Decent diesel for under 5k?

[novathere]

Ive got a 2014 ford c-max titanium x and while its lovely and has tones of bits I've totally fell out of love with it. Rather chop it in and get something for half the price, any recommendations?..

Bit of luxury wouldn't go a miss but mostly after something reliable more than anything.

[ShawnAzzopardi]

E46 320d? My mate had one, and in all the years he's owned it, it never gave him any trouble. He's sold it and gotten an E90 320d now, but he's itching to buy another E46.

I'd say a Clio like mine with a 1.5dCi. I know a couple people who own one and they all said that they never gave them trouble or anything of the sort.

[Stuart]

Passat estate. Not a sporty version.
soft, like a lounge and decent enough.

there are no luxury cars at any price lol

[House]

I paid £8950 for a 34k miles 10 plate Passat R line, 110 Bhp model. £400 re-map to 170bhp and nearly 300ft/lb, complete gangster car, 65-70 mpg at 65mph motorway cruising, 50-55mpg at 80-90 motorway thrashing.

Tows the trailer with the car on it really well and it's big enough to fold the seats down and put a single air bed in the back for track days and it carries all the work tools, love it!!!

Had it 13 months now on 80k, just had to change the clutch cos the lad tried to move the car with the electronic handbrake on, drove it 240 metres with the handbrake on, unfortunately cos it's clever it knew the hand brake was on and the car was moving so it applied the brakes aswell, the lad carried on just gunning the throttle!!! Safe to say he hasn't been paid this month!!!

Other than that love it, 20k mile service intervals too!!

[EwanG]

If you want hastle buy a ford,Vauxhall or any French junk etc. I would recommend anything German. Vw Audi seat Skoda Merc. I have had my vw golf 9 years and only need tyres and brakes. Vauxhall,fords,French are all just thrown together with no proper engineering included. All these cheap cars are cheap for a reason! Buy cheap buy thrice budget junk! German
ftw any age 👌

[Southie]

You've had a cmax for a reason so was was that? Just get a higher spec focus imo that should do you.

[Will F]

As already said, don't buy junk.
buy a slightly older German marque...
e92 320d, Passat tdi estate, b7 Audi A4 tdi

[NovalutionGSi]

You've had a cmax for a reason so was was that?

This right here. Is there a need for a C-Max sized car?

I'm going to through this out there but any Modern car is thrown together, just some aren't as bad as others.
We've got a GTD golf now which although isn't in your budget I'd go the route House has suggested. I'd also put forward a mk5 Astra 1.9 cdti 16v, the 150bhp model, however, here's the list of stuff to watch for...
Cim module - horn doesn't work with lights on - recall work...
Gearbox bearings - movement in gear stick in 1st, 2nd, 5th & 6th.
Dual mass flywheel - change with the above
Egr and swirl flap - delete and remap!
Alternator - recon swap is cheapest option.

Other than that, they are well built lovely cars......honest!

[Mike]

As already said, don't buy junk.
buy a slightly older German marque...
e92 320d, Passat tdi estate, b7 Audi A4 tdi

This.

I own an A4 B7 TDi, have put over 60k miles on it across 7 different countries in the last 3 years without any real drama at all. To date, its the best bloody car ive ever owned! And with a garanteed (as ive done it on the A16 out of Calias lol) Top speed of 139mph, the 2.0 TDi isnt that slow either.

My only regret is not buying the 3.0 V6 TDi instead lol (233bhp as standard).

Edit: thats a lie, 1 major drama lol had a new tin top roof skin £foc under Audi Corrosion Warranty, 3 months of driving around in courtesy cars. Other then that, great commuter cars.

[paul james]

If its going to be a sensible diesel, just spend £1k on something and have £4k spare for holidays, nova spending, cakes and beers! Thats what I would do anyway :)

[Will F]

This.

I own an A4 B7 TDi, have put over 60k miles on it across 7 different countries in the last 3 years without any real drama at all. To date, its the best bloody car ive ever owned! And with a garanteed (as ive done it on the A16 out of Calias lol) Top speed of 139mph, the 2.0 TDi isnt that slow either.

