Advice on buying a car - new work role

Chesty08

Looking for some advice.

Starting a new job in a few weeks which requires a round trip of approx 150km. Have to upgrade my car from a 1.2l petrol car.

So requirements are:
Petrol or Diesel?
Litre - is this a factor?
Comfort and spacious for driving essential.

What cars, make, models should I be looking at budget is between 3 to 5k?

Lellostag

You should be able to get a good VW Passat 1.9 TDi from '06 or '07 for that budget, which should be a good car for your commute. Another opotion would be a Toyota Avensis 2.0 D-4D from the same year.

For that kind of mileage per day I think you'd prefer a diesel car at any rate.

Chesty08

Lellostag wrote: »

You should be able to get a good VW Passat 1.9 TDi from '06 or '07 for that budget, which should be a good car for your commute. Another opotion would be a Toyota Avensis 2.0 D-4D from the same year.

For that kind of mileage per day I think you'd prefer a diesel car at any rate.

Cheers for the advice.

Is that a big difference in diesel cost between a 1.6 or 1.9/2.0l car.

i.e what is the rough cost of diesel per tank for the 5 days in those cars

Lellostag

Chesty08 wrote: »

Cheers for the advice.

Is that a big difference in diesel cost between a 1.6 or 1.9/2.0l car.

i.e what is the rough cost of diesel per tank for the 5 days in those cars

I would not think there is a significant difference in the fuel consumption between them, they're all pretty frugal to be honest. You should probably expect between 6 and 7 litres consumption per 100 km, if you get better than that you can treat yourself to a choccy bar with the savings when filling up Monday morning!

Lellostag

There will of course be a noticeable diffence in the amount of motor tax you will pay for a 1.6 litre engine compared to a 1.9/2.0 litre engine, so that might be something you want to factor in as well.

Before deciding you should try a few alternatives to see how it feels on motorway and in other situations you are going to use it in.

bazz26

If that is daily driving then you should be looking at 1.9/2.0 litre diesel cars. They will have plenty of power for overtaking and offer more comfortable driving than smaller engines. They will also be just as economical as they are less stressed. The only real difference is going to be motor tax and that is not too bad when spread over the entire 12 months.

Chesty08

bazz26 wrote: »

If that is daily driving then you should be looking at 1.9/2.0 litre diesel cars. They will have plenty of power for overtaking and offer more comfortable driving than smaller engines. They will also be just as economical as they are less stressed. The only real difference is going to be motor tax and that is not too bad when spread over the entire 12 months.

Cool.. Would you steer me towards a Passat and an Avensis too then?

sdanseo

Mondeo's a nicer car to drive but you'll only get a Mk3 for that budget. If you're going to do serious miles it's nice to have a nice car to do it in.

E46 BMW Diesel, plenty of nice models out there for 5k which would do grand economy wise. Can turn into a money pit with repairs so maybe not what you need.

If these are motorway km I'd be hoping for better than 7l/100km from a diesel. My '05 320i does just under 6.5l/100km at ~120km/h.

bazz26

Chesty08 wrote: »

Cool.. Would you steer me towards a Passat and an Avensis too then?

2005 to 2007 newer shape Passats can be hit and miss, the 1.9 TDi is solid enough but other bits and pieces can give their share of problems. Avensis are not without their problems too, the ones within your budget will be the older 116 bhp D-4D unit which can suffer from injector problems and go through flywheels.

Have a look at the Skoda Octavia:
http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/skoda-octavia-1-9-diesel/9971933?offset=21

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/2006-skoda-octavia-tdi-nct-2016/9630670?offset=28

http://cars.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/07-skoda-octavia-1-9-tdi-elgance-nct-07-17-taxed/9797450?offset=28

Lellostag

A couple of interesting and more luxurious options could be a Volvo S40 2.0D or a Jaguar X-Type 2.0D... Many come with leather interior, so you'd get that upmarket feel!

bazz26

Lellostag wrote: »

A couple of interesting and more luxurious options could be a Volvo S40 2.0D or a Jaguar X-Type 2.0D... Many come with leather interior, so you'd get that upmarket feel!

And expensive repairs that can go with them also. Given the OP's budget I'd avoid these type cars in that price range.

Lellostag

bazz26 wrote: »

And expensive repairs that can go with them also. Given the OP's budget I'd avoid these type cars in that price range.

You are no doubt right bazz, but I'm getting the feeling that no modernish car is cheap to run and repair, luck does play a part in finding a good car regardless of brand and reputation.

