I,m looking to buying a diesel car as I travel 750k a week to work an back all high way driving.
WHAT should i look at! CITROEN , PUGEOUT NISSANETC
THANK YOU
chris_051,
Jan 27, 11:18am
Hey, you can't go wrong with the Peugeot 306/405/406 tdi 1.9 these are a grose engine good for HUGE kms but pretty gutless (90hp). My pick would be the 406 these things handle and ride better than most family sedans for their time, I know for a fact 5l/100km out of the 406 will be a consistent return as I own one. The 306 maybe even better on gas.
topper,
Jan 27, 2:00pm
Our Pug 405 grd(the french tractor) has been and is a superb car for our familes needs. No rocket ship, but safe, reliable, comfortable, sturdy and ecomomical with a great heater.Suggest that you find a mechanic who knows Peugeots for the jobs that you cannot do yourself.For a cheap 4 door sedan they are pretty hard to beat.
Cheers!
Neil
russ6,
Jan 27, 2:27pm
the 405 needs the turbo the make it an ok driver. They cruise along well.
morrisman1,
Jan 27, 3:06pm
the 405 is more efficient than the 306, it has a longer 5th gear which makes all the difference. I had 4.8L/100km out of my 1.8L GRD turbo. They go along alright too, beat a mazda familia around ruapuna! Try get one with a bosch injector pump (they have a ufo looking thing on top) as they are a stronger pump and the car will be slightly more powerful.
You could pick up a nice tidy late model 405 for that coin.
tmenz,
Jan 27, 3:30pm
VW Golf too.
nzmax,
Jan 27, 5:45pm
Do you really need a diesel! Have you taken into account that even though a diesel will probably give more mpg (km/l), you will have a higher rego charge and road user charges that will bite into the extra economy and possibly make it no cheaper to run than the equivalent petrol model. Not trying to put you off, but friends, who do a similar weekly mileage, recently replaced their Toyota diesel van with the same model petrol Toyota van and have actually found it slightly cheaper to run than the diesel, taking into account RUC, service costs, higher rego etc. They love having the little bit of extra power too.
r15,
Jan 27, 6:09pm
maybe op intends to not pay ruc
toysky,
Jan 27, 8:55pm
That would be naughty ------ but Australia does not have diesel road tax ,Am looking at smaller car ,looking for a honda civic 12 valve 1500 they get 45- 50 mpgabout the 1992 -1995 model
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 27, 9:26pm
Hi Toysky, I made a webpage that will help you find exactly how much you will save over an equivilent petrol.
Its all set up for NZ costs, let me know if you can't figure out how to work it.
Pretty much with Diesels european is still the way to go even though the Japanese are slowly catching up. The Japanese have not been able to run diesel cars domestically for the last decade due to emissions rules. This mean they got WAY behind with the new common rail diesel technology.
VW in my opinion make the best Diesels but most euro diesels are good. I would also add Fiat to the list, Fiat by the way actually invented the new common rail diesel system in use today.
If you want the most proven diesel on the market with very low maintenance requirements (oil change only every 30'000km) then the Fiat/Alfa units are a good option.
VW however build the better cars, in fact the MK5 VW Golf is by far and away the best car in the segment bar none. A lot of that comes from their phenomenal DSG gearbox and great build quality/features. However their Diesels are top notch as well. their Diesels are usually the most economical too.
How much do you want to spend! What size car you you need and is auto/manual your preference.
Remember to look carefully at the service costs and service intervals. Most are long and cheaper now but there are still a few with shorter ones which offsets your savings and is a pain in the bum when you are doing big kms.
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 27, 9:27pm
Also. consider the VW FSI/TSI petrol engines. They actually do better than the economy ratings on the open road. A 2.0 FSI Golf will do 60MPG (4.7l/100km) on a trip. seriously! (tested myself between Hamilton and Katikati)
toysky,
Jan 27, 9:42pm
Awesome info there I.ll check out site. Regards
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 27, 9:45pm
Your welcome, give us a yell if you want any further info. I am happy to give you an opinion on anything you might have your eye on.
morrisman1,
Jan 28, 1:26am
you mention a late model golf jazz, but in the heading the OP mentioned $2-4k
chris_051,
Jan 28, 1:42am
Regarding diesel tax, yep it is a ripp but the 405/406 are still a bloody cheap car to run, especially for their size (mid size body). Highway trip at 5l/100km for example plus $40 for 1000km tax you're only looking at $105-110 per 1000km. In saying that have you noticed the amount of low mileage diesel Hiluxs from the 1990s around, not hard to figure out why.
morrisman1,
Jan 28, 2:00am
It pays to use that diesel calculator that has been posted above. I find it extremely hard to believe when people claim that their 3.5L pajero or similar is cheaper to run than a diesel one. The fact is diesel tax is near to constant, petrol tax is by the litre so somewhere there has to be a point where the tax on either is the same. That point is about 7L/100km of petrol from memory. So if your PETROL uses more than that then you pay MORE tax. If it uses LESS petrol then you pay LESS tax.
that makes many large vehicles cheaper to run on diesel.
Diesel has higher yearly licensing costs so you have to weigh up the difference in per km running costs and whether that is sufficient to make up for the extra licensing costs and that will depend on how many Km you do. In this case, 750km per week is lots so in the case of a medium sedan like the 405 or similar then it will work out cheaper. If the car in question is something like a ford fiesta (new one) then its almost guaranteed that the petrol will be cheaper
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 28, 2:01am
Good spotting! Goodness knows how I missed that.
O.K with that in mind original poster. Flag the Diesel in my opinion and if you don't mind a small car grab a 2001 or newer Fiat Punto. Its going to lead the pack giving you 4 1/2 star safety and depending on transmission economy down as low as 5l/100km.
If you really want to stick with diesel then grabbing a Multipla Diesel at auction in your price range would be my pick. You just can't buy a common rail diesel in anything else for that price. That Fiat diesel is a real cracker as well, 20'000km oil change intervals are going to be much longer than anything else in the price bracket.
The common rail is also more economical and packs more punch than anything else in the price range.
thejazzpianoma,
Jan 28, 2:05am
Nicely said, the calculator saves a lot of hassle!
Just a note Morrisman, given the price rise on fuel and the stupid economy of the new diesels a new small diesel like a VW Polo will actually win out over a petrol one at the moment. BUT only by a few hundred a year for typical running.
It illustrates the point of always needing to go back to the calculator, things change!
toysky,
Jan 28, 12:06pm
RIGHT -------------------- I have just completed a fuel test on my current car,592 kilometres on 42 litres of gas.Car is a 1990 tx3 1800. can i do much better!
morrisman1,
Jan 28, 1:18pm
so thats an actual economy! If so then plug it into that calculator (7.1L/100km) and then compare it to a diesel at 5.5-6L/100km
toysky,
Jan 28, 5:24pm
There only looks to be like 500 odd bux difference between the 2
thejazzpianoma,
Feb 14, 11:19am
The better option may be to change to a Fiat Punto (2000 or newer) not only will you be safer if you crash but it should save you around $1250 a year in fuel by comparison.
You should be able to get one within budget with a little looking around.
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