£3k diesel ?

CSA

CSA

CSA

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Im looking at selling the wifes bus (03 scenic) and buying a diesel hatch,i was really set on a 307 HDI but a mate suggested they where utter pants,so ive had a quick search on these forums this morning and most ppl seem to agree

are the 307s really that bad ?

if so then i'll have to change my plans,ive got a budget of around 3k,really want a diesel hatchback with high MPG & insurance group under 15

looked at

MK1 ford focus
V Astra
VW Golf (very high Ins group)


anything else i should be looking at ?

thanks for reading :)




EDIT: after a chat with the missus our budget has increased to £4K max
 
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well i do a 30 mile round trip every couple of days , some times every day

we want the diesel obviously for better MPG and my wife actually learned to drive and pass her test recently in a diesel and she much prefers the way they drive to our petrol motor
 
With that sort of mileage I'd expect any diesel to cost more to run than the equivalent petrol. Plus it'll cost more to buy and generally has more to go wrong in it.
 
CSA said:
well i do a 30 mile round trip every couple of days , some times every day

we want the diesel obviously for better MPG and my wife actually learned to drive and pass her test recently in a diesel and she much prefers the way they drive to our petrol motor
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All fair enough comments. I just try and avoid suggesting diesels to those who so lots of short trips as they tend to me disappointed by the economy

From your list I think a Mk1 TDCi Focus is the best bet. £3k should get a nice one of those but would buy a less appealing Golf.
 
CSA said:
well i do a 30 mile round trip every couple of days , some times every day

we want the diesel obviously for better MPG and my wife actually learned to drive and pass her test recently in a diesel and she much prefers the way they drive to our petrol motor
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Ignore the petrol versus diesel posts, rather ask yourself does it have to be hatchback, if you can make any kind of argument against a hatch, buy a Mondeo.
 
Peerzy said:
With that sort of mileage I'd expect any diesel to cost more to run than the equivalent petrol. Plus it'll cost more to buy and generally has more to go wrong in it.
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But preferring the way a diesel drives is a big deciding factor.

The low down shove of a diesel is achievable with a petrol but only of the turbo charged variety which is likely to come with big running costs attached.

I'm quite happy to jump from my car into my gf's and drive it in a completely different way (hers only just starts to wake up at 4500 rpm whilst my one is pushing about 200bhp by that point) but she finds that having to rev a car that hard feels very alien to her and as such complains that it feels slow whilst up shifting at 3000 rpm.
 
wouldnt the short trip MPG of a diesel be similar to a petrol ? but with the longer trips id get the added advantage of the higher MPG ?
 
Loads of cars turn out to technically be hatchbacks, but a Mondeo isn't a 'proper' hatchback like the golf, which I think the OP means when he thinks of a hatchback.
 
CSA said:
wouldnt the short trip MPG of a diesel be similar to a petrol ? but with the longer trips id get the added advantage of the higher MPG ?
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Pretty much yes.

The reason that a petrol makes more sense for short journeys isn't limited to the MPG, it takes into consideration the general cost of ownership ie servicing, original purchase cost etc. and the arguable lower potential for big bills from a standard petrol engined car. No turbo to go pop, expensive injectors to die for example.
 
godinman said:
Loads of cars turn out to technically be hatchbacks, but a Mondeo isn't a 'proper' hatchback like the golf, which I think the OP means when he thinks of a hatchback.
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I guess by "proper" hatch backs you mean the flat backed variety? It is interesting how people separate out cars based upon this. People often think of my car as being a similar size to a Mondeo, in reality it is based on a Golf and therefore comparable to a Focus. It is just perceived to be bigger because of the sloped back and slightly longer rear overhang.
 
lordrobs said:
I guess by "proper" hatch backs you mean the flat backed variety? It is interesting how people separate out cars based upon this. People often think of my car as being a similar size to a Mondeo, in reality it is based on a Golf and therefore comparable to a Focus. It is just perceived to be bigger because of the sloped back and slightly longer rear overhang.
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It may be based on the Golf Mk4 platform but it's closer in size to the Mondeo than it is to the Golf. Thus people would be fairly correct when they think of it as a similar size to a Mondeo :p
 
Kenai said:
It may be based on the Golf Mk4 platform but it's closer in size to the Mondeo than it is to the Golf. Thus people would be fairly correct when they think of it as a similar size to a Mondeo :p
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I just fired up Parkers to prove you wrong... and you are indeed correct :o :p
 
I'd guess you'd want as new as possible so with a diesel you'd be looking at higher mileage which with a diesel will be looking at maybe a cam belt change, clutch and or dmf replacement and egr replacement, not specific or only on a diesel but for £3k and 10k miles I'd be looking petrol, you'll get newer with less miles and maybe a better spec.
 
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