Cheaper E46 diesels - bad idea?

[iaind]

I'm fairly sure the answer is going to be "yes" but thought I'd ask just in case I was mising something obvious.

I posted a while ago about switching to a diesel due to a new job which involved more mileage. I came to the conclusion that spending 4k on top of the value of my IS200 wasn't the best way to save money so left being quite keen on the idea of an LPG conversion. However, I realised that's still ploughing a grand at my current car in order to save money so thought about selling mine and just buying something of the same value. I put an advert up and have had a fair bit of interest, should have about 3k to spend. Current preference is the a4 1.9 tdi, found some really nice examples of those and the PD engine should be pretty reliable.

However, I've also come across a few tidy looking e46 diesels - but would these really save me much money over my current car? I know there are potential issues with swirl flaps and turbos. I've found a 2005 320d touring with 84k miles within budget which seems too cheap! But it's a later model so should be less prone to turbo or swirl flap issues.

There's also a 2002 330d manual saloon just around the corner with 114k miles. That's got to be a money pit, right?

Talk me out of it, please!

 

[iaind]

Unless the change in mileage is massive, keeping your current car normally works out the cheapest option, if that's your only motivation. Have you done the sums?

Yep. As I said I'm putting no more/a minimal amount on top of what I get for mine. So I'm nothing out of pocket and save 50% on fuel, insurance and tax.

Anyway. This wasn't a question of finances, it was a specific query about the e46 3 series

 

[iaind]

Thanks guys, as I expected - A4 1.9 130 I think is the safe choice here. Wanting as much disposable income to go into savings for a bigger house as possible without sacrificing too much spec and comfort - seems to be a safe bet

 

[iaind]

Whilst you're correct, its the risk factor that is the issue for me - even fairly mundane issues can cost a significant amount on modern diesels too. I just had to change a little vacuum valve and filter on my own car, I can do most of this myself so actual cost to me was circa £100 but lets say you had to get some diagnostics done to find the fault, £60 minimum, parts 100, Honda labour I have no doubt would be about another 100 - So close to £300 of your hard earned on a pretty simple fault thats common with the ictdi engine.

Injectors are funny money and again. if you had to pay honda or anyone else really it's bend over time. That's on what is one of the better modern diesels, not that the 6 cylinder BMW unit.is bad, far from it but I just think the pd engine is a far safer bet.

Of course you could need 3 new tyres within 10 months due to punctures at 120 quid a tyre which is just upsetting (yes I've just done the 3rd, bloody 6 month old tyre too), cant be predicted and will blow any planned running costs you have out of the water

Any car is a risk financially, as you say it's all about weighing up probability and whether it's worth the gamble.

As fox rightly said, there's no point running something that's quite likely to cost you big time when the point is cost saving. If I wanted to spend more money and not compromise as much, I'd probably keep my current car. I just need something to chew up the miles in relative comfort at minimal cost, I think my A4 idea is pretty spot on

 

[iaind]

Nothing wrong with the 130PS 1.9PD engine at all. The 150PS variant was a little too highly strung IMO and caused a lot more premature failures than the 130.

Should get a relatively nice B6 A4 for £3k.

Indeed, nothing remarkable and still a diesel but seem perfectly capable.

Glad a few people mentioned the 150 and I've been able to do some more research as they did appeal. Don't think they put the 150 in the a4 but I was keen on the toledo sport. Will scrub them off and stick with 130 engined cars.

While I'm in here, sidetracking a bit but no point starting a new thread.... Seen a few a4s/passats etc with auto boxes. Have been avoiding them due to economy (10mpg less on the spec figures) and potential for problems. So 3 things really - do you actually lose that much economy, are they solid auto boxes and are they likely to be terrible to drive?

 

[iaind]

Fair enough, just never driven an auto diesel - wasn't sure how they'd act with diesel power delivery.

It just seemed odd that you'd lose any economy on a motorway run, unless the gearing is significantly different. Just looked on autotrader to find the car I was keen on and spotted at least 3 "multitronic" A4s with gearbox issues....maybe avoid them then!

This one looks promising though
http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classif...ds/sport/postcode/ex25aa/radius/200?logcode=p

 

[iaind]

Aah, is the multitronic the CVT then.... What do they call a normal auto?