Diesel Engine - High Mileage

Carb

Hi Folks, I currently looking into getting out of my Corsa and into a bigger car. I know someone who is selling a 97 A4, 1.9Tdi 110Bhp. I know the car has hardly ever been on a bad road, mostly driven on motorways, has never given one bit of trouble, and has been routinely serviced. It wouldn't have been exposed to extreme driving such as hard acceleration and breaking. In summary, a very well looked after car. The problem is that the mileage is in the region of 190K. I was wondering at what point do diesel engines start giving problems. Would it be reasonable to expext another 20/30k of trouble free driving, or should I avoid this at all costs.

Mr Magnolia

You can get trouble out of any car at whatever milage, there's no guarantees.

Can you tell that all of the 190k was sensible driving????

You'd probably get 20-30K ok, but unless the car is free i'd leave it alone.

You'd pick up a TDI with less milage for next to nothing, check out the autotrader or the buy&sell.

michaelanthony

The ould lad had a peugeot 2.1 diesel that did 300,000 miles before giving up the ghost.

unkel

Could be a very good buy. How much are they looking for? Probably not much as very few people would touch a car with that kind of mileage in this country

With full service history and everything else the way you describe it, you'd be unlucky not to get another 30k miles out of it. Has the cat been replaced (again) recently? They typically lasts about 100k miles and would be expensive to replace. Have the turbo checked out too

Carb

Sparks400 wrote:

You can get trouble out of any car at whatever milage, there's no guarantees.

Can you tell that all of the 190k was sensible driving????

You'd probably get 20-30K ok, but unless the car is free i'd leave it alone.

You'd pick up a TDI with less milage for next to nothing, check out the autotrader or the buy&sell.

I know any car can give trouble. What I was wondering is say at 100K miles, x starts giving trouble, at 120K mililes Y starts giving trouble. I realise that there is not way of knowing for certain, I'm more looking for guidelines.

I've taken a look at CBG, Autotrader, Carzone and the cheapest TDIs or equivalent I could find were still costing 3k - 4.5k (Audis/BMWs etc). These had in the region of 190k miles also, and I would have no knowledge of who was driving the car before. At least the one I mentioned first, I know its history, I could take as long as I want to sell my current car and I could get the car thoroughly checked over before buying it.

PS: It would have been mostly sensible driving.

Carb

unkel wrote:

Could be a very good buy. How much are they looking for? Probably not much as very few people would touch a car with that kind of mileage in this country

With full service history and everything else the way you describe it, you'd be unlucky not to get another 30k miles out of it. Has the cat been replaced (again) recently? They typically lasts about 100k miles and would be expensive to replace. Have the turbo checked out too

It's in the north, so on the plus side, historically less potholes to wreck the car, on the negative side, VRT. They talked about 1500 Sterling, so after VRT, it would probably cost about 3000 Euro. Does this seem expensive or is it to much of a risk?

unkel

Carb wrote:

It's in the north, so on the plus side, historically less potholes to wreck the car, on the negative side, VRT. They talked about 1500 Sterling, so after VRT, it would probably cost about 3000 Euro. Does this seem expensive or is it to much of a risk?

Yep about €3k is about right seeing VRT is only €800. Great value for money imho provided you check the car out and are happy with the status of cat replacement and turbo as in my previous post. The only things you need to avoid during the 30k miles (or possibly a lot more) you are going to clock on it is big bills

My current car ('96 BMW 735i) spent it's first 75k miles on English motorways, so the lowest possible wear per mile

unkel

£1500 seems to be low though, even if it is up north

Carb

Thanks for the input and I'm still open to anyone elses opinion on this. The guy isn't taking delivery of his new A4 for another two weeks, and isn't pushed whether he sells the other car or not. It'll give me time to get it properly checked out and to see what I can get for my Corsa.

bazz26

Carb wrote:

It's in the north, so on the plus side, historically less potholes to wreck the car, on the negative side, VRT. They talked about 1500 Sterling, so after VRT, it would probably cost about 3000 Euro. Does this seem expensive or is it to much of a risk?

