What's the best choice for a performance & economy diesel hatchback?
My wife and I are looking to move out of London in January next year, and being a bit of a diesel-head I've started the search for a reasonably priced and reliable used car. We're looking at Edinburgh and Bristol at the moment, so will likely cover some motorway miles, and trips down windy roads in the country, and the ad-hoc Euro drive trip.
My first car was a Peugeot 306, 1.9L XRDT (1994) and I've loved diesels ever since. I've been weighing up the different options out there and have so far shortlisted the following three for cost, performance, efficiency and build quality:
- Fiat Bravo 2.0 Diesel 16v MultiJet 165 Sport
- Vauxhall Astra EcoFlex 165 (any trim tech line or above)
- BMW 120d (2007 onwards) any trim
I know the Golf TDI and Ford Focus Zetec would be other good choices - but keen to hear what you'd go for out of those three and why? Feel free also to chuck some other options in there I might have missed! As a guideline we're looking for the following:
- £5,000 - £7,500 price range
- 2L diesel with 0-60 of around 8 seconds
- At least 50mpg
- Solid driving experience and good road handling
- No more than 80,000 miles on the clock (ideally 60K or less)
- No specific trim requirements, but would ideally like cruise control
- Good insurance, I'm 25 with 4 years no claims, my wife is 26 with 0 years no claims
If you loved the Peugeot, why not stay with Peugeot?
The old 308 is very nice car to drive and fuel efficient:
Fiat
and BWM
will never reach the efficiency and economy of the 308
Too much choice, Ford, VW group, Peugoet, Citroen, Nissan, Toyota where do you want to stop.
Lots of choice.
Insurance on 2.0L with no no claims will be expensive. Go for something smaller and a little slower 0-60 for a few years.
Look at servicing costs and insurance quotes as a guide to what to buy.
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