Help me choose a diesel car please – bangernomics edition

I’ve suddenly found myself redeployed with work, and my 160 miles/month commute has increased rather dramatically to somewhere between 1500-2000 miles/month. Currently doing it in a 2.5L V6 MG estate, and as you may guess this is cripplingly expensive. So, I need a diesel. It’s roughly 260 miles each way, about 220 of which are motorway.

I know nothing about diesels other than horror stories involving DPF & DMF replacements costing £thousands. I’d like space for a bike or two inside so I guess a saloon is out. Other than that, above 40mpg is my only criteria. 1100kg towing capacity would be nice but not a deal breaker. Budget is £1500 tops, preferably less.

BMW 325d touring? Focus 1.6? Mazda 6 ts d? I really have no idea.

Live with the pain of a saloon car get a focus saloon an ugly looking thing normally driven by pensioners

Avoid focus 1.6 TDci, engine is a well known hand grenade, leaks on injector port 3, sludges the oil, kills the turbo (and repeat as Ford Technical instruction to clean and replace turbo feed pipes and sump are rarely performed properly).

Rover 75 diesel. Bought mine for £1000 with a years MOT. Done 12k in it. Spent 700 getting through a recent MOT. If it survives another year I’ll be very happy.
Smooth, comortable, cruises at 75-80 no problem. Does make me look like I’m 150 years old though!

If you only want 40mpg then a petrol for your budget, any reasonable sized petrol should get +40mpg on the motorway at the speedlimit- we got 54mpg out of a 2.0 petrol focus over 1600 miles recently….

Your milage is gonna be hard on any car you buy…….

40mpg is a minimum. The higher the better. I guess our other car will do 42mpg pottering about (FK Civic) so should top that on a long run. Could always pinch that and buy the wife something else. She hates the MG.

Good info re: the Ford 1.6 Tdci, that’s off the list.

Bare in mind that if your scared of the ford tdci – thats pretty much any common rail diesel 1600 engine across the board. Its found in many many motors.

Mean while its not that scary if you look after it and dont buy one thats had a turbo replacement.

If your civic is reasonably low milage id use that and get your wife something else if her journeys much shorter.

your doing alot of miles , i dont see bangernomics cars lasting too long, and im pro bangernomics.- maybe just get good aa coverage 🙂

French do a good diesel engine so if you can find one where the rest has survived then you should get a bargain as they go cheap secondhand. Go for a minimum of 1.9 as small diesels are pointless especially if you want to tow.

You can get a VAG for around that price but it will be a lot older than a french version but the engines are great and the rest will be spot on.

You’ll get well over 40mpg without any effort with a diesel and have great towing power.

There was an Audi A6 diesel in the classifieds recently for bangernomics money…. not me selling btw.

Older ones tend to be simpler and more reliable, but without the power and economy figures of the newer ones.
Diesel version of what you have as you are now familiar with all the surrounding bits.
Mk3 Mondeo TDCi, VAG 1.9pd, older Pug stuff but probably not Renault.
The newer 2.0 diesel used by Ford, Volvo, Pug I was a bit disappointed with after the Ford 2.0. Less economical, more fussy.

I’d get a VAG with the 1.9PD engine. Get one without a DPF (usually 2006 or older I think) as the PD engines weren’t designed around a DPF leading to loads of DPF problems. I’d personally look at Skoda Octavias for motorway comfort and bike swallowing abilities. Maybe Passat if you want something bigger, Leon / Golf / Fabia / Polo if OK smaller.

your doing alot of miles , i dont see bangernomics cars lasting too long, and im pro bangernomics.- maybe just get good aa coverage

Mine will go for bangernomics money, barring the daft £800 MOT it had in May (front suspemsion rebuild) it’s never been an expensive runner. Will do 56mpg and easily did that sort of mileage for most of the time I’ve had it (was averaging 15,000 a year).

2003 1.7 Civic (previous shape to yours) with an Isuzu (GM) diesel (common rail version of the one found in even older Astras and Corsas). 800kg tow limit though.

