Need to replace my car i use for work as getting on a bit.
I have around 6 - 7k as a budget but need to get as new as possible without getting a small puddle jumper.

looking at mondeo or vectra
motorpoint are selling:
07 mondeo 1.8lx for £5999
07 mondeo 20 tdci 130 lx £6999

08 vectra life £6499
57 vectra sri £6599
56 vectra CDTi £6495

with the price of petrol being 15p litre cheaper than diesel, is the diesel worth 1k more than petrol car??

what realistic MPG would a petrol / diesel vectra or mondeo get,
i was guessing mid 30s for petrol and mid 40s for diesel

Any known problems with the above cars??

 

Just buy an Avensis,any engine.......


Vectra's riddled with faults...mainly electrical..

Mondeo is better...TDci is a bad unit though...

 

The later (post 03 mondeo TDCI's) had pretty much all the gremlins sorted from the engines which the early cars suffered from, so they are a good buy, same with the vectra, the CDTI engine is a fiat unit and very reliable (fitted to fiats, vauxhalls, saabs, alfa's etc) but make sure you dont get the 8v engine (oil cap on the left hand side of the engine and only 120ps) you want the 16v 150ps engine.

Tony

 

Always enjoyed driving my dads TDCi Mondy - 100% reliable in the 60k he had it

 

Mondeo. Top gear can't be wrong, can it?

 

Vectra cdi has duel mass fly wheel. When the clutch goes you need a new fly wheel too ! Total cost around a grand. Lots of new diesel cars suffer same problem so although petrol costs more day to day the repairs are cheaper !!

 

Mondeo - despite being a Vx owner (IMO the Astra is the ONLY decent Vx), I'd go for the Ford any day. Much better chassis, nicer inside, looks nicer, etc.

Have hired top end Vectras (well top end diesels) and not been impressed.

 

At the moment were doing many 03-04 TDci Mondeo's that have turbo,pump,injector probs.
Thats apart from timing chains snapping and the cam carriers coming loose and knacking the camshafts..
Some as low as 40k..
Shame really,as when there right there quite a good car..

Vectra..

Just a big bag of probs...
Later stuff 04> has engine probs as well as all electrical probs.
Changed an alternator on an 05 CDTI with 33k on.. Alternator was £500 and 2 hours to change..Nice...
Also changing dash binacles,CIM modules,Airbag modules weekly..
Also changed a couple of roof CAN looms as the Auto wipers have been faulty.
Also changed couple of Autoboxes as they hold oil like a good sieve.

Not seeing that many 04> on ATM as there just coming out of the dealers care.But from what i have seen and worked on already there not much better than the old Vectra,just a lot more expensive to fix.

 

Used to own a 52 plate Mondeo TDCi, was fault free over 100k, started having problems around 120k but I can accept that, it got written off in an accident in the end, can't comment on the petrol engine though.

Also consider the Mazda 6, not sure how they are price wise, but recently had one as a courtesy car, was a really nice drive

 

TDCi is good. Had one chipped and it was swift and still done 600 miles to a tank

 

Fatscoob - blimey, that's a long list!

We had major engine failure at about 40k miles on our 1.9CDTi (150) Astra (same engine as yours I presume) - the swell flaps (!!) died causing a major problem.
Vx dealer was terrible beyond belief. Had no courtesy cars and wouldn't give us a lift home (wife was 8 months pregant) so told us to hire a car and they'd pay it back. We did and they completely lied and wouldn't re-imburse us.

Added to that they also scratched the car badly - and tried to get away with it. We spotted the scratch (it was actually my eagle eyed wife) just before we drove off.

NEVER EVER deal with Ward Vauxhall in Cornwall - I got so enraged that I considered vandalism and violence for a while.

The other Vx dealer in Redruth is fine though - in fact pretty good.

Won't ever buy another Vx again though. Partly because I have a feeling we'll keep this one for ages.

 

Yip, that pretty much what I've heard (mate has a garage). Pumps are about £1500 a go too I believe

 

I was about to suggest one of these. One of my friends ran a petrol one for 3 years and 150k miles without any trouble and it was thrashed everywhere and another friend has a 2 year old diesel one that has now covered 105k.

