If you want diesel then I would suggest any car fitted with the VW Tdi unit.

You will get 90BHP upwards giving you the acceleration you require & easily achieve 50mpg if not used for too many short journeys.

Needs good service history to ensure the turbo & engine are in as good a condition as possible.

Don't worry about mileage if the SH is good.

Bump!

Most people say the MK4 golf would be my best bet but this site says they are niot too great the focus engine i could afford also according to this site would not be the best. I have an mk3 Gold 1.9d it it is just too sluggish for me.

Edited by Dazl1212 on 10/08/2010 at 14:57

Such as 2000 plate skoda octavia TDI ON AUTOTRADER FOR £1095? TAXED AND MOT'D

Its the fuel economy that puts me off. I travel around 30-40 miles a day to work.

Probably not, because you'd get an older Golf for your money which might need more repairs.

The Civic (petrol) 1.4 or 1.6 is a good bet - quite a lot have been driven by retired people and led a gentle life - although beware of ultra-low mileage as several years of short journeys to the shops / church / bingo do a car no good at all.

Wouldn't it be worth hanging on to the car you've got unless / until it becomes uneconomical to repair?

Surely with a budget limit of £15,000 a new diesel smaller car is perfectly feasible, try drive the deal? or sommat Ex Motorpoint, spoilt for choice.

I have ordered a new Octavia 1.6 diesel Elegance with DSG for just over £16,500 from a N I dealer, should be able to do better on the mainland I would have thought.

Or should that have been £1500.00??

Cheers

M

Psst....... Wanna but a just run in Ford Galaxy?

Bump!!

Any body chime in? Still looking around this price range?

Almera 2.2 Dti

Audi A3/ A4 milage worries me at this price point

Astra DTi

Peugeot TD/HDI

Rover 25/45

Corsa 1.5TD

Golf/Passat 1.9 tdi

Assuming your journey of 40 miles is to and from work, over the course of a year that's about 10,000 miles.

55 mpg diesel car at £1.40/litre = £1145

40 mpg petrol car at £1.35/litre = £1512

A diesel therefore could save you £367 a year, but a even just turbo would be expensive to replace and would cost about as much as 2 years saved fuel cost over a petrol. Personally I'd go for something like a Corolla or a Focus with a petrol engine. Otherwise an Octavia in diesel form with my eyes open to the bits which could go wrong. You'll get a lower mileage petrol car for your ££ than a diesel. Lots of Focus on autotrader/freeads paper.

Any discussion of motoring costs and saving money - and buying a different car - that concentrates on fuel consuption is fatally flawed.

RFL and Insurance are just as important and if the fuel difference is only £350 pa ish then the insurance costs alone for an Audi could eat that up.

A proper analysis requires some work - by the OP. If he can't or won't do it....then this thread is a waste of time..

LPG systems are expensive to fix. A mate bought a car last year with an old system. It took over £1000 to bring it up to date. Until it was fixed the car would only run on petrol.