2.0L Diesel recommendations

[DRM]

The only problem with older diesels is the upcoming bans in various cities that are on the cards, that £5000 BMW will be worthless when they are put in, we had this at work as Birmingham that we had hassle going into in older vans that were due for renewal,is one such place, if it’s not euro 6 compliant, your not going in, plus you have the hassle of putting adblue in a separate tank too,many other towns and cities are coming up with similar proposals for the future, imho you’d be better off with a petrol as it stands at the moment.

 

[gbb]

Some very helpful points thanks. I am not willing to spend nearly all my savings on a lower mileage car, so i will keep a look out for non-German varieties. I want a diesel becasue it suits the way I drive, and I prefer the low down torque to revving the nuts off my Fiesta on sliproads! Plus I want a comfortable saloon for when we drive up to Penrith. So I think I will maybe hold off until after Christmas. There have been some lower mileage Passats coming up and I like them, so will wait and see.

Warm regards

If you're not towing, considered a petrol?
I'm really surprised by my Mazda 3 2.0 petrol, non turbo. Its power output is described as linear, no turbo lag,just a progressive and smooth ramping up of power. The Skyactiv is the engine range specifically, less to go wrong, no turbo, i regularly get high 40s mpg, over 50s with careful driving.
2 Ltr but emissions are low, mines around £150 pa road tax.
Mazda 6 2.0 petrol skyactiv ?

 

[MrGrumpy]

The only problem with older diesels is the upcoming bans in various cities that are on the cards, that £5000 BMW will be worthless when they are put in, we had this at work as Birmingham that we had hassle going into in older vans that were due for renewal,is one such place, if it’s not euro 6 compliant, your not going in, plus you have the hassle of putting adblue in a separate tank too,many other towns and cities are coming up with similar proposals for the future, imho you’d be better off with a petrol as it stands at the moment.

A £5k BMW would only be an issue if owner lived in a ULEZ area. Otherwise who gives a stuff better than scrapping perfectly good cars imo ! I do not like the way they are going with this , I think a fairer way would be to charge per mile. Or just charge everyone driving into the city centre regardless what they drive !

 

[keithmac]

I've seen bad in both belts and chains, remember with the cam chain driven cars the hydraulic tensioners and guides can (and do) fail.

Ford/ PSA Cambelts are 10 years or 125,000 miles (a lazy day's job for me when our's is due.

I work on plenty of Cam Chain equipped engines and they aren't really the magic bullet they were touted to be.

Hondas cam gear train on the other hand (VFR 400R 750 early 800's) is bullet proof.

The "wet belt" car engines were a disaster as well, still being made too.

 

[Milzy]

And where would you propose he gets an electric vehicle for less than his £5,000 budget?

https://www.itv.com/news/2021-09-22/citroen-to-sell-tiny-28mph-electric-car-in-uk-for-around-5000

Shame…. Shame.

 

[MrGrumpy]

It reminds me of this

 

[MrGrumpy]

I've seen bad in both belts and chains, remember with the cam chain driven cars the hydraulic tensioners and guides can (and do) fail.

Ford/ PSA Cambelts are 10 years or 125,000 miles (a lazy day's job for me when our's is due.

I work on plenty of Cam Chain equipped engines and they aren't really the magic bullet they were touted to be.

Hondas cam gear train on the other hand (VFR 400R 750 early 800's) is bullet proof.

The "wet belt" car engines were a disaster as well, still being made too.

Honda CRV cam chain bullet proof as long as you keep to the oil changes. ( old ivtec engine ).y lads Mini Cooper which has the Peugeot engine in it is rubbish. Just had a replacement chain done. Albeit it would appear it was designed for any easy swap over.
My Disco4 V6 3.0 ( Ford engine ) is 7yr or 112000 miles belt change. Used to be a body off job but can be done in situ now.

My worst cam belt disaster was my Metro GTI, 45000 miles stripped teeth! It was supposed to be good for 65-70k miles i recall ?

 

[Adam4868]

I've seen bad in both belts and chains, remember with the cam chain driven cars the hydraulic tensioners and guides can (and do) fail.

Ford/ PSA Cambelts are 10 years or 125,000 miles (a lazy day's job for me when our's is due.

I work on plenty of Cam Chain equipped engines and they aren't really the magic bullet they were touted to be.

Hondas cam gear train on the other hand (VFR 400R 750 early 800's) is bullet proof.

The "wet belt" car engines were a disaster as well, still being made too.

I'd never dare leave a cambelt 10 years though,no matter what the mileage.Ive never gone to the recommended change milage either.Allways change it before.Especially on a lot of stop start driving.Like I said I've had a few Nissan 2.7 engines and had over a million miles on one 700,000 on the other.
Just me but I'd allways choose a chain over a belt...but all my vehicles are older ones.Im not a new sort of person 😁

 

[DRM]

A £5k BMW would only be an issue if owner lived in a ULEZ area. Otherwise who gives a stuff better than scrapping perfectly good cars imo ! I do not like the way they are going with this , I think a fairer way would be to charge per mile. Or just charge everyone driving into the city centre regardless what they drive !

Totally agree, it’s ridiculous scrapping perfectly good cars, but these ULEZ zones are being planned all over the place, it’s not just if you live there, it’s if you have to go into one for any reason, it’s going to cost, so the value of that car will plummet as people realise this and won’t want to buy one, buying an older diesel at today’s covid inflated prices is pure folly imho

 

[MrGrumpy]

Anything 2015 onwards would be fine I recall ? It’s just older cars like mine .Albeit getting one for £5k is another thing .

 

[Gunk]

Mini Cooper which has the Peugeot engine in it is rubbish

I disagree, the problem is that Mini suggested service intervals which were far too long so they could sell a TLC service pack. Our 2008 Cooper D has been bullet proof (just coming up for 90,000 miles) but I’ve serviced it every year/5000 miles.

Our mechanic recons that the R56 is one of the most neglected cars that he sees, young owners that don’t bother servicing them.

 

[keithmac]

I do our engine oil every year/ 6000 miles, long enough for it to be in there imho.

 

[MrGrumpy]

I disagree, the problem is that Mini suggested service intervals which were far too long so they could sell a TLC service pack. Our 2008 Cooper D has been bullet proof (just coming up for 90,000 miles) but I’ve serviced it every year/5000 miles.

Our mechanic recons that the R56 is one of the most neglected cars that he sees, young owners that don’t bother servicing them.

I’d actually agree with that statement. His one now gets a service every year. However when it was my wife’s and we had the TLC pack it bothered me the number of times it had to go in for silly checks but never an oil change ??!! Don’t think I’d buy another.

 

[Electric_Andy]

Well I've been looking at lower budget cars. I like the Vauxhall Insignia and it's cheaper than the volvos, BMWs and Audis. There is one just up the road, 2010 with 70k miles. They want 3500. I'm going to also budget for new cambelt, water pump which should be around 350 from reading the Insignia forums. It's a dealer so hopefully they can be do it for trade price, or the garage I know and trust are just next door.

 

[Chislenko]

Can I give a shout out to my 2015 Citroen C5. Mine is the estate which suits me but saloons available.

2.0 diesel Blue HDI so accepted in most cities. 180 bhp, £30 VED, late 40's to the gallon pottering around, mid to late 50's to the gallon on a good motorway run.

Acres of room inside, has all the mod cons and because it has a Citroen badge on it and not a BMW one considerably cheaper.


Edit. I forgot to add the best suspension you are likely to find.