Best used diesel, under 5k

squarehead94 · 9 May 2020 at 02:10

As per title. Looking to upgrade in a few months time.
Do around 15k miles per year, including deliveries so reliability is essential, as is fuel economy.

Not interested in small hatchbacks, looking more saloon and a bit more of a grown up car.

Mileage isnt necessarily an issue, providing it's a well kept example.

Under 30/year VED/tax

Under 5 years old

45mpg+ on mixed driving

Something that parts dont cost an arm and a leg for.

So my first thought was either a skoda rapid or a seat toledo 1.6 tdi (although technically a hatchback, it's got a decent enough size boot and has the looks of a saloon car. I'm not 100% certain on the reliability of the 1.6 diesels (looking at 15/65 plates) but open to other suggestions, I may have missed some gems. Surely if they are usually taxis they cant be that unreliable?

Thanks

[TW]Fox · 9 May 2020 at 09:27

If reliability is essential don't buy a cheap diesel.

squarehead94 · 9 May 2020 at 14:12

[TW]Fox said:
If reliability is essential don't buy a cheap diesel.

Aye, tell that to every taxi, private hire firm, business car company across the globe... theres plenty of reliable diesels out there, the old PD vag engines are well known to hit 3-400k without major hiccups.

mjt · 9 May 2020 at 14:23

squarehead94 said:
Aye, tell that to every taxi, private hire firm, business car company across the globe... theres plenty of reliable diesels out there, the old PD vag engines are well known to hit 3-400k without major hiccups.

Well there's your answer. Buy the best PD Vag engine you can for £5k.

[TW]Fox · 9 May 2020 at 17:45

squarehead94 said:
Aye, tell that to every taxi, private hire firm, business car company across the globe...

Why, do they all run cheap high mileage diesels? Some do perhaps but most dont.

bJN · 9 May 2020 at 19:02

squarehead94 said:
Aye, tell that to every taxi, private hire firm, business car company across the globe... theres plenty of reliable diesels out there, the old PD vag engines are well known to hit 3-400k without major hiccups.

Most taxi firms I know use brand new cars for two or three years and then dump them because they've got moon miles in that space of time. And an awful lot are hybrids or electric (9 times out of 10 a Prius) and not diesel.

Not saying your requirements can't be met, but they seem a bit hopeful at best for £5k. Also 15k miles is perfectly doable in petrols still...

Nasher · 9 May 2020 at 20:59

I think there are rules about how old taxis can be now too.

Cookeh · 9 May 2020 at 21:04

15k with lots of short journeys (deliveries) and you want a diesel? Mad. Definitely be looking at petrol for that and to meet your reliability requirement. Avensis, Accord, Octavia or Mondeo (these also work for diesel). I'd personally take Accord out of those, but they're all much of a muchness.

Nasher · 9 May 2020 at 21:07

Yep. Take something small/light and petrol. Also something simple. It will be cheap to run and maintain and easier to sell on later. Don't buy a massive Merc/BMW/Audi with loads of expensive stuff to break (and it will).

Armageus · 9 May 2020 at 21:34

Lol at £30/year VED being a requirement as if VED is a huge part of a car's running costs.

Buy a petrol focus and be done with it

Uncle_Gravy · 9 May 2020 at 22:11

Dad recently got a 2l Focus C Max tdci with like 150k miles on it for £800 as a run around, and besides the initial egr issue which was quickly rectified, it's been a solid car for the last few months we've had it, bloody pulls strong, very surprising brick on wheels.

I probably just look at a Focus/mondeo, it'll be cheap to maintain no doubt.

opstrat · 9 May 2020 at 23:29

plenty of the 1.0 litre ecoboost focus on auto trader with £20/£30 ved

squarehead94 · 12 May 2020 at 23:47

opstrat said:
plenty of the 1.0 litre ecoboost focus on auto trader with £20/£30 ved

Did like the look of them tbh however I know a few people that have them and get ***** mpg, like 35mpg and they arent exactly caning it.

Fusion · 13 May 2020 at 06:48

Hmmm. You'd be best relaxing at least one of your requirements. Being less than 5 years old, sub-£30 road tax, diesel, reliable AND cheap is going to be a bit of a struggle.

Have a look at real MPG figures on the likes of Honest John and make some calculations as to how much your fuel bill will actually be. Even 35mpg from a petrol isn't that bad, as petrol tends to be cheaper than diesel (Morrison's are doing it for 99.9p/litre at the minute!). The sub-£30 road tax requirement is always a weird one. Is an extra £9/10 a month for road tax really going to break the bank? You could easily get a random issue on the car (wouldn't even have to be anything major) that would wipe out your road tax saving for a year.

Armageus · 13 May 2020 at 06:57

squarehead94 said:
Did like the look of them tbh however I know a few people that have them and get ***** mpg, like 35mpg and they arent exactly caning it.

Must be broken then as mine achieves 45mpg easily on my short commute

HangTime · 13 May 2020 at 17:21

mjt said:
Well there's your answer. Buy the best PD Vag engine you can for £5k.

Doesn't fit his criteria of under 5 years old I think (might be wrong).

squarehead94 · 13 May 2020 at 17:53

HangTime said:
Doesn't fit his criteria of under 5 years old I think (might be wrong).

No it doesnt. I wouldnt mind 14 plate onwards really but the reliable PD motors were phased out long before then.

NVP · 13 May 2020 at 21:37

skookum · 17 May 2020 at 03:19

Two of our Toyota Avensis reached 500k on the taxi circuit. One was on the original clutch until 350k!! By far the most reliable cars we ever had.

Nasher said:
I think there are rules about how old taxis can be now too.

It varies from local authority to local authority. Also some firms place a maximum age on their vehicles.

Our local authority says the car must be under 4 years at first taxi plating. It can then be re-plated without a break for as long as the licensing officer sees fit. Usually you get a 6 months warning of they will not re-plate it.

It is entirely possible to go 10 years but rare. As long as you demonstrate good servicing, the car is kept in good condition and it passes its twice yearly Hackney test 5-6 years is about average.

I buy new and retire around 5 year mark. However if it is still good often another driver will have them off me as a Saturday night special. As I only drive 8 seaters they can go on a long time if just running revellers around at weekends and earn good money even when old.

Haggisman · 18 May 2020 at 18:34

What's your daily mileage and do you have somewhere to charge? A 22kw Zoe potentially fits all of the requirements except for "diesel", and will take start-stop delivery work better than any ICE engine!