diesel estate for a grand, what should i be avoiding?

lewis1641

lewis1641

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thinking of letting my transporter go and buying a diesel estate in the hope of better fuel economy. the van will fetch about £1600. would like to spend about 1000 - 1200 on the replacement (leaving me a bit of cash to lower it and stick some nice wheels on!

anyway i'm thinking vectra, laguna, passat, a rough a4. anything else i could consider?

basically i want a car that will do 50 pmg, that will be reliable (better avoid the passat...) and i can get bikes in without the use of origami.

any thoughts and ideas?
 
the Vectra diesels can be a bit slow and not as economic as you would think. Ours suffered annoying EGR problems.

Mondeo estates are good but gutless engine and always seem to need cambelts - Mine had 300,000 on it and it still went ok and good for 109mph flat out along the M4 with bikes in the boot

Passat - the early (B4?) are very good and seem to have less to go wrong than my version but still need cambelts

My Passat always starts but its a collection of annoying maladies...

You might be able to pick up a very early C220 CDI, Volvo V40, Focus estate (in a horrible colour)

Citroen Xantias are a big bargain as long as you are prepared to look after the the hydrolics

Citroen ZX 1.9 are pretty good and seem to be cheap, ours is still out there somewhere, 306 estates, 405/ 406 estates.

plenty to chose from the french brands and easy to service, cheap to buy and zero image..
 
Any Audi for that money will have done a huge number of miles. Unless you've got deep pockets or enjoy getting dirty at the weekend a high-mileage Audi is a bad idea. However regular service parts are generally cheap and in my experience Audis are pretty easy to work on.



SP
 
I'm loving the thought of a c220. Also tempted by an octavia which i'd not considered.

I hear what you are saying about the audi. Having said that my mate has one with just over 300k and it has never needed anything major.

The search continues
 
I'd consider Nissan Primera. Solidly built, easy to maintain, well designed and engineered. They even handle well.

The problem is invisible brand image, which plays in your favour at the price you want. You will get a solid machine, with all the money going on the car and none on the badge.
 
 
that T124 looks nice but doubt the fuel economy will be up too much, out of all those i would say that xsara is your best bet. very cheap too for an excellent engine
 
cheers lgf. plenty to think about. didnt think a 2003 mondeo would be within budget.

got to get my van mot'd and sold first but that has cheered me up to be honest.
 
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