Old Car - False Economy?

AdrianHi

Maggiesunshine wrote: »

Great - do you know if they have the 1.4 or the 1.2 cos some people say that the 1.2 whilst being more economical to insure is not as good on the motor ways as the 1.4? But do you know much about deisil engines please? 100k seems a heck of lot of miles to me, but friend says that it is only run in!!!! Thank you very much for replying however.

100,000 motorway miles is better than 50,000 miles of short journeys around town for wear on the engine. The vast majority of the wear and tear on an engine happens in the first 10 minutes after starting from cold. I was talking to a taxi driver in Amsterdam where diesel Mercedes are run 24 hours a day (drivers work in shifts) most days of the year and they can go 1 million kilometers of town driving before they die.

Sister-in-law has a 1.4 8v manual, mother-in-law has a more powerful and more economical 1.4 16v automatic.
The Skoda's are fitted with the same TDi diesel engines you find in VW's, Audi's and Seat's. Among the best diesels you can get.

You need to make sure you get it for a good price and be sure the service history is complete. It would be harder to sell on later due to people's perception of the mileage, but if you plan to run it a long time and it really is genuinely motorway miles it could be very good to you.

anewman

Maggiesunshine wrote: »

Great - do you know if they have the 1.4 or the 1.2 cos some people say that the 1.2 whilst being more economical to insure is not as good on the motor ways as the 1.4? But do you know much about deisil engines please? 100k seems a heck of lot of miles to me, but friend says that it is only run in!!!! Thank you very much for replying however.

The 1.2htp I believe is a Skoda designed engine. The 1.4 8v is based on an old Skoda engine design that goes back many years. The 1.4 16v is a VW unit.

The only way you can tell is to give it a try yourself. Many people would say a car is underpowered, crap on the motorway etc but they're probably comparing it with their 2 litre beast - or just looking at the small volume and assuming how bad it will be without even trying it. My GF had a 1.2 as a hire car and didn't have any complaints about it

A good Skoda forum is briskoda.net if you're interested

And as mentioned above, I concurr - 100k miles is nothing assuming it's been well maintained. In fact I would say it makes it an even better buy as most people will not be interested as they assume high mileage is a bad thing.

Maggiesunshine

Thank you very much for all your help. (I thought I had posted this just now but it is not showing ... so I am doing it again!!) Thank you both.

Just a couple more questions .... (!!) there are so many different models of skodas out there - (as well as this specific deisil that I am interested in) - 1.2 - 1.4 - then different bhp, then 12v or 16v and then blue lines and black lines .... but the word 'economy' in this day and age is paramount - and I read - re read that you say Adrianhi , that the 1.4 16v is more economical than the 1.4 8v (are they the classis and the comfort and the silverline and blacklines??) anyway - is that generally more economica around town, or longer journeys?? Then, reading anewman, (I have registered on the briskoda forum - thank you very much for that info) if I want a good engine then the 1.4 is the one cos that is a VW engine! This is so complicated but very very interesting! (I know as you say that the only way is to actually drive one .... which is what I shall do!) thanks again guys.

anewman

Don't worry too much about the blackline/blueline stuff. All it is is different trim levels, so in the blackline I think you get a leather handbrake and gearstick knob or something.

Apparently on the 1.4 8v headgasket can be a problem, and on the vw 1.4 16v I think it was something more serious that tends to be the problem (cylinder liners or something?). The 8v uses a timing chain so does not need the cam belt changing like the 16v, although the timing chains can get quite noisy after lots of miles but don't cost too much to replace. The 1.4 8v is still relatively speaking not so bad an engine and worth considering buying.

Maggiesunshine

thank you. so much to consider! you have been v helpful. this site is so good.

tomstickland

Dee123 wrote: »

Hello

There are a few posts from people asking what car to buy but I can't find anyone asking exactly what I want to know.

All this changed when i went away for the weekend and hired a new shape 1.2 52 plate Fiesta. Amazed to find that I did nearly 200 miles on £18 of petrol, whereas I spend about £30 a week with the Golf to do maybe 130 miles.

Are you comparing like with like?
Doing 70mph on the motorway in France I managed 43mpg from my 1991 BMW 318iS.
Driving to and from work on B roads I sometimes dip as low as 30mpg.

A 1.3 Golf Mk2 should be able to match a Fiesta for mpg. Something could be wrong with your Golf. Don't assume that the Fiesta has some magical efficiency factor.

30mpg would be 300 miles for £45.

I've never spent more than £1200 on buying a car over the last 15 years and I do about 20K per year. I do all my own servicing though.
I see no reason why I'd want to get rid of my 17 year old BMW. It's such a good car.

AdrianHi

Maggiesunshine wrote: »

that the 1.4 16v is more economical than the 1.4 8v (are they the classis and the comfort and the silverline and blacklines??)

As suggested in other posts the 1.4 16V is a more modern engine, more expensive to buy when new, which will return better MPG and performance in most conditions, I would expect more so on the motorway. With cars of this size there is little or no advantage on fuel costs with diesels and they tend to cost more, so a petrol 1.4 16v is probably the best bet if you didn't already have a diesel car to consider.
The Classic trim level was the most basic where things lilke electric windows and airconditioning were options so rarely found.

Maggiesunshine

Thank yoou adrianHi - I have learned so much by what you have told me! I have been away and so have not done anything more re the diesel car with 100k on the clock - I have a problem - only mine I dare say with this 100k - even tho Iunderstand what you said about 100k motorway being better than 50k stop and start .....and altho it is cheap for the year .... it has still done 100k! I will go and see it (the body work may be badly marked if it has done all this motorway driving ....?? I think I read that somewhere that that could happen) but at least I know now, that really the 1.4 16 v is a good option - and there seem to be plenty of those for sale ..... I also understand that the Classic is more basic .... prob the comfort is the one to look for ... I have never seen so many variations on a car as these skodas!!

Thank you very much again for your time and trouble.