Advice on a car around £2,000?

reeac

Mercdriver wrote: »

So you're basing your advice on experience of cars that were last out 20 years ago? Quite a lot has changed since then.

I agree that things have changed but then I was commenting on a range of cars owned from 1978 until the present day and my first R5 was 1986 vintage and the second one 1996 so pretty relevant in vintage although maybe not so if the OP is thinking mid-2000s.

Pewmouse

I would recommend a Mk1 Seat Leon, mainly because I have one (53 plate) and I bought it for £1,900 last year and it's been faultless. It's the TDI Cupra so the PD150 and if you go for one check it has been serviced with the correct oil. They are lovely cars, quick and economical.


Mine has 120k on the clock and runs like new. If you look around for one you will find a nice one, diesels are less common than petrol's but they are pre DPF so nothing like that to go wrong. Mine has had the EGR bypassed as it was gunged up, most of them have had EGR delete's. We have another Seat with the PD130 in it, it is slightly more economical but the PD150 is more fun

JustAnotherSaver

Yeah i'd heard about the PD150 before but aren't these more problematic?

Regards that EGR delete i've heard this in other cars too. What does this actually do & does it have any negative effects on the car?

Pewmouse

Slightly more than the PD130, that is why I suggested checking service history and that the correct oil has been used. If that's the case then they should be fine, they are known for cam wear but I haven't found this to be overly common as it did worry me when I bought my car.


It's the exhaust gas recirculation valve and it recirculates the exhaust gas to lower the cars emissions. It caused no problems with my car when it was removed and the car still passes the MOT emissions test just fine. A clogged EGR can reduce your MPG. It can cause the engine management light to come on when it is bypassed but this just a code that can be cleared with a VAG com.


You can get MK1 Leon's with PD130's and PD110's in but they don't look as nice or go as well as the Cupra. They are the same engines as the same age Golf but they are generally cheaper than the equivalent Golf so you get more for your money.

jimjames

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

Yeah i'd heard about the PD150 before but aren't these more problematic?

They are known for "chocolate cams" with more wear than the PD130. My previous PD150 had replacement camshaft at about 170k miles.
The performance is also quite different with the power delivered in a different band to the PD130 and needs to get above 2000rpm before it seems to get going whereas the PD130 pulls from much lower down.