Small Diesel car

Stky10

Thinking of trading down the petrol guzzler beemer in the new year. With my job I'm out of the country a decent amount (maybe half the year, possibly more) and when I'm home its costing too much to keep on the road in terms of repairs, service, petrol.

So, I've been looking at a cheap small 2-3 door diesel instead, and have come up with two alternatives

- 04 Ford Focus 1.8 TDCI
- 04 Toyota Corolla 2.0 D-4D T3

Both can be bought in the UK for about £4k relatively easily (not many examples of them here). I'm guessing VRT should be relatively small as well for a car of that age.

So, I'm wondering whats the performance and reliability of both engines and car of the two?. Also is there another alternative I haven't thought of?

ShayK1

I'm currently looking for something similar.
I'm not sure if they're as cheap as £4k but I've been looking at

Renault Megane
Open Astra
Ford Focus
Seat Leon
Kia ceed
There's also the Peugot 307

cantdecide

If I were in your position, I'd have a V8!!

The only way I'd downgrade in your situation is if 1) you were retrieving a huge outlay from your current car and 2) you were happy to keep the same car for 5+ years.

A couple of stiff repairs could leave you disenchanted but really, if I had a guzzling bimmer, I'd never go back to a corolla. Would you not consider a diesel 3 series instead??

Between, those 2, the Focus is the lesser of 2 evils IMO. I'd suss out a Leon TDi though

Stky10

ShayK1 wrote: »

I'm currently looking for something similar.
I'm not sure if they're as cheap as £4k but I've been looking at

Renault Megane
Open Astra
Ford Focus
Seat Leon
Kia ceed
There's also the Peugot 307

Cheers, wouldn't be too mad on going for either a Peugeot or Renault. Cheap reliability with a bit of performance is the order of the day, and I've heard too many scare stories to be willing to take the chance. Not sure about the engine in the astra of that vintage either. Not sure when the ceed came out, I'm guessing it was 06, so the cost is probably higher. The Leon is interesting though, its definetly one to add to the list although I think it only comes in the 4-5 door.

I'm thinking of the two I mentioned that the Focus would be the better performing car, but the Toyota would be the more reliable and cheaper to repair. But I'd like confirmation in case I've gotten it wrong.

Stky10

cantdecide wrote: »

If I were in your position, I'd have a V8!!

The only way I'd downgrade in your situation is if 1) you were retrieving a huge outlay from your current car and 2) you were happy to keep the same car for 5+ years.

Not really. The petrol guzzler isn't worth very much. Its a 02.

cantdecide wrote:

A couple of stiff repairs could leave you disenchanted but really, if I had a guzzling bimmer, I'd never go back to a corolla. Would you not consider a diesel 3 series instead??

Considered it, but I wouldn't be in the country enough to enjoy it and justify the outlay on it, and I'm not sure how much longer I'll be living in Ireland. So if I leave permanently, I don't want a big car to have to try and get rid of. I'd prefer to take a much smaller loss on a cheaper car.

cantdecide wrote:

Between, those 2, the Focus is the lesser of 2 evils IMO. I'd suss out a Leon TDi though

Thats pretty much what I'm thinking.

JHMEG

Even though you're out of the country you have to pay full motor tax! If looking at pre-08 cars then consider a smaller engine.

Stky10

JHMEG wrote: »

Even though you're out of the country you have to pay full motor tax! If looking at pre-08 cars then consider a smaller engine.

Yeah, but I'm paying that at the moment anyway. Besides, I think I'd be willing to pay the relatively small amount extra in tax for the added performance when I do get to use it. If I wanted to be ultra frugal, I could get myself a Daewoo Matiz or similar. Thats not what I'm trying to do here.

bazz26

OP, did you look at the Honda Civic IMA hybrid? The original model can be bought for decent money these days from the UK, they are very well speced and have fuel economy similar to some of the small diesel engines mentioned.

For example:
http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=200929194648630

Stky10

bazz26 wrote: »

OP, did you look at the Honda Civic IMA hybrid? The original model can be bought for decent money these days from the UK, they are very well speced and have fuel economy similar to some of the small diesel engines mentioned.

For example:
http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=200929194648630

Good idea. Its a bit big for what I was looking for, but maybe they do a hatchback version as well. Can search autotrader later.

bazz26

Stky10 wrote: »

Good idea. Its a bit big for what I was looking for, but maybe they do a hatchback version as well. Can search autotrader later.

Nope, only available as a saloon. But it's in the same class as a Focus or Corolla size wise. JHMEG has one afaik.

Hatchback was available with a diesel engine (Isuzu sourced afaik) but never offically sold here:

http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=200944195655529
http://www.driving.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=200840190283481

Viejo Zorro

There was a Civic 1.7 Diesel on adverts.ie...

However, I cannot sing the praises of a 1.4 TDi Polo high enough. 55+MPG and 83 BHP...

Skoda Octavia's 1.9TDi's are great value if you don't mind an ugly duckling...

tred

seen as ur away a lot..have u considered a commerical? as an option?

Stky10

bazz26 wrote: »

Hatchback was available with a diesel engine (Isuzu sourced afaik) but never offically sold here:

Looks interesting. Shame its not a Honda engine, but you can't win them all.

Viejo Zorro wrote:

However, I cannot sing the praises of a 1.4 TDi Polo high enough. 55+MPG and 83 BHP...

Skoda Octavia's 1.9TDi's are great value if you don't mind an ugly duckling...

