Advice for a cheap motorway cruiser

LiE

LiE

LiE

Caporegime
Joined
2 Aug 2005
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Location
Milton Keynes
I can't bring myself to spend more than £2k on a car that will spend it's life on the motorway 90% of the time, so I would like some suggestions if possible. It doesn't have to be really refined or such. I want something that won't break down or go wrong all the time. Thanks :)
 
"2.0TDCi 130 Zetec S 5dr Dies… " :)

Not bad at all, just check there arent any obvious flywheel/injector issues.

Mine will cruise all day at 80 returning 50mpg, motorway acelleration is superb - 4th gear gives a nice satisfying shove from 30 to 70 (perfect for sliproads :)) then slip it into 6th and cruise along at sub 2000rpm

Only thing wrong with that ad - its a Zetec, not a Zetec-S
 
msm722 said:
How would I check for flywheel/injector issues? how many miles as yours done?
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Flywheel -

If it sounds like a bag of spanners (more so than a derv normally does :D), if it struggles to start (swarf from the flywheel gets into the starter) or the clutch squeals when open, even quietly (same as above for clutch release bearing).

Cost to fix should be £600 if you shop around. Its all about how it's driven - if the current owner has had the car for a while, get him to drive you in it to see how he drives - you dont want him to be labouring it in too low a gear and making rough changes.

Injectors -

Smoke on startup (preferably cold after its been sitting for a night) means an injector is dripping into the cylinder overnight. General smokey/rough running means one has gone - push it to the redline in second, if it goes into limp home mode with the glowplug light on then one's on its way out. Injectors can be had new (genuine delphi ones) for £100 a peice or £350 for 4 and its an hour's job to fix, so max £400 to sort.

Anyone who tells you the problems will cost £1k upwards is going to main dealers, ignore them. If you get an annoying rattle/buzzing when acellerating around 2000rpm, its a very simple fix involving a cloth :)

Mine's done 55k miles, bought it at 36k. Had to do the flywheel at 50k but the previous owner was a woman who couldnt drive properly :(

No injector issues or any sign of them at all - if the car hasnt been trashed then these should last well past 150k miles. If you're lucky the flywheel will have already been done on that one as the new ones are apparently tougher.
 
Also, I dont know how common it is but the official service schedule has the air filter being changed every 25k. I had a problem where I couldnt acellerate past 2500rpm - turned out the filter was just blocked!
 
Still leaning towards the mondeo tdci as it looks like the tool for the job. I still can't get over the mileage these come with at this price, but I guess it's to be expected. What sort of mileage should I steer clear of? I'll be doing 15-18k miles a year and want to keep it for at least 3 years without having to payout a lot on repairs.
 
Hard to say. I was in a taxi the other week which was a Mondeo TDCI and it was reading 250k miles - he said it needed a new injector at about 200k and the usual worn suspension components etc but other than that it was still going fine!

I wouldnt fancy keeping one past 150k personally
 
iaind said:
Flywheel -

If it sounds like a bag of spanners (more so than a derv normally does :D), if it struggles to start (swarf from the flywheel gets into the starter) or the clutch squeals when open, even quietly (same as above for clutch release bearing).

Cost to fix should be £600 if you shop around. Its all about how it's driven - if the current owner has had the car for a while, get him to drive you in it to see how he drives - you dont want him to be labouring it in too low a gear and making rough changes.

Injectors -

Smoke on startup (preferably cold after its been sitting for a night) means an injector is dripping into the cylinder overnight. General smokey/rough running means one has gone - push it to the redline in second, if it goes into limp home mode with the glowplug light on then one's on its way out. Injectors can be had new (genuine delphi ones) for £100 a peice or £350 for 4 and its an hour's job to fix, so max £400 to sort.

Anyone who tells you the problems will cost £1k upwards is going to main dealers, ignore them. If you get an annoying rattle/buzzing when acellerating around 2000rpm, its a very simple fix involving a cloth :)

Mine's done 55k miles, bought it at 36k. Had to do the flywheel at 50k but the previous owner was a woman who couldnt drive properly :(

No injector issues or any sign of them at all - if the car hasnt been trashed then these should last well past 150k miles. If you're lucky the flywheel will have already been done on that one as the new ones are apparently tougher.
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sorry to butt in ...

You seem pretty clued up on the tdci's and i wonder if i could pick your brain.

Ive an 03 plate tdci 130 thats a bit rough at idle im told this COULD be idle tensioner belt ( is that right ? ) how complex/costly is this to fix?

Ive no reason to believe my flywheel is requiring replacing but is it something i should class as preventative maintenance and get it done regardless?

Last one, rear sub frame bushes, how much could i be looking at to replace these?

Car has 66k on the clock.

OP the mondy is a great mile muncher drove to perth and back from dumfries couple of weeks back and t'was not a problem over 2 hours sitting at 80/85 filled up on return, 50mpg average.
 
I'm not hugely clued up on them - just did my research on the common problems when I purchased mine.

I'm sure someone else will be able to answer the questions about the costs of fixing the tensioner or subframe bushes much better than me!

If the idle is rough, it could be the flywheel especially if its noisy/rattly too. As I said, mine went at 50k but thats pretty unusual. I wouldnt see it as preventative maintenance as you might get another 100k miles out of it. Its not a problem thats going to leave you stranded or cause major damage to other components. It can damage the clutch but you'd be daft not to replace that too when doing the flywheel. The only thing it can potentially damage further is the starter but if you keep an eye on it and dont leave it for ages before getting it sorted, its not going to do any lasting damage.
 
iaind said:
I'm not hugely clued up on them - just did my research on the common problems when I purchased mine.

I'm sure someone else will be able to answer the questions about the costs of fixing the tensioner or subframe bushes much better than me!

If the idle is rough, it could be the flywheel especially if its noisy/rattly too. As I said, mine went at 50k but thats pretty unusual. I wouldnt see it as preventative maintenance as you might get another 100k miles out of it. Its not a problem thats going to leave you stranded or cause major damage to other components. It can damage the clutch but you'd be daft not to replace that too when doing the flywheel. The only thing it can potentially damage further is the starter but if you keep an eye on it and dont leave it for ages before getting it sorted, its not going to do any lasting damage.
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Cheers for that, going on that its most likely the flywheel thats needing done, and yeah the clutch would get done at the same time.

I've put 40ish k on it in a couple of years and the better half learnt to drive in it so will blame her for the flywheel issue:D

I was aware of these issues before purchase but the figures for repairing them vary wildly, like you demonstrated with the injectors. When I was hunting them some bloke I know was giving me the ' i know everything about cars ' lecture and, according to him, injectors was a 'nigh on 2k job mate.. you'd be mad to risk it':rolleyes:
 
Thats the sort of crap that gets spouted all the time about these, and fortunately it affects the value of them so sensible people can get a good deal.

I'd take it to a gearbox/clutch specialist for them to confirm the flywheel is on its way. I paid £650 to have mine done, you could probably get it for 600 by shopping around -thats with OE parts and a 2 year warranty on them, full clutch kit and dual mass flywheel.

I could have replaced it with a solid one but it would affect the ride and probably wouldnt be very good for the gearbox
 
406 isnt a bad shout - if you get a high spec one with the comfy leather interior they're great at wafting. Just watch out for the ones with the particulate filter (do they all have it?), they can be problematic.
 
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