Petrol or Diesel

gs300

Petrol or Diesel

hi all i have had other posts on getting cars but the money did not come my way, but i have the money now and looking for a car.

i am looking around the 10k mark.

one other detail is i am only 20 but have a full licence so not a huge engin for insurance reasons.

i have been looking at the seat leon,ford focus and VW golf, but i am not sure if i should go Petrol or Diesel.

if you have any advice on the subject it would be great

cheers

bryaner

What mileage will you be doing?

gs300

prob 12-15k a year

bryaner

I'd imagine 1.4 petrol don't think you will save on diesel with higher tax, insurance and the initial higher purchase cost of the car. As for what car
I'm a ford lover so thats the way I'd go, good solid cars and cheap to maintain.
That's my 2 pence worth I'm sure you will get other opinions best of luck

Leonard Hofstadter

If it's 1.4 petrols then run away very fast.

They're just not at the races. The 1.4 in the Leon/Golf basically falls apart after 100k miles. The Ford's 1.4 is fine reliability wise but it is not fast.

1.6 minimum for petrol anyway.

The Leon/Golf 1.9 TDI is bulletproof but like all diesels with a manual gearbox it has a Dual Mass Flywheel which costs 1500 to repair and these have a typical lifespan of 60-100000 miles.

The Focus diesel is 1.6 or 1.8, the 1.6 tends to be hit and miss in that some people get terrible trouble with them(especailly those driven mostly around town) and others find them grand(if they get plenty of Motorway driving). The 1.8 is bullet proof full stop so I would go for that. Most 1.6 Focuses in this country have only 90 PS to the 115 PS in the 1.8 as well.

In terms of reliability, the Focus is mostly very good, there are some issues with dash clocks failing and the coil pack goes on the petrols but otherwise they are very reliable.

The Golf/Leon are nothing like the old VW rep might suggest, in fact the saying "if only everything in life was as unreliable as a Volkswagen" is probably more accurate these days. The gearboxes can give trouble in these cars and the electrics are not the best.

For both makes the 1.6 petrols are very good in general, this is one thing about the Leon/Golf that lives up to the VW rep(the rest of the car doesn't).

bryaner

captainspeed wrote: »

If it's 1.4 petrols then run away very fast.

They're just not at the races. The 1.4 in the Leon/Golf basically falls apart after 100k miles. The Ford's 1.4 is fine reliability wise but it is not fast.

1.6 minimum for petrol anyway.

The Leon/Golf 1.9 TDI is bulletproof but like all diesels with a manual gearbox it has a Dual Mass Flywheel which costs 1500 to repair and these have a typical lifespan of 60-100000 miles.

The Focus diesel is 1.6 or 1.8, the 1.6 tends to be hit and miss in that some people get terrible trouble with them(especailly those driven mostly around town) and others find them grand(if they get plenty of Motorway driving). The 1.8 is bullet proof full stop so I would go for that. Most 1.6 Focuses in this country have only 90 PS to the 115 PS in the 1.8 as well.

In terms of reliability, the Focus is mostly very good, there are some issues with dash clocks failing and the coil pack goes on the petrols but otherwise they are very reliable.

The Golf/Leon are nothing like the old VW rep might suggest, in fact the saying "if only everything in life was as unreliable as a Volkswagen" is probably more accurate these days. The gearboxes can give trouble in these cars and the electrics are not the best.

For both makes the 1.6 petrols are very good in general, this is one thing about the Leon/Golf that lives up to the VW rep(the rest of the car doesn't).

1500 for a dual mass repair?? I hope you or anyone you know ever paid that

gs300

cheers for the quick reply might take the weekend out and go have a look around,

i have heard of the 1.4 being bad for the speed alright so might set my aim on a 1.6 as a base

Leonard Hofstadter

bryaner wrote: »

1500 for a dual mass repair?? I hope you or anyone you know never paid that

Apparently it's 2000 at a BMW dealer, but yeah DMFs are around 1500 to repair even for less expensive cars.

I know it's possible to do it for less by buying the parts online and use spurious parts and get an Indy, but realistically how many people are going to do this and even then it is still upwards of a grand judging but the quotations others here on this forum have provided when their DMF went.

bryaner

captainspeed wrote: »

Apparently it's 2000 at a BMW dealer, but yeah DMFs are around 1500 to repair even for less expensive cars.

I know it's possible to do it for less by buying the parts online and use spurious parts and get an Indy, but realistically how many people are going to do this and even then it is still upwards of a grand judging but the quotations others here on this forum have provided when their DMF went.

Mate just got his VW Touran done €850 parts and labour

Leonard Hofstadter

gs300 wrote: »

cheers for the quick reply might take the weekend out and go have a look around,

i have heard of the 1.4 being bad for the speed alright so might set my aim on a 1.6 as a base

The 1.4 in the Leon/Golf is rubbish reliability wise as well, that's probably the most important reason to avoid it. You have to remember that 1.4s in Focuses/Golfs/Leons etc are something unique to Ireland, nobody ever bothers with such a small engine elsewhere in Europe in this size of car, 1.6(and bigger) petrols and diesels right up to 2.0 are the norm elsewhere, the car makers only put in 1.4s as an afterthought because that's the engine size Irish buyers are looking for. You'll note that since the VRT system changed Mazda, Renault and Ford have dropped the 1.4 from the line up here.

bryaner

gs300 wrote: »

cheers for the quick reply might take the weekend out and go have a look around,

i have heard of the 1.4 being bad for the speed alright so might set my aim on a 1.6 as a base

Good stuff I only suggested the 1.4s for tax, insurance and fuel consumption reasons with you being 20. 1.6 deffo better as the other poster said.

gs300

Cheers for the help i ended up getting a seat leon on friday thanks again:)