The only cheap and really reliable car I've ever had is our second car, a '95 Toyota Starlet, anything newer and more modern has been substantially dearer to keep on the road.

bazz26

Of course you can get lucky or unlucky with anything second hand but I'd have more faith in an Octavia with the tried and tested old TDi engine over a S40 or X-Type in that price range.

Lellostag

bazz26 wrote: »

Of course you can get lucky or unlucky with anything second hand but I'd have more faith in an Octavia with the tried and tested old TDi engine over a S40 or X-Type in that price range.

Yeah, I've read in several places that the old 1.9 TDi is probably the most reliable turbodiesel available. I understand that's the one referred to as the 1.9 TDi PD (as opposed to the CR), would that be correct?

Do you know until which year this older 1.9 TDi was used in the Octavia (and Passat/A4)?

FortySeven

Personally I'd stick with the 1.2 petrol over any modern diesel. Anything you save in fuel will be spent on repairs. (Unless you are very lucky)

Sam Kade

I can't figure out the fixation with motor tax in Ireland. If the op buys a 1.9 instead of a 1.6 it's only the difference between the two is what he'll be paying extra for. 1.6 is €514 1.9 is €673 the difference is €159 hardly life changing.

bazz26

Lellostag wrote: »

Yeah, I've read in several places that the old 1.9 TDi is probably the most reliable turbodiesel available. I understand that's the one referred to as the 1.9 TDi PD (as opposed to the CR), would that be correct?

Do you know until which year this older 1.9 TDi was used in the Octavia (and Passat/A4)?

The 1.9 TDi was never available in CR. The CR units were 1.6 and 2.0 that replaced the old 1.9 and 2.0 PD units.

Lellostag

bazz26 wrote: »

The 1.9 TDi was never available in CR. The CR units were 1.6 and 2.0 that replaced the old 1.9 and 2.0 PD units.

Thanks for the clarification, which means any VAG car with the 1.9 TDi should be a safe bet at least from an engine reliability point of view. Am I right?

Lellostag

Sam Kade wrote: »

I can't figure out the fixation with motor tax in Ireland. If the op buys a 1.9 instead of a 1.6 it's only the difference between the two is what he'll be paying extra for. 1.6 is €514 1.9 is €673 the difference is €159 hardly life changing.

Well, I suppose part of that is because the equivalent motor tax in the UK is substantially lower for the same type of car, which hurts even more when forking out shedloads of cash each year for cars someone has already paid way too much VRT for...

It's also partly psychological, nobody wants to pay more than what's strictly necessary for something as pointless as motortax. At least you feel you get something for all the money you pay in insurance, as in a bit of piece of mind at the very least. Motor tax on the other hand is something you won't get anything for, just that warm fuzzy feeling of knowing that your money has vanished into the endless pit that is the State's foreign debt.... :eek:

Chesty08

220,000 kms already on the car.

Previously a hackney / taxi car.

One owner - 60s. Said the car is well serviced. Seems like he has been speaking with other interested parts & they have been put off by the fact that it was previously a hackney & has plenty of mileage.

This isn't too bad for a 1.9 TDi Passat or is it? Started new role this week, so need to find time to few it in the Soyth Dublin area.

Price: ~4k

Bigus

Chesty08 wrote: »

220,000 kms already on the car.

Previously a hackney / taxi car.

One owner - 60s. Said the car is well serviced. Seems like he has been speaking with other interested parts & they have been put off by the fact that it was previously a hackney & has plenty of mileage.

This isn't too bad for a 1.9 TDi Passat or is it? Started new role this week, so need to find time to few it in the Soyth Dublin area.

Price: ~4k

We can't price without the year of the car ? And what spec, however being ex taxi offer way less , start at 2.5 k, if you got for 3 happy days .

Chesty08

Bigus wrote: »

We can't price without the year of the car ? And what spec, however being ex taxi offer way less , start at 2.5 k, if you got for 3 happy days .

1.9 TDi Diesel Saloon 2007.

Does that help?

Dial Hard

Chesty08 wrote: »

1.9 TDi Diesel Saloon 2007.

Does that help?

I'd say he's over-pricing it. Has he the full service history?

What spec is it?

I paid 4.5 for a 07 2.0 TDI DSG Comfortline Passat in July. 150,000km on the clock. Granted, my brother owned the dealership but still, yer man is being very optimistic.

Chesty08

Dial Hard wrote: »

I'd say he's over-pricing it. Has he the full service history?

What spec is it?

I paid 4.5 for a 07 2.0 TDI DSG Comfortline Passat in July. 150,000km on the clock. Granted, my brother owned the dealership but still, yer man is being very optimistic.

He just called and said someone took it straight away for 3,950. Back to the drawing board