You could get more and probably better for your money, don’t get me wrong, but discounting smaller engine sizes would be daft unless you’re set on the towing aspect. Rover 75/ MG ZT are worth a look, solid old BMW diesel underneath, the ZT being the marginally less ammonia soaked of the two.

Mondo estate, find one titanium spec minimum and with the toys to make a 200mile drive every day bearable, decent ac stereo etc. Whatever you buy make sure the drivers seat is a nice place to be, get out on a decent test drive and make sure if it’s got a few miles in the seats still support well. Cruise control! Go for a larger Diesel engine 1.8 or 2.0 best balance of economy cost and power.

ZT being the marginally less ammonia soaked of the two.

How dare you sir!

What DeeW said.

260 miles a day? How long can you see yourself putting up with that? Seems a bit excessive. What do you do for a job? Anything nearer home?

Devil you know sqirrelking

Unknown car is always a risk even more so at 1500 quid. 24k miles a year is a big ask of a 1500 quid banger of the ilk he is looking at. Id have no qualms doing it in either of my aging berlingos would i buy another high miler off someone to do 24k a year in – newp.

Good point, never really thought of it that way. To be fair though you can still get low (~60k) mileage ones for reasonable money.

How dare you sir!

I very dare 😛

You must admit though, it does have an, er, image.

Ha. I’m aware of the image. It’s a MG ZTT I’m commuting in at the moment. 25mpg is not conducive to a happy bank balance.

Don’t see this being a long term thing, but it’s all I have at the moment. Plus, it’s only a 6 month contract. Cost of petrol and digs leaves me with about £50/month once bills are paid so I desperately need to cut costs. Even if I buy something and it lasts me 6 months, I’ll have saved around £200/month on fuel. By then I’m hoping to have found a different job, and if I haven’t I’m up shit creek regardless of what car I have.

How about this,
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201509046608515

Only done 57k from new

Which part of that is a bargain. LUdacrisly over priced.

The inlaws had one. Was an electrical night mare. The plus point was that although it didnt lock- it was a laguna – no one ever stole it in 2 years.

They paid 700 quid for a similar age and similar milage – 4 years ago.

You can get a VAG for around that price but it will be a lot older than a french version but the engines are great and the rest will be spot on.

Every person I know with and older VAG (Audi/VW) diesel has had major problems. They’re no more reliable then any other so don’t believe the hype.

Left field reply – what about an LPG conversion on your current car? HAve run an LPG converted 4.3 litre beast of a car for 3 years now (athough my commute is only about 100 miles a day) and it halves the price of fuel. My car costs almost exactly the same as my wife’s galaxy to run (around 16p per mile). WOuldbe well over double that on petrol.

Mk1/1.5 Focus 1.8TDCi.

Great engine, few problems, economical and powerful enough for you. Mk1 is still a hoot to drive. £1500 will get you a good one.

325d Touring wont return much more than 40mpg.

2001+ Peugeot 306 HDI.

Galvanised, will return 50-55mpg, cheap parts (£13 for pads, £31 for tyres) and cheap tax £130.

Remember that whatever you buy, you’re going to have to tax it, nothing will come with free tax.

Mk1/1.5 Focus 1.8TDCi.

Great engine, few problems, economical and powerful enough for you. Mk1 is still a hoot to drive. £1500 will get you a good one.

Agree with this. I had three mk1’s over a long period including a 1.8 tdci which I had up until a few years ago. Great cars, never went wrong in my experience.

306 HDI on ebay with camblet just done.

I used to get 750-800 miles to a 55l tank of diesel if driven carefully on the motorway.

That’s around 62-65mpg

Mk1/1.5 Focus 1.8TDCi.

