Pros and cons to it, main one being at least the £2k car can be sold after and won't depreciate an awful lot, or even if only £1k back then that's still £800 'up' on your plan with room to budget a service and a potential small fix if needed

 

That's what I'm thinking.

So tempted to get a 330D and have some fun too but then I'm thinking I should be sensible and get a run of the mill Astra (been offered a 55 plater 1.7cdti for £1800 and they do 55-60mpg all day long apparently)

Need to decide tomorrow - start work Monday and weekend is already chocablock with other stuff!

 

Won't be easy going from a fun scoob to a diesel used for mpg, at least it would only be sensible for a few months then you could go back to another fun car. That Astra sounds like good value providing the mileage isn't massively excessive.

I only commute 50 miles a day and the scoob is killing me, any more and I would be regretably changing to a diesel.

 

Astra mileage is average from what I remember. Couple of very minor issues (bit of rust on rear arch and a electric window switch loose) but apart from that a very sound car

 

Astra sounds sensible as a workhorse

 

Yep - I think I have resigned myself to the Astra!

 

Resigned...LOL

My choice for my wife was:
Leon TDi
Astra CTDi
Focus TDi
Renault Megane TDi

Mainly because of the size. She didn't want small, but didn't want large either.

I test drove a few. The Focus was in 136 bhp Titanium, had all the toys but we both hated the seats and the performance was disappointing.

The Leon had nice seats and drove well in both 105, and the newer 140 bhp.
The Megane, we couldn't find one to drive and were put off by horror stories about Renault electrics.

We've bought an Astra CDTi SRi 150 on a 58 plate.

Mainly because, for the same money, we got a younger, higher specced car with less miles on it.
There are loads about and parts are dirt cheap. A good first mod is to have the washer jets off and replace them with some off an Insignia which give a flat fan of water instead of a jet. £4.50 off ebay.
The seats are lovely, the ride is nice, it goes well, and I've just had cruise control retro-fitted for around £90, which will give excellent motorway mpg.....worth looking for, or looking at whether your chosen vehicle can easily have it fitted. Mine had to have a new stalk, which was clip out, clip in, and half an hour on the Vauxhall dealer's computer to get it to recognise it. First use saw the "range" rise from 437 miles to 475 miles when the cruise control was on. Interesting. Well worth the money outlay for a car which will do some motorway miles Most Astra "H" cars can have it done the same way. That's 04 plate on.

What to look for:
Gearbox noise...especially on cars up to 08 plate with the 150 bhp engine.
Water in the cabin, esp driver's side carpet, early cars.
Engine poor start and stalling on 1.7 CDTi models.
Any lights that stay on after the engine starts.

Best model: for you, probably a 1.9 but not the 150 bhp one.

DO check out the seats: the internet has comments from folk who bought the higher specced design and Elite cars and found the seats too soft and not supportive enough on long journeys

HTH

 

alcazar - thanks for the detailed response mate.

The astra I'm looking at is a 1.7CDTi - from what I saw the guy didn't have any engine start/stalling issues.

Looked on the web and it seems to be doing 65mpg approx.

Been told that I might be in london office more than I thought which means I can train it it so a car is not as critical as it was yesterday

Still tempted to splash out and treat myself ... if you can call buying a £2k a treat lol

 

Great choice, but you can get them for £2k nowdays?
I will be geting rid of my Pug 306 Hdi if so.

That is one mighty commute, I suppose you have got to think of it only being short term.

 

Bit out of the box, but why not a new shape mr2. 47 mpg, buy now and make £500 in the summer and they're very reliable. I had one a couple of years ago and made £500 by buying in March and selling in July.

There's loads and loads of gt tdi 130s around for £2k or even less.

 

1.5 clio ... they do about 55mpg

 

seat ibiza 1.9 tdi, 130bhp model, 55 mpg and bloody quick too, got my mate one, he loves it and he`s a tight bstard

 

Mr2?! Really surprised they are £2.5k and it never occurred to me. However, with a wife and two kids it'd be nice to use the car for them too (even if I don't I'll get accused of being selfish with an MR2 lol)

1.5CLio - too lightweight for my liking on the motorways

Seat Ibiza - will check out

thanks guys

 

+1 golf 1.9tdi gt 130hp drove twice and really like it
before scoob i had 1.9 110hp, did 45-50 mpg

 

Personally Singhji I would go for a vw golf tdi, just because of reliability & cheap on parts rather on a bmw 330d, if you've only got 2k to spend, rather than going for a very high mileage 330d, that may come with more problems then its worth!

regards

VJ

 

It would be a vw pd tdi for me but dont map it, 130 model. With the miles your doing it would average 55mpg sitting at 75mph all day long.
Ive had the 150 gti diesel which was mapped 210bhp/300lbft and the clutch went bang, but averaged 50.1mpg no matter how i drove it.
But.. i have been driving a 330d sport for the last three years and sometimes i can do up to 250 miles a day, best car ive ever owned, bought it with 120,000 miles on the clock remapped it to 245bhp 370lbft at 146,000 and its now done 167,000 and nothing apart from consumables has gone wrong. Oh and they go on forever, 300,000 miles no problem well looked after.
I generally have the cruise set at 70mph all the time but i do drive it hard to clear it all out, and this does 44.8 mpg average! amazing for a 3.0 straight six, real wheel drive too
Astras? sorry but they have never done anything for me, probably good mile munchers though!

 

The Golf TDi 130, if buying one with 100k+ miles on, is there much left it them?
Are they reliable to run up to 200k miles?

 

Volvo s60 D5. pre late 2005 model (non dpf model, they had trouble with diesel filling up the sump), 163bhp 5 cylinder (sound nice for a diesel) extremely comfortable car to drive. Go for manual as autos can cause problems. 40-45mpg. As on a lot of diesels the injectors can fail, and intercoolers can split on the pre 05 models. Avoid cars with sunroof.

We have had a few Vauxhall combos at work with 1.7cdti engines. Worst vehicles I have driven, gearbox, steering, and seats all shocking. Can't comment on Astra though. Vauxhall use Fiat diesels, think cambelt change is around 50k miles and water pump needs replacing at the same time or it is very likely to sieze and shred the cambelt.

 

The Astra 1.9 cdti isn't too bad a car to be honest, the Missus down sized her my57 330D to a my57 Astra and you do notice the mpg difference between the two but on the other hand the 330d was more enjoyable to drive.

Soon i shall be buying a my06 mondeo 2.0 tdci titanium x with 75k and in excellent condition for £2000, they are a lot of car for the money!

 

Stay well away from renault megane there electrics go often ask any taxi driver.

In my firm most run mondeos easy to repair easy 40mph cheap and not bad to look at.An estate is a bit heavier on fuel but you get to put an engine and box in and ya dog

 

Sorry for hi-jacking...

Anyone have any experience of the Saab 2.2 TiD 120hp?