Estate, Diesel, VAG or Volvo sought.
 

Interested in buying a used car on the 25th of September, or after, the North, please.
Has to be Estate and diesel, and no leather interior as my Vegan baby sister is going to kill me for that!
Skoda, Audi, Volkswagen (VW), or even a Volvo!
Age range I can afford is probably 2001 to 2005, but who knows!

My 530d ticks most of the boxes:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2719522812...84.m1555.l2649

It's even got leather seats that uses only the leather of cows that have died naturally after a long and fulfilled life ;)

Distance isn't a problem either as I'd happily give it one final long blast up north!

Oh, maybe I should have added how much I could afford, rather than the age range. I wish I could afford your 530d, it's a bit too far off what i can afford, sadly.

Would recommend a Skoda Octavia, older ones are mechanically simple(ish).
Volvo are good too but you'll maybe need to spend more?

I do like the Skoda Octavia Estates and I have seen a few within my budget on Autotrader. I am a bit wary of eBay, unless of course it's someone on here! So Volvos are generally dearer, you reckon?

I'm thinking you have budget of 1-2.5k.

What about vw passats? I think your find them in your price range. I had them before I got into Audi's. Built like tanks, cheap to run and parts easy to come by. Also nice and plush inside with loads of room.

Yes, with Volkswagen I meant VW, just corrected it.

Another vouch for Skoda Octavia, they got the simple McPherson set up unlike the multilink crap that the Audi's and VW Passat's got.

Think thats because the Octavia shares the Golf's platform, it was the Superb that was related to the Passat/A4. Having said that its no slur, a couple of the lads at work run Octavias, one of them has interstellar mileage and is still happily trotting to London and back most weekends as his son lives near there!

You should be able to get into a 57 plate pre facelift for about £1500-2000?

The car I had before the 530d was a 53 plate Octavia vRS estate, yellow.

Bloody brilliant machine. VERY easy to work on (even I could do it!) and the parts are dirt cheap. Also had some poke to it, low 7's to 60 and if you're in no hurry you can easily eek 40+ mpg on a run. My best was a 70 mile round trip along the M3 where I averaged 47mpg!!

There's zero refinement to them though, so either fit upgraded speakers to drown out the road noise (that's what I did) or just accept that it's going to be noisy and no massively comfortable on long journeys. Having said that. £1,300 could easily bag you a near minter. I paid £1,700 for mine in 2012 as a 9 year old car with full skoda service history to 115k and mapped to 200bhp.

Only in the last weeks of my ownership did anything go wrong which was the flexi hose from the down pipe to the centre section gave way so sounded a bit tractorish.

If it has to be diesel then the pd130 is the best all rounder. Powerful and reliable. The later 2.0s can suffer from all sorts of bother.

You can get that engine in an octy estate but think it's quite rare. More common in the golf and passat

Volvo 5 cylinder diesels are the Audi/VW units. Very reliable!

Not much point searching for the uber rare pd130 in the octavia when the 1.8t petrol is quicker, quieter, cheaper to buy, more plentiful, better looking (in vRS trim) and still achieves north of 40mpg aaaaaaand it's not a diseasle!

It's just that he said it had to be a diesel...so I was weighing in on that.

Ahh, apologies!

So then to the OP, consider the frugality of some of the petrols out there that'll be fewer pennies to buy in the first place!

:tup: https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=321&v=lbgTmJ-nDCg

Any ideas?
 

If I don't find an Octavia, what about this?

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...used&logcode=p

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classifi...used&logcode=p

here here!

a lot of people seem to think that buying a diesel will mean they are getting about 6 million mies per gallon and petrols do low 20's!

they also forget that it generally costs about 30% more to buy a good second hand diesel based on the above facts!

they also forget that servicing costs are generally 30% more on a diesel as well!

someone on here did a very interesting chart a few years ago which basically let you put in how many miles you did a year and work out how long you'd need to own a diesel car to make it a more viable option than a petrol. The only slight plus side now is that diesel is marginally cheaper than petrol where as before, it was about 5p a litre more.

