I’m looking for a new car £5/6k budget. Needs to be comfy on the motorway, reliable, decent size boot to shove bike into and decent fuel economy.
Now here’s my problem. I wanted a petrol but there don’t seem to be many around nowadays, 5 years ago you could pick up a decent 5yr old Mondeo 1.8LX easily. It seems that most cars in my size & price range are ex-company cars and are nearly all diesel.
I don’t want a diesel as most seem to have some kind of scare story with the DPF, clutch, DMF, cambelt, EGR, etc. etc…. but given there’s not much choice I might have to get a diesel.
Are there any diesel cars out there that don’t have all of these problems? Or only have some of them?

You can get a Mondeo, Accord or Mazda6 2.0 petrol but there’s not many around in good condition at sensible prices. There seems to be 2.4/2.5L petrol versions around but they’re far too thirsty.
Any ideas?

http://www.gumtree.com/p/ford/ford-focus-1.6-ti-vct-zetec-5dr-2012-/1126434487

http://www.gumtree.com/p/ford/ford-focus-1.6-sport.-low-mileage/1124089078

http://www.gumtree.com/p/ford/ford-focus-1.6-115ps-2009.5my-zetec-s/1126954825

Ignore the scare stories.

Drac – Moderator
Ignore the scare stories.

I had major DPF and EGR issues with my Mazda6. It got sorted eventually but only after I’d threw loads of money at it.
I sold it when I got a company car but a recent admin change means that I have no company car.

The “family sized” car these days tends to be in a MPV or SUV shape. What’s left is company fleet fodder for sales reps to pound up and down the motorway and they want diesel for low CO2 (thus low co. car tax).

Any Vectra 2.2i’s around – had one as a company car in 2006, plenty decent enough.

http://www.gumtree.com/p/honda/honda-civic-i-vtec-2008-1.8-petrol-5dr/1126546692

http://www.gumtree.com/p/honda/2011-2010-honda-civic-1.8-vtec-si/1123481251

http://www.gumtree.com/p/honda/2008-honda-civic-1.8-i-vtec-type-s-3dr/1118538114

http://www.gumtree.com/p/vauxhall/2010-10-reg-vauxhall-astra-sri-1.6-petrol-5-door-25050-miles-fsh/1126619456

http://www.gumtree.com/p/vauxhall/2010-vauxhall-astra-1.6-i-vvt-16v-exclusiv-auto-5dr-10-reg-petrol-blue/1126049502

http://www.gumtree.com/p/vauxhall/2009-59-vauxhall-astra-1.6-sri-5d-113-bhp/1126808411

BMW 320i or 520i. Nice and cheap as they are not diesel, good engines and more importantly not a VX or ford etc

more importantly not a VX or ford etc

?

I had major DPF and EGR issues with my Mazda6. It got sorted eventually but only after I’d threw loads of money at it.
I sold it when I got a company car but a recent admin change means that I have no company car.

Yeah Mazda struggle with diesels.

Honda 2.2 no particulate filter nonesense. Accords are cheap and have a huge boot.

probably sounded a bit harsh, just find lots of ‘cheaper’ makes tend to be in worse condition due to being company/loan cars etc or having had families use them. Something like a 5 series will just have a more solid build in terms of suspension components too so they make great 2nd hand bargains, especially the petrol ones that are often hardly used and well looked after. I’ve also hated pretty much every VX I’ve driven.

cody – thanks, Focus driving position too cramped, I hate Vauxhalls but will take a close look at a Civic

Toyota of a size to suit?
My corolla 03 plate now on 278k miles.
Other than consumables only repairs have been heater matrix, clutch(I do a lot of stop/start) and two sets of droplinks

I’ve never once bought a diesel car. A carefully driven modern petrol car can be extremely efficient and when you don’t want to drive it carefully its nice to have an engine with a high rev limit. My dad once had a Civic with a 1.5 vetec lump under the bonnet. Hugely efficient and it screamed like a banshee at full revs in top gear at 100 mph+. You don’t get that with a car run on loser juice*

*My company van however is a diesel and for the mileage that does a diesel engine is crucial. It is very slow though and just won’t rev.

“loser juice” sounds so very wrong!

Is the answer not Shirley an Octavia VRS?

. Hugely efficient and it screamed like a banshee at full revs in top gear at 100 mph+. You don’t get that with a car run on loser juice

No, because they’ll do that without screaming like a banshee.

No, because they’ll do that without screaming like a banshee.

Maybe, but a diesel won’t rev to 9000 rpm so you have far less fun getting to 100mph in the first place.

Besides, in all seriousness, a well maintained variable valve petrol engine car is what most people actually need for most of their driving, especially if it is mostly local with only the odd longer journey. Some of the small capacity turbo charged engines are astonishing. If I could afford a new Ford Courier van with the Ecoboost petrol engine I’d ditch my diesel fueled slug of a van in a heartbeat. Sadly most van makers are slow to switch to more novel engines and most people still believe that diesel is the holy grail for economical motoring.

And right now becoming even more economical.

