Any good TDI's?

[Jezza-7]

On the look out for some sort of tdi car as will be travelling a lot soon.

Got around 3k. Anyone got any idea's of whats good and cheap to tax etc. Have been looking at audi a3's and golf's.

any help will be appreciated.

[grayg40]

i've got a mk4 golf se tdi 90hp plug and i get average 55mpg out of it and if you give it death it comes down to about 40-45mpg. have seen 63mpg out of it if you drive like a granny.

[hayesey]

passat or audi a4.  get more for less money than an a3 or golf.  No one wants saloons.

[hayesey]

or you could get a volvo s60 d5 like I have although I paid more like £4k for it, can prob get one for £3k that a bit older or not quite as specced up.  It'll do 45-50mpg normal driving, getting on for 60mpg on a decent motorway run at 70mph.

passat/audi a4 130PD will do a bit more MPG but at the expense of a bit of performance

[Jezza-7]

i did look at A4/bora but the girlfriend is looking at smaller cars.

I think i will look at the golf. Can get some cheap on ebay and autocar.

Cheers for your help.

[hayesey]

Boras do tend to hold their money better though what with being a smaller saloon.  Specifically Passats and A4s are cheap, there are some right bargains out there and they were originally expensive cars.

But yeah if your mrs wants a smaller car then a golf it is. 

[scotsjohn]

Fabia VRS. 50+ mpg and no slouch. Easy power boosts too. Should see 04/54/05 plates at about £3/4k

[cheys03]

I always hate saying this - but a Mondeo circa 2004-5 with ~100k motorway miles will set you back about £2,500-£3,000 from a specialist ex-fleet dealer.
Within that price range you could get a Ghia or Titanium model which are spec'd up to the eyeballs.
It's a lot of car for the money. Fords seem to be pretty good these days in terms of build quality etc. too.

That's if you can talk her into getting a bigger car

[poloeatonm45]

i have an 02 plate skoda octvia estate 1.9tdi that does 50+ mpg and i can honestly  say i love it and it has never let me down it has full leather electric everything and yes i know its got a skoda badge but i dont care lol

steve

[GSBellew]

As above, Skoda all the way, due to space requirements I went with a mk1 Superb way bigger than a Passat inside, better spec and they tend to be cheaper too 

[grantvw]

I recently bought a 97 reg ibiza 1.9 tdi AHU engine 90bhp with 93k on the clocks for £700 and it does nearly 600miles to a tank plus when you've had enough it will sell whatever condition the bodys in to someone wanting to tdi transplant a mk2 caddy. WIN WIN 

[supercharged spaniel]

I got a 03 plate 1.9 gt tdi golf last year.  Not as eco as Hayeseys but standard 130bhp and mines now mapped to circa 170.  Admittedly I paid more than your 3k budget but mines well specced. A friend of mine bought an 03 100bhp one and had that mapped and he only paid 2.5k for his.  Nice ride and smooth engine, good level of torque from them too.  As a daily Im reasonably pleased but I do think they.re expensive to run, more I dare say than my g40 cost me as a daily beforehand.  Parts are especially expensive I have found.  I don't really do enough miles to warrant having a diesel for reduced fuel costs since I only do 9 miles to work so unless you just fancy one or do mega miles I wouldn't expect it to be a massive improvemnt if your daily is a G40.
 You can, as bland as they are make them look ok too.  Heres mine, coilovers and some ok wheels I'm fairly pleased although they never have the appeal G40's have hence why I still pop on here ha ha.  Good luck 

[Jezza-7]

Looks lovely that.

I think im going to go for the ibiza 02 plate. Looks nice and the engine is the same 130PD as the golf. But there is an a3 near me going for a good price but when i thought about servicing costs i reckon it would be a lot more than seat or vw.

Cheers for all your input guys!

[DMWG40]

good post

this has helped me out, as thinking of getting a mid size tdi as well.

but will have to wait until i have sold my g40 now,