Help Appreciated - understand which model car for us.

[Grandad Dave]

OK - we are both very early 70's

It is my car we are replacing which is a VW Golf GT Tdi 1999 - with 99k on clock (5 door) and have had her for 10 years. So we need to upgrade again, to follow same pattern e.g. buy with low mileage and just keep.

Our lifestyle under 5k per year and motorway driving is a rarity.

We have looked at Audi A3, for a change, but I feel it is bigger to park and seem to feel more at home when I sat in a VW. (I live in a village and parking spaces can be tight if you know what I mean.)

We have accepted we need to pay in the region of £7k if we are going to get a low mileage.

Here starts the confusion - which model???

1. Yesterday we test drove a 2008 VW Golf 1.9 Match TDI 2008 Hatchback with 54k on clock. It did not have the 'get up and go' as my old Golf.

The garage is local and we felt quite happy with how the car would be sold to us and a 6 month warranty, etc. (Colour is black and my old VW is black. I was wondering if it would be nice to change the colour but I am too old and wise to think colour makes the car mecahnics any better.)

This morning trying to make sure I have done as much research as possible I have found advertised a -

2. 2008 VW Golf Plus 1.9 BlueMotion TDI DPF 5 dr with 66 k on clock.

Summary - confused on benefits for us and what the models mean -

My husband feels we should not consider a 2.0 because I only go about 10 miles a week sometimes and this car would benefit from more use. BUT - now what about BlueMotion??? - v - Match.

Feedback would be appreciated in order to start whittling down choices.

Looking forward to anyone who can give their thoughts.


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[Eshrules]

greetings,

the best bit of advice I can offer is to drop the diesel consideration.

Given your annual mileage, it doesn't make sense to pay the premium that's applied to the initial purchase, maintenance or the fuel cost per litre - even more so given the rare touching of motorways. You'll rue the day you bought a diesel fitted with a DPF.

I'm incredibly surprised nobody (the dealer for example) has already mentioned this to you.

[Doctle Odd]

You might consider a Skoda Fabia 1.4 TDi AFAIK it doesn't have a DPF (or a lot of go) If it were me I'd keep the GTTDi or buy a petrol

[Grandad Dave]

Thank you both for coming back so quickly.

The dealer did not recommend a DPF - I saw this car advertised this morning.

The dealer we did the test drive listened to my OH's wanting a diesel and OH thinks it is always a better car to sell 'one day'. In fact my OH still feels that an A3 Audi would be a better car and wishes that I would feel happy with the size of it for parking.

I will now relay your feedback - thank you.

[Hex69]

Lots on Autotrader to look at, 1.4 TSIs

http://http://www.autotrader.co.uk/c...agen?logcode=p

[Grandad Dave]

I will have a look- thank you.

I think my husband feels he has dealt with diesels all these years and that is what he goes for. He does as much maintenance as he can himself.

[Hex69]

For your mileage, it's got to be petrol all the way. As Eshrules said, the extra fuel economy, could very early be wiped out by dpf or dmf issues.

[alexa4avant]

Stick with the tdgti or 1.8t parts are expensive on diesels and there are loads of parts for the 1.8 t and if driven correctly can be fairly economical bit with the go if you want or need it

[Whippy53]

Avoid a diesel with DPF at all costs for this sort of mileage, it will lead to all sorts of problems, believe me. Try the skoda fabia, It's a nice car. But petrol all the way.

[Grandad Dave]

Ok I seem to be having a problem with entering text in this site – don’t know why. First of all thank you for all this feedback it is really helping.
I am taking on board the petrol option and will ask about that further on……. But need to shift OH from being a diesel man/mechanic from the old days.

The situation is that my OH feels he is not ready for a ‘noddy’ car and I think this is the last throw before he can’t crawl out at all and has to be helped! He likes my VW Golf GT Tdi 1.9. but is really thinking Audi. I have said Skoda but just get an mmmm with no enthusiasm.
He says he wants an A3 5 door. He knows I don’t like the size being bigger for many parking spaces but I have told him I will keep trying if we get one.

So far -

1. Anyway we test drove the – VW Golf 1.9 Match TDI 5 dr Hatchback 2008 with 54k on clock. It didn’t have the ‘pull’ he said straight away like mine. (Looking for low mileage and more recent date to keep value again for a few years.)
2. Today we were off to see a Audi A3 1.9 TDi SE 5 dr – 2007 with 40k+ on clock. But it had been sold last night. My OH reckons if you get a good one engine goes onto 200k and my friend has confirmed that with hers.

Questions -
1. Now thinking petrol – I looked on ‘Parkers Guide’, I think it was, would an Audi be any good with the petrol version? What is the 1.6 F1 SE they recommend?

2. Taking on board ‘petrol’ this I see an Audi A3 1.6 Special Edition 3 dr (that would suit me but OH said not so good to sell) and it is 2008 with 51k on clock. Could this be any good as a choice to keep away from diesels and expensive bills?

Any feedback really appreciated and definitely staying away from DPF.