What Diesel Saloon ?

Pique

Hi guys,

a friend of mine needs a car after her Saab 9-3 looks to have chewed an injector or 2 and she's not had much luck with it.

She's looking around 2006 and has the following in mind.
Pug 407
Passat
Octy
Mazda 6

She needs/wants diesel and opinions on the reliability is important.

What's the pros and cons of each too ?

highlighter john

How much does your friend have to spend?

Like pedro7 said Honda Accord!

pedro7

Pique wrote: »

Hi guys,

a friend of mine needs a car after her Saab 9-3 looks to have chewed an injector or 2 and she's not had much luck with it.

She's looking around 2006 and has the following in mind.
Pug 407
Passat
Octy
Mazda 6

She needs/wants diesel and opinions on the reliability is important.

What's the pros and cons of each too ?

I'd look at a Honda Accord Diesel. Bit more expensive on tax as its a 2.2 litre engine but all the ones made from 2006 on are great. The do need a clutch around 80-100k miles though. But once that's not on the cards I cant fault them. Mine does 52mpg too, I've got 58 out of it once! Well Spec'd and very reliable.

Having said the VWs are very good options also.
I'd avoid the Mazda 6 diesel. They are notorious.

Ford Mondeos are always worth considering, cheap, reliable, cheap to service, good on fuel.

bazz26

I'd be looking at the 2006 onwards facelifted Toyota Avensis 2.0 D-4D if reliability is at the top of her list. It might not be brilliant to drive or look at but it will get here from a to b effortlessly.

dgt

My father knows a chap who had a 407 from new and was a disaster of a car. Electrically and mechanically.

What about a Mondeo?

Lenstroni

Well I can recommend the Volvo S40 2.0D. Its comfortable, reliable, fast and pretty safe. You can pick them up cheap enough too. I've had mine for 4 years now and have 205,000Km on her now. I've only had to replace the font bushes on it along with the usual services (every 12-15k). The timing belt isn't due til 250k and you wont be needing to replace the dual fly mass wheels on them like the Passats, Toyota or Hondas which is a total nuisance. Parts can be pricey and they aren't without their problems but what Turbo D's aren't these days. Maybe I've been lucky with mine but she's been a great servant so far..

Leonard Hofstadter

The only option in the OP that will be reliable is and I hate to say it, the Skoda.

The 407 will be fine mechanically, those HDi engines are bulletproof once they're serviced religiously on time and with the correct grade (and quality) oil, but electrically they can be a disaster.

The early model B6 Passats are also well known for electrical maladies although the 1.9 TDI is bulletproof (the 2.0 TDI is most certainly not bulletproof though).

The Mazda diesel should be avoided at all costs, it's by far the worst, the engine is a disaster.

That leaves us with the Skoda, which is from the class below, and is totally overrated here on boards. It's still the best option if reliability is important, same engine as the Passat, but the electrics give very little trouble.

I would be looking at the Ford Mondeo or Toyota Avensis or even the Opel Vectra if I wanted a reliable family diesel saloon. The Avensis would probably be the most reliable if it's the facelifted version, the pre-facelifts have issues with dual mass flywheels and gearboxes as the miles pile on. The facelifted model also has a good bit more power and a six speed gearbox. Try and get a Luna model as the Aura and Strata are very basic and are horrible inside, although Lunas are rare enough. Alternatively, look at the UK cars, most of them are at least T3X spec (same as Luna models here) and if you're lucky you might find a T Spirit, which has electric everything, leather seats, satnav etc etc.

The Honda Accord is a good option, but is not as trouble free as Honda's reputation would have you believe. The newer i-DTEC models are better but they only came out in 2008.