Reliable small diesel car
 

Yes I know, :lol1: but it's not for me a friend asked me and as I wasn't sure I thought I'd ask on here.

it's going to be old as cars are expensive out here in Croatia so anywhere from about 1995 to 2005 he's got about £2/3k to spend, which doesn't go far, think golf 4 or focus are at the top end of that, although the cars are usually in pretty good condition.

I thought maybe a fiesta diesel but I don't know anything about them, although I'd still be tempted to push him into a small petrol but he wants economy (low wages out here) and reliability, so don't be afraid to shout out about a reliable petrol either, Ali. :)

Basically looking for anyone with some experience of reliable little cars, saxo, clio and fiesta sized as that will give him the most choice and his Mrs has a zafira so already got one big ish car, this is just for his work hack ish 20mile trip.

Rover 25 d

Good shout wouldn't mind one myself but they are quite front heavy and don't handle like the 1.4 petrol, probably a bit on the big side and you don't see many Rovers out here, hence the clio, saxo reference, they like small cars out here in the sticks.

Next door has slammed polo estate diesel from end 90's .

probably a lot less fuss to run than modern diesel . And very quiet

nothing common rail, nothing 1.4/1.5/1.6 tdi.
I would go with a 1.7 or 1.9 sdi vag product with a Bosch rotary pump. Or Vauxhall with a 1.7 Isuzu engine. The Peugeot 205 diesel is another cracker, as is 306, 405, 309 etc. Mk4 golf's are bullet proof, but dear as you say.
Lupo, polo, Ibiza all good

Ive got a Corsa C 1.3 cdti as a daily. Cheap as chips to run.

That 1.3 fiat engine is supposed to be good, although could get expensive when it needs a turbo/injectors etc

Vauxhall Astra TD mk3 with the Isuzu engine.

Fabia vrs as my daily/take anywhere car, love the wee thing but started getting carried away with the modding, over 230bhp now and still 60+ mpg lol

Thanks for the replies, shame about the smaller engines not being so good as he's after something small rather than mid sized like the Astra, I drove a few of the Astra's with the Isuzu engine and they are worlds apart from the other engines they come with, can also be modded a little bit to give even more umph.

Forgot about the little 205 diesel too they were also good back in the day.

Just have to wait and see what pops up over the next month or 2.

As for the VRS, mrs mate has had one from new, it's on an 04 plate and only got 60k on it, she's thinking about changing it, slightly tempted by it for myself, just not sure if I want to go into an old car again or what it's worth, took it for a small spin round the block and it seems like it could be a hoot to drive, not sure I'd be modding one though,there was already a bit of torque steer just planting it in 2nd, it did get a move on though and made me giggle.

Only 60k miles on a 12 year old car suggests town hack?
Me and the Wife had a VRS each at one point. Hers was 5 years old with 17k miles and mine was 7 years old with 170k miles. One had been a town car and the other obviously not. When I decided to get the 330, we sold low mileage car in a heartbeat. If you had done a blindfold test on them I would bet that you would have picked the high miler as the newer car.

If the car has seen plenty of the motorway then I would jump on it no question.