What half interesting diesel for a daily driver for small money?

gn3dr

Driving a Range Rover P38 V8 as my daily at the moment and I want to get somehting a bit more sensible on fuel:rolleyes:. I have a few big engined project cars in various states of not driving at the moment so want to buy something reliable that requires no major work, that I can just drive and is economical - so diesel seems to be the choice (I must be getting old - would never have considered diesel a few years ago)


So I've been looking at what is out there for smallish money - about €1k to €2K and have started to be drawn a bit towards stuff like the BMW318tds and maybe Mercedes 190 diesel.
What are these like day to day and for reliability? Are they economical - would 40mpg or even 50mpg be attainable from either. (Bearing in mind I'm not looking for a performance car here but at the same time would never say no to power:rolleyes:) There seems to be a few 318tds for sale on donedeal with blown engines - is this common?

I don't want anything over 2litre - I'm sick of paying rip off high car tax.

Ideally I'd just buy another classic but diesels are not too common.


Failing the above two what else would people recommend? (I think I'd struggle to like anything French)

Seweryn

gn3dr wrote: »

So I've been looking at what is out there for smallish money - about €1k to €2K and have started to be drawn a bit towards stuff like the BMW318tds and maybe Mercedes 190 diesel.
What are these like day to day and for reliability? Are they economical - would 40mpg or even 50mpg be attainable from either. (Bearing in mind I'm not looking for a performance car here but at the same time would never say no to power:rolleyes:) There seems to be a few 318tds for sale on donedeal with blown engines - is this common?

Hi,
I was looking for exactly the same cars last year. After a lot of research I didn't go for the BMW. A lot of problems with them, especially with fuel pump, injection pump, turbo, etc. Basically, one of the worse engines made by BMW.
On the other hand, the W201 Mercedes-Benz 190D is in a completely different league... Much, much better car in terms of reliability, longevity, low service requirements, etc. Superb on fuel - I get 49.3 mpg on total average since I got my 190D (I covered 25k km since July last summer). The car has 330k km on the clock and feels fresh. No oil consumption, nothing goes wrong with it basically and I believe I will keep it for longer. The only problem is to find a good example...

Captain Slow IRL

Another vote against the 318tds - very underpowered and not that economical.

What about a 90's Daihatsu Charade - a co-worker had one and he loved it, small, nippy and reliable.

galwaytt

gn3dr wrote: »

......Failing the above two what else would people recommend? (I think I'd struggle to like anything French)

...aye, there's the rub............y'see, the French do diesel rather well........they conquered diesel long before anyone else......Peugoet 304, 404, 504, 505.........

Anyhoo: I think you need something completely different, and so, for zero-risk diesel, which isn't a big engine (hard to find, in an old car, when you're not going old enough for 'classic'.....)...then I give you.........the Saxo 1.5d.

Not performance - but economy like you won't believe, and no turbo to blow up, either !

unkel

galwaytt wrote: »

the French do diesel rather well........they conquered diesel long before anyone else......Peugoet 304, 404, 504, 505.........

Herr Rudolf Diesel himself was born in France

I'd go with Seweryn's suggestion of the baby merc diesel. Or even a classic tax and insurance W123. Could even think of running them on veggie?

galwaytt

...yah, but they're not too light on juice - he's saving the €€ for the boat anchor he already has.......;)

yarmanfromdebar

I would recommend the Merc hands down get a good one they will do half a million miles with simple servicing, parts are for pennies too, ball joints 25 a side, oil filter 5, and they run on vegetable oil/diesel mix with no mods on a warm day, apparently.

gn3dr

Thanks for the replies folks

Good info
I knew the French stuff would be suggested because their engines are so good - it's just that the rest of the cars are so flimsy!
Saxo and Charade a bit too small although I do see the attraction in the Saxo economy.

49.3 mpg is excellent from your Merc Seweryn - especially with that mileage. Is it a 2.0 or 2.5? All these 190's are non-turbo right?

The P38 or boat anchor as you call it will be going - it was only a fill in car for the last year and a half but I am well impressed with it - excellent for towing with the air suspension and has been reliable over the last 15 months.
I'd definitely get a diesel one if I could afford it and teh tax for it (current one is commercial tax so not too bad)

Must start browsing for Merc's so unless anyone else has other feedback

kermitpwee

I know its small but what about a mk 2 golf diesel?

gn3dr

Yeah the Golf I have thought about as well - still undecided about that. I guess I had initially looked at mid size saloons but maybe I should re-thhink that. I was never a major VW fan but some of them are growing on me a bit.

