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Yes, another car question.
I get paid £2k a year car supplement and 26p a mile.
I can travel anything up to 1000 miles a week, 48 weeks a year, motorway and A road. Sometimes back roads if the traffic is bad.
Current cars I own are two Fiat Doblos:
Doblo number 1 is on 202,000 miles, a 52 plate 1.9 JTD 100bhp and held together by hope and luck. It goes, it gets anything up to 72mpg (following wind) with 60+ most days. I drive the tits off it, not fast top speed but keeping speed into corners and such like, as best you can with a tupperware box that constantly wants to understeer into the nearest hedge. The EGR has been blanked off for over 3 years and its due its 3rd cambelt change with us.
Doblo number 2 is a disaster. Initially bought to replace the above, the spangly new 78,000m 120 bhp Multijet barely gets 46mpg due to the rather cynical attempt to get emissions down by adding a DPF but making the final ratio higher so the low engine revs at speed dont block the DPF every five minutes. It currently has a blanked off EGR leaving the OBD stating proudly that there is an 'engine failure'. The EGR is fooped, the DPF is ok.
It too handles like a tupperware box in a gale but due to the higher ride height, it now behaves like a tupperware box in a gale plus a north sea storm...
So. I have a budget of about £2k, the car will have paid for itself after about 6 months but what car?
I have a fair bit of tools and 'stuff' to carry so a bigish boot is a must.
Have been considering chain driven Mondeo MK4 diesels (I once left the oil unchanged for 18 months without issue). They are comfortable to drive, I know them inside out but a few niggles put me off. Injectors, sticky rear calipers etc.
Have also been looking at Mercedes W210 E300 TD and E320 CDI. Comfortable and pretty economical for a big car. Already knew about the spot welded front suspension turrets failing and general rust but anything else?
Skoda Octavia and other VAG 1.9 TDI stuff. Cambelts and water pumps are an absolute must but I also found the turbos are not very long lived.
Older Audi A4 or even an Audi 80 TDI would be right up my street but they are rare now.
A few leftfield thoughts have been a Chrysler Voyager - tough American running gear with reasonable mpg and loads of room for bikes too.
Fiat Multipla, the Doblos' odder, slightly wackier brother.
All Volvos seem to have done intergalatic mileage at my budget and are not that economical unless you look at the V40 petrol/diesel.
Over to you then.
Have fun with it too. LPG? have thought of that too.
I get paid £2k a year car supplement and 26p a mile.
I can travel anything up to 1000 miles a week, 48 weeks a year, motorway and A road. Sometimes back roads if the traffic is bad.
Current cars I own are two Fiat Doblos:
Doblo number 1 is on 202,000 miles, a 52 plate 1.9 JTD 100bhp and held together by hope and luck. It goes, it gets anything up to 72mpg (following wind) with 60+ most days. I drive the tits off it, not fast top speed but keeping speed into corners and such like, as best you can with a tupperware box that constantly wants to understeer into the nearest hedge. The EGR has been blanked off for over 3 years and its due its 3rd cambelt change with us.
Doblo number 2 is a disaster. Initially bought to replace the above, the spangly new 78,000m 120 bhp Multijet barely gets 46mpg due to the rather cynical attempt to get emissions down by adding a DPF but making the final ratio higher so the low engine revs at speed dont block the DPF every five minutes. It currently has a blanked off EGR leaving the OBD stating proudly that there is an 'engine failure'. The EGR is fooped, the DPF is ok.
It too handles like a tupperware box in a gale but due to the higher ride height, it now behaves like a tupperware box in a gale plus a north sea storm...
So. I have a budget of about £2k, the car will have paid for itself after about 6 months but what car?
I have a fair bit of tools and 'stuff' to carry so a bigish boot is a must.
Have been considering chain driven Mondeo MK4 diesels (I once left the oil unchanged for 18 months without issue). They are comfortable to drive, I know them inside out but a few niggles put me off. Injectors, sticky rear calipers etc.
Have also been looking at Mercedes W210 E300 TD and E320 CDI. Comfortable and pretty economical for a big car. Already knew about the spot welded front suspension turrets failing and general rust but anything else?
Skoda Octavia and other VAG 1.9 TDI stuff. Cambelts and water pumps are an absolute must but I also found the turbos are not very long lived.
Older Audi A4 or even an Audi 80 TDI would be right up my street but they are rare now.
A few leftfield thoughts have been a Chrysler Voyager - tough American running gear with reasonable mpg and loads of room for bikes too.
Fiat Multipla, the Doblos' odder, slightly wackier brother.
All Volvos seem to have done intergalatic mileage at my budget and are not that economical unless you look at the V40 petrol/diesel.
Over to you then.
Have fun with it too. LPG? have thought of that too.
