Due to a change in circumstances we need to swap our diesel estate for a petrol version so as we don’t suffer with the egr and dpf issues that seem to plague modern diesel cars.

We have a couple of options….

1, sell our car and pay off the loan and buy an older estate car with the rest of the money (about 5k)

2, sell our car and buy something similarly priced (about 9.5k)

3, sell our car and pay off the loan and buy brand new.

We are only doing very short journeys of around 5 miles per day and longer at the weekend but also need a big car for when we travel south to the midlands 4 or 5 times a year.

What are the best cars to look at with each of my options.

Got to be some variant of Octavia VRS depending on where you decide your budget lies

RS6

6 cyclinder Legacy

I really like the new octavia vrs and the previous version to an extent however the wife isn’t to keen on the previous one.

Buy a cheap little car for your low mileage everyday use and hire a larger car for your longer journeys a few times a year.

I’ve not done the maths, but you’ll probably save on interest payments.

Legacy B4 GTB/RSK

Honda accords come in petrol flavour.

[chants]Do it, do it, do it, do it![/chant]

Ibiza ST FR?

Current car is 2011 mondeo estate 2.2 tdci

Toyota Avensis estate automatic gear.

Ya, whatever you buy, buy automatic gear …

how fast is ‘fast’?

Octavia that we have (60 plate, 1.4 TSI) is quick enough (for a middle-aged couple with two kids) and can happily transport said family on holidays fully loaded without much palaver. Fuel consumption is good – and that’s not an eco / green upgrade version — around 40 and up to 50 mpg on longer journeys.

We had same requirements – lot of short ish town journeys and then when its used, its 100 / 200 mile journeys. Used to have an equivalent powered saab 900, now have a perfectly decent family estate. Would we swap it? doubt it.

Do you need the VRS bit? economy, insurance, maintenance – also I doubt my wife would have been happy with a VRS variant..

Legacy spec b and spend the rest on hookers and blackjack petrol and insurance and tax and tyres and petrol

3 series BMW Estate.

The diesels command a fair premium, but the petrols are very good and also economical for their respective sizes. You’ll find a 2 litre diesel will average maybe 50mpg, but the 2 litre petrol will still do 40mpg average if you’re not too lead footed.

Residuals are always strong on Beemer’s too, best time to buy is when it’s 4/5 years old, done the bulk of its depreciating but still many years away from major mechanicals. Look after it and it will hold its value better than anything else in the class, and they’re nicer to drive than all the competition too.

Only other option I’d consider would be the Octavia VRs. They don’t hold their values as well as Beemers, but they’re a nice drive (it’s essentially a Golf GTi with a bigger body on top). Probably not as economical as an equivalent BMW, but quicker owing to being turbocharged.

Our main cars annual mileage dropped from 25k a year to 10k and we made the switch from new diesel to petrol for similar reasons. I went cheaper and older to help fund a new bike.

Plenty of fast things in all of those budgets, just down to what you are happy spending and how much fuel economy you’re happy with sacrificing, 60mpg diesel to 25mpg petrol? Over a year it’s fine, but very noticeable on trips which used to be a tank each way.

I’m pretty happy with our remapped petrol octavia vrs. I noticed the other day that the new superb can be had with a 280hp petrol and 4×4.

we are getting roughly 35mpg out of the diesel which is pretty crap to be honest. The best we have got out of it is low 40mpg

Volvo V50/70 T5.
Or a mondeo 2.5T.

kcal

how fast is ‘fast’?

In my opinion the threshhold is about 200bhp per tonne. It’s subjective of course, but you’d struggle to describe anything over that as slow.

If you’re only getting 35 out of the 2.2 tdci engine, then you’ll barely hit the twenties in a petrol engines car.

I found the petrol VRS a bit spinny without 4WD, you could only use all the torque in the dry in a straight line.

So you want to sell your current car because it might possibly maybe have an issues at some unknown point in the future ?

mg zt-t 260

Just to add, I went for a mk1 Octavia, 4×4 1.8t, for the extra clearance and grip in fields and on forest tracks, intention is to remap to a bit more than vrs levels once it looks like it’ll last. Was £750 and came up at the right moment, was also looking at 850/V70 T5’s, old S6, 530/540.

renton – Member

we are getting roughly 35mpg out of the diesel which is pretty crap to be honest. The best we have got out of it is low 40mpg

Just checking but you do know it has a gearbox, right? Mine is the older mk3 2.2 but 60mpg is doable, low 50s is typical. I managed to get it down into the 30s once while charging back and forth along the german road at kinlochleven but I couldn’t do it in normal use.

Ha yes I do know it has a gearbox.

Im not sure why its so crap really?

Even on a 10 hour trip down from Elgin to Droitwich we sat on the motorway @ 70mph for a good few hours and the best then was 45mpg.

The wife has never really liked it either so Im using it as an excuse to buy something else.

35mpg? Our LWB T5 camper gets that.
Haven’t you had 3 cars in the last 12 months?

Erm nope not me!

You’re worrying too much, just use it and once a week go for a longer drive.

Just to add, I went for a mk1 Octavia, 4×4 1.8t

VERY nearly did this myself. Found a couple in good nick for not much more than £1k. The trouble is, petrol engine economy has moved on leaps and bounds since the 1.8t (strong engine as it is), and I know there’s no way I would have been able to stop myself going the whole hog on it with uprated suspension, brakes, clutch, hybrid turbo, stage 3 tune etc etc… Which would have ended up being many thousands of £’s spent on a £1k car, not increasing its actual value in any way!

The more sensible thing was the GF does bugger all miles, so she has the “fun” car, an early Audi S3 that has got most of those mods listed above on it already and was someone else’s labour of love for many years (picked up for a mere £2300 too), whilst I bought a diesel estate (albeit a BMW 330D).

How about ditching the DPF & EGR & going for an economy map?
They’re are a lot on here that will despise you for it, but I know people who have done it & Mpg has gone from 32 to 46 around town & 50-60 on a run, the way I see it the cost of the extra pollution is outweighed by the carbon footprint of another new car on the road.
cheers.

I’d go with option 1, OP.
£5k will get you a nice Passat R36, fast enough for anyone and they sound lush.

Alfa 159 or wait for the Giulia.

Ive thought about the EGR and DPf delete but no one actually does it for me engine plus dpf removal is illeagal now !

Id quite like a passat r36 but they are just as thirsty as my car.

Mboy is right in that newer petrol engines have come on leaps and bounds in mpg. My mate has a newer focus st estate with 250 bhp and he gets 35mpg out of that all day long and upto 42 on a run.

£5k will get you a nice Passat R36, fast enough for anyone and they sound lush.

None on Autotrader, and this is a man that is concerned about future costs…, next someone will be recommending an Alfa 🙂

R36 is a good shout. Always liked them and they’re quite rare and as noted sound quality!

If you’re thinking of a fastish Beemer be careful of E91 models with the N53 engine (325i and 330i) after ’09 ish if you’re trying to avoid repair bills as the injectors are made of cheese. I replaced two on mine before getting shot and they’re about 200 quid a pop at the moment just for the part before labour and any other problems caused when they go (I had to get an oil service when one of mine went after fuel contaminated it). They also have a thing for coils. 335i is nice but then you have turbos to go wrong and they have a thing for high pressure fuel pumps.

I am about to put my RS 6 up for sale

GetDis….

OrDis…

Legnum – Jap Import of the Galant – plenty change from 5k to spend on the petrol for it.