1.9 to 2.4 diesel for European trip?

andygb

torbrex wrote: »

its a 2.2 CDi 4 door saloon.

My last long journey was Sept last year, I drove home from south Wales to Fife in one jump with just stops for food and toilet on the way:
491 miles in 8.5 hours (driving) ave speed 58mph ave fuel 64.2mpg

Thought it might be the C220 CDi, I have just been looking at a few on Autotrader. Some of them do well over 200K miles, but an X/51/52 with around 100K should be between £2K to £3.5K (a lot of variation in price, but then the specs can be so different). That is a good old trip, nearly 500 miles in 8.5 hours, I reckon on the continent, with good roads it would be around 7.5 hours.
Are there any main problem areas on the car (I have heard about gearboxes/oil coolers)?

torbrex

andygb wrote: »

Thought it might be the C220 CDi, I have just been looking at a few on Autotrader. Some of them do well over 200K miles, but an X/51/52 with around 100K should be between £2K to £3.5K (a lot of variation in price, but then the specs can be so different). That is a good old trip, nearly 500 miles in 8.5 hours, I reckon on the continent, with good roads it would be around 7.5 hours.
Are there any main problem areas on the car (I have heard about gearboxes/oil coolers)?

I have done 100k and nothing major to report, just the usual suspects such as brakes, exhaust and shocks, the front springs did go last year and when I contacted Mercedes they were not surprised as it seems to have been a fault on that model/year.
The motor for the aircon packed up on that trip and will cost about £500 to replace, I am putting off doing it as I'm not working at the moment (not exactly needed anyway)
I have noticed a slightly higher rev before the gear changes but I cant find anything without stripping out the automatic box and again I am avoiding that until required.

My only complaint about the car is the size of the footwell for the driver, I find that when I have the cruise control on, I have nowhere comfortable to put my foot/leg and my knee hits off the speaker in the door and of course the paintwork is cheap & nasty as seems to be the case in all Mercs of that era.

Notmyrealname

attila_ wrote: »

Because they are as exciting as a tax return.

They're one of the best handling cars in their class. The jag and merc are old mans cars. The Alfa is pretty but will always be getting fixed.

Notmyrealname

andygb wrote: »

Thanks Torbrex, that is the kind of info I am after.

MK3 Mondeo 2.0 TDCi 130 with over 130k on the clock at the time. Did East Yorkshire to Tours in France in one hit with two adults, two kids and boot load of luggage driving at the maximum speed limit in both the UK and France.

A 600 mile trip with mostly dual carriageway and single roads in France and it averaged 58MPG.

Neice and her boyfriend were following us in their 1.5 TD Clio. They averaged 75MPG but kept disappearing in the rear view mirror on the hills. They were also knackered and aching like hell after the journey whereas we could have done the same again.

bungle4by4

attila_ wrote: »

Because they are as exciting as a tax return.

You havent driven one then. the chassis is superb, handling is excellent.

What you mean to say is, the badge says ford on it.

andygb

Notmyrealname wrote: »

They're one of the best handling cars in their class. The jag and merc are old mans cars. The Alfa is pretty but will always be getting fixed.

So much for urban mythology. I have had four Alfas and none of them have ever let me down on the road.
I have had to replace parts, but then the same applies to any car. There are plenty of 156 diesels with over 200K miles on the clock, and all of my petrol Alfas had over 150K.

andygb

Notmyrealname wrote: »

Did East Yorkshire to Tours in France in one hit with two adults, two kids and boot load of luggage driving at the maximum speed limit in both the UK and France.
A 600 mile trip

It is 650 miles from where I live in Kent to get to Tours in France (I know because I have done it twice), so it must be at least 850 miles from Yorkshire to Tours;)
I certainly would not like to drive for 12 hours non stop.

Ransoman

harveybobbles wrote: »

The 2.4 Alfa engine is a pretty horrid lump to be honest.

That's not the opinion of all the 2.4 diesel owners on alfaowner.com. It is a fantastic engine with 5cyl, smooth and powerfull. i certainly have never heard a bad word said against it.

Edit: Noticed you are a trader though so i am sure you have seen a fair few lemons come through. I am guessing you are speaking from a reliablity point of view. No Alfa likes neglect and unfortunatly that is where there reputation has come from.

If you get it in 20v Multijet configuration in a late 156 you can expect 45 - 50mpg easily. Just watch out for wear on the suspension bushes.

Avoid the 159. Nothing wrong with it but with an extra 300kg and a dpf the MPG is a lot lower.

Chorlie

Volvo V70 or S60, the older 163bhp 2.4 D5 Diesel engine is good, I had an Auto V70 and on a long motorway run (at just under 70mph) I could get very high 40's mpg so a manual you should get low 50's mpg and it was the most comfortable car I've ever owned.

The second best car was a Mondeo so don't rule the ford out.

peachyprice

Don't forget to take into account the fact that a big comfy car will be fine for getting there but once you're off the autostrada and onto normal roads you'll be bu99ered.;)