Help choosing between following cars...7k budget

Backtowhite

Hey lads.

Car was wrote of in accident during the week. Drunk driver hit me at 90 degrees. Insurance isn't sorted yet as alot of people are on holidays etc etc but hopefully he will be fully liable. I should get about 6k for my car.

Anyway hoping I get the cash in next few weeks so I am actively looking at a couple of options.

1. 06 Mazda 6 2.0 diesel 100k miles
2. 05 skoda superb 1.9tdi
3. Various golfs/passats
4. Various focuses/mondeos

I do about 15k miles a year so was hoping for a diesel.

I have been just looking on donedeal but don't know if i should buy a car in a dealers with warranty. I am looking for a fairly high spec car with a few extras so I don't mind dropping down the years if the right car comes around.

Any suggestions? Max litre would be 2.0.

Thanks

colm_mcm

not the mazda6 anyway. that engine is a disaster zone.

Backtowhite

Thanks thats the kind of advice i needed!

This is the car I was looking at http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2706703

Atlantic Dawn

Most independent dealers will only give a 3month warranty, so it may be worth going down the private route on Donedeal. You should verify the service history and do a full history check, the Mazda you posted looks like a UK import, it's particularly important to check that the car was not wrote off in the UK and then imported clean here. Cartell.ie or Motorcheck.ie can run all these checks, for the sake of €20-€30 it will give peace of mind.

Backtowhite

Thanks, hard to buy off donedeal when so much that can catch you out if your not experienced buying off it

colm_mcm

with your budget I'd be looking at main dealers like Nissan and Toyota as they give a very good warranty all makes of used cars.
Newer diesels are very complex and can cost a bomb of something goes wrong. Its good to have a 12 month bumper to bumper warranty.

Backtowhite

Cheers will keep an eye out over next few weeks on their sites. I thought they would sell the cars onto trade usually?

166man

Something like this is what I would be looking at anyway



http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2608819

Low tax, low mileage, great engine apparently. Seems well specced too.

Backtowhite

Cheers will have a look at one of them. That car never crossed my mind

bbam

Personally I would never change from Diesel but you aren't saving anything by buying a Diesel for 15K per year mileage.. Might help widen your choices a bit.

bazz26

I'd agree, 15k miles per year is only borderline diesel mileage. Your budget will go alot further buying a petrol car these days.

big_drive

What miles do ye think is the point at which diesel is more beneficial?

johndaman66

big_drive wrote: »

What miles do ye think is the point at which diesel is more beneficial?

Certainly considerably more than 15k miles I'd suggest, more like 20k miles per annum low water or even 25k.

bbam wrote: »

you aren't saving anything by buying a Diesel for 15K per year mileage.. Might help widen your choices a bit.

Agreed, taking into account the cars in the bracket that the OP is considering I genuinely don't think he's going to make any notable savings, in particular if the diesel car develops an expensive problem...which lets face it, is hardly beyond the bounds of possibility.

I don't understand the logic some people have in driving diesel only regardless. I had one guy tell me once he'd always drive a diesel for the noise alone:eek:...whats that all about?

johndaman66

johndaman66 wrote: »

...

I don't understand the logic some people have in driving diesel only regardless. I had one guy tell me once he'd always drive a diesel for the noise alone:eek:...whats that all about?

Was he a muck savage ?
I remember when even many taxi drivers wouldn't touch a diesel :cool:

TestTransmission

RoverJames wrote: »

Was he a muck savage ?

Nope,just an idiot.

big_drive

If doing less than say 18,000 miles a year what are the benefits of sticking with petrol?

I know the initial cost of buying the car would be less anyway but what are the other advantages?

johndaman66

RoverJames wrote: »

Was he a muck savage ?
I remember when even many taxi drivers wouldn't touch a diesel :cool:

A friend of a friend who I was talking to for maybe 2/3 minutes max in a pub once. As I recall he actually came across as quite normal aside from that rather strange comment...

bazz26

big_drive wrote: »

If doing less than say 18,000 miles a year what are the benefits of sticking with petrol?

I know the initial cost of buying the car would be less anyway but what are the other advantages?

Intital purchase cost is only one part of ownership. You also have maintenance, modern diesels are not as robust as they used to be. Things like DPFs, DMFs, turbos and high pressure fuel injectors can all give trouble and are very expensive to replace. Replacing any one of these will erase any small savings you might make at the pump if you are driving alot.

johndaman66

bazz26 wrote: »

Replacing any one of these will erase any small savings you might make at the pump if you are driving alot.