The diesel one is the better one in my opinion and although my mate with the diesel one has used for towing boats (his speedboat is 20ft long) the only thing to have gone wrong is the clutch and that lasted until 95k It's still on the original brake discs too and he also drives like an animal I have driven this Mazda on many occasions and it's such a nice car to drive and the engine has bags of power & torque and it's surprisingly quick!

I drive a 54 plate Vectra 2.2 petrol and although it's only covered 75k miles (hard miles) it's been nothing but trouble and I hate everything about it from the way it handles to the annoying traction control, to the build quality and reliability. Before looking at either of the above cars I would go and take a look at the Mazda 6.

 

Yeh,

Another vote for the Mazda 6..... Clutches are expensive,but a decent driver should not have to pay for one in its lifetime..

Matteboy...

Not my car fella,but i work on them most days,amongst loads of other stuff..

Personally i drive a BMW now....

I shall get ready for the tirade of abuse

 

Depends what model BMW it is...

 

Funnily enuff so does the mondeo.

At the end of the day , and having gained some knowledge to my cost

i think you have to be crazy to go for a modern diesel

 

must actually be a better and better living for a good mechanic whoose strapped up with all the computer stuff aswell

 

I had a feeling the vectra would be the most unreliable

looks like my option is the mondeo, though not sure to go for diesel or petrol?
Is the diesel worth the extra 1k? if keeping for 2 - 3 years, 20k / year

The mazda and avensis are out of my budget as 7k is my limit
car has to be maximum 2 year old, so i can keep it for 2 years, as work policy for car allowance is car has to be maximum of 4 year old

 

If I was buying a car at the moment (I'm not) I'd get a petrol.

 

Just to put some things into perspective here

Cost of an alternator on an MY05 vectra, 500 quid.
Cost of an alternator on an MY05 Subaru impreza STI, 800+ quid

Bad dealers....
My first car went to a nice dealer on the wrong side of the pennines (thats yorkshire for you people who dont know ) for her 1000 mile service.
Went to pick the car up and noticed all the side skirt was very badly scratched, they were just going to let me drive off, said that I must have done it coming over the snake pass, hard when the lines were vertical (ie jacked up car) to horizontal (ie scratched when moving), so its not just vauxhall dealers that screw you (or ford ones) and this subaru dealer no longer exists (it was based in sheffield).

Tony

 

Yep..

So by the scoob alternator being £300 more expensive,are we saying £500 isnt a silly amount for an alternator,never mind £800 ??

Fitted an alternator on a 2001 530i sport BMW about 3 weeks ago..£139..

I would sell my car on principle if the alternator cost £800 !!

DPB... we have about £30k in diag equpment that we have built up over the years...
Its impossible to fix many cars without it,you either invest or get left behind.

Being a technician is becoming harder and harder TBH...The amount of complexity in a lot of cars is daunting..

I can hear the violins playing now!.............lol.....

Oh...seems to be a fair few 06 Avensis for 7k around..

 

Im not saying how much the legacy alternator is on the later cars, but it makes 4 figures
All these new "computer controlled" alternators, sometimes simplicity works best

Tony

 

Aye...

The Vectra one is a simple one though... Nothing special,apart from the price ..

I wouldnt mind if an expensive article lasted 10-12 yrs,but 4 yrs is a joke.
My old fella's 1994 Toyota corrolla aint had any electrical problems at all,he bought it from new and has only ever had tyres,brakes and bulbs over servicing in 14 yrs..
And the full car is not worth the price of an alternator!! lol.......

 

ive got a 57 plate vectra sri petrol,bought it new last november had no problems with it,im getting 32 mpg acording to the trip computer,its not exciting by any means but its comfy and easy to use,and a lot better than the astra g i had before.


tony

 

you can work ou whether it's financially worth while if you know your annual mileage, but bear in mind the 2.0 TDCi will be considerably quicker in most situations than the 1.8 petrol. I know it's better than the 2.0l petrol. overall a nice drive, and a very good price. Mine's 2003 and worth sweet FA now.