Kid in sweet shop needs Diesel suggestions

[GazzaG60]

Exactly what I did. Had530 for daily and used s2 for recreation and odd day BMW refused to move

[Christophski]

Firstly bud I think you need to do some test drives. I have always liekd the 3 series BMW and recently I got to have a 60 reg 320d for a few days. I had to do some serious mileage for work and wasnt going to use my S2 for it so they lent me one of thier spare company cars.... I was really looking forward to it.

Yes it had some poke but then it ran out.... the economy of the engine was also incredible too but thats where it ran out. I could not see any other plus points for the car... well the stereo maybe as that was quite good for factory spec. What surprised me the most though was that after the drive home from work with it I had to go out in my old jallopy of a van and I was expecting to hate it. I actually preferred driving the van to the BMW even though its old, slow and a van. I just could not get on with the BMW which is a dissappointment as I was looking at the 3 series diesel estate too until this.

Definately get some test drives in bud to start narrowing it down.

[Cottis]

I guess I could always use the S2 for the inbetween weather if/when it does happen and then enjoy a drivers car for the majority of the year.

[GazzaG60]

I tested a A6tdi Quattro. 2.5. Not a patch n the BMW. For a 3l it was good on juice. Average over the hills was 31-32. The 16v Quattro is identical on fuel in that respect. BMW would get there much quicker, more comfortably and if I used the motorway a lot better

People complain about BMW and weather. Ask yourself how many really bad days in a year we get. Even Quattro won't help on those

[Cottis]

id get 47-50 from the 530d on the motorway. best was about 53.
33-35 round town

That is pretty amazing economy from such a torquey powerful engine. You are making me start to consider beemers more.

[Cottis]

Watch the Fabia VRS' mate as one of my best mates was looking for one for ages and they were all high milers or written off and bodged back onto the roads. Put it this way, if you go to look at any, look very very closely at them. He was looking to spend top whack and find a low miler and it didnt happen... he brought a Mk5 golf tdi in the end.

Im currently looking at 56 - 58 reg A4 S-line tdi estates and Octavia VRS estates on account of the dog me and my girlfriend just got and its somewhat tricky finding the right one I can tell you. Its primarily going to be her daily but seeing as I drive most of the time I need to be completely happy with it too....I feel your pain!

Deffo not getting a Fabia Chris, they are too small for me and hold their money far too well in my opinion. They are awful inside and the seats are terrible. They go like rockets though.

Looking more and more like a b6 A4 TDI Q in 1.9 guise. The newer 2.0 TDI has the possibility of even more expense by the look of things so it is maybe going to be the B6 or have a look at the Beemers as they are going to be the best drive by far and I know the engines are good. Just need to convince myself they will get me out of muddy fields when shooting and fishing and deal with adverse weather.

Keep the suggestions coming if you think of anything better or other options.

[GazzaG60]

id get 47-50 from the 530d on the motorway. best was about 53.
33-35 round town

[spink]

Hmm, I was looking at the entire Audi range as you can get so much for your money but I really don't need something that big and the V8 is just not a goer but I guess you could buy a lot of fuel with the money you would save on purchase price ha ha.

I was meaning the tdi version of the v8 just incase you thought I meant petrol,but yeah its probably a bit big for your needs.The 3ltr does approx 42mpg at 80mph apparently

[GazzaG60]

for 3 or 4 days of the year my 530d msport may be stuck the rest fine and I drove over the penines on b roads to work every day. Oldham to Barnsley via Holmfirth

the good thing about the bmw is that it tells you before hand how bad conditions are. I always foiund it handled and stopped great if it set off fine.

[simon20vq]

I went from a Passat tdi estate 2006 to a a4 tdi estate Quattro 2004 and can say its 10 times better. Car feels solid handles nice feels better made and no electric hand brake! So far so good agree with ANTHONYS2

[Christophski]

Watch the Fabia VRS' mate as one of my best mates was looking for one for ages and they were all high milers or written off and bodged back onto the roads. Put it this way, if you go to look at any, look very very closely at them. He was looking to spend top whack and find a low miler and it didnt happen... he brought a Mk5 golf tdi in the end.

