Advice on an estate car

Cogsy88

Looking for an estate and I've got a budget of around 5500-6000. I would be doing about 40000kms a year. Doesn't have to have lots of power but enough for comfortable driving at motorway speeds.

Wat are people's thoughts on the focus 1.6 tdci estate?

colm_mcm

Personally I wouldn't buy anything with that engine.

positron

How about an Accord tourer - something like this: http://www.carzone.ie/search/Honda/Accord/2.2I-CTD/37313739633769980/advert?channel=CARS. Private listings are way cheaper too.

Yawlboy

Saab 9-5

pete4130

I bought a 2005 110PS 1.6 tdci estate at the end of 2008. Had about 80,000km on it. Left Ireland about 5 years ago and gave it to my folks. It's up around 125,000km on it now I think. Not huge mileage. Folks live in the middle of the city and do shorter runs most of the time, out to Bray for the longer runs to get the revs up and clear it out.

The only thing that went on it was the alternator about 4 years ago. Other than that its just been consumables and service items.

Pretty comfortable but low spec car in estate form. Bit of engine/road noise at motorway speeds but not too bad.

Ok on diesel. Best I got was about 950km from a tank on a trip out to Connemara and back. Expect low 40's around the city IIRC?

Not the biggest estate but I did manage to get 5 BMX bikes (all wheels off), 5 people and their bags into it regularly and possibly 6 people/bikes one time?

Cogsy88

colm_mcm wrote: »

Personally I wouldn't buy anything with that engine.

Why? Turbo issues?

Cogsy88

Yawlboy wrote: »

Saab 9-5

Nothing remotely GM please. Had opel issues in the past.

bazz26

Volvo V50:

http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Volvo/V50/2.0-Diesel/29613438314925870/

colm_mcm

Cogsy88 wrote: »

Why? Turbo issues?

Everything issues

shamwari

Those TDCI engines give trouble if the servicing is improper or infrequent. By that I mean often enough and using the correct oil. Turbo failure from oil sluding and circulation failure are how the problems can mainifest themselves/

We have a CMax with that engine now shoving on for over 120K miles. To avoid trouble, it's serviced twice yearly with genuine oil and filters. The oil is reasonably priced from the main dealer and not much more than similar grade from the motor factors. But it does have the low ash additives that seem to be key to keeping the motor in fine fettle. Gremlins we've had have been DPF pressure sensor loosing one of its pipes, the alternator dying and a jammed EGR valve. The timing chain and belt were replaced recently too. Bar these items, everything else including the DPF and DMF are all original. In the time we've had the car (>6years), and given the amount of miles it does, it has served us very well indeed, and I would not consider the above failures to be exceptional for the age / condition / usage of the car.

Personally I would consider a 1.6 TDCi provided I knew that it had been serviced on schedule with the correct bits.

JohnBoy26

shamwari wrote: »

Those TDCI engines give trouble if the servicing is improper or infrequent. By that I mean often enough and using the correct oil. Turbo failure from oil sluding and circulation failure are how the problems can mainifest themselves/

We have a CMax with that engine now shoving on for over 120K miles. To avoid trouble, it's serviced twice yearly with genuine oil and filters. The oil is reasonably priced from the main dealer and not much more than similar grade from the motor factors. But it does have the low ash additives that seem to be key to keeping the motor in fine fettle. Gremlins we've had have been DPF pressure sensor loosing one of its pipes, the alternator dying and a jammed EGR valve. The timing chain and belt were replaced recently too. Bar these items, everything else including the DPF and DMF are all original. In the time we've had the car (>6years), and given the amount of miles it does, it has served us very well indeed, and I would not consider the above failures to be exceptional for the age / condition / usage of the car.

Personally I would consider a 1.6 TDCi provided I knew that it had been serviced on schedule with the correct bits.

But sure even if you use the correct oil and filter and do them on time these still end up with sludge in the oil, which will eventually lead to turbo failure.

IMHO the only way to truly prevent turbo failure on these is to clean the sump and turbo oil feed pipe regularly and to replace the banjo bolt.

Cogsy88

colm_mcm wrote: »

Everything issues

Such as?

Cogsy88

shamwari wrote: »

Those TDCI engines give trouble if the servicing is improper or infrequent. By that I mean often enough and using the correct oil. Turbo failure from oil sluding and circulation failure are how the problems can mainifest themselves/

We have a CMax with that engine now shoving on for over 120K miles. To avoid trouble, it's serviced twice yearly with genuine oil and filters. The oil is reasonably priced from the main dealer and not much more than similar grade from the motor factors. But it does have the low ash additives that seem to be key to keeping the motor in fine fettle. Gremlins we've had have been DPF pressure sensor loosing one of its pipes, the alternator dying and a jammed EGR valve. The timing chain and belt were replaced recently too. Bar these items, everything else including the DPF and DMF are all original. In the time we've had the car (>6years), and given the amount of miles it does, it has served us very well indeed, and I would not consider the above failures to be exceptional for the age / condition / usage of the car.

Personally I would consider a 1.6 TDCi provided I knew that it had been serviced on schedule with the correct bits.

The problem lies with people using that long life oil and they assume it's ok to leave in there for years. Any diesel I own is serviced every 10000kms so about 3 or 4 times a year. The rest of the items you listed are jus general wear and tear really. If I was getting one id get a belt thrown on when I get it. Ford and two of my mates which are mechanics said the chain doesent need to be changed only the belt. Is that engine sluggish? cause the 1.8tddi I have at the moment is quite slow

bazz26

Saab 9-3:

http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Saab/9-3/DIESEL-VECTOR/38613920523679850/


http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Saab/9-3/1.9-TID/43213940162007120/

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

bazz26 wrote: »

Volvo V50:

http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Volvo/V50/2.0-Diesel/29613438314925870/

Better off with the v70 ! much better spec and space with more comfy / powerful engines !

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/volvo-v70-7-seater-estate-auto-2003/5254807

Cogsy88

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

Better off with the v70 ! much better spec and space with more comfy / powerful engines !

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/volvo-v70-7-seater-estate-auto-2003/5254807

Don't need that much power man Nd tax Would be way to expensive.

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime

Cogsy88 wrote: »

Don't need that much power man Nd tax Would be way to expensive.

They also come 2L and 2L Turbo

bazz26

Kopparberg Strawberry and Lime wrote: »

Better off with the v70 ! much better spec and space with more comfy / powerful engines !

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/volvo-v70-7-seater-estate-auto-2003/5254807

I get the impression that if the OP is looking at small diesel engine estates then he is not going to be interested in a biggish petrol engine one. 40k km a year in a 2.4 litre petrol auto would bankrupt most folks.

shamwari

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

But sure even if you use the correct oil and filter and do them on time these still end up with sludge in the oil, which will eventually lead to turbo failure.

IMHO the only way to truly prevent turbo failure on these is to clean the sump and turbo oil feed pipe regularly and to replace the banjo bolt.

Most of the sludge created is unfortunately down to good old unrequited neglect. I started a thread some time back outlining some of the more common issues with that engine and how best to combat them. Replacing the turbo feed like you suggested is one of the remedies I applied.

Cogsy88 wrote: »

The problem lies with people using that long life oil and they assume it's ok to leave in there for years. Any diesel I own is serviced every 10000kms so about 3 or 4 times a year. The rest of the items you listed are jus general wear and tear really. If I was getting one id get a belt thrown on when I get it. Ford and two of my mates which are mechanics said the chain doesent need to be changed only the belt. Is that engine sluggish? cause the 1.8tddi I have at the moment is quite slow

Your a wise man to service regularly . The service interval on the DV6 is 12,000 miles. That's not in long life territory, and the oil is not labelled long life either. Still it doesn't stop some folk not doing basic servicing on schedule and then wondering aloud why it all goes wrong! :rolleyes:

I replaced the chain on our car as it was starting to get noisy. Anecdotes from two other boardsies here show they had the same problem all around the same mileage. It's not a common issue but one to be aware of.

As regards performance, I've driven two 1.8tddi Focuses and both were very lively. I'd put the performance about the same or pretty close to the 1.6 The 1.6 picks up stronger from lower revs, whereas the 1.8 needs more revs wound on to pull, and then when it does pull, it pulls a bit stronger that the 1.6.

If yours is sluggish then perhaps there may be something slightly amiss?? In my book they are not sluggish and quite nice to drive!

Cogsy88

shamwari wrote: »

Most of the sludge created is unfortunately down to good old unrequited neglect. I started a thread some time back outlining some of the more common issues with that engine and how best to combat them. Replacing the turbo feed like you suggested is one of the remedies I applied.

Your a wise man to service regularly . The service interval on the DV6 is 12,000 miles. That's not in long life territory, and the oil is not labelled long life either. Still it doesn't stop some folk not doing basic servicing on schedule and then wondering aloud why it all goes wrong! :rolleyes:

I replaced the chain on our car as it was starting to get noisy. Anecdotes from two other boardsies here show they had the same problem all around the same mileage. It's not a common issue but one to be aware of.

As regards performance, I've driven two 1.8tddi Focuses and both were very lively. I'd put the performance about the same or pretty close to the 1.6 The 1.6 picks up stronger from lower revs, whereas the 1.8 needs more revs wound on to pull, and then when it does pull, it pulls a bit stronger that the 1.6.

If yours is sluggish then perhaps there may be something slightly amiss?? In my book they are not sluggish and quite nice to drive!

The tddi comes in either 75 90 or 110ps. The base model connect which is the one that I have is only the 75ps. I've had the turbo out and it's fine. The only thing I could find was a split air intake hose for the turbo. I think the one in the focus is the 90 and that's probably what you drove. The tdci connect is also a 90 I think. Anything made post 05 is a tdci.

JohnBoy26

shamwari wrote: »

Most of the sludge created is unfortunately down to good old unrequited neglect. I started a thread some time back outlining some of the more common issues with that engine and how best to combat them. Replacing the turbo feed like you suggested is one of the remedies I applied.

I agree, Neglect in changing the oil on time will definatly be a big factor in the build up of sludge and turbo failure. However plenty of properly maintained examples have suffered the same fate with sludge and subsequent turbo failure.

Imho regular oil changes and maintenance won't in itself prevent sludge and turbo failure on these.

As I said earlier the Cleaning of the sump, the oil feed pipe and replacing the bajo bolt every couple of services is a must on these IMO.

Imo there are better more reliable 1.6 diesels out there that are more friendly to maintain and don't suffer from sludge and turbo issues.

Cogsy88

bazz26 wrote: »

Volvo V50:

http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Volvo/V50/2.0-Diesel/29613438314925870/

Is the v50 a reliable car?

bazz26

They are okish, 2.0d would probably be more reliable than the 1.6d. I had a S40 which was basically the saloon version and I was nearly always fixing small things on it but I might have just been unlucky. Lovely car other than that.

Cogsy88

I know there both ford engines and I've bein hearing bad story's off a ford mechanic who's a friend of mine about that 1.6 diesel. Mite have a look around at a few of the two litres.

bazz26

They are actually Peugeot/Citroen (PSA) engines.

Cogsy88

bazz26 wrote: »

They are actually Peugeot/Citroen (PSA) engines.

Yea sorry. But ford use dem in most of there newer diesels. Apparently the 2.0 gives less trouble then the 1.6.