2.0L Diesel recommendations

[DRM]

Saw a 2010 Mondeo saloon for sale locally to me for £5995, I reckon that would have been lucky to have an asking price of £2000 last year

 

[Electric_Andy]

Please, please DON'T buy an Insignia! I had the misfortune to drive hundreds of the things when we had them on fleet.

Uncomfortable seats, uncooperative gearchange, lifeless steering, limp engines, dodgy build quality, poor reliability. A car for dedicated Vauxhall fans only!

As others have alluded, part of your problem is that there are not very many cars available of the sort you are looking for. New car buyers haven't been buying them for some years now. Either they buy an SUV/crossover type thing or a posh German moneypit-in-waiting!

That's the first negative I've heard really. Yes it's not a Sports car but seems to be not too bad for reliability. Like anything, I'll have to go on condition and service history. I think at this price point it's not going to get any better very soon, so I have to take what's out there and lube up 😣

 

[fossyant]

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 😁

140,000 and 20 years on my chain Nissan.

 

[Pale Rider]

When I was doing breakdowns I was sent to a Bedford CF van which caused some head scratching.

It would start, rev for a second or two, but always then misfire badly and splutter to a halt.

I dragged the van back to the garage for those who knew what they were doing to have a look at.

It took a little while, but one of the proper mechanics eventually worked out the timing belt had jumped one tooth.

This caused very poor running, but had not sent the valve timing so far out to prevent the engine running at all.

Of course, jumping the belt one tooth would have made no difference when the engine was not running, but this happened while the engine was running which meant the timing went out of whack in the split second the belt wasn't doing its job.

Intuitively, timing chains must be more reliable, although they were not without their problems, particularly if the tension was neglected.

Single chains didn't work so well, which presumably is why most engines I came across had duplex - double - chains.

 

[MrGrumpy]

When I was doing breakdowns I was sent to a Bedford CF van which caused some head scratching.

It would start, rev for a second or two, but always then misfire badly and splutter to a halt.

I dragged the van back to the garage for those who knew what they were doing to have a look at.

It took a little while, but one of the proper mechanics eventually worked out the timing belt had jumped one tooth.

This caused very poor running, but had not sent the valve timing so far out to prevent the engine running at all.

Of course, jumping the belt one tooth would have made no difference when the engine was not running, but this happened while the engine was running which meant the timing went out of whack in the split second the belt wasn't doing its job.

Intuitively, timing chains must be more reliable, although they were not without their problems, particularly if the tension was neglected.

Single chains didn't work so well, which presumably is why most engines I came across had duplex - double - chains.

That’s exactly the symptoms of my what happened to my Metro GTI, except it was a couple of stripped teeth on the timing belt. Engine ran but lacked a wee bit of power and did not sound right at all !! Of course damaged done , valves stems bent . Refurbed the cyclinder head and traded it in .

 

[Pale Rider]

That’s exactly the symptoms of my what happened to my Metro GTI, except it was a couple of stripped teeth on the timing belt. Engine ran but lacked a wee bit of power and did not sound right at all !! Of course damaged done , valves stems bent . Refurbed the cyclinder head and traded it in .

Some engines, known as non-interference, do not bend valves, so if the timing belt/chain breaks they just spin to a halt.

In others, the piston head and valves come together with such force both are smashed to bits.

I think it was a popular Fiat engine where the valves just kissed the pistons, meaning some customers got away with it and some didn't.

 

[MrGrumpy]

Yep The K series engine in that Metro must have been tight. Remember my Dads Cavalier snapping a timing belt . AA fixed at the side of the road lol !

 

[Pale Rider]

Yep The K series engine in that Metro must have been tight. Remember my Dads Cavalier snapping a timing belt . AA fixed at the side of the road lol !

We wouldn't do anything which took more than a few minutes beside the road.

Apart from anything else, most of the work was on the hard shoulders of two local motorways.

Not somewhere you want to be for longer than you have to.

We used to try to always work over one of the wings rather than from the front.

The thinking being that if someone slammed into the back of the car, if you were at the side you had a fighting chance of being thrown free.