Im currently looking at 56 - 58 reg A4 S-line tdi estates and Octavia VRS estates on account of the dog me and my girlfriend just got and its somewhat tricky finding the right one I can tell you. Its primarily going to be her daily but seeing as I drive most of the time I need to be completely happy with it too....I feel your pain!

[Cottis]

I currently run 2 Audi A4's! Main one is a 1.9TDI Quattro Sport 130bhp on a 53 plate and I honestly cant praise the car enough had the car since 3 years old had 60k on then and now has 251k still sits on original suspension so its soft as ***** but never misses a beat been to Germany Ireland Scotland Wales infact all over so damn comfortable and a possible replacement for me is another one from the same era with lower miles just love them and it returns 42mpg all the time. My newer A4 which is a 58 plate ive had for 2 years is comfortable but I don't like it as much less mpg and not a Quattro and am looking to sell this car this year. In a nut shell go for 02-54 plate A4 you WILL NOT REGRET IT!!

This is what my mate with a high miler Skoda Fabia VRS says as well.

I am looking at something like this

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2004-54-Au...item27dc4a229b

Don't appear to be too many available and most of them put me off for some reason.

I guess the long and short of it is that I am still looking at old cars and buying anything 2nd hand you take a chance on. Fingers crossed I guess.

[anthonys2]

I currently run 2 Audi A4's! Main one is a 1.9TDI Quattro Sport 130bhp on a 53 plate and I honestly cant praise the car enough had the car since 3 years old had 60k on then and now has 251k still sits on original suspension so its soft as ***** but never misses a beat been to Germany Ireland Scotland Wales infact all over so damn comfortable and a possible replacement for me is another one from the same era with lower miles just love them and it returns 42mpg all the time. My newer A4 which is a 58 plate ive had for 2 years is comfortable but I don't like it as much less mpg and not a Quattro and am looking to sell this car this year. In a nut shell go for 02-54 plate A4 you WILL NOT REGRET IT!!

[Cottis]

loads of people have had great experiences with the 1.9tdi...i ran an a6 with the PD tdi for about 9years, loved and lavished, full history, it went through a set of injectors (£720) 2 head gaskets/rebuilds (£5k) the boot lock failed, aerial base failed, boot struts failed), maf failed all in 140k miles. My bother in law runs a passat on the later 130bhp version and he spent most of the summer chasing a limp mode issue and changing a ton of stuff in the process.

Loved the car and economy but it was fragile, i think Audi went on a cost cutting mission, my S2 was more reliable in the same period

I've just ordered a new octavia estate with a 2.0tdi CR engine and only went back to diesel again due to it being under warranty for the entire lease period and doing miles to make derv the logical choice.

Not to scare you off but worth thinking about on the PD's - they can bite your wallet VERY hard!

Hmm, I know. Been reading a few horror stories about the PD's. It seems all modern diesels are a bit rubbish and lame with possible costly repair bills. I cannot afford a new car but then I hear bad things about the 2.0TDI's now as well. Maybe I should just deal with RWD, get a 530d or reluctantly go down the volvo route which seem to be highly rated engine wise. If I could deal with a tiny car, I would get a petrol but I could do with something a little bigger and then couldnt justify the poor economy of a petrol car. The old CQ's have alot going for them in my opinion. Whenever I got tired of modernish cars, I always went back to KV engined CQ's and they never let me down.

[s2driveruk]

loads of people have had great experiences with the 1.9tdi...i ran an a6 with the PD tdi for about 9years, loved and lavished, full history, it went through a set of injectors (£720) 2 head gaskets/rebuilds (£5k) the boot lock failed, aerial base failed, boot struts failed), maf failed all in 140k miles. My bother in law runs a passat on the later 130bhp version and he spent most of the summer chasing a limp mode issue and changing a ton of stuff in the process.

Loved the car and economy but it was fragile, i think Audi went on a cost cutting mission, my S2 was more reliable in the same period

I've just ordered a new octavia estate with a 2.0tdi CR engine and only went back to diesel again due to it being under warranty for the entire lease period and doing miles to make derv the logical choice.

Not to scare you off but worth thinking about on the PD's - they can bite your wallet VERY hard!