Newer Diesels...

[Toms306]

I would strongly advise against anything VAG with the 2.0pd - the 1.9 wasn't bad, even if it's intensely agricultural and has a few problems... But the 2.0 is terrible, porous heads, cracked heads (BKD especially, leaks coolant into inlet), snapped oil pump chains - the list goes on. Go for a 170 and you have possibly the most unreliable DPF system.

IMHO - don't really go for 1.6HDi/TDCis - they're a bit unreliable, shame really, great engine... Injector problems and that pesky oil problem, soon as anyone puts the wrong oil, the turbo is headed for failure. They essentially can ONLY take the Total Low SAP oil specified by PSA - I don't know what Ford recommend, but I'd tend to stick with the oil that the engine manufacturer proved/developed the engine on in testing - which will have been the Total stuff.

IMHO - the 2.0 16v HDi is is a pretty damned good engine without DPF, don't hear of many DMF failures - at least, mine's done 110k now, no rattly DMF as of yet - but you can guarantee that the clutch will need doing at 130-140k and the DMF will need doing then also - no surprises there. You can also get them in Focus' - and they come *really* late without a DPF which is always good - seen one on a 57 plate with no DPF. V50/S40s got them around 55/06 plate. Only real fault you see with these engines is the air doser valve warps and jams on shutdown, causing bad starting, I think it's about £60 for a new part and it's on the front of the engine, easy to replace.

2.0 170 PD's are still out of budget tbh, it was the 140 I was looking at. Hadn't heard about the oil chains though, might have to look into that!

Hmm, I keep reading the same about the oil in the 1.6s, and you obviously cant tell by looking whether its been serviced on time with the right stuff of not. Seems a bit daft to make an engine so delicate it cant cope with a bit of human error these days. Really is a shame because they're in the £30 tax with a good mpg book figure as well!

Sounds like the 2.0 16v is the best for reliability then, but is in a high tax band iirc and less mpg book figures as well...how hard can it be to make an eco car reliable!

MK2 Focus TDCi 2.0

Has the 16v HDi engine that Ruan talks about but no horrible DPF thing (earlier ones certainly don't). I think it's the Euro 4 emissions thing you need to watch for, as that's either the cutoff point or the point at which they were introduced.

The handling is actually rather excellent, driving position heaps better than the Peugeot 307 (with the same engine) and all-in-all they're not a bad looking car IMO.

My boss gives his all sorts of abuse. At 70k miles it needed a new clutch and DMF which cost him around £500 from an indy garage. Otherwise it's just needed regular service items. Oh and an alternator fault, but that cost less than £100 to put right too.

I hate this search for a more-modern car too, everything seems to have potentially ruinous un-serviceable (from a DIY perspective) time-bombs on board in the form of anti-pollutant rubbish which the government have made illegal for you to remove. It's why I've set my sights on a BMW 320d instead of the other offerings out there, since it's something I don't think I'd get bored of too quickly, looks nice, is swift, and has no dirty, stinking DPF on it!

Good luck with your search bud.

Driving position cant be much worse than a 307, they really are awful, seems to be a Peugeot thing tbh!

DMF and clutch at 70k is a bit worrying though, was the same on the Vectra, mine had one at 75k, and quite a few did when I was looking at the time. I know I moan about the PD Golf one failing but that had done 130k lol.

There are actually quite a few without DPFs even up to about 6 years old....but as in the OP, I'm not even sure if I should be worried about those given my driving style...

320d's are nice, but the parts prices put me off should something major fail.... Especially if its a dealer only part.