But at the end of the day, it still sounds like you're driving a tractor!







ps. my daily is a Skoda diesel, just saying!!

I bought a brand new diesel a long while back, but kept is a decent while, and used it a lot on longer journeys, so it did pay for itself.

As an alternative; Mazda 6 2.0d. Easily achieved 53mpg with me driving. 53plate. My brother recently bought an average looking similar age car for £hundreds. It had very little service, though, and needed some stuff for the MOT.

Passat. I've rented a couple, and loved 'em, but they were later models. I've heard only good things about older cars, circa 2000-2003.

Allegedly some V6tdi's of a certain year suffered terminal cam lobe wear, not sure what year but that one looks very nice and service history too.......and leather! A bit more to it than the same age Octavia so maybe more problematic?
Like it:tup:

Only upto 2001 then they changed to the d5 type which are still good but not quite as robust, I've seen a few 55 plates sell for around £1500 on eBay lately a lot of car for the money

We've got a 1999 VW Polo Estate 1.9 SDI as a dog carry hack and generally run to the shops, got somewhere carrying junk and all around work horse. It does an average of around 65mpg and will get 70 if driving sensibly.

Would a recommend anyone owning one?


Nope!

The D5 engines are an alloy block which is part the reason for trouble, the VW engines are cast blocks.

If you get the later D5 I would check the cooling system VERY carefully.

Off the rails?
 

I've changed my mind a bit after having seen a few cars now, it's a VERY mixed market buying a used car!!!


I now go for cheaper insurance and have bought a few Vehicle Reports on Autotrader. Also consdering getting RAC out for a Vehicle Check, in particular if the car isn't local to me.


Advice on these, please?

https://www.gumtree.com/p/volkswagen...at-/1133380535

https://www.gumtree.com/p/volvo/55-p...ome/1132187134

https://www.gumtree.com/p/toyota/200...ys-/1134684292

https://www.gumtree.com/p/honda/hond...el-/1133795729

I've always had an accord for the accord! That would be the first one I'd go and see. Decent engine, & massive spec.

Accord is also one owner and newer than the others whilst also cheaper.

Big miles has never put me off if the seller comes across well and the paperwork looks good.

Definitely my choice.

No votes for Toyota? Least faults reported make?
 

Well that's two votes for the honda then, you and the Doc in work. He also said A4's would be a better choice for my budget than A6s.

Out of that lot, I think the Avensis would be my choice all things considered.

May be of interest to you.

We've got a 2004 VW Passat Highline Estate in at work for sale.

It's a 130bhp PD TDi model, black with black leather, heated seats, parking sensors, climate control. Tiptronic.
82k on the clock, ex demo car from Colindale VW in London and one lady owner from 6 weeks old till last week. Long MOT, Full main dealer service history. Next service not due for 6000 miles. Has had 2 cam belt changes in 10 years. One in 2008 at 28k, and one in 2012 and 59k.
In excellent condition with just a couple of minor scuffs on the front bumper and one small scuff on the passenger door.
Normal book price is £3095 on this, but it's a CAT C after an accident in 2009 to the rear quarter. It's the only part we can tell that's had any paint, and has been done to a very high standard. All this means though is that you get a lot of car for £1850 in stead of £3000.
We are putting it up for sale tomorrow for £1995

Car will be fully checked over as well by my mechanic and have a full diagnostics health check as well

Thanks Coxy,I've just inboxed you!

:tup:

Car Dealers and Sellers, eih???
 

I've done a full circle, viewed 6, been too late for 4 I liked, sent RAC out to one (best 186 pounds spent!), got a marriage proposal in Birmingham, met 4 private seller and 2 dealers, two were absolutely delusional and one just clueless, (Dealer of Toyota Avensis, "why would you want to look under the engine cover, no one has ever asked for that in the 23 years I've been selling cars, I don't have the tools, it's bolted, you can't open it" I kid you not!), I ended up with this:

https://www.gumtree.com/p/volkswagen...di-/1134810575

It's and SE. I am aware of the catalogue of faults from this make and model and the milage is high, but within my budget I very much liked what I found. It's been owned by 2, mum and son, son was a proppa petrol head so had a newer BMW too, and he really knew the car he was selling well which was a very refreshing touch in the Jungle of dubious private sellers!

