Help me please 2.5-3.5k diesel

idnkph

So as the title says. I have up to 3.5 k to spend on a diesel 2008+.
I'd like an estate (needed).
He are some of my options...
Mondeo... 1.8 or 2.0l
Saab 93 1.9
C5 1.6
Astra 1.7
Quasquai 1.5
Megan 1.5
Insignia..... (I like these but are terrible?)
Volvo estate 1.6 or 2.0
Octavia 1.6 or 2.0
A4/6...
Toyota avensis....
Really want reliably, inexpensive to fix and a bit of comfort for the 4-5 hundred miles I do each week.
I know my budget isn't great but it's all I've got to work with as I want to keep a few quid aside for service, repairs etc.
Any advice is much appreciated and if you know of someone with something genuine please point me in the right direction.

punisher5112

Renault Laguna 3rd gen, Fluence and Mégane.

Obviously Fluence isn't an estate but are a good car.

Toyota injectors are extremely expensive to replace and you see many 2009-2011 very smokey ones about.

Mondeo would be good also.

shawnee

Have the qashqai 5 years now and has been one of the most comfortable cars I have driven. Reliability and economy in the 120k that I have clocked has also been up to scratch. Not surprisingly they are still selling well and having looked at the Kadjar and the Kia Sportage as a possible changer I would still prefer the qashqai. The higher spec the better.

colm_mcm

Can’t see you getting a decent 08+ Qashqai for €3k

I’d also recommend a Laguna III

Bigus

If I was doing 4-500 miles a week I'd stretch my budget to this PETROL!

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/toyota-prius/20428372

Asking 4800 and miles is high , but generally high miles is irrelevant on a Prius and I'm sure it could be got closer to 4 k

colm_mcm

Bigus wrote: »

If I was doing 4-500 miles a week I'd stretch my budget to this PETROL!

https://www.donedeal.ie/cars-for-sale/toyota-prius/20428372

Asking 4800 and miles is high , but generally high miles is irrelevant on a Prius and I'm sure it could be got closer to 4 k

Not sure I’d be keen on that one. 5 owners, manky interior and big enough miles. Probably no bigger a risk than most diesels to be fair.

w211

colm_mcm wrote: »

Not sure I’d be keen on that one. 5 owners, manky interior and big enough miles. Probably no bigger a risk than most diesels to be fair.

Think about that, 5 owners. Yes my car had 6 owners and the reason was simple, 1 faulty hose. Yes that one was hard to access and most of the previous owners did not want to spend more money for that. I spent 1 hour and works like a brand new. Compression are almost same as original, only 5psi lower.

Conclusion: Too many previous owners shows there are something wrong but you can find a good car, if you invest little time and money.

Suggestion: Do not guess the car is good or not, make a real tests or hire the mechanic. I do not make a list to here, what to check because boards.ie members can to do only the simplest one - check the tires (evenly worn or not).

Squidgy Black

5 owners in under 9 years, and an average of close to 40k km a year in a Prius.

What I want to know is what poor soul was putting up that kind of mileage sat in a Prius...

California Dreamer

Not asking for much for €3k!!! 🙄

At that price range you leave yourself open for so many potential problems dumped on by previous owners.

Post 2008 for the chape tax is it???

Options are extremely limited!

http://www.adverts.ie/16986092

http://www.adverts.ie/16960190

http://www.adverts.ie/16486244

mengele

If also recommend a laguna 3 diesel. Really comfy

idnkph

California Dreamer wrote:

Not asking for much for €3k!!! 🙄

I'm not in a position to put much more than 3.5k and have money set aside for a few repairs that I know will be needed at that price range.
I can't help my position just want to do my best (with a bit of help/advice) with what I've got.
I would die inside every time I had to get into a Prius.
That Passat looks good but anyone know if the 1.9 or the 2.0 are better.

CrankyHaus

Is the tax saving worth it just to go post 2008?

