Good 2nd hand Diesels (for a Petrol convert)

MrDerp

Hi there,

Hoping for a bit of advice, at the risk of getting the piss ripped out of me (I've just read the "Boards.ie guide to stereotyping cars" thread to gauge the mood of this forum!)

Currently driving a 2005 Focus 1.4 (80PS) and it's hitting 75k miles and I'm frankly a bit sick of it. It's pathetic with passengers, less economical than it ought to be, and I've generally outgrown it I think. Loved it when I bought it, soon after passing my test, back in 08, but I've learned just a little bit more about cars since then.

I'm looking for a diesel replacement, but I've only ever driven petrols, so I can't really relate to Diesel numbers, and reliable stats on consumption etc seem hard to come by.

My mileage:
- 30,000km per year
- Estimate 11,500 km of commute, 50km per day, of which 30km is Motorway and National primary
- 12,000 km per year on M7/8 Dublin to Cork
- The rest is 50/50 between M/N and R/city
So that's about 22,000km of 100km/h zones and 8,000km of 50-60km/h zones

My driving habits:
- equates to 8L/100km: I wouldn't mind only the car isn't that enjoyable anymore
- I tend to do 130-135km/h on the M7/M8
- While I might drive fastish on occasion, I don't drive hard. It would be nice if the car responded a bit better to my pushing though. I don't need to be quicker off the blocks, I just want to keep up!
- Regular speeds around Dublin

What I do like:
- Handling of my focus

What I don't like:
- Car struggling to accelerate on inclines.
- Car is poor at maintaining decent momentum on (admittedly irregular) windy N/R road driving, though my skill might be poor here as I learned in the city
- General lag when carrying passengers. A particularly painful drive through the sally gap with 4 in the car springs to mind.

===============

What I'd like:
- I think a Diesel is obvious with the mileage
- I'd like better fuel economy but I'd be happier with equal if I got more grunt and enjoyment out of it
- A slightly quieter ride for the motorway
- Air Conditioning is a must! I've promised myself no more sweaty motorway trips for my next car
- Nothing ridiculous on the running costs. I'll have to take a loan for this, where before I'd none.
- A 2008 diesel would be nice to keep costs down and put something back into the costs of repayments.

What I have:
- Hope for 4K trade in (maybe this is ambitious)
- 7K cash

I'll spend the above and borrow:
- ideally another 5K
- will go to 10K if I love the car

I have no:
- kids
- Work luggage requirements. The only thing I carry is a laptop.

Why I'm confused:
- I'd stump extra for an 08 German premium, but the examples available aren't great, and too much research and chat amongst friends has me believing I'll be pissing money on parts - fine if I wouldn't be servicing a loan for the honour.
- Loads of large family saloons available, but they all seem to have 100/110 PS engines. Maybe this is fine, but having driven the weediest engine in the line-up in the past, I'm wary of these Super-Eco-Blue-Dynamic-Efficient-Hyper-Enviro-Boost models.
- I don't need to tear up the road, I just want a car that responds to my needs without drinking 10L of fuel / 100 km

Am I better off getting a nippy hatch? Should I stump for an entry-level exec? At what mileage point on Diesel should I be saying "That's seen a few too many miles for my needs"?

All help and humourous comment at my expense is appreciated!

vectra

There is only one car to do everything on your list
But dare I say it

EPM

vectra wrote: »

There is only one cat to do everything on your list
But dare I say it

No there's more!!!

Mondeo is worth a look. If you stretched to 10k you'd get a mint ST diesel.

johnos1984

Mods please sticky this with the instructions that if anyone is looking for car advice about what to get they lay it out like the one above.

Its long but very detailed

squod

1.6 focus?

Anan1

johnos1984 wrote: »

Mods please sticky this with the instructions that if anyone is looking for car advice about what to get they lay it out like the one above.

Its long but very detailed

+1, when you see that someone's put a bit of thought in themselves it makes you want to help.

Matt Simis

vectra wrote: »

There is only one car to do everything on your list
But dare I say it

An Alfa GT 1.9JTD?

Just coming into his price range now:
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1822817




Op forget the 2008 tax thing, you will pay a big premium to get into the bracket which means a worse car for the money. 1.9l old style CC tax is cheap and the savings you make in Fuel will more than make you happy cash wise. You might pay tax once a year but have to drive and sit in the car daily.

vectra

Matt Simis wrote: »

An Alfa GT 1.9JTD?

