Best for doing high mileage?

santosubito

I do 25,000 ish miles a year and am just about to change a car. i want something that will last about six years, or 180,000 odd miles.
What would people recommend? I have about €20,000, plus maybe €8-9k trade in on my own car. But I'd like to spend maybe €15k, plus my own.
I'm thinking of one of the following 2008/09 diesels:
Mondeo
Passat
Jetta
Vectra

Any suggestions welcomed. Thanks

Biro

santosubito wrote: »

I do 25,000 ish miles a year and am just about to change a car. i want something that will last about six years, or 180,000 odd miles.
What would people recommend? I have about €20,000, plus maybe €8-9k trade in on my own car. But I'd like to spend maybe €15k, plus my own.
I'm thinking of one of the following 2008/09 diesels:
Mondeo
Passat
Jetta
Vectra

Any suggestions welcomed. Thanks

Forget the Vectra, the Insignia can be had for brand new for €26k, you'd get a demo for less. Leagues ahead of the dull Vectra. I'd drop the Jetta too, essentially the same as the Octavia, Octavia is cheaper. Mondeo and Passat are decent, but people will be on soon telling you the Passat is unreliable muck. It's not as bad as some say, and not as good as others say!
I'd add the Subaru Legacy diesel to your list if you can find one, but they're rare.
Definately add the Accord to your list of options, probably the best place you could put your money. I'd recommend the Mazda 6 only in the new 2.2 engine just released, but because it's so new you won't find any used ones.
I'm not a fan of the Mondeo, but you could do a lot worse than it! Does everything really well.
My fav would be the Legacy or Accord.

mumblin deaf ro

What car? magazine had an article about the best high mileage cars - as far as i recall, the legacy, mondeo, jag s-type were all in there, as well as a couple of volvos and land rovers. I'd assume that an avensis or something like a mazda 6 would be good for that type of mileage also.

Drummerboy08

I was just about to suggest the Legacy Mumblin'. Good car.
http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=1225827

The one above is the cheapest one i could find with a quick look.

HashSlinging

I'd go for the Octavia, I think there's a long life service option on them with 18k intervals.

Drummerboy08

HashSlinging wrote: »

I'd go for the Octavia, I think there's a long life service option on them with 18k intervals.

The interval on a 1.9/2.0TDi is 30,000kms.

HashSlinging

mumblin deaf ro wrote: »

What car? mondeo, jag s-type, volvos and land rovers.

They wern't being biased or anything..

OP have you thought about looking at the KIA range the CEED has a 7 year warranty.

TestTransmission

Something like this?

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Skoda/Octavia/VRS-2.0-/200918192628306/advert?channel=CARS

HashSlinging

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

The interval on a 1.9/2.0TDi is 30,000kms.

You sure, I get my 2.0TDi done every 12k.

Drummerboy08

HashSlinging wrote: »

You sure, I get my 2.0TDi done every 12k.

Unless its different for the RS, its defo 30,000kms. Its a VAG engine IIRC, and according to a "contact" over that neck of the woods, they're all serviced at 30,000kms, with the timing belt due at 120,000kms. Diesel engines that is..

skyhighflyer

I'd have a punt on a 607 diesel. Thousands of French taxi drivers can't be wrong. I know a man who has one and swears it's more comfortable than the Merc CLS he also owns. It's also never seen the inside of a garage (only gets the occasional oil change) and has 160k on the clock.

BrianD3

Depends on how much power you want and what sort of driving you do. A 1.6 or 1.5 diesel might be sufficient or you might find them too underpowered and want to go for a larger engine. If a lower output is good enough there are big discounts available on new Renault Lagunas at the moment, price a 1.5 DCi and see what it'll cost to change with your trade in. You might find you can get a new car which has a 3 year, 100,000 mile warranty for less than your budget of 15k.

PS if you're looking at the 1.9 TDi in the Jetta and Passat it is an old design and produces less power than Renault's 1.5 or Peugeot's 1.6. As for the other cars on your list - the Vectra has just been replaced so should be very good value and is a somewhat underrated car. The Mondeo is rated very highly in the British motoring press but only has a 2 year warranty and the ADAC rate the Mondeo least reliable car in its class in 2007 and 2008.

