him an offer....
Dave TD
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