Ellie*

Whats the general opinion on these? Not as a substitute for the petrol imprezas but for someone with a 2004 Seat Ibiza FR 1.9tdi (130bhp) thats looking for something newer, reliable, diesel, but must have a bit of poke?
I didnt even know you could get diesel imprezas but theres a 2.0d hatch which looks like a perfect replacement for the ibiza, but, do they have a good rep? Are the diesel boxer engines any good?

Thank you :-)

thenewgalaxy

Hatches and newages are different things. There was no newage diesel.

The hatch diesel was a competent car but I always thought the hatches looked weird without the wider track and flared arches of the STI.

As far as I'm aware these cars are prone to issues with the crank but were usually resolved when the engine was replaced.

Ellie*

Ahh fair enough ok, thank you.

F1 CJE UK

iTrader: (8)

Not a Subaru but I have a skoda vrs as my daily and it does tick the boxes, much better engine than the Subaru 180bhp and can be mapped to 210 plus!

kevo10

I had a golf gttdi few years back now and was revoed to 190 bhp . and 40 mpg to boot

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

I wouldn't buy a modern diesel unless your planning on doing 100k plus in it over 3/4yrs, these days they only manage 10/15mpg real world driving over modern petrols, the fuel cost's more to buy at the pump and they have the potential for extremely costly repairs built into them, which most end up with a fat £2k plus bill at some point.

As well as initial purchase price generally being higher, they just don't make economic sense for your average mileage user.

And before the diesel boys attack, I'm not talking about a £2k shoot chucker maintained by a hobby mechanic, as that can make sense.

euan_r

iTrader: (29)

Three sets of glow plugs in three years, known problem

Barxy

This is totally true
Diesels from 2007/2008 onwards have so many rules and regulations, even worse for the latest ones that it will actually cost you more than a petrol to run. If you are doing megamotorway mileage then its a good choice, but people who buy them to potter around would be far better iff buying an older diesel that dont come with all the new diesel problems (like DPF issues etc that can be really costly)

thenewgalaxy

I have always agreed with you on that point Ditch, it's not worth getting one of these cars if you have a 5 mile journey to work every day - in fact short journeys damage these cars - BUT Diesels are very easy motorway companions and in my opinion much nicer cars to be in on those sort of journeys. I'm not doing mega mileage but the flex in sixth gear from about 50mph onwards is very impressive even in my 2.0 diesel A3 and makes my drive to work easier for that reason. 45-50mpg keeping up with the fastest traffic too is always a bonus.

jayallen

iTrader: (31)

Pretty much spot on....I recently traded in my wife's diesel C4 at Citroen for a new DS3. Originally we were going to go for another diesel but after doing the sums it just wasn't worth it so opted for the 1.6 petrol engine. In terms of MPG, her old C4 is roughly 10 miles to the gallon better around town but in terms of cost at the pump and the difference in cost in the showroom, the petrol engine definitely made more sense.

The only thing I miss when I occasionally drive it is the low down torque/pickup the TDI engine has over the n/a petrol engine.

lordharding

iTrader: (1)

I ran a wrxd for 40 months and loved it to bits with 48-50 mpg and at 41 k had to have a totall rebuild /replacement which was a grand less then the trade in price
Broke my heart (fortunely not wallet as I was lucky as I had the extended warrenty ) and Stan palmers /Subaru uk were great with me

I was but put me off new subarus for life understandable as when I paid 23k for a car brand new and one of the very first deasels registered in the uk I expected a quality product that I was planning to keep for 10 years like my Greenwagon

Not ending up like I did

It was fully serviced and everyone who knows me know I look after my cars so I can't really recomend any new Subaru
Unless they could give me a five year warrenty that's why I didn't go for another Subaru



Twins







It's replacement

Nismo ( wife loves it and it's the second best car I've ever had )

Ellie*

Ok thanks guys for the replies. Interesting stuff to consider.
Its looking like the impreza is off the cards and the Leon FR or Civic Type S is back on.

Superbracey

You might struggle to find a diesel that feels as potent as the 1.9 FR. I had a 2002 Ibiza TDI Sport 130 (the forerunner to the FR, with the same power/gear box but plain looks). I bought it used and always suspected it might have been tuned. The midrange grunt was phenomenal! And 80mph at just under 2,000rpm in 6th meant great mpg.

I later bought a 2005 Ibiza TDI Cupra 160 and it didn't feel any quicker.

You can certainly improve on the interior build quality of the old SEATs, though I know nothing about newer Imprezas.