Modern Diesels

I have to drive from Grantham to Plymouth this afternoon in a 2011 diesel golf, I'm wearing a full bomb disposal suit in case it blows up, and I've remortgaged one of the houses to make sure I've got some funds available to pay for the 100% nailed on certainty that it will break down in catastrophic fashion on the way down.

Surely the manufacturers should put warning labels on these cars stating that they are guaranteed to blow up the second you turn the key?
 
Ill answer this from a vauxhall perspective seeing as that's what I ran for long enough


The 1.9 cdti does have issues
Clutch and dmf s have been known to fail from pretty much any mileage swirl flaps fail in the inlet they eat alternators and they have know. Issues with the injectors and egr valves etc


I taxied a 06 plate vectra 1.9 cdti 150 modified with a tuning box and remap putting out 200+ bhp and over 300 lbs/ft torque i ritually abused it basically gave it a very hard life over the near 300 thousand miles It covered

Big bills I encountered
1x alternator at 100k miles - £70 rebuild
1x clutch and flywheel at 145k miles £800 genuine parts
1x inlet manifold at 180k miles £200 genuine parts

And I had to pop the egr off once and clean it before it was deleted when the car was mapped


Personally speaking apart from clutch/dmf issues the problems encountered by modern diesels seem to be niggly little issues that can be easily fixed if your in any way competent I was lucky with mine but I still advocate that a modern diesel as long as its allowed to stretch its legs every so often to avoid sooting up is fine

But for a £400 a year saving I'd be inclined to loot at the 140 bhp petrol options or better yet a 1.8 bifuel (Vaux offered factory fitted lpg kits)
 
mine tdi (130) passat 52 plate

has been in our family since new and has now done 157,000 and the only problem so far apart normal service items was the rear shocks needed replacing.

so its still a ticking time bomb?
 
No, because the earlier 1.9TDI engines have very little of the rubbish that causes all the problems. They are not commonrail either. You have one of the last of the dependable diesels. Hang onto it!
 
[TW]Fox;24155606 said:
No, because the earlier 1.9TDI engines have very little of the rubbish that causes all the problems. They are not commonrail either. You have one of the last of the dependable diesels. Hang onto it!
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thanks foxs:D
 
233 said:
Vectra 1.8 petrol - 39 mpg x £1.30.9/litre x 20000 miles = £2995 to fuel a year


Vectra 1.9 diesel 48 mpg x£1.36.7/litre x20000 miles £2586 a year to fuel,


£400 a year saving in fuel, will the diesel honestly throw up £400 a year less in bills? it might it might not. but all it takes one fault to cost you the equivilant of 2 years fuel savings
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lol no way is a vectra 1.8 doing 39 mpg

my diesel does about 42 mixed driving

if you want a family diesel stick to a common brand such as ford or vauxhall all parts easily available and most garages know all the common problems
 
DannyW said:
lol no way is a vectra 1.8 doing 39 mpg

my diesel does about 42 mixed driving

if you want a family diesel stick to a common brand such as ford or vauxhall all parts easily available and most garages know all the common problems
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the above was the official combined figures for both if your diesel you mention is a Vectra its either a 3l v6 cdti or somethings not right with it,

I used to get that out of mine with constant urban stop start taxi work
 
So far everything that's gone wrong with my 2L TDCi mk3 Mondeo hasn't been diesel specific so for me, technically, the fuel savings are still in my favour.

Probably tempted fate now! :rolleyes:
 
Irish_Tom said:
So far everything that's gone wrong with my 2L TDCi mk3 Mondeo hasn't been diesel specific so for me, technically, the fuel savings are still in my favour.

Probably tempted fate now! :rolleyes:
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awaits an Irish_Tom post titled spec me a DMF/intercooler/turbo/injectors replacement. :)
 
233 said:
could be worse m8, you could be like me and own a Peugeot. mines is 2 months old and i'm amazed it hasn't went on fire yet
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Don't say that, I've just bought a 407 2.0 HDi :p

My unscientific browsing seems to flag up them having slightly fewer inevitable diesel-related problems than their peers and the cam belt has long intervals between changes.

Also had a go in a Vectra 1.9 SRi and was shocked at how badly put together it was inside. Quite possibly the cheapest interior I've ever seen this side of a Yugo I drove 22 years ago.

Now all I have to do is hope that the £100/month I put aside covers me for insurance, servicing and any repairs that might breach the legendary French reliability!
 
mulpsmebeauty said:
Don't say that, I've just bought a 407 2.0 HDi :p

My unscientific browsing seems to flag up them having slightly fewer inevitable diesel-related problems than their peers and the cam belt has long intervals between changes.

Also had a go in a Vectra 1.9 SRi and was shocked at how badly put together it was inside. Quite possibly the cheapest interior I've ever seen this side of a Yugo I drove 22 years ago.

Now all I have to do is hope that the £100/month I put aside covers me for insurance, servicing and any repairs that might breach the legendary French reliability!
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lol its French, engine will be perfect. everything remotely electrical will fail. my last 205 actually covered more miles on the back of recovery trucks than it did under its own power. my old man has a cracking 205 though, but its done 53 miles in 4 years :( wasted.


yup the vectras are cheap and nasty inside although the facelift (2006 onwards) are a bit of an improvement. in regards to the pug cambelt intervals ignore what Peugeot tell you and do it every 60k at most. simply not worth the risk
 
atpbx said:
I have to drive from Grantham to Plymouth this afternoon in a 2011 diesel golf, I'm wearing a full bomb disposal suit in case it blows up, and I've remortgaged one of the houses to make sure I've got some funds available to pay for the 100% nailed on certainty that it will break down in catastrophic fashion on the way down.

Surely the manufacturers should put warning labels on these cars stating that they are guaranteed to blow up the second you turn the key?
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Yeah I wish too, 70k on my Fiat 1.9JTD I am still waiting for the water pump and cambelt to fly apart every 30k, the injectors to clog, DPF to fail and the DMF to destroy itself.

As I had it from new I can say it has had an alternator and new battery, it is 6 years old now. As for the DPF hysteria, mine required a temperature sensor at 65k which cost 18 pounds. I am of an age when I remember catalytic converters coming in. Everyone was so anti and you could find numerous people who said one had failed at great cost. There were pipes to remove them etc, now nobody talks about them. How much does a Cat cost to replace on your petrol car? Many have pre-cats etc. They work and sometimes fail, but cost a hell of a lot less to replace nowadays.


If DPF was as unreliable as being portrayed I am sure we would be seeing a lot of recalls or lawsuits published. They are not perfect yet, but will be as insignificant in diesel car reliability chat as Catalysts are to petrol car reliability chat nowadays.

Why did I buy a diesel? Well I started doing 26k a year but things change after 18 months to only 7k a year. Looking at this forum I should have immediately got rid of my ticking time bomb. I kept it, but economy I doubt it saves me much, I would have still chose it because it drove better than the 1.6 petrol alternative. The 1.6 achieves 35mpg urban when I get about 42mpg urban. But I have a much better equipment level, 4WD and a 6-speed box. The residuals are far better too, being worth about 2k more than the petrol model at it's age.

There is a general downer on diesels on this forum because people prefer the performance of a petrol. I do to in general with a V6 petrol car for fun. However there are cars that actually suit diesel engines better, or the diesel engines are of more modern spec than the petrols in the range. I personally would not consider a 4x4 in petrol as you need the torque rather than the bhp, imo.

I know I will get flamed for saying it, but it is like telling someone to buy a 1990 pre-cat Escort petrol as opposed to a Zetec Focus because their are less potential bills.
 
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