Small -Economical Diesel

cyclonebri1

Lindopski wrote: »

Every man and his dog has been putting me off small diesels to be honest, the man on the forum and the man in the street all say the same pretty much.
I'm thinking about keeping the Rover now to be honest it needs a cambelt asap and lots of tidying but other than that its fairly bulletproof.
The amount of negativity I have heard about small diesels has put me off for life to be honest.
It sounds as though anything below 1.9 is a total dog, no matter how new.

Look I think you have it wrong. About small diesels in general that is.

The advice would have been exactly the same about the Rover you have at present when you bought that.

The problem is that now diesels produce as much power as petrol engines (give or take), ie a 1460 turbo diesel kicks out 110bhp, unheard of a few years ago.

But it comes at a price, they are as complicated as a modern petrol engine and need tlc to keep them on top performance and to ensure longevity.

On that score a cheap but modern small diesel possibly isn't for you. ;)

Obukit

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

But it comes at a price, they are as complicated as a modern petrol engine and need tlc to keep them on top performance and to ensure longevity.

It's not TLC, in general they have longer service intervals than older diesels. It's that if (and when) something goes wrong, especially with the fuel pump/injectors/DPF, the repair costs are astronomical. And because the pump and injectors are operating at such high pressure, the long-term prospects can't be good.

Contrast this with my old VW Golf, most problems could be fixed with a hammer or a part from the scrappy. The most expensive repairs I had were a starter motor meltdown - £10 from the scrappy - and leaking seals on the fuel pump - £3 for some brake fluid, although a proper repair with new seals would only have been £25.

cyclonebri1

Obukit wrote: »

It's not TLC, in general they have longer service intervals than older diesels. It's that if (and when) something goes wrong, especially with the fuel pump/injectors/DPF, the repair costs are astronomical. And because the pump and injectors are operating at such high pressure, the long-term prospects can't be good.

Contrast this with my old VW Golf, most problems could be fixed with a hammer or a part from the scrappy. The most expensive repairs I had were a starter motor meltdown - £10 from the scrappy - and leaking seals on the fuel pump - £3 for some brake fluid, although a proper repair with new seals would only have been £25.

It's called progress, the throw away society, big diesels suffer exactly the same as small ones do as they all now work on high pressure fuel systems.

A friend had a Vectra, 53 reg or thereabouts, fuel pump went on that, £1100 in parts alone.

I was simply making the observation that small diesels are no different to any other present day diesel cars.

Lindopski

I must admit after all the modern car bad press and negativity, I have been having a small nose around some lower Mileage 90's VW Golf Diesels

By the sounds of things, Ill need to keep it running for the next 30 years though till I retire, as the modern equivalents just don't cut it unless you have a bank balance like Rockerfella to keep on top of them.

My Boss managed to run an MGB GT for 40 years back and to from work and he was on a similar commute, though he did sometimes come in a Riley RME to share the load.

Obukit

Lindopski wrote: »

By the sounds of things, Ill need to keep it running for the next 30 years though till I retire, as the modern equivalents just don't cut it unless you have a bank balance like Rockerfella to keep on top of them.

It tends to be the body that causes the problems, if you were handy with a welder and had tons of Waxoyl I bet the engine would last thirty years @ 12k a year.

Hopefully though it will be like anything else, common rail is still new technology and these things are always cantankerous when development has been rushed to meet Euro 3/4/5 standards. Eventually it will settle down and - although they will never run on straight veg oil - they will be more robust. Worst case is they are still a pile of rubbish but there are tons in the scrapyards to salvage expensive fuel pumps/injectors from!

Lendusapund

Lindopski wrote: »

I must admit after all the modern car bad press and negativity, I have been having a small nose around some lower Mileage 90's VW Golf Diesels

.

Preferring a standard or turbo model?
Regards