cage advice (again)

[chilly]

Its time for a change of car as this bugger of mine is too thirsty and the tax is too high :o I want a good sized saloon or hatchback and have narrowed it down to two. I quite fancy a passat or mondeo (don't laugh) diesel around 57 or 08 reg. I have sat in both last weekend and am stuck on various things. I have heard horror story's about both of these cars concerning turbo's and the dreaded dual mass flywheel. On the other hand i have read about owners with over 150,000 miles and no problems at all. There are plenty out there with not too bad mileage (between 70 and 90k) full service history etc..What do you lot think? The mondeo would be more practical but the passat just felt like a really nice place to be. The wife wants to go looking for a 1.6 focus estate but i am fighting hard to change her mind :kiss . Any good or bad experiences on either of these would be welcome. No more french shyte for me!

[adeejaysdelight]

VW every time mate. If you go for the Ford, get the Zetec engine.

[Skippernick]

Any car can be shitter you just can't tell.
Ford Zetec is a trim style not an engine. Although is the best trim style.

[richfzs]

Any car can be shitter you just can't tell.
Ford Zetec is a trim style not an engine. Although is the best trim style.

Zetec has been BOTH an engine AND a trim style. But it has been used on many different engines, so saying "Get the zetec engine" doesn't help much.

Anyways, go for the VW, far better  I've driven a few Ford diesels with work, and without exception, I've hated them.

[rustyrider]

The Ford TDCi diesel is a slightly modified and re-mapped version of the Peugeot HDi engine.  Everyone reckons the HDi is one of the best diesels around, quite how Ford managed to screw it up so much is a mystery.

[Fazerjon]

Volkswagen without a doubt. I did my apprenticeship on Fords, and worked on them for years. I'd NEVER own one!!! :rolleyes

[chilly]

what about all the horror stories with the dmf i have heard? i have even looked on ebay at solid flywheel conversions (about £250) my mate is a mechanic and would fit it for beer money. not thinking about doing the job if it doesn't need it  but its an option for when it starts rattlin

[Fazerjon]

I suppose I am just anti-Ford. My dads got an 05 plate Passat with nearly 200,000 miles on and all weve ever done is standard servicing on it. To be honest most new diesels go on forever nowadays, but as has been mentioned before you do get the odd horror story.
Best bet, whichever way you go is to buy one with a full service history, and if its got a cambelt find out when was it changed last as this can be an expensive job if you take it to a garage, or worse if it snaps.... :eek

[DrGadget]

If you are thinking about a high mileage just be careful about buying something with a DPF (diesel particulate filter), could be worth a Google for more info on replace costs.

[ZiggyCol]

Mondeo has been best in class for several years now. More practical and a better drive than the Passat but the VW is a bit classier.

Neither would be a bad choice but the condition/history etc. of the specific car you end up with and the hand of lady luck will probably have a bigger bearing on your ownership experience than which make/model you go for out of those two.

[t140]

A4 avant 2litre diesel, 140 hp 235 lb torque 45-50 mpg, quick practical and handles well.

[adeejaysdelight]

Any car can be shitter you just can't tell.
Ford Zetec is a trim style not an engine. Although is the best trim style.
[/qu   

Zetec is an engine coined by the Ford Motor Company, and it is a peach. Second best Ford engine only to the Cosworth in my opinion. Although engineered for a totaly different purpose. The Zetec name was also used as a trim code, but here in the UK it was an engine name. I had a 1.2 Fiesta Zetec about 10 years ago and it was a fantastic motor. Easy to work on, efficient and sharp. Have a read...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Zetec_engine

[chr999chr]

My mate is a ford mechanic he said if you are buying a mondeo go for the one with the 2.2 ltr diesel engine. He rarely sees them in the workshop

[bigralphie]

I have a 06 Mondeo estate tdci 130 diesel estate 85k on it now and it’s never missed a beat in 4 years.
I get it service once a year at the local independent garage and it never needs anything except consumables.
DMF either go or they don’t and you can convert them to solid (I haven’t bothered).
They are a really good 2nd hand buy as you get loads of car for your money ,mine is the Zetec so climate control, cruise control etc
They are quite quick and handle really well too, they are dull but hell you have a bike for fun :-)