I’ve had petrol cars and diesel cars, the diesel cars I’ve had have had bigger boots, therefore deisel cars are more betterer than petrol cars! Fact!

HTH…..

80% of my driving is on the M62/60 so in theory it’s at motorway speeds apart from when it’s crawling

We have a 2.4 Honda Accord and they are only a couple of MPG down on the 2.0. I wouldn’t count them out. At £1.12 a gallon for petrol unless you are doing bigger miles (at which point you should be buying a diesel anyway) it won’t make much of a difference in annual running costs.

How about a 2.0 TFSi Octavia VRS? http://www.motors.co.uk/car-38516964/sp
Everything you want, good handling car, huge boot, very comfy for long runs, petrol, VAG reliability.
What’s not to like?
More here: http://www.motors.co.uk/used/cars/skoda/octavia/fuel/petrol

Switched from an Alfa 2.0 petrol to an Alfa 1.9 diesel here.

Both have excellent throttle response, both are pleasingly rorty mid-range and one engine is easy on oil consumption, returns over 39mpg on an enthusiastic outing and has plenty of low-down torque.

It’s a good engine, period. The fact that it’s a diesel is incidental.

Alfa 1.9 diesel here

Got 53mpg out of mine the other day along the A303/M3 I know, I was surprised too! A bit agricultural though.

39mpg out of a diesel? Is it broken??

Seriously, I was getting that average out of my 180bhp twin charged petrol Fabia VRS.

Rachel

Kryton – are you keeping the 159!?

Op
You don’t say what kind of mileage you will do but if it’s sub 10k I wouldn’t personally give a rats bottom about getting 28mpg vs. 33mpg or whatever the difference is for the bigger engine. If you do 10k + maybe a bit more of an issue but you get the better performance.

I will be in this position in a year or two when my car gives up. I do 20k a year and with all the new stuff to go wrong on a new diesel I might still go petrol…I forsee an octy vrs estate or maybe a straight six beemer….

The debate also depends on what driving characteristics you want.

Drac – Moderator
Yeah Mazda struggle with diesels.

Yes my 2006 Mazda 6 diesel estate is just fine @ 125000 miles and despite being driven like my hair is on fire since I bought it with 14000 miles on the clock still seems to work perfectly.

People at work with Ford/BMW/Seat/VW/Nissan/Audi/Vauxhall & Renault’s diesels have had major problems?

The only car I’ve owned in 33 years since I passed my test that was pants was a BX 1.9D mainly as it was fubar before I bought it.

I think a lot of problems are caused because people don’t use the engine, I’m not talking about speeding but just changing up way to early.

I don’t think I could go back to normal petrol car again, just got back from holiday where I rented a 1.2 petrol Seat and it was pants! my 10yr old Yaris Diesel (averaging 70mpg) piddles all over it much easier to drive especially up and down hills, I’m surprised how much I missed the torque of a diesel.
I do like my misses Hybrid Yaris though, she wanted a slush box and she likes Toyota it’s really easy to drive and 60+mpg isn’t bad from a Petrol Auto.
I wouldn’t bother with a standard petrol car again, had diesels since 2009 and not had an issue yet… touch wood….
I like the Honda and Toyota diesels my old mad (RAC) hardly see’s them, apart from batteries or flats, chain cam is the way to go IMHO.

All these posts and only one asks what kind of mileage the OP does.

*sigh*

Diesel isn’t always the answer you know, only when you’re doing consistent long runs does it become worthwhile.

My dad once had a Civic with a 1.5 vetec lump under the bonnet. Hugely efficient and it screamed like a banshee at full revs in top gear at 100 mph+

Cool story bro. Given EG’s have factory claimed top speeds between 112 and 118mph I’m not surprised it screamed. VTEC JUST KICKED IN YO!

everyone should own a V6 petrol once in their lives.

Mileage is about 12-15k depending on work

39mpg out of a diesel? Is it broken??

Seriously, I was getting that average out of my 180bhp twin charged petrol Fabia VRS.

I’ve been getting just over 30mpg out of my 530D on mixed driving.

Still, 240bhp and 370lb/ft of torque at 2000rpm have to be found from somewhere, I guess, and the mid range acceleration is brilliant.

Maybe, but a diesel won’t rev to 9000 rpm so you have far less fun getting to 100mph in the first place.

I’m sure that made sense in your head.

Drac nailed it. Ignore the scare stories.

I’ve had plenty of Fords in the past, none were problematic not withstanding that consumables are just that, tyres, brakes,etc.

I once bought an ex-co car, Mondeo Diesel 2 ltr, with FSH and 71k on the clock. Took it to 240k with no probs and could get 60mpg in summer, when theres higher ambients.

Sold it for £600 and as far as I know, it’s still running.

12-15k on decent runs will be no bother for a diseasel, come to the dark side!

For £5k you will have plenty of choice from a mondeo down, if we didn’t need the towing weight we’d be looking at a focus sized hatch as you get better for your money.

I think that you need to forget about petrol engines being 2.0L and up, most modern petrol engines are now small capacity with a turbo. There are plenty of Golfs and the like around with 1.4 turbocharged engines in.