Time to join the dark side;

Moneymaker

I will have to relocate shortly and this will involve a 300+km round trip every weekend for about a year. Along with day to day driving, this will put me in diesel territory

Budget: 5k ish
Driving: Round trip will be motorway driving, plus your usual city driving and local area driving and the likes.

Unfortunately my income isn't really high enough for a big lug of a diesel barge, so we're looking at 2.0 tops.

VAG tdi is the obvious candidate. Advice on specifics and which one to look at would be cool. How about the Ford diesels, I know they have a bad rep on here but you see them everywhere, can't be that bad surely?

How about Toyota diesels?

Suggestions/advice most welcome.

MuppetCheck

300km plus how much per week extra on top?

Moneymaker

MuppetCheck wrote: »

300km plus how much per week extra on top?

It's hard to say since I haven't relocated yet, but with trips to and from the job, shopping, gym etc.

A years driving 300km each weekend is 15600km added to general day to day motoring will probably put me in diesel territory.

MuppetCheck

Moneymaker wrote: »

It's hard to say since I haven't relocated yet, but with trips to and from the job, shopping, gym etc.

A years driving 300km each weekend is 15600km added to general day to day motoring will probably put me in diesel territory.

On the very, very low side of diesel territory if at all.

Older diesel tend to be more reliable for shorter journeys than DPF equipped ones but for your budget you could probably buy the petrol equivalent cheaper and the purchase savings would more than outweigh the fuel savings at that sort of mileage. The chances are the petrol equivalent will also be a fresher car too and possibly have lower motor tax than the diesel version.

I'd do the sums out carefully - I'd only bother if I was doing 25k km+ a year.

Moneymaker

Thanks, i'll keep that in mind.

How would the 1.6 petrol Golf compare to the 1.9tdi mpg wise? Or the Corolla 1.4 hatch?

MuppetCheck

That 1.6 is probably the worst on fuel in its class, possibly the one I would avoid the most!

What size of car do you want? They eat coil packs but a Ceed might be worth a shout as they give little bother otherwise. The 1.4 engine is lively enough and pretty economical.

If you could up the budget slightly and bargain hard this might be worth a look. Low miles, still under warranty.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/kia-ceed-1-4-petrol-tx-model-low-tax/7396051

Moneymaker

Yeah I like the Ceed and i30, thought i'd be over budget for one though.

I'll see what the Credit Union say :pac:

Downside is depreciation and selling it on though when i'm moving it on. A VW will sell easier then a Kia.

MuppetCheck

I wouldn't think so - mentality has changed a lot in recent years. The Proceed is a nice looking car and would appeal to a lot of people.

bazz26

A 5k car will already have suffered most of it's depreciation at this stage. Any additional depreciation on the Kia v VW could well be clawed back in savings made on the less frequent visits to your mechanic.

Moneymaker

Corolla hatch is probably the way to go I reckon. There's the issue of insurance on a VAGmobile too(27, fairly short NCB).

Whatcar says the 1.4 petrol is good for 42mpg. How accurate would that be?

bazz26

Very achievable and they are nippy enough compared to other n/a 1.4 litre petrol engines. Try and get the hatchback special edition LUNA model from 2006. They were pretty decently equipped for the class at the time.

quadrifoglio verde

Alfa gt 1.9 jtd? Test, extremely comfy leather and a much nicer place to be in for 300 mile round trip. Plenty Change left over for any niggles that occur (not that they ever have for me) as well as tax.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/view/7038952

Or a 159? I know you said 2.0 max, but the 2.4 is such a good engine in these. I've drove one with 180k miles that had a rough life and it still pulled like a train. 40-45mpg as well.
It's also arguably one of the nicest looking saloons on road and that interior...damn.
http://cars.donedeal.ie/view/7440843


And Ba_barabus owns one and it hasn't blown up.....

marco_polo

This calculator is handy for comparing running costs, 1.50(120p) petrol vs 1.44 (114p)diesel are a good approximation for current fuel prices.

http://www.which.co.uk/cars/driving/driver-tools/petrol-vs-diesel/petrol-and-diesel-fuel-costs/

Irishcrx

quadrifoglio verde wrote: »

Alfa gt 1.9 jtd? Test, extremely comfy leather and a much nicer place to be in for 300 mile round trip. Plenty Change left over for any niggles that occur (not that they ever have for me) as well as tax.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/view/7038952

Or a 159? I know you said 2.0 max, but the 2.4 is such a good engine in these. I've drove one with 180k miles that had a rough life and it still pulled like a train. 40-45mpg as well.
It's also arguably one of the nicest looking saloons on road and that interior...damn.
http://cars.donedeal.ie/view/7440843


And Ba_barabus owns one and it hasn't blown up.....

Two lovely cars there , there is great value in Alfa's these days. I still attest the 166 is the best car I've ever had it has everything looks , comfort , power , gadgets , leather....I actually wouldn't know a better car out there for the money hope I don't have to replace her for a long long time..

Redsoxfan

quadrifoglio verde wrote: »

Or a 159? I know you said 2.0 max, but the 2.4 is such a good engine in these. I've drove one with 180k miles that had a rough life and it still pulled like a train. 40-45mpg as well.
It's also arguably one of the nicest looking saloons on road and that interior...damn.
http://cars.donedeal.ie/view/7440843

40-45mpg from the 2.4 in the 156 maybe, in the 159, not a hope. Currently at less then 35mpg mixed driving. Even with the EGR blanked and DPF gone I'll be lucky to get 40mpg.

That car looks great though, I might have gone for it over the one I bought two months ago if it was for sale at the time.