€3K is probably less than a year's depreciation on your average 05 car so if you get a year out of it your doing well.

Since it is in the North the only thing that would concern me is if you buy it would it pass the NCT down here without having to fork out alot of money first?

Carb

unkel wrote:

£1500 seems to be low though, even if it is up north

The guy hasn't changed cars in 8 years, so I don't expect him to be fully up on used car prices and I don't intend correcting him. There may be a possiblity he'll look for more, but I'll have to wait and see.

In relation to the NCT, this would have to be part of getting the car checked over by my mechanic first.

unkel

Carb wrote:

I don't expect him to be fully up on used car prices and I don't intend correcting him

Looks like you might get a bargain

Let us know how it progresses!

maidhc

If the price is right, go for it, but there is always the chance it will rob you.

I know a guy who bought a Vento with those miles up, and has clocked up 100k more (still going). No problems except the wheel fell off once and passed him out on the road (bearing went to sh1t). Check the wheel bearings!!

Every diesel I have driven (2) had to have their fuel pumps reconditioned at 150-160k. Both started leaking, but the job isnt all that expensive. he turbo is an obvious candidate for death, but at those miles nothing is guaranteed. I dont think the TDIs have a cat, but I'm open to correction on this.

unkel

maidhc wrote:

I dont think the TDIs have a cat, but I'm open to correction on this.

According to honestjohn they do:

Cats also fail on 1.9 TDIs built before August 1998

maidhc

unkel wrote:

According to honestjohn they do:

Cats also fail on 1.9 TDIs built before August 1998

Fair 'nuf

unkel

You had me doubting myself, so I had to look it up

Max_Damage

Carb wrote:

It's in the north, so on the plus side, historically less potholes to wreck the car, on the negative side, VRT. They talked about 1500 Sterling, so after VRT, it would probably cost about 3000 Euro. Does this seem expensive or is it to much of a risk?

Another problem with cars in the north (as well as the rest of the UK), is that in winter, they grit their roads with salt (not sand like here), so the bodywork on cars tend to corrode far quicker up north than down south.

BrianD3

Any service history with it? You'll probably find that plenty of bits have already been replaced. Eg the cat and turbo as already mentioned, wheel bearings, brake discs, bushes, water pump, CV joints, ball joints, track rod ends, etc. If a lot of things have been done then the car could be a better bet than a hard driven car with 80k which has had nothing replaced but is on the verge of needing lots of things doing. However you might find on a 190k car that the car has done a good mileage since various things were replaced. Eg if the wheel bearings were done at 100k there's now 90k on the replacement bearings and they could be due another change.

get the car checked out and give it a good drive. It should still feel solid on the road and not make any strange noises obviously. Check for abnormal smells, smoke etc. too It should track straight and absorb bumps without bouncing all over the place. You should still get good engine braking when you lift off the throttle, if not engine compression may be down. But TBH I'd say 190k is nothing for the engine itself if it's been well maintained.

Carb

Well, it appears this insn't going to happen. It seems the seller has loads of mates who also know the car and are all too willing take it of his hands. Plus they are from the north so don't have VRT to contend with.

This has got me thinking that I would like a a much bigger car, preferably diesel. So I will keep looking around, but does anyoone have any suggestions for alternatives to the A4 mentioned above. Max budget would be about 5K assuming I can get about 4K for my current car.

JohnBoy

take a look at the focus diesel, I'm driving one at the moment and it's a fine car, handles great, not massive powerful, but not bad, not overly noisy either, all in all a good car, not as easily found in a diesel, but its in a market space that doesn't prize diesels as highly as bigger cars so they're proportionally a lot more affordable imho

unkel

Carb wrote:

Well, it appears this insn't going to happen. It seems the seller has loads of mates who also know the car and are all too willing take it of his hands

That's a shame. It looked like a nice bargain alright

Carb wrote:

This has got me thinking that I would like a a much bigger car, preferably diesel

Carb wrote:

Max budget would be about 5K

How about a '97-'98 Alfa 156 2.4JTD? Probably the only common rail diesel within your budget

Might be best to source from the North / UK as they are rare over here