Split between diesels

MouthBoy

MouthBoy

MouthBoy

Soldato
Joined
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Cambridgeshire
Howdy all,

I posted a while ago asking about diesels, mainly looking at the SEAT Leon TDi range. My budget has now grown since then to upto £8k and I am looking at a wider range of cars. I need something that can do 1600miles a month comfortiably and return good miles per gallon. My ATR currently returns 26mpg so anything is an improvement! :D

I have been looking at BMW 320ds and Volvo S40 2.0d's. I drove a really smooth and nice BMW 320d the other night and I was impressed. It was a 55plate and had done 93k miles. It is up for £7,750 which I think is a lot for the milage but it seriously looked mint. Book says it returns 62mpg on the motorway, which is where I spend 95% of my driving.

I have looked at Mazda3s too and I did like driving it, but something felt missing, maybe because it felt too small? I like my Saloon or long hatchback cars.

So yea, what you guys think?
 
Looking at the S60s, I just dont like the look of them. I have been in a few (not as a driver) and not found it comfortable.

A 325d or 330d would be nice, but what can I get decent for £8000? The 320d I looked at had all the toys.
 
If you like a Mazda3 then the additional running costs of a BMW are a waste of time.

Why not buy a Mazda6 or something? It's a bigger Mazda3 :p

Alternatively, why not keep the Honda Accord Type R? The thousands of pounds you wont spend on buying and then fixing a diesel will buy a lot of fuel.
 
LPG the accord if your doing enough miles to recoup the initial outlay costs and dont want to drive something that doesnt rev past 5k :)

or consider a skoda octavia oil burner, your almost knocking on the door of the price of a decent mk2 octavia vrs at 8k leggy ones start around 5.5-6k avoid the dsg box on anything with lots of miles

or consider something a bit left field? maybe a saab 1.9 twin turbo diesel? but if your tempted by one go buy a vectra instead. same car
 
smeaney said:
A 325d or 330d would be nice, but what can I get decent for £8000? The 320d I looked at had all the toys.
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No idea what you mean by "all the toys", but I doubt it was "fully loaded" for £8k.

I assume it had the "must haves" of idrive/nav, and leather?
 
paradigm said:
No idea what you mean by "all the toys", but I doubt it was "fully loaded" for £8k.

I assume it had the "must haves" of idrive/nav, and leather?
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It had everything bar the iDrive, although I have just found another one in black with iDrive for less money with only 86k on the clock.
 
paradigm said:
Wow, rare to have radar guided cruise and no idrive.
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I see where you are going with that.

My car history is a Primera GT, Celica GT and the ATR. I want as much comfort as I can, but not a bad looker either and something that I really wont mind spending a lot of hours in.
 
Well that one you linked to is pretty paltry in terms of spec, quite the opposite end of the spectrum to "all the toys" :p
 
smeaney said:
I see where you are going with that.

My car history is a Primera GT, Celica GT and the ATR. I want as much comfort as I can, but not a bad looker either and something that I really wont mind spending a lot of hours in.
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Volvo S60. Seriously. Much more comfortable than anything German at this price range (without being stupid).
 
All the toys, it has literally no toys, it's even on those awful alloys :p

The fact you keep indicating you'd be satisfied with 'lesser' cars makes me think the BMW is a pointless buy. It'll cost you more to run and more to fix when it breaks. I happily pay to fix my broken BMW as and when because for me nothing else will do but as you seem to like things like the Volvo S40, buying something like that will get you a newer car for your budget.
 
Any particular reason you want an S40? I posted faster, better equipped and newer S60s for the same money :p

Bigger wheels does not a more comfortable ride make.

smeaney said:
Looking at the MPG, they are around 6-8mpg lower then others I am looking at though...
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True, but it's worth the sacrifice IMHO. Depends on what your priority is here. Uber MPG or comfort.
And if you want uber MPG, a Volvo diesel isn't the place to look.
 
[TW]Fox;20781288 said:
So? Have you sat down and quantified the difference 6mpg actually makes?
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I have felt the drop from 32mpg from my primera to the ATR at 26mpg if that helps.

Regarding the S40, I think it looks really nice and the MPG isnt overly bad.

As you can probably all tell, I am a little confused. I am honestly taking all your opinions in btw, I am just digesting them all.
 
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