Bangernomics thread regularly posts pre 2008 diesels with good reputations for reliability in good condition.
There was a nice 2004 A6 Avant there last time I looked.
Much less to go wrong on some of the slightly older diesels also.

ppn

Dual clutch flywheel seems to be a big and costly problem on 2007+ Mondeos. After 150,000Km, repairs seem to be frequent. Company had a fleet of them at one stage and repair bills were ridiculous. 2007-2008+ Mondeo 1.8TDCi is a dog of a car to drive, huge turbo lag. 2.0TDCi is vastly superior - great handing cars though. Insignia's are decent, not as good to handle as Mondeo, seem to have a shorter wheelbase imo. (Having said that, flywheels come up here aswell, although is that just an issue with these size diesels anyway, including Passat??) Better to look at 2011+ Insignia's and higher horsepower 2.0TDci models - seem to have earlier issues sorted, but they're not a bad car. If you can get a lowish mileage 2009, you've as good a chance as any other make listed. No experience of the rest apart from 06/07 Astra's - absolute dogs to drive, terrible gearbox.

punisher5112

Insignia is a terrible car.

They blow engines big time.

deckie27

From your original list
Saab 9-3.

Lovely car to drive very reliable
Nice 8nteriors

Parts are reasonable

Hunt out the good ones

colm_mcm

The Saab 93 interior is very dated now though.
The last models in the right colours still look sharp

California Dreamer

colm_mcm wrote: »

The Saab 93 interior is very dated now though.
The last models in the right colours still look sharp

We are talking about a 3k spend here. How a car looks should be bottom of the list. OP is looking for the champagne for the price of the orange juice!

ppn

punisher5112 wrote: »

Insignia is a terrible car.

They blow engines big time.

Have had 4 of them to high mileage, never had any engine trouble whatsoever. Also, company had a fleet without engine trouble. All diesels btw.
2.0CDTi 130ps is a good engine, the 160ps is better

The_Honeybadger

Avensis or Mondeo would be solid cars a mate of mine had a 08 Mondeo as a company car from new it was nearing 500k Km before the company upgraded it and all that had to be done outside the norm was the clutch.

We have had quite a few Avensis in the family and rarely ever any trouble to speak of either.

You are of course rolling the dice with any car for € 3k because you’re depending on the previous owners to have minded it, it’ll rarely have a service history.

punisher5112

ppn wrote: »

Have had 4 of them to high mileage, never had any engine trouble whatsoever. Also, company had a fleet without engine trouble. All diesels btw.
2.0CDTi 130ps is a good engine, the 160ps is better

I've known of many where oil pick up blocks and not enough warning and boom.

idnkph

It's proving hard to find any estates come up for sale. The are a couple 1.9 Passat's 08/09 with 165&180k on tge clocks. It's the BXE engine number of those I need to avoid I think?
Going to look at a Saab 9-5 1.9TID edition too up north.
Still very wary of the Mondeo's for some reason.
So think I have narrowed it down.
I also liked to look of a 07 VRS that could take me away from an estate.
Cheers all for your opinions.
Any opinions on these models will be appreciated also.
Edit: 520d 07..... Any views?

punisher5112

BMW will be a money pit imo.

Just be wary of the extra costs such as injectors, dpf depending on age, dmf etc

Mondeo are a great machine and if you go for the 2.0tdci the 1.8 has 2 wet belts and are an expensive change.

Injectors are easily picked up and aren't anywhere near as expensive as other makes.

Look up Renault Mégane 1.5dci as they are a very good engine and the cars aren't anywhere near as bad as they use to be.
I believe the windows reg... Can still be an issue but aren't very expensive.

w211

If you like really cheap price car, buy a faulty car and fix it. There are dirt cheap cars on market, where example only the clutch are gone. That way you can spend only half of the money for car and other half goes for fixing the car. For long run it may worth it because you know, that part of car are fixed

idnkph

Cheers to everyone for replies and advice. I ended up getting myself a Saab 95 Tid edition 2009 estate 1.9.
Has full service history. Just gotten clutch and flywheel. 158k. Fantastic car to drive. Nct til 10:19 and only 150 kilometres since test. It's spotless. Had one owner from new. Full cow with all the extras.