We also parked the breakdown tender behind the broken down vehicle or a fair distance in front to avoid the possibility of being crushed between the two.

 

[Cerdic]

That's the first negative I've heard really. Yes it's not a Sports car but seems to be not too bad for reliability. Like anything, I'll have to go on condition and service history. I think at this price point it's not going to get any better very soon, so I have to take what's out there and lube up 😣

Yes, just my opinion of course. But it is based on being able to compare different vehicles every day. My job is to drive stuff around!

We have a fleet of around thirty thousand vehicles. Granted, most are less than a year old so most are problem-free. But with that number there are always some that will break, and Insignias didn't have a great reputation with the fleet controllers!

The thing with actually driving an Insignia is this. Some cars, especially things like Toyotas, are slick and easy to drive. You don't have to put too much effort in, they just do what you tell them without any fuss. Well, the Insignia is like driving a toddler having a tantrum...

 

[MrGrumpy]

We wouldn't do anything which took more than a few minutes beside the road.

Apart from anything else, most of the work was on the hard shoulders of two local motorways.

Not somewhere you want to be for longer than you have to.

We used to try to always work over one of the wings rather than from the front.

The thinking being that if someone slammed into the back of the car, if you were at the side you had a fighting chance of being thrown free.

We also parked the breakdown tender behind the broken down vehicle or a fair distance in front to avoid the possibility of being crushed between the two.

Just a thought , I think he got towed to a garage and it was fixed their and then. As you said no way would they spend that long at the side of the road.

 

[Electric_Andy]

Just an update: I looked at the Insignia on saturday and the guy (smallish dealer) said he'd contact me Monday to book in a test drive Tuesday. I didn't hear back, so left a message. In the meantime I went to another reputable dealer and test drove a 2014 Passat 2.0D. It was great, so I put a deposit down there and then. They have replaced cambelt and water pump, serviced it, fresh MOT this morning so I'm just waiting on it to be valeted and I'll hopefully pick it up later this afternoon. I've got some Redex and a 750 mile round trip to Penrith tomorrow so that should do it good. My breakdown cover is also in place.

Funnily enough, the Insignia chap still hasn't got back to me. It's as though they don't want to sell cars. I hope nothing has happened to him.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Just an update: I looked at the Insignia on saturday and the guy (smallish dealer) said he'd contact me Monday to book in a test drive Tuesday. I didn't hear back, so left a message. In the meantime I went to another reputable dealer and test drove a 2014 Passat 2.0D. It was great, so I put a deposit down there and then. They have replaced cambelt and water pump, serviced it, fresh MOT this morning so I'm just waiting on it to be valeted and I'll hopefully pick it up later this afternoon. I've got some Redex and a 750 mile round trip to Penrith tomorrow so that should do it good. My breakdown cover is also in place.

Funnily enough, the Insignia chap still hasn't got back to me. It's as though they don't want to sell cars. I hope nothing has happened to him.

I'd do your journey and then start fiddling with fuel additives. A long journey will do it no end of good on its own. Enjoy 😊

 

[fossyant]

I've got some Hydra Pic-24 (they do a diesel one) for my car recently as it was running rough, and threw a wobble at E10) - it's been stood mainly for the last 18 months. Popped a couple of doses of this stuff in, gave it a few motorway trips, and it's running fine on E10 now (no additive added)

Going to pop some in the Aygo we've got to give it a clean.

 

[Electric_Andy]

My Dad swears by Redex; he's got an old Bobcat skid-steer loader which would barely idle. He put redex in it and now it sings like a bird. Looking on forums, some regard it as snake oil, and some use a whole host of other additives, even 2-stroke oil in the tank

 

[MrGrumpy]

My Dad swears by Redex; he's got an old Bobcat skid-steer loader which would barely idle. He put redex in it and now it sings like a bird. Looking on forums, some regard it as snake oil, and some use a whole host of other additives, even 2-stroke oil in the tank

what happened to taking a car out onto the main road and giving it damm good thrashing ! :-) aka an Italian tune up