Driving a rental polo at the moment abroad (petrol not diesel), but its too small for long journeys or long term use I think. 83BHP doesn't strike me as having all that much performance either. On the octavia, its conversely too big for what I need it for. I don't have any wife or kids, and no need to be carrying a lot of equipment about.

tred wrote:

seen as ur away a lot..have u considered a commerical? as an option?

Not sure what that entails. Can an ordinary PAYE/PRSI person claim that?. Do I have to convert it to a van?.

Viejo Zorro

Stky10 wrote: »

Do I have to convert it to a van?.

From my work on 4x4's, we always had to convert them into two seater commercials to avails of commercial tax.
The Toyota Aurus (?) offers a two seater car van which has nicely tinted glass in the rear, so you don't look as if you are driving a van.

If you don't need the extra seats, it's a cracking way of getting a massive engine for sod all tax. Eg, friend of a friend, fado fado, bought a Landrover V8 petrol, which, were he to tax it as a passenger, would set him back in excess of 1500 every year, so he commercialised it and paid a fraction of that.

Stky10

Going to resurrect this thread...

Just wondering whether anyone can confirm whether the engine in these 2005 Focus's (Focii?) are the same as in the Peugeot 407?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201001349467229/sort/priceasc/usedcars/make/ford/model/focus/quantity-of-doors/3/body-type/hatchback/transmission/manual/fuel-type/diesel/maximum-age/up_to_5_years_old/maximum-mileage/up_to_80000_miles/radius/1501/postcode/bt797bl/page/1?previous=%2Fsearch%2Fresults%2Fusedcars%2Fpostcode%2Fbt797bl%2Fradius%2F1501%2Fmake%2Fford%2Fmodel%2Ffocus%2Fquantity-of-doors%2F3%2Fbody-type%2Fhatchback%2Ftransmission%2Fmanual%2Ffuel-type%2Fdiesel%2Fmaximum-age%2Fup_to_5_years_old%2Fmaximum-mileage%2Fup_to_80000_miles%2Fsort%2Fpriceasc%2Fpage%2F1&logcode=p

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/200950348363519/sort/priceasc/usedcars/make/ford/model/focus/quantity-of-doors/3/body-type/hatchback/transmission/manual/fuel-type/diesel/maximum-age/up_to_5_years_old/maximum-mileage/up_to_80000_miles/radius/1501/postcode/bt797bl/page/2?previous=%2Fsearch%2Fresults%2Fusedcars%2Fpostcode%2Fbt797bl%2Fradius%2F1501%2Fmake%2Fford%2Fmodel%2Ffocus%2Fquantity-of-doors%2F3%2Fbody-type%2Fhatchback%2Ftransmission%2Fmanual%2Ffuel-type%2Fdiesel%2Fmaximum-age%2Fup_to_5_years_old%2Fmaximum-mileage%2Fup_to_80000_miles%2Fsort%2Fpriceasc%2Fpage%2F2&logcode=p

AFAIK there's two models of that engine... a 90 HP and a 110 HP with the 110 HP one being heavily recommended. Would a 3 door come in 90 HP only?.

bazz26

Yes the Focus 1.6 TDCi is a PSA/Ford co designed unit along with the 2.0 TDCi. The only Ford TDCi unit in the Focus is the 1.8 litre. Afaik the 1.6 TDCi 90bhp was only sold in the very basic model Focus in the UK.

The easiest way to check is look at the V5 document of each car, the engine power output is normally listed in kilowatts.

90bhp = 66kw
110bhp = 80kw

I would definately think the Titanium model would be 110bhp, not so sure about the Zetec model though.

Stky10

Stky10 wrote: »

Both can be bought in the UK for about £4k relatively easily (not many examples of them here). I'm guessing VRT should be relatively small as well for a car of that age.

So, I'm wondering whats the performance and reliability of both engines and car of the two?. Also is there another alternative I haven't thought of?

This is only an alternative so no one bite my head off
£4K would get you a minty, low mileage MG ZR / Rover 25 (3 door hatches) or MG ZS / Rover 45 (saloons and 5 door hatches) 2.0 diesel in the UK, they use the L series engine which is basically bullet proof. Handling of the ZR or ZS with the L series is exceptionally good.

Stky10

bazz26 wrote: »

I would definately think the Titanium model would be 110bhp, not so sure about the Zetec model though.

Checked out the Parkers website after reading some other threads here, and yeah you can get both the Zetec and Titanium in a 110hbp 1.6Hdi 3-door.

Hope to get my current car NCT'd and sold within a month or two and we'll see whats available then.

In many cases due to duel madd flywheels and turbo/engine problems on modern common rail engines the tax and fuel savings in running a modern diesel can be gobbled up in extra maintenance and repair costs, certainly something to be considered.

bazz26

RoverJames wrote: »

In many cases due to duel madd flywheels and turbo/engine problems on modern common rail engines the tax and fuel savings in running a modern diesel can be gobbled up in extra maintenance and repair costs, certainly something to be considered.

I'm on my second TDCi/HDi engine, one a Focus and currently a S40, both have been trouble free and have clocked up thousands of miles on them. Petrol engines while mainly less complex upto now have their problems too but new ones are going down the same road of advanced technology such as direct injection and forced induction, etc to make them more fuel efficent and kinder to the environment.

Unfortunately new technology has to be tested but testing in a controlled environment has it's limits.

bazz26

bazz26 wrote: »

and forced induction.

#

As in turbo or super charging
Neither are hugely popular on you average new small/ family repmobile petrol car.