Perhaps an early 90's Passat could be on the list as well - in Estate form probably, as they look better.

The earlier suggestion of a Merc W123 I would definitely go for but I think the problem would be that at the price range I am looking at that it is just going to be another project and I have enough of them already:o

colm_mcm

I'd go with something like a Honda Civic 1.5 VTEC-E,

Fuel consumption (urban) 32.1 mpg
Fuel consumption (extra urban) 49.6 mpg
Fuel consumption (combined) 41.5 mpg
0 - 62 mph 11.6 seconds
Top speed 119 mph

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201003350737004/sort/priceasc/usedcars/maximum-age/over_10_years_old/engine-size-cars/1-4l_to_1-6l/model/civic/make/honda/keywords/vtec/page/1/radius/1500/postcode/ln12na?previous=%2Fsearch%2Fused%2Fcars%2Fhonda%2Fcivic%2Fpostcode%2Fln12na%2Fradius%2F1500%2Fkeywords%2Fvtec%2Fmaximum-age%2Fover_10_years_old%2Fengine-size-cars%2F1-4l_to_1-6l%2Fsort%2Fpriceasc%2Fpage%2F1&logcode=p


Cheap 1.5 tax
Zero chance of something breaking
Well under budget
Easy to sell on


That's how you save money, not buy buying a sheddy C class.

gn3dr

colm_mcm wrote: »

I'd go with something like a Honda Civic 1.5 VTEC-E,

Fuel consumption (urban) 32.1 mpg
Fuel consumption (extra urban) 49.6 mpg
Fuel consumption (combined) 41.5 mpg
0 - 62 mph 11.6 seconds
Top speed 119 mph

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201003350737004/sort/priceasc/usedcars/maximum-age/over_10_years_old/engine-size-cars/1-4l_to_1-6l/model/civic/make/honda/keywords/vtec/page/1/radius/1500/postcode/ln12na?previous=%2Fsearch%2Fused%2Fcars%2Fhonda%2Fcivic%2Fpostcode%2Fln12na%2Fradius%2F1500%2Fkeywords%2Fvtec%2Fmaximum-age%2Fover_10_years_old%2Fengine-size-cars%2F1-4l_to_1-6l%2Fsort%2Fpriceasc%2Fpage%2F1&logcode=p


Cheap 1.5 tax
Zero chance of something breaking
Well under budget
Easy to sell on


That's how you save money, not buy buying a sheddy C class.

Will one of them really do 41.5mpg average???

Merc 190 isn't a C class by the way;)

colm_mcm

Those Civics are really that good on fuel, at the time they were pretty much as efficent as a diesel, obviously things have moved on with diesels.

It only applies to the 1.5 VTEC E models though. I think they only came in that Rover 45 shape Civic too.

galwaytt

gn3dr wrote: »

Yeah the Golf I have thought about as well - still undecided about that. I guess I had initially looked at mid size saloons

.....there is a Golf saloon: Vento / Jetta.


There's a guy near Ennis who ONLY sells that type of car: pre-CRD/PDI diesels. 99% of them are VW's, and being of that vintage, v.v. simple to maintain, and cheap to run.

darragh o meara

Seweryn wrote: »

Hi,
I was looking for exactly the same cars last year. After a lot of research I didn't go for the BMW. A lot of problems with them, especially with fuel pump, injection pump, turbo, etc. Basically, one of the worse engines made by BMW.

I have to disagree with you on some points there. Ive had a 318 tds for the past few years and recently bought my old one back again while I look for something new to buy.

Like every car they are not without faults but if looked after properly they will last a very long time. The major problems with these cars were caused by people not maintaining them as per the manufacturers recommendations, IE. BMW recommends fully synthetic oil for this engine which is expensive so some people didnt bother and over time the engine died!! I know cos when I bought my 318tds first the engine was gone for the very same reason, an engine was easy enough got for it but a new one wasnt that bad so I went with that instead... The car has put up 125k and is just like it was day one.

The engine can sound a bit agricultural as are all older diesel engines and no they're not gonna break the sound barrier power wise but when you wind it up a small bit they will cruise comfortably at 80 mph and a bit in reserve to overtake!!!

My one usually averages between 40-50mpg depending on the journey which is very good for an older diesel.

