Stuart Taylor

Anybody gone from a Impreza Turbo to the Focus 1.8TDCi?
Any comments would be greatly recieved as this is what I have reluctantly done due to the running costs. I sat down the other day and had a shock at how much a month the impreza costs to run as opposed to normal cars. I have owned it for 31/2 years so I think its time to change and save some money.

Stuart

RB5#295

It's all the rage m8. I'm after an Ibiza TDi Sport (I think), and I'm not the only one...

Fen

Dales

yep, also reluctantly considering something similar now that i'm doing 25 - 30k miles p.a.

is this TDCi thingy new? I went in a Mondeo Zetec diesel a few weeks ago, and it flew - especially on the motorway. Think that was a 2.0 though...

dazc2

the TDCi is new technology which can also be mapped to give better fuel economy and also more power..... if your interested Stu at Motorsport Developments can map a diesel with brilliant results Motorsport Developments

[Edited by dazc2 - 10/23/2002 9:22:53 PM]

[Edited by dazc2 - 10/23/2002 9:23:46 PM]

smanning

i got rid of the scoob for a diesel a4, but I had a tdci focus while i had the scoob. They are good cars, and very dependable. Got to admit though that they are still behind the german stuff which is why I opted for the Audi.

Diesels are great on economy, but start playing with them and driving them hard and you can see your economy go out the window...

i fear that more and more people will move across to the oil burners, I shudder to think what I was spending throwing it in the scoob! Gonna take me a while to recover those costs in me a4 I know that!!

Stuart Taylor

Smanning

Thanks for the comments. I would have prefered an Audi but needed to cut costs as this is only 13,950 on the road with all the toys. I also couldnt believe how much was going out on the scooby. With just a quick tot up I recon I will be saving easily £150-200 per month and thats without taking in the horrendous depreciation.
I brought it at the wrong time when the prices for a year old car was as much as a new one. I paid £19,995 31/2 years ago and now im lucky to get £8,400 as a PX. I dont think I will get much more trying to sell private either.

Stuart

ChrisB

Hi Stuart,

I've got an Ibiza TDi Sport on order now to replace the Scooby.

The other car on my short list was the Focus TDCi. I only called into the Seat dealer after taking the Focus out.

On it's own, the Focus was nice to drive with good low down kick.

Which spec Focus are you looking at?

The Ibiza has all the toys (climate, traction, front + side air bags, ABS, CD with 8 speakers, heated mirrors etc). It matches up very well against the Focus Ghia on spec & price.

Better still, it's got the VW PD 130bhp / 226lb/ft engine and a 6 speed box. The kick when you hit 1900rpm is great. APR Europe have just finished a re-map for the Ibiza which delivers around 180bhp and over 300lb/ft

http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/foru...?s=&forumid=29 is a good place to have a read.

My insurance goes down by over 50% a month, I've taken an option to have all my servicing (*including* tyres) covered for £20 a month extra and my monthly fuel spend should be down 50%.

Downside is a longer lead time on a new Ibiza and very few cars about 2nd hand (only dealer demos really).

HTH,

Chris.

Steve Wilson

They are about to launch a 150 bhp version of the Leon turbo diesel. Prices around £14.5k being used. Could be interesting...

Stuart Taylor

Chris

I am getting the TDCi Ghia which has all the bits your getting except the side air bags. It does have a heated front screen as well. The Seat does look good, what kind of price are you paying and how long have you got to wait? Are you PXing your scooby or selling privately?
I needed to change quite quickly as my 60000 service is due which would have been another £450 outlay. I am picking it up the middle of Nov as its just being built. It seems the high powered diesels are now hot property as there are very few in stock with most manufacturers.

Stuart

JoeyDeacon

I too got rid of my Impreza about 9 months ago. At the time I felt gutted at the price I got for it but looking back I definitely made the right decision.

The fatal mistake I made was sitting down and calculating the actual monthly cost of keeping the Impreza. Once I had done that I wanted to get a car with the cheapest running costs possible.

What I ended up with is a Renault Clio 1.2 16 Valve Dynamique. Gives an easy 40 MPG in town and 50 MPG on the motorway, Free insurance for a year (Only group 3 anyway) and 18,000 mile/2 year service intervals. The trip computer informs me that my average speed on my journey to work is 13 MPH.... As you can imagine I haven't missed the Impreza for a single second, especially as the only money I have spent on the car in the last 8 months is on petrol, a whopping £15 a week!

ChrisB

Delivery time might scupper the Ibiza then.

Worse case is 12 weeks from order, although my dealer reports they haven't had any cars go that distance. Quickest has been around 10 days.

I ordered last Friday so a week and counting tomorrow...

Stuart Taylor

Chris

Are you PXing the Scooby for the Seat or just selling the scooby privately. If so did the dealer give you a good deal. I was offered £8400 for a 98 R 5-door.

Stuart

ChrisB

No part-ex for me Stuart.

{Edit to say I'm told the reason for longer lead times is VW are keeping supply of the PD130 engine and six speed box tight)

[Edited by ChrisB - 10/24/2002 5:23:13 PM]

Toonman1

I had 3 Impreza Turbos from April '94 to October '01. Bought a new Leon Cupra and got rid of that after 9 months; got an 02 WRX and love it. Had it PPPd on Monday - love it even more now.

My Wife leased a Focus 1.8 Zetec in Jan 2000 and it's been crap. Sooooo unreliable and the dealers? Terrible! The Lease Co let us out of the deal early due to all the hassles and she bought a Clio 1.2 16V Expression +. Like Joey, she loves it, but I couldn't live with one I'm afraid.

Cheers

Flat 4x4

Stuart

I've gone Scooby to diesels (one very fast) to Scooby again. You won't have a problem with the TDci and as probably mentioned they're easy to get some more power from with little risk.

Any reason why you're buying a new Focus TDci (Great car) and not a demo mileage Mondeo TDci for less money ? It's obviously bigger but the girlfriends has done 11,000m and is very well sorted.

A bit clattery at idle (more than the Focus) but fantastic once on the move. I saw an indicated 134 on a foreign motorway and I genuinely thought I was doing 120.

Why not have a drive - available in Zetec, Zetec S and Ghia spec

logiclee

Father in Law has the Mondeo TDCi, performance is very good for the size of the car and he usualy averages around 50mpg with mainly town driving.

Only had one drive in a TDCi Focus, it felt like it had plenty of go but couldn't really push it. Heard rumours that ford are thinking of putting the 2.0 Mondeo TDCi engine in the Focus in ST trim level, maybe called the Focus ST TD, to compete with the Golf GTi PD's. Hope so as the Focus would realy shift with 248ftlb of torque (More than the Focus RS ).

Had a look at the Ibiza but didn't drive it as it was too small for what I needed. The Leon PD150 would be interesting.

I also tried a Skoda Superb PD130, must be the most car you can get for your money anywhere, equipment and comfort oustanding, performance not bad but the steering feel was poor. Wouldn't fit in my garage though.

Lee

[Edited by logiclee - 10/24/2002 9:45:43 PM]

Stuart Taylor

Thanks for all the comments. I have just read What Car and it came out favourably against 3 other cars, Golf TDi 130, Peugeot 307 and the new Renault Megane. Its not quite as quick as the Golf but the overall package comes out on top of all three, so I am very please with my purchase.

Stuart

RB5#295

Ibiza is available from www.tins.co.uk on 2-3 week delivery for £12,400 ish. Sourced from UK dealers so not an import.

Fen