Just coming into his price range now:
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1822817

.

Nice looking car but personally I found the engine to be very Rattly.
I think the OP might feel the same coming from Quiet Petrol

MrDerp

Matt Simis wrote: »

An Alfa GT 1.9JTD?

Just coming into his price range now:
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/1822817


Op forget the 2008 tax thing, you will pay a big premium to get into the bracket which means a worse car for the money. 1.9l old style CC tax is cheap and the savings you make in Fuel will more than make you happy cash wise. You might pay tax once a year but have to drive and sit in the car daily.

This seems like sound advice, thanks. And thanks to everyone else who has answered.

I think the "buy the shiny nearly-new" impulse in my brain was using the 08 motor tax rules to trick me into splashing out. I have 7K plus my car. I should be able to get a decent diesel for that, right? Maybe borrow a few K more if I really want it.

So that brings me to:
- Is 110 PS too weedy for a family saloon?
- What is 110 PS like on a hatchback?

I'm gonna put a good few miles on anything I buy. What sort of mileage should I be looking for?

I probably don't want a 3-door. I kinda like having 5.

I'd be happy with anything above 35mpg, but 40+ would be nice

Raskolnikov

I think a Skoda Superb satisfies your criteria - http://www.carzone.ie/search/Skoda/Superb/CLASSIC-/201102200838346/advert?channel=CARS

Climate control (better than simple air condition)
115BHP
Roomy and fairly comfortable
50k mileage
Comes in at 11.5k

Matt Simis

MrDerp wrote: »

So that brings me to:
- Is 110 PS too weedy for a family saloon?
- What is 110 PS like on a hatchback?

I probably don't want a 3-door. I kinda like having 5.
I'd be happy with anything above 35mpg, but 40+ would be nice

Our economical car is an Alfa 156 2.4JTD Sportwagon, its just under 200ps (tuned) and weighs 1300kg, so I would personally say 110PS is pretty sucktastic, especially when in the heavier VAG models.

Getting 45+mpg is no problem to us in a 10year old CR diesel, so you will easy meet your MPG target, dont shy away from power. I was toying with the idea of selling it, but its not meeting some of your criteria so not much use to you. Just remember if looking at Alfa's the eating oil horror stories you hear are on petrol not diesel engines.

GeneHunt

Forget about promising yourself air conditioning go for Climate Control its much better. IMO the only thing air conditioning will do is give you a cold!

As you do motorway trips, you should also consider cruise control, traction control is also very handy on the R (Sally Gap) roads and its also good in snow too...

Lex Luthor

Matt Simis wrote: »

Our economical car is an Alfa 156 2.4JTD Sportwagon, its just under 200ps (tuned) and weighs 1300kg, so I would personally say 110PS is pretty sucktastic, especially when in the heavier VAG models.

Getting 45+mpg is no problem to us in a 10year old CR diesel, so you will easy meet your MPG target, dont shy away from power. I was toying with the idea of selling it, but its not meeting some of your criteria so not much use to you. Just remember if looking at Alfa's the eating oil horror stories you hear are on petrol not diesel engines.

Don't sell it matt.you'll regret it. I still miss my 156

MrDerp

Well lads, thanks for the advice on this a few weeks back.

I looked more and more at this and saw that in a lot of cases dealers are looking for close to the same premium on second hand diesels as you'd pay for the same car new.

So I went for a 2007 Volvo S40 1.8 SE petrol and I'm delighted. It's got leather seats (as adjustable as a dentists chair), all electrics, climate control, cruise control, lots more toys, and a nice interior. The (bog standard) stereo system kicks the ass of what I had, and the drive is nice and quiet. It's quick enough off the lights to suit my driving and so overall its ticked all the boxes.

Economy? I reset the counter on Wednesday when I picked it up. Did some pottering around Thursday, had a trip up the country over the weekend (mixed N/M roads), and did the drive to work a couple of times. I'm getting 8.1 l/100km. The 1.4 Focus was 8.2l/100km !!! I'm sure I could flah it if I got a heavy foot, but it's got ample power for my needs.

Couldn't be happier! And I changed it within budget so no finance! I could have saved approx 1k per year on fuel with the diesel switch, but a diesel volvo would have set me back 3-3.5k more. So 2 years to make the money back giving a bit on the finance cost, taking a bit on the extra resale value. And now I am still debt free to commence saving for my next car.

Just goes to show, many Irish are being bamboozled on false Dieselonomics

Thanks again to those who answered!