What Car - for my mate?

[C.A.R.]

I think the only Clio in his budget is an old shape one to be honest, which are a bit 'low-rent' inside. I want him to have a pleasant change from his micra!

He thinks all 306s are a bit old now unfortunately, no amount of me trying to convince him otherwise is working! I'll keep plugging away but most of the lower mileage HDis are estates, which he certainly doesn't need

Tried suggesting some bigger, plush cars like the Saab 9-5 and a Volvo S40. Does anyone know much about the diesel engines in these? I thought the Saab would be the same fiat engine as used in the vectra equivalent?

[Pete]

I had some fun in my v6 coupe on A roads, sure it's not as good as the 6,but still fairly responsive and even fine for a bit of fun on a nice B road. There a couple on auto trader at the moment

Same here, Its big old thing but the only time I find it struggles is on the narrow B roads.

[ozonehostile]

ive never heard anything bad about volvo diesels

[C.A.R.]

For gawd sakes, he's now really wanting a MK4 Golf because someone has brainwashed him into thinking they're amazing.

£3k doesn't buy you much of a Golf by the looks of it, they're extortionate! Not many for sale locally at present either, could be a time of the year thing?

So what to look out for on a Golf? I know most people recommend the PD130 engine but he wants cheap insurance, which actually rules them out. The older non-PD engines, although less refined are cheaper to insure and Ruan says they're more frugal (that's good enough for me!). What do I need to lookout for? How are the trim levels arranged? Any weak areas?

Bloody German shite. I'll try and talk him out of it.

[Tom]

PD 130's arent that much to insure are they?!

[Jukie88]

Gttdi is best spec up untill the anniversary spec

[C.A.R.]

PD130s are quite heavy on insurance actually, all things considered...

GT TDi it is then.

[mcdub]

IIRC they done a 115 bhp PD engine.

My brother has a PD130 bora, remapped, EGR delete and decat, and its very very quick. Stay away from the PD150, as the camshaft is made from chocolate.

I know a bora S TDI, the 90BHP one is very cheap to insure, and decent on diesel.

If he is going for a Golf PD, just make sure servicing has been done as and when, and TBH for 3k he isnt going to get a fantastic example, as they hold price well, My brother paid 5k for his bora with 92K early 2012.

[Toms306]

Don't get an older 130 tdi unless you like replacing boost hoses. They have a stupid clip system which wears out and can't be tightened like s jubilee!!

Personally, no point going for a 130, go for a 150, they usually have better options, are the saMe to insure aS a 130 and have an fmic setup with jubilee clips. Only reason I had a 130 was cos the cams don't usually fail on them...which is obv wrong. . Plus get a nice one and you get full heated leathers, headlight washers and other cool things that you only really find on 150s

There's sod all about atm though, I found no decent golfs at all lately.

Things to look for -

Odd engine noises - can be cams or dmf, either way leave it.
Boost leaks - not hard to sort unless you get a 130.
Rusty arches - there's a design flaw where they put sound deafening in the wing, which is effectively the same as a sponge and rusts it.
Slowness on bigger engines - turbo vanes sticky. Unless really slow and won't rev over 2k then the mafs shagged.
Gearbox - check the gears all work and aren't crunchy, but bear in mind the gearchanges is loose because its cable change.
Clutch - as usual with any car, give it some beans to make sure it doesn't slip.

And that's about it really tbh.....

---

Oh yeah, and for god sake do NOT buy one on longlife oil!!

http://306oc.co.uk/forum/thread-7295.html

---

Oh yeah, and for god sake do NOT buy one on longlife oil!!

http://306oc.co.uk/forum/thread-7295.html

[Dan!]

My Bora was a fairly tidy example for £3000, and that was 18 months ago now. Highline spec, 80k, '54 plate, but only the 100hp PD engine.

As I found out yesterday, VW's and VAG cars in general are actually a tonne more to insure over comparatively similar powered French/Jap/GM cars, which has swayed me away from Golfs big time. Scene tax is just everywhere on them, but they are nice cars!

[Toms306]

As I found out yesterday, VW's and VAG cars in general are actually a tonne more to insure over comparatively similar powered French/Jap/GM cars, which has swayed me away from Golfs big time. Scene tax is just everywhere on them, but they are nice cars!

Totally agree there.... Look at a '54 plate mondeo or Vectra with 150/130 diesel engines for example, you get a lot more for your money than an equivalant golf 150pd that costs twice as much!! Hence why I'm now looking at Mondeos and Vectra's lol.