Great engine, few problems, economical and powerful enough for you. Mk1 is still a hoot to drive. £1500 will get you a good one.

sounds like a decent shout.

i inherited a 2002 Mondeo TDCi with 130K on the clock a while back. It had already had the DMF replaced; since then i’ve put 30K on it, it gets around 60mpg if you don’t welly it too hard, and i’ve not spent a penny other than consumables. The boot is about the size of a small planet. It’s not a glamourous motor but it’s certainly got its place!

Daffy – Member
306 HDI on ebay with camblet just done.

I used to get 750-800 miles to a 55l tank of diesel if driven carefully on the motorway.

That’s around 62-65mpg

Could alternatively go for a xsara hdi – same vehicle, different panels. But even cheaper due to being less desirable. Also you can get a 110 xsara, I think all 306s were 90s

No DMF or DPF on the 306 or xsara either. Only thing (well, one of the things) to look out for is the usual peugeot rear axle bearings.

Here’s a good 1.8TDCi:

https://www.gumtree.com/p/ford/super-clean-ford-focus-1.8-tdci-edge-3dr/1124782553

Don’t know where you are, but Gumtree usually has a few.

Love ’em.

And another:

https://www.gumtree.com/p/ford/ford-focus-1.8-tdci-ghia-2003-03-plate-leather-interior-long-mot-/1132389496

Similiarly, I had a 1.8 TDDI mk1.5. Made less power than the tdci but ironically better delivery, outstanding drivability (*). A bit simpler so might be a better candidate for high miles. Mine was made uneconomic to repair by a failed clutch slave cylinder but to be fair that could happen to most older cars with a concentric.

(*after the clutch failed in mine I had to start it in gear and drive it everywhere in that gear… Can’t imagine a better engine for that job. My mondingo might well make about 4 times the torque and 2 and a half times the power but what the focus had, it used brilliantly)

Mk1.5 focus is still the best focus imo in terms of ergonomics and interior- cheap and plasticky but everything in the right place and miraculous use of space. I’d love to find a really nice condition one and stick my 2.2 tdci in it, apparently it fits

Another recommendation for a Focus mk 1 1.8tdci. The gf has one with 160k miles on it.Its suffering from rust a bit now but has been great.Generally reliable and cheap to fix,when its needed a wheel bearing or brakes.

I wouldnt be looking for a particular brand or model for that money, just whatever came up in good condition.

Remember that whatever you buy, you’re going to have to tax it, nothing will come with free tax.

clearly not true.

chestrockwell – Member

Every person I know with and older VAG (Audi/VW) diesel has had major problems. They’re no more reliable then any other so don’t believe the hype.

Whereas mine is on 267k miles (03 plate 1.9TDi Ibiza) and I’ve had no major problems.
Worst engine related issues have been a couple of new intercooler pipes and a leaky thermostat housing.
Still on original clutch/dmf, turbo, intercooler, exhaust, injectors….
I’d have another one.

Yeah but unless he buys it in infancy like iirc you did …. He has no idea how the previous owners have treated it.

Maintianance and driving style make a bigger odds on a second hand car than the badge on the bonnet,

Fwiw everyone i know whos bought a bomb proof aged pd motor recently has had costly issues with aux componants failing

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=922250817855785&id=550085535072317

chestrockwell – Member
You can get a VAG for around that price but it will be a lot older than a french version but the engines are great and the rest will be spot on.
Every person I know with and older VAG (Audi/VW) diesel has had major problems. They’re no more reliable then any other so don’t believe the hype.

My Octavia is a 51 plate, and the only real issue I’ve had was entirely due to very short runs, and that issue was the turbo waste gate sticking and forcing the engine into limp-mode. Long steady motorway runs are what the Octy excels at, it’s a very comfy car, good seats and driving position, loads of room in the boot for bikes or other stuff, mine has a three person tent, sleeping bag, military folding camp bed, wellies, IKEA blue bag with various odds and ends in, and a large chunk of tree branch for a chopping block.
I did a steady run up to London and back yesterday, that’s around 100 miles or so, and the readout on the dash was showing around 50mpg. VED is £110, and insurance isn’t too bad.