VW Passat, Opel Insignia or alternatives

bazz26 · 08-01-2015 01:34PM

It's the same engine found in other Peugeot/Citroen cars along with the Mondeo and Volvos. They tend to have less documented issues than the 1.6 HDi.

Moanin · 08-01-2015 03:57PM

skerry wrote: »

It is, but I'm coming to the realisation that they're commanding too hefty a price tag for me at the moment. Will be another few weeks before I list the Focus so have time yet, something might come up. Most affordable options seem to be ones sourced by from the UK from what I can see.

A guy I know has a business sourcing cars from UK. He will source for you whatever spec you want based on your budget of course. He sourced a very clean A4 for me last year.

PM me if you want his contact details...

Pawwed Rig · 08-01-2015 04:32PM

Or else look at autotrader

skerry · 08-01-2015 05:48PM

Moanin wrote: »

A guy I know has a business sourcing cars from UK. He will source for you whatever spec you want based on your budget of course. He sourced a very clean A4 for me last year.

PM me if you want his contact details...

Sound, what part of the country is he in? If you could PM me on his details that would be great.

skerry · 08-01-2015 05:51PM

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Or else look at autotrader

Have looked at that too and it's still an option. What postcodes do people use on Autotrader that would be convenient for getting back the car on the ferry? Was looking at flight/ ferry times last week and it seems a tight squeeze to get over and back in the same day unless you happen to find the car you want reasonably close to a port.

Moanin · 09-01-2015 10:52AM

skerry wrote: »

Sound, what part of the country is he in? If you could PM me on his details that would be great.

Galway

PM Sent

Ceepo · 09-01-2015 11:10AM

skerry wrote: »

Fair enough I'll stay clear so and hold onto the dream of coming across a nicely specced, reasonably priced CC in the near future. Either that or a good spec Passat.

Suggestions so far are Passat, CC, Mondea, Insignia...Anything else I should be thinking about? Doesn't exactly have to be as big as the above but spacious (bigger than my Focus) and economical are a must. Don't do huge mileage, 40 km a day in and out to work and anything on top of that isn't major apart from the odd trip up the country.

Would you consider Avensis ?
Picked up one in October '10 reg T4 model (great spec) list price was 12k. I traded a 06 Passat that I had no end of trouble with and was glad to see the back of.

Francie Barrett · 09-01-2015 06:46PM

bazz26 wrote: »

A bit left field but still a good car:

http://www.driving.ie/used-cars/Citroen/C5/2.0-HDI/74514096566272400/

Considering the mileage, age and price on that, you'd be taking a big whack with regard to depreciation on that in the next 2-3 years.

Hidalgo · 09-01-2015 07:56PM

I'm basing this purely on aesthetics as I've never even sat in one, but would a Saad 93 be an option? The post 2008 version looks very stylish imo.

bazz26 · 09-01-2015 09:48PM

Francie Barrett wrote: »

Considering the mileage, age and price on that, you'd be taking a big whack with regard to depreciation on that in the next 2-3 years.

So will an Insignia.

skerry · 09-01-2015 11:33PM

bazz26 wrote: »

So will an Insignia.

Think I've gone off the Insignia. Seen a few nice Mondeos last night in UK sites, VRT is reasonable of them too and could pick up a 2011 at a squeeze for similar money to a Passat CC.

Was talking to a mechanic today though and he reckoned they have fairly high maintenance costs, something to do with the way the engine is layed out making jobs very labour intensive and hard to get at (think that's what he said anyway), any truth to this?

VRT was looking doable for CC's but only discovered yesterday that when you enter the CO2 emissions at the final quote it changes it, for the worst in the CVs case, brings it up by almost a grand. How accurate are those calculator quotes versus the actual one you get when you call up?

George Dalton · 09-01-2015 11:36PM

bazz26 wrote: »

So will an Insignia.

The Insignia is holding similar values to Mondeo/Passat. Which is highly unusual for an Opel.

People love them. We sold more Insignias than any other model of car last year.

George Dalton · 09-01-2015 11:47PM

skerry wrote: »

Was talking to a mechanic today though and he reckoned they have fairly high maintenance costs, something to do with the way the engine is layed out making jobs very labour intensive and hard to get at (think that's what he said anyway), any truth to this?

Is this the Mondeo you are referring to?

skerry · 09-01-2015 11:54PM

George Dalton wrote: »

Is this the Mondeo you are referring to?

Yeah the Mondeo, nice car but that's kind of got me worried

George Dalton · 09-01-2015 11:59PM

skerry wrote: »

Yeah the Mondeo, nice car but that's kind of got me worried

He was probably referring to the timing belt setup on the 1.8 engine. But if you are looking at 2011 cars then it's not relevant to you anyway because the 1.8 finished up in 2010 (apart from the very odd example).

Have you driven all or any of these cars? I personally would put the Mondeo a distant 3rd on my shopping list if I was in the market for Mondeo/Insignia/Passat.

skerry · 10-01-2015 12:04AM

George Dalton wrote: »

He was probably referring to the timing belt setup on the 1.8 engine. But if you are looking at 2011 cars then it's not relevant to you anyway because the 1.8 finished up in 2010 (apart from the very odd example).

Have you driven all or any of these cars? I personally would put the Mondeo a distant 3rd on my shopping list if I was in the market for Mondeo/Insignia/Passat.