Plus insurance is like 10 groups higher.

Tax is cheaper though, I havent found another diesel with 150bhp standard that only costs £130 a year to tax!

[Dan!]

Same, I was totally set on a Mk4 1.8t, but after doing some insurance quotes I can insure a similar powered Astra for about £400 less /year.

[DaveW]

Citroen xsara vtr hdi? i got one its much more refined than a 306, 2.0 110hp smf but they are quite rare...

[C.A.R.]

Yea they don't look great either. For some reason he's convinced anything older than 10 years is a waste of money too lol. He wants something quite 'plush' which is why we can't get away from VW's

[Ruan]

I think the only Clio in his budget is an old shape one to be honest, which are a bit 'low-rent' inside. I want him to have a pleasant change from his micra!

He thinks all 306s are a bit old now unfortunately, no amount of me trying to convince him otherwise is working! I'll keep plugging away but most of the lower mileage HDis are estates, which he certainly doesn't need

Tried suggesting some bigger, plush cars like the Saab 9-5 and a Volvo S40. Does anyone know much about the diesel engines in these? I thought the Saab would be the same fiat engine as used in the vectra equivalent?

The S40 Diesel isn't a Volvo engine - it's the gronky Renault jobby they used in the late P1 Lagunas and Scenics of that era... It's pretty naff, 115hp... And S40s are just horribly boring really, they're a Mitsubishi Carisma underneath...

Reliable and all, the petrols are 4cyls based on the Volvo whiteblocks (T4, T5, T6 etc) and are reliable, not great on fuel, but boring...

Saab 9-3s and 9-5s is the Vauxhall DTi engine, pretty naff also... I don't think they put the Commonrail CDTI in the earlier 9-3s/9-5s, only the later ones... Neither is a mindblowing engine though...

Civic is OK - but they're VERY bland... The 1.7CTDI won't set the world alight, but from what I hear they're reliable, but have the typical "modern" diesel issues of being too complex and likely to go wrong on a small budget...

[JoeP]

Citroen xsara vtr hdi? i got one its much more refined than a 306, 2.0 110hp smf but they are quite rare...

... and hideous looking!

[Ruan]

Citroen xsara vtr hdi? i got one its much more refined than a 306, 2.0 110hp smf but they are quite rare...

... and hideous looking!

This 100000x over...

[DaveW]

Ha i know the frontend is minging what was they thinking...

[C.A.R.]

Right, my mate has been saving his pennies and we have set a date to go car shopping - weekend after next.

Thing is he is trying to be a cheapskate, looking at 206 HDi's with 140,000+ miles on for less than a grand. These are going to be real sheds.

I'm trying to convince him to up his budget to 1500ish as these cars are a bit more decent and sub-100k miles. We can still sell his Micra afterwards for a minimum of £800 I reckon. With this in mind a couple of odd-ball cars have cropped up.
1.7 Lupo SDi - good build quality reputation, know nothing about this engine though
1.4 Polo TDi - again these are pretty solid cars, not as quirky as the lupo and again I know nothing of the 1.4 engine (similar to that in the Audi A2?) they are very very boring though, but I'm thinking the VED will be cheap?

If you want to browse autotrader / eBay within a 40 mile radius of Stevenage (SG1 postcode) and can offer suggestions please be my guest!
Any advice gratefully received...

[Jake]

Haven't read the thread through but what about an a3 TDI ? Should just about be able to buy & insure for around 3k ?

[Oil-burner]

If hes still set on vag id look at passats same car but you dont pay the golf/bora premium

[lolsteve]

Fiesta 1.4t/1.6dci? It's what I'll be going for when the time comes for more modern

[Ed Doe]

Not being funny, but I'd be looking at the 206 hdi for £1500 and putting the rest towards insurance and then savings...

[C.A.R.]

Yea my thoughts exactly Ed.

I should really edit the first post, since the budget has effectively halved since he is a tight-arse.

I really like the look of this Lupo 1.7. Tiny car, 60mpg, cheap tax. And it's black, which is nice.

[lolsteve]

Not lupos, only have 4 seats and very small inside. Might as well get a polo 1.4tdi

[C.A.R.]

Thing with the Lupo is that they are generally regarded as being better built than a Polo and the reviews are full of words like 'refinement' and stuff. And it's £30 a year VED. Problem is, the 1.7 is an NA diesel!

[Pete]

Seat Arosa? Like a Lupo but without the VW badge tax

[Jukie88]

Lupo tdi remap looking at 125 bhp :-) epic