1.6l or 2.0l help!!

Dr.Dre

Hi guys, I'm looking to buy a car, a 2009 or 2010 VW Golf to be exact, and I need a little help.

First of all I will be using the car mainly for city driving such as driving to work every day( about a 10 minute drive), driving into town, to the gym etc. as well as maybe the odd long distance trip somewhere.

Most Golfs I have seen are Diesel and generally range between 1.6l and 2.0l. To my knowledge a diesel car needs to be taken on some frequent longish trips to keep the engine in the best shape right? So I wonder would it be foolish to buy a 2.0l Golf when I will really only be using the car for city driving and the odd long distance journey? Is this too much power for a city car? And finally would there be much difference in the running costs of a 1.6l engine and a 2.0l engine for city driving.

Thanks any help greatly appreciated.

wandererz

All cars probably provide ****ty fuel economy on short distances. With the exception probably of electric vehicles.

If you go down the Diesel route and are not doing relatively regular long distance drives or are not pushing the car in any strenuous manner then things start to go wrong.
Diesel cars are designed to regenerate certain elements such as dpf over longer distances.
Doing small miles in a diesel car eventually leads to bigger problems.

Probably get a petrol.

If for city driving then make sure you get an automatic (it will save you a leg).
For your needs, a 2.l is not required.

Have you ever noticed a huge puff of smoke from the car in front of you?
That's the sign of an eejit who drives a diesel but doesn't understand anything else other than that it costs less per gallon.

It costs less in maintenance and servicing fees overall for a petrol over short distances.

Atlantic Dawn

Buying a diesel for a 10 minute drive each day will result in DPF failure. Get yourself a petrol model instead.

Jimmy Garlic

Buying a diesel for the kind of driving that you intend to do would be a mistake imo. Possibly an expensive mistake. I'd go for Petrol, and nothing bigger than 1.4.

Jimmy Garlic

The Mk5 Polo with the 1.4 has plenty of power, nice car to drive too, and not much smaller than a Golf.

Dr.Dre

Thanks for the replies guys.

I will be doing a lot of driving in the car but just many long distance journeys and I do understand that this can lead to DPF failure in diesel engines over the long term but is it me or are petrol golfs somewhat hard to come by? It certainly seems on donedeal that the vast majority are diesel engines.

bazz26

Does it absolutely have to be a Golf?

Dr.Dre

bazz26 wrote: »

Does it absolutely have to be a Golf?

Yes it does

bazz26

Well you won't be saving much in the way of fuel with a diesel on short stop/start city runs and also run the risk of potential problems associated with that driving style and a diesel car. EGR values give trouble on early 1.6/2.0 CR TDi engines and like most modern diesel cars clutch and flywheels can wear on them. Some varients are fitted with DPFs too. Petrol engines options in Golfs of that vintage are slim too. Ancient 1.4 litre 80bhp engine is poor enough but might do the job better than a diesel. 1.2 TSi engine was introduced in 2010 but make sure the timing chain is ok as they suffer from stretching and eventually need to replaced. 1.4 TSi engine can suffers the same and are rare as hen's teeth in the Mk6 Golf.

Special Circumstances

The demand in the used car market, the legislation, the vrt, the tax, the fuel levies, the testing regimes all point to one obvious choice.

Diesel 1.6, and get emissions equipment deleted at the first sign of trouble.

Henry Ford III

Urban stop/start use plus low mileage strongly suggests a petrol engine would be best.