Diesel Cars

[amc1]

Hi, looking for advice on diesel cars - they seem to be quite a bit more expensive so do you really save on the fuel consumption ? Which make/models have good reputations (looking for low mileage (but not new), 1.6+, aircon, hatchback) ?

Also, would potentially be looking to part-ex at a garage for my existing petrol car - any tips for this type of transaction ? or would I better selling/buying in the private market ?

thanks,

[John 3:16]

If you can sell private go for that. then go to a car suppermarket if you don't ant the hassle of non warenty etc.

Lots of questions
How many miles do you do a year
how much have you got to spend?

The focus has a good name diesel wise at the moment?

[daymo]

We have 2.0 Hdi Xsara Picasso,it is very economical and due to low emmisions only costs £115 a year tax.Its a great family car.They are also cheap to buy...

[sexy_fufu]

Ive got a diesel Astra, Great im saving about £15 per month in fuel.

i do about 200 miles a week i think.

[simes]

i also have a Picasso HDI 2 litre diesel.
I can easily get 50+ MPG. Thats much better than i ever achieved in a 1 litre petrol Micra.
Get an SX model and you get aircon ( as well as remote C/L , elec windows/mirrors , heated mirrors/ ABS).

Look for a Citroen or Peugeot car with a HDI engine , or a Seat/ Volkswagon / Skoda with a TDI engine or a Ford with a TDCI engine.
These are the best diesels that are widely available.
Don't buy an old ford TD or any old standard diesel engines car. They are much slower and less economical. You need the newer engines i mentioned above. A peugeot/ citroen HDI will be cheapest as they have been out longer.

By far the best way is to sell yours private and then go to a large car supermarket. If you part-exchange you will loose hundreds. most dealer will only give less than the lowest book price ( trade) for part-ex cars nowdays even if its A1 with FSH .

[amc1]

If you can sell private go for that. then go to a car suppermarket if you don't ant the hassle of non warenty etc.

Lots of questions
How many miles do you do a year
how much have you got to spend?

The focus has a good name diesel wise at the moment?

Probably about 15000 miles per year and approx. £6k.

how's the reliability of the citroen ?

[moonrakerz]

The more miles you drive the more you save.

I went from a 2.0L petrol Mondeo to a 2.0L TDCI Mondeo, the petrol averaged 36 mpg, the diesel 47. I will never buy another petrol car. a modern diesel is far superior in all ways apart from top speed, I think the "book" speeds for the two Mondeos were 128mph and 125 - never had the chance to see if that was true.

A diesel Focus is a good car, but as someone has already said don't buy the old TDI engine, it came out of a tractor I think !

[balsingh]

Let me throw a spanner into the works. I have recently bought an LPG BMW 318i. It returns about 32mpg on LPG ... but remember that LPG is almost half the price of petrol ... so that almost 64mpg equivalent.

[Quinny]

The only down side to HDi engined French cars,is that they are good when they are working,but can be expensive to repair,when they go wrong.

How do I know?

I have a 99 406 HDi,and the common weakspot on them,is the bottom crank pulley.Dealer price for the part=£142. (Spurious ones are available for half that.) Labour is extra.I had to have mine replaced on Friday.If you don't replace it when it is tick tick ticking,then kiss goodbye to your engine when the pulley disintergrates.

Also a problem,although not as often,is the high pressure fuel pump.I have heard that it can be up to £1k to replace,but as that hasn't happened to me yet,I can't confirm it.

On the plus side,when they run right,I don't think anything can beat them.I do love mine to bits,and would probably replace it with another,when the time comes.

Ken.

[code-a-holic]

I have a 1.9 Sharan TDI. Spending so little on diesel compared to 1.6 petrol scenic. Do 43mpg, usually better and do narrow windy roads. My husbands Bors TDI does the same.

[schmooser]

... I've just gone through this myself and opted for a Skoda Octavia estate 1.9TDi, it's four and a half years old and slightly higher mileage but it's a good size (huge boot), does easily 55mpg and tax is much less than the petrol version (110 per year instead of 190) it cost me around 5K privately. (I lost out by a couple of days on a very similar one at a Skoda Dealer for 6K)

If you don't want that size car maybe opt for the Fabia, that should probably get better economy. But nowadays they are one of the most reliable makes (along with a couple of the japanese makes).

I would go diesel over petrol all the time now, even though my mileage is right down now, they are generally more reliable and go longer than their petrol counterparts. A definite choice if you're planning on keeping a car for a long time, rather then planning on selling it on in a couple of years.

[KrisPringle]

I own a 1998 audi a4 2.5 v6 tdi, It has to be the most reliable car i have ever owned. Its now done over 158k and is still running as new, body work is immaculate, doesn't use any oil and still returns upwards of 45 mpg on a run.
I was thinking of selling it but it keeps going so i see no need too. Recently had it rolling roaded at a company called AMD and it produced 160.1 bhp and 232 ib/ft which is slightly above standard (so not lost any power over time either).

