I am moving out of London, just 20 miles west. Will now be commuting back into town along the M4. Looking for a reliable , economical car up to £9k (2nd hand). Would prefer a diesel and nothing too small engine -wise. Anyone got comments/experience on the following :
Audi A3/4 TD - have hear some bad stuff from A3 owners at work - reliability
Fabia VRs
Saab 9.3 1.9Td
VW Passat (have been a VW owner for years but am starting to go off them , so not sure)
Ibiza 1.9 TD 130 - again have hear some quality issues on SEAT's

cheers for any input. As you can see will consider anything from a hatch to normal sedan.

Hello Polonezia. I must visit your site again soon.

Out of those I would try out either Fabia vRS or the Saab. Would probably add an Octavia to the list too.

Polonezia .... not seen for ages

beware the people that give you misleading information as, especially with quality issues on SEAT's their information is out of date by quite a few years ... some people still don't realise SEAT is a division of Audi
saying that fabia vRS is a better car than the ibiza (with identical engine), a bit plainer than the ibiza though.
octavia is a good one to add to the list, a nicer car to sit in than the fabia & don't forget .....
.... for your £9K you can find the slightly bigger saloon only skoda superb with (surprise, surprise) the same tdi130 lump, turned through 90degrees on the audi a4/6/last gen passat platform with loads of features that would have been £1000s in extras on an a4 ....
.... a4's are smaller, more cramped & you are paying for the badge
..... a3 really just a 'posh' golf .... yet again pay for the badge & maybe get less!

thanks for your comments.I guess I have reading too many reader reviews on Whatcar. I really like the Superb (as they are also not that common on the road), but most of the used ones are high mileage cars. Also does anyone have experience of how much servicing etc comes to on Saabs ? is it more expensive than Vw / Audi?

about the only place I can spot low mileage superbs seems to be skoda dealers .... got em below the 40,000 mile mark .... high mileage ones will probably, more often than not - have been taxis

saab 1.9 Td is a FIAT lump .....

....which is a very good thing. Fiat JTD diesels have been excellent for years - it's what GM primarily bought Fiat for. My cousin's Fiat Tipo 1.9JTD clocked up 160K miles on the without missing a beat. The stupid digital dash went squiffy and the interior was threadbare but the engine and transmission were superb.

FIAT diesels are amongst the best in the business. Ask a Saab owner. ;-)

Ford Mondeo if you are not a badge snob. Plenty to choose from and cheap parts and servicing.For that money you get the last of the outgoing model and should have some manufacturers warranty remaining. Also the best drivers car out of the lot above.

quote:

Originally posted by barky:
about the only place I can spot low mileage superbs seems to be skoda dealers .... got em below the 40,000 mile mark .... high mileage ones will probably, more often than not - have been taxis

More likely Private Taxis rather than general taxis - they are usually Octavias - I know from personal experience that the PT ones where they are bought for a specific contract (we have them at work) are VERY well looked after and I'd have no hesitation in buying one if thats what I wanted...

You could also consider the Accord diesel.

accord, mondeo are frightfully common though

accord quite a rare car id have thought??....im not a huge fan of vag or diesels, but my mate is a bloody fanatic and he always has a4/a6/passat tdi motors, and, as a result of that, iv driven many, 1.9tdi, 2.5tdi, 2.5tdi quattro etc..etc...now this may surprise you, but for me, the pick of the tdi vag he has owned was a 2.5 v6 tdi passat sport with the 6 speed manual box and alcantra/suede sport trim...absolutely beautiful to look at..(he had big alloys and colour coded everything, that lovely metallic blue colour)...and 40 plus mpg with a fair bit off urge..for me, it knocked his present a6 2.5tdi quatro into a cocked hat for driving pleasure....

yup indeedy that 2.5 v6 tdi is a good engine to have ... seen service for quite a while now but still a good un

Accord diesel.

quote:

Originally posted by barky:
accord, mondeo are frightfully common though

Along my street i can count 3 3 series BMW, 1 Audi, 1 Passat, 1 Mondeo and a C class merc. I'm sure being common could be because they all are good cars. If you want rarity then probably you can have the alfa 156/159. The jtd engine is a weel proven one and reliability of the alfas is currently equal, if not better,than the germans.

quote:

Originally posted by Bamford:
Accord diesel.

won't be very many within the price constraint & without mega mileage

I checked on Autotrader there are plenty of 70/80k ones in that price range - 3/4 years old....

I agree with the VAG 2.5 V6 - its an economical little beggar as well!