The only problems Ive had with mine over the years was:

Ignition barrell, locked in ign on position
Handbrake adjustment
Powersteering pump leaked at 75k

Apart from usual wear and tear items this is the only hassle it has given over the 14 years!!!

I would highly reccommend one if you want something cheap,reliable and economical. But be sure and check that they have been looked after.

PS> I will be selling my 96 318 tds touring as soon as my original username has been sorted out.

Seweryn

Darragh O Meara wrote: »

I have to disagree with you on some points there. Ive had a 318 tds for the past few years and recently bought my old one back again while I look for something new to buy.

Like every car they are not without faults but if looked after properly they will last a very long time. The major problems with these cars were caused by people not maintaining them as per the manufacturers recommendations, IE. BMW recommends fully synthetic oil for this engine which is expensive so some people didnt bother and over time the engine died!! I know cos when I bought my 318tds first the engine was gone for the very same reason, an engine was easy enough got for it but a new one wasnt that bad so I went with that instead... The car has put up 125k and is just like it was day one.

I agree with you there. One of the reasons I didn't buy the 318tds was the higher servicing standards required. And that's fine if you know that your car gets all that, but it is a different story when buying a car without a service history. The tds has a lot more things to go wrong, is a lot more sensitive on fuel quality (rorary injection pump, which usualy leaks and is expensive to repair) and a lot more sensitive on the quality of engine oil, it has a turbocharger which needs to be treated the proper way (and we all know, people just do not care...), engine electronics, and so on...
The Benz on the other side has a bomb proof maintenance free engine without a turbo, with inline injection Bosch pump, which can be run without electricity on almost any kind of fuel without modification. That is what makes the Benz a safer option to buy...

Seweryn

gn3dr wrote: »

49.3 mpg is excellent from your Merc Seweryn - especially with that mileage. Is it a 2.0 or 2.5? All these 190's are non-turbo right?

My one is 2.0, there is also a 2.5, 5-cylinder (nicer one and does almost the same mpg figures) and a 2.5 Turbo, but the turbodiesel engined model was only manufacured as LHD, so we can forget that .

gn3dr

Darragh O Meara wrote: »

PS> I will be selling my 96 318 tds touring as soon as my original username has been sorted out.

I forgot to ask - what's the link between you selling the car and sorting out your username?

I've sent you a PM with a few question on the 318tds

JHMEG

colm_mcm wrote: »

Those Civics are really that good on fuel, at the time they were pretty much as efficent as a diesel, obviously things have moved on with diesels.

It only applies to the 1.5 VTEC E models though. I think they only came in that Rover 45 shape Civic too.

That model is badged 1.5i LS, there is no VTEC-E badging on it, tho there is a VTEC badge on the other side of the boot lid.

A friend has a 1997 and is averaging 52mpg. The other thing is it's 114bhp so for a 1.5 it has very good poke too.

Not many around tho. Universal Honda imported feck all.

Zonda999

kermitpwee wrote: »

I know its small but what about a mk 2 golf diesel?

They are ridiculously economical alright, a friend of mine has a 91 mk2 1.6d, about 60mpg he gets.My GOD its slow though..

Seweryn

Zonda999 wrote: »

They are ridiculously economical alright, a friend of mine has a 91 mk2 1.6d, about 60mpg he gets.My GOD its slow though..

The Golf is fine, my friend has the 1.6D as well. Very economical car, I would say at least as good on fuel as the latest TDi engined Golfs with much lower running cost. The thing is that a car like Golf is nowhere near with comfort, handling and ride quality when you compare it to the Benz. Another thing is the cam belt in VW, so it needs to be changed regularly.
Is it slow? Well, I don't think so. You can easily break any speed limit in that car, so why would you need anything faster?

kermitpwee

Zonda999 wrote: »

They are ridiculously economical alright, a friend of mine has a 91 mk2 1.6d, about 60mpg he gets.My GOD its slow though..

The straight diesel will get to 50mph in 12 seconds which is nippy enough, to get to 60 will take another 6 seconds tho. A td is a different story:D

CJhaughey

MKII Golf GTD. Hard to find but pretty cool. I had a Scirocco storm that some butcher had been at, and installed the 1.6 diesel. Gearing was wrong but the economy was something else with the slippery Scirocco body and the miserly 1.6 Umwelt engine.
Parts are very common and cheap for the Golfs as well which makes life easy.