Used car - Hatchback big boot - Diesel High Mileage 4k Limit

Edd_80

Hi All,

My heads in a pickle as i just don't seem to be able to make a decision on a used car. In a nutshell we have 4K budget and looking for a Hatchback with big boot (for English Springer Spaniel). Do 12'000 miles a year on average and thinking Diesel to run the car into high mileage.

Our budget means no loans or debt but it does mean we need it to be as reliable as possible. We can budget £200 for a service each year with an extra £430 for emergency maintenance.

Currently thinking..

• VW Golf 1.9 TDI Mk V (2006) around 90'000 miles FSH
• Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi (2007) around 80'000 miles FSH (inc recent cambelt and water pump)

Needs to be Low Tax (<£140) and good MPG. Looked into Estates but decided against it due to overall size and Fiance not feeling comfortable driving something that big!

Any help / reassurance / suggestions / facts and figures / things to be careful of / known probelms would be absolutely amazing!!

Thanks Edd.

jaydeeuk1

Usual MSE response in these situations is to shout 'Mondeo!'

I prefer the focus to the Golf. Leons are nice too.

davetrousers

12,000 miles a year doesn't necessarily mean you should get a diesel, so don't exclude petrol based on that. Petrols are likely to be cheaper to service too.

forgotmyname

Going up a size from a Focus to a Mondeo can get you a newer car for less money.

Running costs wont be much more either. I have a 2L diesel estate and can get 57mpg average on a 300 mile round trip.

LandyAndy

I don't really get the reluctance to drive an estate. A focus estate is the same size as the hatchback but will be a lot more comfortable for the dog.


I'm not sure you should buy a diesel. You are looking at ones that in the danger zone for expensive repairs and you aren't doing the miles to justify it.

Edd_80

Thanks for the replies - Im a bit confused on Petrol versus Diesel.

Based on 12'000 miles and average petrol costing 1.30L and diesel average costing £1.35...

[*]Focus diesel car at combined Mpg of 54.2 would cost £1'411 a year inc £110 tax
[*]Focus Petrol car at combined Mpg of 42.2 would cost £1'922 a year inc £180 tax

So is running a diesel engine really going to cost me £510 extra a year in services and misc maintenance??

Not trying to sound like a douche just confused buying price second hand with same mileage is about £300 in favour of the petrol but over 3 years or so i would still be better off with a diesel - unless i am major missing something?

Thanks Edd.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

Edd_80 wrote: »

Thanks for the replies - Im a bit confused on Petrol versus Diesel.

Based on 12'000 miles and average petrol costing 1.30L and diesel average costing £1.35...

[*]Focus diesel car at combined Mpg of 54.2 would cost £1'411 a year inc £110 tax
[*]Focus Petrol car at combined Mpg of 42.2 would cost £1'922 a year inc £180 tax

So is running a diesel engine really going to cost me £510 extra a year in services and misc maintenance??

Not trying to sound like a douche just confused buying price second hand with same mileage is about £300 in favour of the petrol but over 3 years or so i would still be better off with a diesel - unless i am major missing something?

Thanks Edd.

No the diesel is not going to cost you more. The poor sap who paid the new price took the hit, and now you are in the second hand market the price differential has faded. Trouble with car pricing is that it is what people will pay not what something is worth.

These days diesels are common, but there is still a preference for petrol in smaller cars, so the pricing tends to reflect that. Remember that diesels also have the downside of tending to be noisier and the diesel can be messy when refilling (especially if someone before you made a pig's ear of it and left the nozzle covered in slimy diesel) so there are other factors other than running cost and buying cost coming into play.

tberry6686

try an octavia - there's a reason taxi drivers love them

nobbysn*ts

Diesel is a no brainer. We've one that does about 16000 miles a year.That saves us £1800 a year on fuel compared to one of our petrol cars. And another £200 on VED. Don't dismiss the fuel and VED savings based on what could happen. The saving is real.

OnanTheBarbarian

A neighbour who is a mechanic and runs his own garage has vented his thoughts on diesel Focus a few time, saying it is the Peugeot engine and the sump was made smaller to fit in the focus, which can often result in oil starvation and turbos shatting themselves.

I'd take a 1.9tdi Golf over a focus. The 2.0TDI VAG lump is a decent lump when it is running right.

Modern diesels will swallow your wallet when they do wrong though.

DigForVictory

Mondeo driver here. (Declares bias immediately.)
Focus, whilst a lovely drive, had naff boot space last I was car shopping.
Mondeo estate actually 3cm bigger than "bog standard" model (I'm told) so if I had to learn to drive one, I wouldn't let the estate bit spook me.
As for price secondhand, availability of spares & (ahem) ease of replacing rear light units (the corner bit most likely to show a ding), I say go for a Mondeo every time. I went to a girls school & barely know my head gasket from the head girl but *even* *I* can swap a tail unit out.... (Especially since the alternative is all my menfolk laughing at me.)
Get a gaffer tape grey colour, and you really are laughing...