Words of encouragement are welcome, I try and tell myself that at that milage, the built in faults and teethng problems will have been caught and corrected? It was evidenlty really wel looked after, which the seller said his mum had always done, she works for Mariott hotels and did 30 miles daily in it. Seen how my 80TDI has served me, buying a used car is also a lot about luck! And NOT taking your car off road and leave it unattended on your driveway, either don't take it off road :wall: or get it into one of those indoor schemes that run them regularly, lesson learned!

Other cars I viewed, that wasn't sold before I manage to get there, were Honda Accord, Toyota Avensis, Saab 9-5 2.2 TiD Vector, two A4s 2004/5 and a Volvo think it was a V50. My backup plan was the SAAB as the Dealer gave 3 months warantee, and I really wanted one of the A4s, if he had met me on my request on fixing the front, electric windows.


Buttom line: The used car market is NOT for the faint-hearted!

the one I had sold straight away Tanni.

Shame you didn't come to view it as it was ideal, and cheap!

We buy and sell cars at work as part of our business and every car we have gets a full service, fully diagnosed and everything done before it goes out the door. There are way too many dealers and even private sellers trying to pull the wool over buyers eyes, but I sell a lot of cars to people I know so always good to know that we've done everything we can to make sure it's a goodun'

I hear what you say and I know you. But I had a budget set by what I've saved up and a time limit with the 80tdi. I had to think of both insurance and buying price. And I don't have a network here that allows me to borrow money privately. Once I qualify life should be richer! :-D

I'd offered it to you at pretty much the same price as the other cars that you'd posted up, as I naturally assumed that was your budget!!

Guess you're just unlucky. I'm on car number 40 now which is a lot of cars to get through in 17 years (but admittedly still amateurish compared to some on here!) and in all the cars I've viewed there's only one that I got such a bad feeling about that I walked away from without even driving. NO tell a lie I bought a mini cooper from cars with no reserve in reading, that I waslked away from too, still 2 in 40 purchases isn't bad for the second hand car market!

Trawled through 'Which'
 

Tried one out, 2005, never bonded with it and got rid of it when I had to work abroad. I think it's difficult to go from an Audi to a Passat. EVEN when it was from a K-reg TDI avant!

Very true! Spent 3 weeks trawling eBay and, in particular, Autotrader (GumTree is useless) and they are indeed more expensive in price. Prob 30% yes.

Anyhow, very much to my surprise, as soon as I did my first insurance check on a price comparison website, got proper penalized on price! That was the end of me considering petrol estates!

Neither did 'Which', it does not recommend the Golf, used ones.

Yep, according to 'Which' Honda Accord and Toyota Avensis are very reliable indeed. (Strictly looking for estates). Could I find any? Not in my price range, no. Not with automatic in the recommended range of years either, no! :shake:


Tried a Passat estate '05 with tonnes of miles on it, never had any majoe problems with it, never learned to like it either. Got rid because of moving abroad.

Tried a SEAT Altea 2.0 TDI Sports, semi-automatic. 2005 and high milage. MPV. First car I have ever driven with automatic. Absolutely LOVED how it drives. Million minor things went wrong with it but never left me stranded and I went to Scandinavia, and back, in it. Twice! Until one day d1xxhead at the traffic lights decided that giving 'Right of Way' to my Seat Altea is an optional. And you know the score with them thieving, barstewards insurance companies... :fire:


This time round I gave up searching and "settled" with the first car I found, with the lowest insurance premium on comparison website and also looked at emission not being in the higher end.

But, I really feel I have peace of mind with an Audi. And I can fit more flatpacks in it than any other car!

P. S.
 

And I would swap it for this any time of the day...

http://www.classic-audi.co.uk/forum/...ad.php?t=38757

:tup:

:rock:

:lol: