Looking for a diesel car. Budget €5000

jreyeshdez

I am looking for a diesel car. I am from Spain and I will need it for commute from Ranelagh to Dunboyne or elsewhere the company sends me to. It'd be my first car in Ireland.

I was thinking on:

2005 - Audi A3 TDI 2.0
2004-2005 - VW Golf TDI <=1.9
2005 Renault Clio 1.5 dci
2006 Opel Astra <=1.7 (I had one in Spain but it had an accelerator issue)

I am interested in a cheap car (fuel) with no common issues as I would not like to be fixing the car every week.

Any recommendation is welcomed.
Cheers.

Moneymaker

How much money do you have to spend?

You can't go wrong with a 1.9tdi Golf/A3/A4/Octavia etc. They are all reliable, despite not being the most refined engine in the world.

jreyeshdez

My budget is €5000~5500 so any car within it. I know it could be hard to find a good diesel car with that budget..

jreyeshdez

I have a question about taxes.

The newer the car is the cheaper the taxes are?

I've been reading the taxes could be up to €710 for an audi a3 2.0 but if the car is from 2010, are the taxes cheaper?

I do not know if that's correct, before 2008 taxes were set depending on the cars engine cc's and newer ones have their road tax calculated based on the cars CO2, does it mean an audi a3 2.0 diesel from 2009 will be cheaper than an older one?

Cheers.

MidlandsM

Moneymaker wrote: »

You can't go wrong with a 1.9tdi Golf/A3/A4/Octavia etc. They are all reliable

you couldn't be more wrong Mm. They can give some of the most trouble, like any oil burner.

JohnBoy26

MidlandsM wrote: »

you couldn't be more wrong Mm. They can give some of the most trouble, like any oil burner.

Apart from the BXE varients and their conrod issues, what "trouble" do they give?

In my experience they are one of the more reliable diesel engines out there.

Moneymaker

MidlandsM wrote: »

you couldn't be more wrong Mm. They can give some of the most trouble, like any oil burner.

In the hands of a 21 year old ragging it around the place, sure.

In the hands of my uncle(06 Passat, 220,000km), sister(04 Golf, 125,000km), they haven't given a days trouble as they've been serviced regularly.

I will admit that 2 cars is a small sample size though.

bazz26

jreyeshdez wrote: »

I have a question about taxes.

The newer the car is the cheaper the taxes are?

I've been reading the taxes could be up to €710 for an audi a3 2.0 but if the car is from 2010, are the taxes cheaper?

I do not know if that's correct, before 2008 taxes were set depending on the cars engine cc's and newer ones have their road tax calculated based on the cars CO2, does it mean an audi a3 2.0 diesel from 2009 will be cheaper than an older one?

Cheers.

Yes but a 2008 or newer Audi A3 diesel will cost a lot more to purchase. So really you are spending thousands of euro more to save a few hundred on motor tax annually.

Also, have you priced insurance on any of those cars? The reason I ask is that insurance is expensive in Ireland. People from abroad living here can find insurance even more expensive especially from a country that drives on the other side of the road. Insurance companies here may not give you much discount for your No Claims Bonus or driving license from Spain. So I suggest you start pricing insurance on that list of cars first before committing to buying one.

Stella Virgo

jreyeshdez wrote: »

My budget is €5000~5500 so any car within it. I know it could be hard to find a good diesel car with that budget..

any car with a 1.9 or bigger engine will cost you 700+ a year to tax, excluding insurance.that will reduce your budget by nearly a grand:eek:
of course a 08 or newer will be a lot cheaper to tax,but will cost more to buy.

jreyeshdez

My budget is just for the car. I do not take into account the taxes and insurance in the budget.

My partner has been driving for more than a year in Ireland. He was working as a childminder and had to drive the family's car so they set her up in their insurance, I guess that would be a bonus for her as she's never had a problem driving here for more than a year.

I am not worried about the taxes, I am worried about the car, I mean, I prefer spend bit more and get a newer one if that reduces any issue with it.

I guess the insurance will be around €650 a year plus the taxes, around 200 if it is a newer car - around 1k a year?

jreyeshdez

What do you think about these cars?

2010 Peugeot 207 1.6 diesel sport with 88,367 miles (€6500) - It says it has a brand new clutch so it could be suspicious?

2008 Opel corsa 1.3 cdti with 65,750 miles (~€6700)

2009 Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 diesel with 55,130 miles (€5950)

bazz26

I'd look at something like this:


http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/KIA/Ceed/1.6-D/45013987721414070/

Very reliable, 12 month warranty and good on fuel.

jreyeshdez

Did not know kia was a reliable car. I will look at it.

Thanks.

jreyeshdez

Hello all,

I am still looking for a diesel car.

I was wondering if a peugeot 207 hdi 1.4 would be a reliable car, I have seen few ones for €6k~7k. (2008 onwards)

Likewise, I have seen a lot of ford focus 1.6 tdci (2008 onwards), are they reliable cars? it makes me think there is something wrong with them..

Between a peugeot 207 hdi 1.4 and a ford focus 1.6 tdci, which would you recommend?

Regards,

NIMAN

Its hard to say that one engine is totally reliable, or another is unreliable.

Most engines will not give any major problems, as well as they are well looked after, regularly serviced and not thrashed to bits. So its hinda hard to say this engine is bad, that is good.

Just ensure the car you are buying has a good, stamped service history. Might be worth paying €100 to hire a mechanic to check over any car you are really interested in buying, they should be able to tell you if the engine is in good condition or not.

jreyeshdez

It is difficult when you are from abroad.. you try to get a car that will not go wrong.

I will probably go for a car in a dealer as I could get warranty so I think it'd be better.

NIMAN

You don't have to be from abroad to want that. I'm Irish and I'd love a car that was guaranteed not to go wrong. Most of the time you will be ok, but some of us will be unlucky sometimes.

Thats the nature of mechanical devices like cars and car engines. They can break down. I have seen 2012 and 2013 cars being lifted by breakdown trucks, so it can happen to anyone. No one manufacturer is totally reliable.

You are asking about 6 year old Fords or Peugeots. 6 years of motoring can be quite a lot of miles, so they have had their wear and tear on them. Its hard to name any 6 year old car that would be guaranteed to be reliable. Plus it depends on how well that 6 year old car was looked after. Was it getting regular servicing, oil changes, filter changes etc?

Re: warranties from a dealer, read the small print on these as some things might break that aren't covered. Don't assume that a dealer will fix every little thing or major thing that might go wrong.

jreyeshdez

Hi, does anyone have experience buying at N4 Car Sales?

Thanks.

colm_mcm

Yes. Looked at some cars there for the missus. I wouldn't go back tbh.
Its halfway between a scrapyard and a garage.

fguinan

colm_mcm wrote: »

Yes. Looked at some cars there for the missus. I wouldn't go back tbh.
Its halfway between a scrapyard and a garage.

+1

NIMAN

Could some posters with experience perhaps list some of the Dublin dealers which are worth a visit?

jreyeshdez

NIMAN wrote: »

Could some posters with experience perhaps list some of the Dublin dealers which are worth a visit?

I'd really appreciate that.