Which of these 4 cars guys?

Dcully

Hi guys,ive narrowed my search down to a few cars im looking to change to.
Im tading in a 99 Avensis 1.8 auto 112k on the clock.
Below are the pick of my week long search and how much its costing to change with my own car as trade in.
All dealers are offering me 5,000 - 6,000 for my own car but Skoda dealer offered only 3,000

02 VW Passat 1.9 TDI [red i] 40k on clock for 12,000

03 SEAT Toledo 1.6 17k on clock [alloys,spolier etc] for 9,500

02 Toyota Corolla 1.4 40k on clock 9,950

03 Skoda Octavia 1.4 29k on clock 10,250

GoneShootin

SEAT imo - nicer looking bus than the octavia, and has VW build quality for a lot less.

Squirrel

Passat, the TDI is a cracking engine IMO. Also it's a different class of car compared to the others, they're all Golf sized, the Seat and Skoda are Golf derived if I'm not mistaken

michaelanthony

The passat because it's in the same size class as the Avensis. The rest are in the class below.Definitely not the Seat cos the build quality is dodge. The electrics eg. the the radio and aircon can play up a bit.

ds20prefecture

I'd go for the Seat Toledo - the 1.4s are gut less. The Passat is too bland for words. It is much bigger, though and the TDi is the better engine.

milltown

michaelanthony wrote:

Definitely not the Seat cos the build quality is dodge. The electrics eg. the the radio and aircon can play up a bit.

Based on what exactly? In the latest JD Power ratings the Seat Leon (Toledo hatchback) scores 79.3 versus the Passat's 79.5 and only one place between the two.
Hardly worlds apart, wouldn't you say?

In my experience, I've had a couple of Seats and my wife and my mother have had Volkswagens, the Seat's electrics are far better. We were replacing bulbs in the wife's Golf almost on a weekly basis!

If you don't need the Passat's size, go for the Toledo and save yourself a packet on a newer car IMO.

yop

02 VW Passat 1.9 TDI [red i] 40k on clock for 12,000
then the Toledo, the TDI is a killer machine and will hold the value better, even though that fact there is 2,5k in the difference it might sway me to the Toledo!
1.4 is for girls

neacy69

passsat defo

eljono

How many miles a year do you do and what do you mainly use your car for?

unkel

I would go with the passat

For:

1. Same class as you drive now
2. The cost to you is relatively only a little more than the others. You're getting much more car
3. It's the only diesel and a pretty good one at that - save on fuel
4. It will hold it's value best
5. Torque
6. Easy to resell
7. Low mileage, esp. for diesel

Against:

1. Higher initial outlay
2. Higher tax / insurance

Dcully

Cheers guys.
I dont do huge miles but i did love the instant torque of the TDI realy impressive and very quiet for a diesel.
It seems to be the best diesel out there along with A4.
Im off for another test drive in 30 mins ,gonna bring father in law for a spin.
The only downside is i had a 97 Passat 5 years ago and had some major electrical problems with it and swore to never again buy a passat but the drive,comfort,build,performance and looks all appeal to me on this passat.
Realistically how reliable are these?
Apparently 40k is very low mileage for a TDI?
One final question,whats are the service intervals? as i religiously serviced the avensis on time all the time.

unkel

Dcully wrote:

Realistically how reliable are these?

Nowhere near as reliable as your Avensis

Make sure you get a 12 month warranty from the dealer

GoneShootin

Diesels are notorious for requiring more frequent services than their petrol cousins...

BrianD3

Out of those 4 I would go for the Corolla
-Newer design than all the others
-Handles and rides better than all the others IMO
-Will likely be more reliable than all the others
-Will be very easy to sell on, Corollas always are.
-The 1.4 engine in the Corolla puts out nearly as much power as the 1.6 Toledo and a lot more than the 1.4 Octavia. 1.4 Corolla is economical and a spritely enough car for overtaking. Of course it'll lag behind the Passat in terms of torque and mpg but you'll save hundreds a year on the tax compared to the 1.9 in the Passat

Disadvantages - you'll have to put it through an NCT next year which it'll probably sail through but you never know. With the 03 cars you can wait an extra year.

Also, space wise you may find you need the large hatchback of the Octavia or the interior room of the Passat. I would imagine that the Corolla lags a bit behind the others in terms of interior room and a fair bit behind the Octavia in terms of boot space.

<edit> I'm assuming that we are talking about the new model Corolla here i.e. the one with the semi MPV/Ford Focus type styling

prospect

GoneShootin wrote:

Diesels are notorious for requiring more frequent services than their petrol cousins...

?

Dcully

Bad news the Passat above was gone when i went back to test drive,i delayed too long with a deposit
Went to another nearby dealer and came across a VW Passat 1.9 TDI comfortline,with 80k on the clock.
He wanted 13,500 with mine,i got him down to 12,750.
Totally impressed with this baby,oodles of torque even compared to TDI.
Stunning car in every way,lovely lime green silverey metallic.
BUT what about 80k on the clock guys?
Its a real deciding factor for me or am i being overly fussy?
Also while im at it he had a 01 Passat 1.6 petrol,60k on clock for 9,950 with mine,what yas reckon bout this.
Cheers for advice so far guys,really appreciate it.

Squirrel

80K shouldn't be much to a TDI, if it has a FSH I'd definately go for it. Try looking up www.cbg.ie or www.carzone.ie

ubu

Id go with a Skoda Octavia 1.9 TDI, same engine as the Passats your looking at and in a more reliable (and cheaper) shell, theres plenty of them available on Carzone etc, and im sure you would be able to get more than 3k for your avensis if you bargin them enough.

pedro ferio-vti

Good price on that Corolla if it has a FSH and hasn't been crashed. I'd go for that as it is keenly priced, they sell well if/when you choose to sell, cheap to run, reliable and generally a good car.