You can pick these up for peanuts now, i would probably only get £3.5k if i sold it.

[KrisPringle]

If your after a small car i would recommend either a seat leon or vw golf.

You would get a much newer car for the money with the leon than the golf which is essentially the same car anyway. Car Giant in Wembley has a 54 reg leon 1.9 tdi 130 for only £7199.

[gtone28]

I have a 307sw 1.6hdi get's an average of 49mpg, it's pretty nippy aswell 110bhp, I filled at tesco's and it takes £45 to fill and the computer say's i should get 497mile from that(depends how you drive), it's cheaper to run than my last car which was costing about £15 a week to run to do 120miles. According to peugeot newer hdi engines can run on 30% bio-diesel.

only downside is french cars can be expensive to fix if they go wrong.

If you go for A VW and some other german cars you can run them on bio-diesel. Which is a bit cheaper at the moment plus the duty has been paid on it.

They will also run on pure veggie oil but you have to register the oil with the tax man and pay the duty, still makes it cheaper than diesel and the only downfall is you have to change the filter more often and top up the additives. It has lower co2 emmisions and has less impuritys than regular diesel plus the carbon it produce's is only the carbon the plant took out of the atmosphere in the first place.

Topgear have some information on bio-diesel.

[superfly]

the price of LPG is already on the rise and it will only go up, it is quite a gamble as the resell value of an LPG is greatly reduced

[roswell]

I have a 2001 2.0 DTI vauxhall astra, its excellent get about 45 mpg on short runs better on long steady motorway runs only fill up twice a month which is about 450 miles to a tank, would never have petrol again.

[schmooser]

WARNING NOTE TO KRISPRINGLE !!!! Up until three weeks ago I had exactly the same car, same age, the estate version, with 145,000 on the clock. And four weeks ago I would have said exactly the same as you about reliability and market value.
Unfortunately the cambelt snapped before it's time!! and with a £2000 plus repair bill, I chose the new car option, hence moving to the Skoda!

So check your cambelt if you haven't had it replaced recently!!!!

[gord115]

If your after a small car i would recommend either a seat leon or vw golf.

You would get a much newer car for the money with the leon than the golf which is essentially the same car anyway. Car Giant in Wembley has a 54 reg leon 1.9 tdi 130 for only £7199.

Don't forget the diesel skodas either-basicly vw underneath and very reliable

[frank potter]

Let me throw a spanner into the works. I have recently bought an LPG BMW 318i. It returns about 32mpg on LPG ... but remember that LPG is almost half the price of petrol ... so that almost 64mpg equivalent.

I hope balsingh has better luck with his LPG car than I had with mine.

After around 40,000 miles my LPG Daewoo began backfiring into the inlet manifold. Despite replacing a number of components we could not prevent this happening - this backfiring can potentially cause serious damage to the engine. There were also problems with the car engine regularly cutting out when approaching junctions. A local diagnostics expert has since told me that in his opinion direct injection petrol engined cars should NEVER be converted to run on LPG. I have also heard of similar problems with factory fitted LPG vehicles.

I will never even so much as consider buying another lpg vehicle -diesels are infinitely better.

LPG looked very good in theory however in practice it turned out to be something of a nightmare.

[DavidHM]

After around 40,000 miles my LPG Daewoo began backfiring into the inlet manifold. Despite replacing a number of components we could not prevent this happening - this backfiring can potentially cause serious damage to the engine. There were also problems with the car engine regularly cutting out when approaching junctions. A local diagnostics expert has since told me that in his opinion direct injection petrol engined cars should NEVER be converted to run on LPG. I have also heard of similar problems with factory fitted LPG vehicles

Are there any direct injection petrol Daewoos? Direct injection is when the fuel is injected directliy into the combustion chamber, rather than being injected into an inlet valve. Some manufacturers do use this (e.g., VW FSi, Ford SCi, Mitsubishi GDi, Peugeot/Citroen HPI, Vauxhall 2.2 engines, etc.) but there really aren't that many around.

[Jay-Jay]

Great thread and great timing!

Husband is currently looking for a car for me. Apparently, after him speaking to my Dad, I would prefer a Peugeot 206 or 307 estate sport wagon :rolleyes:. Apparently I would also prefer a diesel so your hints are extremely helpful.

Look for a Citroen or Peugeot car with a HDI engine , or a Seat/ Volkswagon / Skoda with a TDI engine or a Ford with a TDCI engine.


Dad? Is that You? :eek:

Those are the exact makes in the absolutely exact order that my Dad suggested :D

[Quinny]

Iirc,the 307 was one of the worst cars Peugeot ever made.

My sister-in-law had one,and it spent more time in the dealers,than on the road,to the point she got rid of it,and now has a VW.

I have also heard of other horror stories surrounding the 307.

Check for yourself.

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/index.php?url=/carbycar/index.htm

Ken.

[Jay-Jay]

Ooooooohhhhhhhh!!!! Interesting!

Thank you Ken