And of course possibly leave you stranded on the side of the road too and perhaps spend a few days sitting in a garage. In particular if doing higher mileage I would think its safe to assume that you depend on your car a lot...

shanem4422

in my opinion the skoda superb would be an all round safer option, dont know much about mazda, heard that they have not got a great engine and would think they would depereciate a lot as would a ford of any kind. some of the 2tlr fords injectors can loose their code and the 4 need to be replaced and recoded, think this is a minimum of a grand to put right!! the newer type passsats have a lot of faults that can potentially go wrong such as electric handbrake, know of this problem going weong 3 times on the same car leaving car imobilised and costing in the region of 700 euro each time, my dad had a 130 bhp 03 tdi passat for 5 years and all that ever went wrong was an air flow meter and cost 100 euro to fix, the superb has pretty much the same engine and running gear so that would be my choice, make sure the condition matches the mileage as the majority of vw skoda audis are clocked, a friend bought a "mint looking" 04 vw passat that was a uk import,135000 miles on the ckock, when it was plugged in with a diagnostics computer the genuine mileage stored in the ecu- cars computer brain that canot be changed was 225000 miles!!!

166man

bazz26 wrote: »

Intital purchase cost is only one part of ownership. You also have maintenance, modern diesels are not as robust as they used to be. Things like DPFs, DMFs, turbos and high pressure fuel injectors can all give trouble and are very expensive to replace. Replacing any one of these will erase any small savings you might make at the pump if you are driving alot.

Surely at this budget the OP would be looking at an older diesel with fewer of the problems that the modern diesels have and as such DPF,high pressure fuel injectors wouldn't be something to be concerned with?

Pique

shanem4422 wrote: »

. some of the 2tlr fords injectors can loose their code and the 4 need to be replaced and recoded, think this is a minimum of a grand to put right!!

What kind of magic is this???
Injectors are expensive, yes but 'coded' and then 'losing their code'?
What the hell?

Backtowhite

Thanks lads for all the advice.

To be honest If there is a decent petrol car which does decent mpg I would take that.

Such a difficult task looking for a car.....seems to be loads of Accords within my budget but all high tax/thirsty!

Keep getting side tracked and end up looking at all sorts of cars

Andrew33

The Superb would be a great choice, not the quitest/smoothest engine in the world but they get around on a sniff of diesel and last forever (literally!) if the oil and filter are done regularly.
Word of warning, make SURE you do a history check, it'll show if car has been used as a taxi and car itself will look pretty much the same after 400k as it would after 100k so don't believe what it says on the dash.

bazz26

166man wrote: »

Surely at this budget the OP would be looking at an older diesel with fewer of the problems that the modern diesels have and as such DPF,high pressure fuel injectors wouldn't be something to be concerned with?

Things like DPFs have been around for over a decade now, DMFs even longer. Common rail diesel engines have been around since the late 1990s. Turbos fail also and they have been around alot longer. Plenty to go wrong that would not be present on a simpler petrol engine.

merc609

Superb would be the best choice on that menu in my opinion. I have had one for last year or so for a taxi and i cannot fault it. Had a passat before and it was a heartbreaker.. just do history checks and service check i.e timing belt and waterpump changed and regular oil changes. With the kind of annual miles you are talking of it would do a life time.
Happy hunting

Pov06

Corolla Verso 2.0 D4-D

AnnRo

Hi

Don't touch a 06 ford focus (1.4 petrol) - my husband has one and it has a fault with some cover Ford didn't put over spark plugs (I think that's what the term) - if they get wet - the car won't start - which has happened several times. A ford garage's solution - place a floor mat over where the cover should be!! Very technical solution!!

Backtowhite

Lads what do you reckon about this car

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Ford/Mondeo/PLATINUM/813243153803670/advert?channel=CARS

It says on the ad 1.8 petrol but when you put the reg into motorcheck.ie it comes up as a 2.0 litre diesel?!

veetwin

Backtowhite wrote: »

Lads what do you reckon about this car

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Ford/Mondeo/PLATINUM/813243153803670/advert?channel=CARS

It says on the ad 1.8 petrol but when you put the reg into motorcheck.ie it comes up as a 2.0 litre diesel?!

Can't say much about the car but I think Carroll and Roche need a new photographer. Crappest pics ever...

Both the ad or motorcheck could be wrong..there is no real way of telling except ringing the dealer and even then I wouldn't take their word for it - I go out and check it myself.

Backtowhite

Ye will give them a call in the morning.

Shocking photos alright from a main dealer, surprising actually

Backtowhite

Hi lads my budget has gone well done.

What do you think of this mondeo?

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2839115

Is it an issue buying in ireland on uk plates? Owner says he only bought it in uk before Xmas and he has receipt still.