HashSlinging

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

Unless its different for the RS, its defo 30,000kms. Its a VAG engine IIRC, and according to a "contact" over that neck of the woods, they're all serviced at 30,000kms, with the timing belt due at 120,000kms. Diesel engines that is..

I've a '05 SEAT Altea 2.0 TDi (140) would be great if I could get it serviced every 30k, any chance you could find out.? The book says 12k but I always thought it was a bit low for a modern diesel.

Sorry for the thread hi-jack.

Drummerboy08

HashSlinging wrote: »

I've a '05 SEAT Altea 2.0 TDi (140) would be great if I could get it serviced every 30k, any chance you could find out.? The book says 12k but I always thought it was a bit low for a modern diesel.

Sorry for the thread hi-jack.

I'd be amazed if its 12k! I'll check it out, and PM you!

On topic, the 607 might be worth a good look alright. Especially if you can get one at a good price!

macrubicon

I have a Passat 2.0TDI ( same as in the Superb, Jetta, Octavia etc. ) and it's deffo a 30k km service interval... coming up on my 3rd service at 90k...

You do pay a bit of a premuim for the long life oils etc. but certainly cheaper to service (so far) than my 1.9 Passat because of it.

245

Legacy might cost you a bit more on servicing although Castle Garage in Bray seem to be more reasonable but from the point of view of overall useability the Legacy is very hard to beat - AWD gives a great sense of security and control and its a very comfortable place to be for long distances. The boxer diesel is reckoned to be detuned so should be understressed and therefore more reliable. I know of one UK owner with over 30,000 miles clocked up in less than a year with zero issues - his car has a tuning box fitted as well so you'd expect any weaknesses to be highlighted. Its a fantastic drive and the first car that I've bought that I always look forward to driving.

For me it would be either the Legacy or the Octavia - you probably need to drive both. Bear in mind that the Legacy doesn't free up for around 12,000 km and improves greatly at that point.

I also think that a Legacy will always be a rarer beast which is nice from an ownership point of view and also for resale.

Frank_Gooding

if you take the hit on fuel economy an Auto with cruise would make the 25,000 miles go easier.

Skoda Superb has loads of room. Get the 2.0 TDI though.

Legacy should be a great car how is the Boxer diesel holding up?

rai555

Got Zafira 07 1,9 cdti , needs to be serviced 20kmls/32kkl

mumblin deaf ro

Are boxer diesels heavy on fuel?

Anan1

mumblin deaf ro wrote: »

Are boxer diesels heavy on fuel?

I drove one for a day, averaged a little over 7l/100km according to the trip computer. I thought it was a very good engine, but there's no automatic until the end of the year.

Drummerboy08

mumblin deaf ro wrote: »

Are boxer diesels heavy on fuel?

According to Subaru's figures, its cabable of a 1000km trip on one tank of fuel. Now, i think that is bending the truth slightly, but i'd say itw well cabable of 750-800km.

Wasnt there a tourer featured on a Top Gear episode with a Jag XJ and VW Polo Bluemotion, where they drove from somewhere in Europe back to a location in England?

245

Its got a 64 litre tank so there's a decent range but costs correspondingly more to fill. My handbook says that the diesel saloon will average 5.7L/100 km. My trip computer tends to stick around 6.0 L/100 km for a 50/50 mix of Dublin city centre traffic and dual carriageway. Even allowing for the usual optimism of trip computers its still quite economical, especially seeing as its a quite nippy AWD saloon.

congo_90

Drummerboy08 wrote: »

According to Subaru's figures, its cabable of a 1000km trip on one tank of fuel. Now, i think that is bending the truth slightly, but i'd say itw well cabable of 750-800km.

Wasnt there a tourer featured on a Top Gear episode with a Jag XJ and VW Polo Bluemotion, where they drove from somewhere in Europe back to a location in England?

They also had an Audi A8 which done 800km no problem to it :eek: was very impressed with this!

Op, Are you going to be doing more city driving (urban roads), Motorway or rural (country)?

I ask as the comfort of the car comes into question more so than anything.
On a personal note, I've driven an 06 Almera for a bit and achieved 5.0-6.5 L/100km which is pretty good and they're pokey enough to over take other cars etc.