Small oil burner recommendations pls.

[Animal Mother]

Need a small, learner friendly Dag Dag. What do you guys recommend from your experiences?
I have already ruled out Fiesta, Corsa and 206.
Looking at year 2000 or older and c. £1500.

[shark_90]

You don't want much do you?! To be honest I can't think what else to suggest as small diesel cars are holding their value and you ruled out the three cheap ones... best of luck!

[Animal Mother]

You don't want much do you?! To be honest I can't think what else to suggest as small diesel cars are holding their value and you ruled out the three cheap ones... best of luck!

I want the world on a plate too.

Fiesta isn't learner friendly.
Corsa is rubbish.
206 is made with orangutan ergonomics.

Any comments on Xsara diesel c.1999.

[mashounet]

Citroen AX ???

Hi,

I have been driving a 1993 Citroen AX diesel for 2 years now. About 325.000 on the clock (bought it with 280.000).

Very light, lot of noise, quite ugly exterior shape, rubbish but starts immediately every morning, about 5 l. / 100 kms and really funny to drive.

Bought it for 400 euros. My best buy for years ...

Just my 2 cents :-))))

[Animal Mother]

So the citroen diesel engine is bullet proof and frugal too?

Xsara might be a god option then?

It'll be for me too so a little comfort and driveability would be nice too.

[shark_90]

Be careful of the 98-00 HDi engines. Can't remember which component it is exactly but the words "crank" and "pulley" spring to mind - whichever component it is it's made of plastic and has a tendency of breaking and taking the engine with it. I had 3 '99 2.0HDi cars (2 x 306 estate + 1 x 406 exec) in my fleet and they all failed at some point in their 3 years with us. 1 was at c.13,000 miles, one at c.19,000 miles and the other at 98,000 miles!

I can highly recommend the older 1.9 diesel from Peugeot/Citroen though. See if you can find a 306 1.9 90bhp.

[Animal Mother]

Be careful of the 98-00 HDi engines. Can't remember which component it is exactly but the words "crank" and "pulley" spring to mind - whichever component it is it's made of plastic and has a tendency of breaking and taking the engine with it. I had 3 '99 2.0HDi cars (2 x 306 estate + 1 x 406 exec) in my fleet and they all failed at some point in their 3 years with us. 1 was at c.13,000 miles, one at c.19,000 miles and the other at 98,000 miles!

I can highly recommend the older 1.9 diesel from Peugeot/Citroen though. See if you can find a 306 1.9 90bhp.

So Pug and citroen have the same HDi lump then? Thanks for the heads up on the weaknesses.

The 306 is definately on I'd consider. So that'll be 306's up to about 1998/99 that I should look at then? Is it a tdi or n/a?

ANyone have experience with a 306? Learner friendly?

[xgordyx]

So Pug and citroen have the same HDi lump then? Thanks for the heads up on the weaknesses.

The 306 is definately on I'd consider. So that'll be 306's up to about 1998/99 that I should look at then? Is it a tdi or n/a?

ANyone have experience with a 306? Learner friendly?

306 very easy to drive. tdi engines are good plenty of poke and can take the miles well. A friend of mine had one with over 300,000 on it and it ran like a clock. On the down side, there was a recipt for a new gearbox in the service history folder, no idea at what milage it was done at, but another friend had a 406 (i asume same gear box) and it let go at 170,000 miles. Also remember speaking to a taxi driver who had a 406 he had to change the box in his too.
Other thing to check is all the bushes at the rear, a friend had a petrol 306 and it failed mot on rear bushes (don't know whitch ones) but he got quoted between £500-£800 to put right, so ended up scrapping the car.

[coco]

306 very easy to drive. tdi engines are good plenty of poke and can take the miles well. A friend of mine had one with over 300,000 on it and it ran like a clock. On the down side, there was a recipt for a new gearbox in the service history folder, no idea at what milage it was done at, but another friend had a 406 (i asume same gear box) and it let go at 170,000 miles. Also remember speaking to a taxi driver who had a 406 he had to change the box in his too.
Other thing to check is all the bushes at the rear, a friend had a petrol 306 and it failed mot on rear bushes (don't know whitch ones) but he got quoted between £500-£800 to put right, so ended up scrapping the car.

That will be the bearings in the rear trailing arms

Have replaced one set before in my time and will never do it again !!!

Quicker and easier to replace the complete back axle.


One quick and easy way to tell if they are worn is to stand and look at the angle of both back wheels, if they hang in at the top thats a sure sign the bearings are fooked !! Also check the back wheel arch liners for signs of the tyres scrubbing on them !!

[hiltoa]

Nah, you don't wanna small car to learn in... :mischeif:

[iain1067]

My wife leant to drive in her 306 d turbo hdi, very forgiving car to drive, great fun handling too, decent brakes as well with discs all round.

Don't buy one that has been lowered, and don't think about lowering it either. someone else made the comment about rear axle bushes, hers was lowered and it shagged them on one side. i ended up driving down to devon to a specialist for a complete rebuilt rear axle.

[sheppardnias]

Peugeot 306 or Citroen ZX would be my choice. Get one with a Bosch diesel pump and they will run on veg oil with no problems. Good to drive, easy to fix , cheap to run and best of all the Citroens make no money second hand at all. Xsara is good and very economical with the HDI engine which is chipable but not so good on veg oil...

I had a BX 1.9 diesel with 275k on the clock that ran like new. Mate had a 406 estate diesel that had 350k on the clock and again ran like new until a BMW shortened the car by 3 inches on the M61 a couple of months back.

Peugeot / Citroen diesels really do last for ever and can be run for pennies, plus any old garage can work on them with no problems.

[K7ERG]

Seat Ibiza 1.9STDI great car.

Oh some small engine petrol cars return good MPG with the bonus of cheap road tax. This is what i have done.

Mind you it depends on what diesel fuel you are considering running!!!

[Animal Mother]

Seat Ibiza 1.9STDI great car.

Oh some small engine petrol cars return good MPG with the bonus of cheap road tax. This is what i have done.

Mind you it depends on what diesel fuel you are considering running!!!

Well, I was going to run it on 70/30 (winter) and 50/50 (summer) diesel/oil (new cooking/sunflower).

I'm now also considering a 1.4 polo/ibiza. Getting harder to find the diesel car I want.

What do people think of the VAG 1.9 sdi (non turbo) engine, and will it be ok on the oil/derv mix? I've heard that the 1.9tdi motors hate veg oil!

[Heat Seeking Missile]

What do people think of the VAG 1.9 sdi (non turbo) engine, and will it be ok on the oil/derv mix? I've heard that the 1.9tdi motors hate veg oil!

They're pretty nippy in the Polo, I used to have one. Unfortunately the fuel pump failed at 119k and its not the first I've heard of. Shame really cos it was good fun and my girlfriend learnt to drive in it.

How about a Rover 220/420SD? Nice, tough Perkins engine, pretty well specced if you go for an SLDi. Intercooled ones have 103bhp, non-intercooled are 83bhp but a difference of 3 insurance groups, and not to mention, its a Rover so you can pick them up for next to nothing.

Mark