My only regret is not buying the 3.0 V6 TDi instead lol (233bhp as standard).

Edit: thats a lie, 1 major drama lol had a new tin top roof skin £foc under Audi Corrosion Warranty, 3 months of driving around in courtesy cars. Other then that, great commuter cars.

B7 avant tdi is nearly perfect for me. Unfortunately they're just too small for an estate.. I'm being forced to look at b8s.. My b6 pd130 has been the best car I've owned for what it does... 50 mpg 125mph and drives like it's done 50k miles. Not 196k

[L14MNP]

I have had a 2009 mk4 Mondeo 2.0 TDCi 140 Titanium X for two years.now and piled the miles on.
It is on 176k, drives more like 50k, has more toys and is bigger than anything and I mean anything of a similar age and price and it has only ever asked for servicing and a set of tyres.
Peugeot diesel engines, so no mk3 DMF issues.

I only paid £3800 for mine, 1 previous owner, ex company car, FFSH etc but I got a bargain.

You would be foolish to look past them. Especially in favour of overpriced and 'better' poverty stricken , unreliable German rubbish.

[Mike]

unreliable German rubbish.

I fail to see any truth in this comment, considering theres always super high milage (200k++) VAGs for sale on ebay that are only around 8yrs old. Wheres as most breakers yards now are full of 8 to 10 yr old Vaux, Ford & French stuff with 120k miles.....

[Mike]

B7 avant tdi is nearly perfect for me. Unfortunately they're just too small for an estate.. I'm being forced to look at b8s.. My b6 pd130 has been the best car I've owned for what it does... 50 mpg 125mph and drives like it's done 50k miles. Not 196k

A friend of mine has got a B7 Avant Black Edition, fully loaded thing with RNSE, leathers, changer etc all that lark. I think its huge inside compared to a Saloon like mine! Only downside to saloons is folding rear seats was optional extra and most dont have them.

If i could find another low milage B7 (mine was on 43k when i got it) id have another without a doubt. Not keen on the big clunky doors handles on a B8 :( but most for sale are really well spec'd!

Once im back from America it'll either be another A4 or maybe a Merc C250 AMG.

But as a commuter car, compared to the Corsa C SRi CDTi i had, VAG is the way forward IMO.

[Jack]

After being in a similar boat, twice, we settled on a 2.2TDCi Mondeo TitX. It's actually a surprisingly decent car, for the price vs spec/age/mileage there was nothing in the audi or BMW range - you'd need to spend twice as much to get something similar. Yes the build quality is crap but hey ho I can live with that.

Previously we had a T180 Avensis, again similar to the Ford where nothing could touch it for price/spec/age/mileage. Very underestimated car IMO; whilst the Ford does drive a bit better, the Avensis is light years ahead in build quality and thanks to typical fruity Toyota suspension it actually handles well for a fat beast. Mike may well praise his A4 which was the same age as our old T180 but I seem to remember he paid a lot more for the Audi and then the roof fell off lol

[Mike]

Mike may well praise his A4 which was the same age as our old T180 but I seem to remember he paid a lot more for the Audi and then the roof fell off lol

Yea pretty much accurate. I paid £12.5k for mine, a 57 plate A4 2.0 TDi S Line that had 43k miles on it in 2013, and it was the lowest milage one i could find for sale in the country. At that time 100k mile models were around 8k. Where as now there more like 4 to 5k. However, VAG TDi's hold there resale value really well compared to most other marques.

[Will F]

Plus the VAG PD engines and later derivatives (apart from the earlier oil pump issues) are good for 300k. Ive done nearly 200k on the original turbo and clutch

[Mike]

Plus the VAG PD engines and later derivatives (apart from the earlier oil pump issues) are good for 300k. Ive done nearly 200k on the original turbo and clutch

Did you see on the Audi facebook page the other week that Swedish 2.5 TDi Audi 80 that hit 1 million miles on its original engine lol lol

[Will F]

Ha - no, but I can totally see how. Regular (ish) oil is all they need!