[clanadam]

I've got a 2005 2.2 TDCi Titanium X with 124,000 miles on it. It's a crackin spec for the money and is still a great car to drive. It's not mentally fast but it is quick and it's not a hot hatch handling wise - obviously. Clutch went 12 months ago and with the  dreaded dmf it cost me over £1k :-( I've just put ST springs on the front as one decided to snap before xmas in the train station car park ffs. I've also replaced both window mechanisms and had alternator & power steering pump issues. But once all is sorted it's still a great car lol.

[Kev8261]

I have an older passat with 108000 miles, and it's a great car. There's a vw forum with great advice from vag trained mechanics, www.vwforum.co.uk.

I recently looked at postings about the new shape passat 3C I think, anyway this bloke crasher who has a business that deals with vws, says to avoid the early ones, 05 reg I think, because they are the ones that have the most of all the horror stories, the electronic handbrake is one that comes up regularly, the calipers are expensive, and the injectors are a fortune too.

I would go for the VW, I've had 2 without any major problems, good to drive on long journeys and good on diesel. One thing I've always been told, even though it may be complete rubbish as I'm a mechanical half wit, is to let it tick over for a couple of minutes to let the turbo cool down a bit.

[VNA]

the electronic handbrake is one that comes up regularly

I mean who needs an electronic hand break?  FFS.  Why do manufactueres keep giving us this shit.  Anyway a small motor (similar to what you find in a drill driver) drives the piston in on the rear caliper to apply the hand break.  When you release it on a hill a computer calculates the angle of the car and the torque required to hold the car and releases when the required torque is applied, so I'm told.

Fella at work had one.  He parked it on a hill across from a petrol station.  He applied the hand break, got out and locked the car.  A few mintes later the car rolled down the hill, across the road and crashed into the petrol station.  He got it all fixed up, but 6 mnths later the brake fault lamp was back up and the hand break doesn't work again.

Owners manual now advises to park in gear with wheels turned towards kerb.  Good hand-break huh?

VW quoted 400 quid to fix.  Basically 400 quid for the bit with the motor that bolts onto the calliper.  After having loads of trouble with the car he just wanted rid of it.  He brought the motor bit into our workshop to see if we could fix it and get rid of his fault lamp.

What happens is part of the casing splits down the side, shit gets in and it seizes up.  The gearbox ratio is crazy in it, so you can't turn shaft that drives the calliper in to try and free off the sealed motor.  You can actually strip it, clean it all and rebuild but you may destroy it in doing so.  Anyway we just stuck it in a vice, filled it with tri-flow and left to soak.  Stuck a De-Walt 18v battery on the end of it, big flash and away it went again (forget bench power supplies etc. you need a powerful battery to drive it)  A bit of super glue down the crack, he bolted it on and the hand break works again.  The Passat was traded in 4 days later.

Anyway has nobody mentioned Skoda?  Octavia is same platform and running gear as the Golf, but stretched out a bit - bigger.  Decent sized car, looks good too, drives like any VAG group car.  Petrol VRS would be my choice, but 170BHP diesel VRS version is ideal for bigger milages.  140BHP diesel L&K version very nice too.  Forget Audi, silly prices for much the same thing. 

[chilly]

the citroen c4 picasso i have at the moment has the electric handbreak and hill assist on the footbrake. never had any probs with the car in any way its just a greedy bastard and costs £245 a year to tax :'( . the wife has a 10 reg peugeot 107 and its a little cracker,sounds like a bugatti veyron when you give it the beans. i would never have guessed a 1000cc 3 cylinder car could be such a laugh :lol

[Kev8261]

I'm no expert, but I have to say I'm struggling to believe a 107 sounds like a Bugatti.

[richfzs]

I'm no expert, but I have to say I'm struggling to believe a 107 sounds like a Bugatti.

depends what CD you've got playing...