[TW]Fox;29050296 said:
Its common sense that a car with a turbo, dpf and high pressure injection system is more likely to suffer issues with these items than a car which is not fitted with any of them. Its also common sense that the older a car gets the more likely it is to develop faults.
Your continued failure to grasp this is amusing.
Its not even an anti diesel thing, start fitting petrol engines with high pressure direct injection systems and they then have similar potential.
All of that, apart from the middle bit, I entirely agree with.
Your first point though, yes, of course they are more likely to have issues with them due to them being present. And the older they get, again more likely.
But that is far from being "guaranteed" to be an issue, which is what is most commonly purported on this site. Every thread suggesting / looking for a higher mileage diesel is littered with words such as WILL and not words such as MAY. It is commonly said on here that old diesels WILL cost more than old petrols. Which is fundamentally wrong.
Of course you could have an older higher mileage car and get no problems, but statistically speaking the newer and lower mileage a car, the less likely it is to need repair. So cheaper repairs (like for like) and less likelihood of it needing them.
I did agree with that.
While "Will cost less" might not be entirely accurate "may cost less" downplays the simple fact of cheaper repairs and sound statistical likelihood.
Sound based on what? Internet myths?
OP is doing the right thing by looking at Mondeos and Volvos - while there's still a chance of something like a DMF failure, the age and mileage will help mitigate it.
Again agreed, as these cars will likely be newer with less miles. As I said earlier. It's like your trying to disagree with what I said by making out like I am saying something different.
Incidentally, on the point of the DMF - it's no wonder your points are "ignored" as they make little sense. Yes a DMF as a part is only a few hundred quid, but they're not replaced as a matter of course while the clutch is being done. When they fail and need replaced, it's just common sense to replace the clutch at the same time. DMF failures are extremely rare on petrols but pretty common on diesels. So even if your clutch is fine, you still get lumped with an £800-£1000 bill to replace it and the clutch. You miss the point pretty badly on that one.
Depends on the car obviously. Most of the Audi petrol offerings, for example, also run turbos, and as such have a decent chance of burning through DMF's too. EVERY car mentioned here, whether petrol or diesel, runs a DMF when in manual guise, so they all have them. And it's not just torque that kills them, but driving style too. I have had to replace exactly 2 DMF's in my time. One on a Petrol and one on a diesel. So in my experience (over having 30+ cars over my driving history of 400,00+ miles) is that they are statistically equal.
You can buy turbos on ebay for £100 though, so therefore they only cost £100 more to fix than a petrol.
This is not my point at all. When I compare prices I usually only look at the cost of new parts. And then fitting costs with a reasonable indy. But it is a fairly decent example non the less, as to why it is not necessarily a £1000 bill for a turbo failure.
Sorry, been trying not to start any BMW vs Audi or Diesel vs Petrol arguments. I know that buying a car is a bit of a lottery in that you can get a "good un" that will do a million miles or a "bad un" that will be nothing but trouble...
I was just trying to find general experiences and suggestions for a compromise between all out economy and low running costs versus a little luxury in the cabin, due to hours spent in the car.
I'm really happy with the recommendations received, I'm going to see the Mondeo and Volvo this weekend and can then compare to the A4/BMW 3 series.
TBH, I was also looking for someone to talk me out of the 100k miles A5 as I think its a lovely looking car and was getting a little carried away with it, but need to be fairly sensible as 10k is a lot of money for me and it needs to last a good 4-5 years...
These threads always end up like this. Most people shouting that diesels are inherently unreliable and expensive, and myself arguing that I have never seen this trend (there are a few others, who are generally quieter that only pop up occasionally though). Wouldn't worry about it.
To be fair, probably the best way around your quandry is to try and find a diesel BMW with less than 60k on it, and get the BMW warranty. Then you have the peace of mind of a relatively good priced, comprehensive warranty, so know you will be covered. This, of course, will be difficult on your budget though.
In lieu of that, the newer Mondeo / Volvo should make a good compromise. I recently looked at mk4 Mondeos for a second car, and whilst I didn't go for one in the end, in the right spec, they would be a nice place to sit for the sort of miles you are doing. Perhaps not quite as nice as an A4/3 series, but really not that far behind when considering the other benefits you get from a newer, lower mileage car.
The A5 wouldn't ever really have been the appropriate car for you.
