Which diesel commuter car?

[Gazdaman]

At the minute I drive a 1.5L non turbo Vauxhall Corsa. It's great on fuel, returning about 56mpg, but jesus chris is it slow. It's packing about 50bhp.

So I want something with a bit more poke, with similar or better mpg, but something that's still stylish and with some nice build quality.

Price range is about £3k, although I can push it if necessary. I don't want to spend alot because I do about 15k miles a year. So I'm not looking to spend loads.

Candidates so far are the:
Mk4 VW Golf TDI
Skoda Octavia (same 1.9 turbo diesel engine)
And whatever else!

I want something that still looks a little bit sporty, so I'm not looking for a Rover 25 or something like that.

Anyone got any suggestions? I was semi tempted to get a brand new Citroen DS3 with their 1.6 turbo diesel engine, which can return 70mpg on the extra urban!

Ideally want under 100k miles. Definitely not looking for anything over 150k.

Suggestions? Ideas? Avoids?

Gaz

[Robby]

Avoid Vauxhall, because they're just shit. The equivalent Ford is always a better car.

Don't get too caught up in the VW reliability hype, it isn't that incredible. Japanese cars still win on reliability, in the real world a VW is on a par with a Ford. Ford may break slightly more often, but the VW will cost more to fix. This should be negigible on a fairly new, sub 100k car. Modern cars are pretty good.

A reasonable size of diesel engine feels better in a bigger car, and will return similar fuel burn. My old Peugeot 306 d-turbo always felt like the engine should be pulling a car twice the size.

Other stuff I would consider:
3 or 5 series BMW diesel
C class Merc diesel
Some manner of Honda or Toyota - the smaller petrols should still give pretty decent fuel economy, but test drive first. Some are good to drive, some are far too remote.
Ford focus or mondeo, but read up carefully - some of the TDDI engines have had big problems.
Alfa 156 or 146. Don't spend your entire budget on purchase, keep some back for repairs, and enjoy the thing.


Stuff I wouldn't consider:
Any Vauxhall
Audi diesels - The only attraction of an Audi for me is one with 4 wheel drive and a powerful petrol engine, in which case I'd still get an impreza instead.
Any Rover

Really, to get that sort of mpg you need to be looking at modern, small, diesel hatchbacks. It doesn't really matter which one you get, they're all going to be similar to drive. They are still quite expensive, seeing as they're cheap to fill up and cheap to tax. Do your numbers before buying one, the cost of depreciation over a year could be the same as the difference in your fuel spend between a 50mpg diesel and a 30mpg petrol.

[bikertomm]

306 1.9 Turbo Diesel?

Golf!


____________________
07' Honda Hornet now full powaah! My guide on performing an oil change!

[_Will_]

Bora?
____________________
Past -Honda qr50 | 2004 Peugeot Tkr s 50| | 1996 Yamaha XJ600s Diversion|

[Hazylogic]

[G]

Fuel consumption on the oil-burner beemer's aint so great, but not terrible either.

A fairly low milage E36 325tds - add LSD for sideways fun .

E46 320d less power, but possibly cheaper insurance and very reasonable fuel economy.

330d at a reasonable price - lots of grunt, but insurance may be a bit high?

I'm not actually stuck on BMW specifically, it's just not many others off rear wheel driven fun in this market .

[Gazdaman]

A 320d is a definite possibility. Or if I wanted to really stretch the budget I could potentially go for a 118d.

But I definitely want a cheaper car, because if I spent 10k on a 118d over 5 years, by the time I've paid it off I've covered nearly 100k and it's worth precisely fuck all.

I definitely am tempted by the golf.

I do like Vauxhalls, I've had 3 Corsas now and they've been exceptionally reliable thus far, parts are cheap and working on them is easy. Build quality is good, but they don't 'feel' quality when you drive them.

Fuel economy is key, whatever it is must top 50mpg.

Fords and jap cars just don't really excite me. I fancy something German, I've had a 318 and an Audi 80 and the quality of them was just lovely. The examples I had were complete sheds on the other hand.

Gaz

[neatbik]

I've got an '03 Focus 1.8tdci.
It does 45mpg round town, 55+ on the motorway, has never let me down, is comfy, handles well and goes pretty well too.

Unfortunately (for me) it will be up for sale soon - if i had it my way i would keep it indefinitely, its a great car.

[Gazdaman]

[neatbik]

Not sure yet mate, havent really looked at what its worth.
I should really get my arse in gear and sort it out...
Its a Ghia, 70k on the clock, very good condition.

Its only going because come Feb next year it will be too small.....

[iCraig]

I quite like my Astra DTi, its a 1.7 so its not rapid although its not slow, but just recently on a long journey I got 62mpg!

I've average around 50mpg too.

[jay12329]

Avoid 118d, they are slower than your corsa with just ass poo boot space.
J

[Gazdaman]

If anyone's interested I bought a 2L turbo diesel 2002 Mondeo with 50k on the clock for £2k.

Should do 50mpg, 130bhp, decent car. Comes with a tow bar, it's a bit plain, but I'll sure some neons and lexus lights'll sort that.

Gaz

[WildGoose]

Knew you'd end up following my good example at some point

You are in fact a bastard, because I wanted the diesel but ended up buying the petrol. Though I have only myself to blame, and enjoying driving it so far.

Seems cheap, any particular reason?

Should do you well, be interested to hear on fuel consumption in actual use.
____________________
So in other words, he stopped you for being flagrantly in posession of a motorcycle in direct contravention of the Hippies, Darkies and People Whose Face I Don't Like The Look of (Police Powers) Act. 1976

[Gazdaman]

Yeah, I'll be interested on mpg, I think I drive quiet economically on my commute, but I don't really have a choice in the Corsa.

It's cheap because it's from a mate, it has had an engine swap in the last few months, previous engine blew up in france, so it had a new one fitted, bought from a scrapper, fitted by a garage. Engine is said to have been on 2k more than the car.

So that's a touch of a gamble, but tbh, I trust it.

The mate's doing me a bit of a favour, but tbh, there's one on Autotrader, same year, similar mileage for £2,295. So I think it's about right, obviously a bit on the cheap side.

I'm glad it's got a tow-bar though, saves me £100 on eBay and a day of my time.

Gaz

[JonB]

My mate has a 2.0l diesel 51 plate mondeo, gets between 47-50mpg.
____________________
Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it?s worth.

[J0Al1]

Loved my P reg 306 DTS. I remember that as fun, but that was my first 'gusty' car and wel before I had spunky bike

My 1.9 Gold D does up to 60 mpg... FAB long distance motorway, not so good on slower busier commutes (25 - 30mpg)


Not sure I trust the digital MPG display as I had a FAST short run home one day.... town/dual carriage. Went 100mph and it seemed to do much better mpg then when I go at 70

Thus I think the display is only roughly accurate over long distances. Dunno