Sound, he mentioned something about a wet and a dry belt alright. I was looking at 2011 2L tdci version.

Havent driven any of the cars yet, only doing preliminary research on a few cars at the moment. Need to sell my Focus in the next few weeks and once I have cash together Ill start getting test drives in.

So you'd rate the Insignia well above the Mondeo?

George Dalton · 10-01-2015 12:07AM

skerry wrote: »

Sound, he mentioned something about a wet and a dry belt alright. I was looking at 2011 2L tdci version.

Havent driven any of the cars yet, only doing preliminary research on a few cars at the moment. Need to sell my Focus in the next few weeks and once I have cash together Ill start getting test drives in.

So you'd rate the Insignia well above the Mondeo?

Personally yes I would have an Insignia over a Mondeo. The main problem I have with the Mondeo is the interior. I just couldn't sit in one every day.

The 2.0TDCI Mondeo has a conventional timing belt setup which is long lasting and cheap to replace so don't be worried about the Mondeo from that point of view.

I would suggest that you spend a day looking at various examples of each car and see which one you personally prefer. There is little to choose between any of them in terms of reliability and maintenance costs. So you may as well just buy whichever one you like best!

Geezy · 10-01-2015 12:37AM

skerry wrote:

Any other alternatives that may be easier to get hold of for similar money?

Been looking at cars lately and skoda suberb in a decent spec can be quite nice. Good presence on the road! Get a 2ltr engine with decent bhp... you want to have a car thet looks and feels the part. Personally I'd love a 170bhp. I'd say youd be pushed getting a cc with decent history from a simi dealer for 12k...

skerry · 11-01-2015 01:55PM

How long after you bring a car back from the UK does it have to be cleared for VRT? Have money for a car at the moment but was hoping to use the cash from the sale of my old car to fund the VRT. Only problem is I'm still waiting for an NCT so can't list it just yet and not sure how long after listing it I would move it on, most likely be February sometime.

Noccy_Mondy · 11-01-2015 02:04PM

Think you have to make an appointment within 7 days of bringing it in, and have the whole process completed within 30 days. It's something along the lines of that anyway, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

bazz26 · 11-01-2015 03:12PM

The car has to be booked in for a VRT inspection with the NCT within 7 days of it entering the country. The entire registration process has to be completed within 30 days.

Jay Dee · 11-01-2015 03:23PM

Hi,

If you are still looking around at other makes, I would suggest you have a look at the Renault Fluence Dynamique model or above.
Good car, good spec, economical diesel, low tax.

Thanks

Jay

Noccy_Mondy · 11-01-2015 03:44PM

An insignia or passat cc are far ahead of a fluence...

bazz26 · 11-01-2015 04:36PM

The Fluence is from the class below what the OP is looking at. It's more a rival to the likes of the Jetta or Corolla.

Geezy · 11-01-2015 04:40PM

skerry wrote: »

How long after you bring a car back from the UK does it have to be cleared for VRT? Have money for a car at the moment but was hoping to use the cash from the sale of my old car to fund the VRT. Only problem is I'm still waiting for an NCT so can't list it just yet and not sure how long after listing it I would move it on, most likely be February sometime.

Looking at importing a 2009 really high spec skoda superb. Am I right in saying extras are not included in the VRT calculation on vehicles older than 4 years?

bazz26 · 11-01-2015 04:44PM

Yes it's normally cars up to 4 years old they take into account.

skerry · 12-01-2015 10:00AM

I've noticed a reasonable amount of Passat CC's on the market are automatics with DSG units. From looking these up it seems they're automatic but you can still shift manually if you wish. Some reviews of them suggest they are the way to go, is this true and are they a good option on a 2L diesel car?

I'd generally stay away from automatics when car hunting so just wondering if I should be including these in my search.

colm_mcm · 12-01-2015 10:44AM

DSG is absolutely the job. It makes the car much nicer to drive IMO.
There is the argument that its another potential headache though.
Personally I'd take the chance.

Pawwed Rig · 12-01-2015 11:01AM

Just on the import topic. The euro has fallen significantly against sterling recently so now is a really bad time to be looking for value from a UK car. I was going to upgade this year but I think I will hold onto the Insignia for another while to see how things improve. I bought last year at £0.833 to the euro whereas now you are looking at £0.779. This is the worst rate in years. It may not sound like much but it makes a (say) £8,000 car about €650 more expensive.

skerry · 12-01-2015 11:10AM

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Just on the import topic. The euro has fallen significantly against sterling recently so now is a really bad time to be looking for value from a UK car. I was going to upgade this year but I think I will hold onto the Insignia for another while to see how things improve. I bought last year at £0.833 to the euro whereas now you are looking at £0.779. This is the worst rate in years. It may not sound like much but it makes a (say) £8,000 car about €650 more expensive.

I see what your saying but from what I can tell there is still significant money to be saved. It's not so much the exchange rate as it is the crazy money a lot of dealers here are looking for for cars from 2009 upwards.

I spoke to a dealer last week who admitted that the price they were charging for a car was quite high, but he said there's not a lot of cars of that age in the second hand market in Ireland at the moment and that's the price everyone else is charging as a result of shortage of supply.

There so much more to choose from in UK market, granted even more appealing if exchange rates were more favourable.

VW Passat, Opel Insignia or alternatives

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