Which car would you go for. Diesel with turbo or straight petrol without turbo.

[justadude]

Hi
I want to spend R80K on a car which will have installments over 5 years of R2000 per month.

Below are the cars I am considering.

It would be a circa 2006 model with circa 150K km with FSH. FSH at this age would most likely not be at the official agents. But sometimes they are.

Notes
IMO. I would say the 2.0 without diesel or turbo are the safest options.

I'm fearful of:
diesel - had issues with CDi smoking before. Possibly injectors.
TDI - turbo and seals had issues.
DMF - expensive to fix when it goes.
Drivetrain of Audi auto TDI

All of the above may just have been my bad luck.

VW Jetta 2.0 / TFSI / TDI
Audi A4/3 1.8/2.0 / TFSI / TDI
BMW 1/320i
MB C180/C200

Thoughts pls.

Thanks

 

[FiestaST]

IMO Jetta 5 2l N/A

 

[Priapus]

Turbo car for 80k... rather don't. You will have issues. get a 2.0 NA motor. Cheap to fix if stuff breaks (Most of the time). With that sort of mileage, make sure the cam belt service was done (Normally 120,000km )

Out of the above mentioned cars, the A3/4 2.0. Cannot go wrong there.

 

[supersunbird]

My vote goes to "straight petrol without turbo"

 

[Kix]

IMO Jetta 5 2l N/A

This. Stay away from the FSI engines.

The 2.0 in the Jetta is archaic, but has nice low down torque and will last forever.

 

[Fazda]

A 9 year old car over 5 years is not going to be accepted by the bank, so that sorts that one out.

 

[Rouxenator]

Stay away from any VAG products and you will be OK.

 

[justadude]

Morning all. You have solidified my thoughts that turbo and diesel should be a no good zone.
Thanks for the heads up.
That leaves me with the Jetta/A3/A4 N/A models. All sorted.

What about the 320i ?

A nice car and have test drove 2. But IMO feel that the Audi/Jetta will be cheaper to maintain.

Hadley

 

[Rouxenator]

The BMW is a much better car. The Jetta/A3/A4/Up/A8/Vivo are all Volksies and should be avoided.

 

[justadude]

I would agree that it is a nicer sexier car.
Just worried about repair should things go pear-shaped.

 

[$m@Rt@$$]

Stay away from VAG automatic transmissions from that era. Their diesels are quite reliable if they were not totally abused - then you might want to budget for a turbo.

Those 2.0L petrol BMW engines are also bulletproof - but for you mileage you are looking at, a manual would be safest.
Do not buy a BMW diesel from that era.

I can't comment on the Mercs - but I would say rather not. Those years were not the best years for Merc in terms of reliability.

 

[Kix]

Morning all. You have solidified my thoughts that turbo and diesel should be a no good zone.
Thanks for the heads up.
That leaves me with the Jetta/A3/A4 N/A models. All sorted.

What about the 320i ?

A nice car and have test drove 2. But IMO feel that the Audi/Jetta will be cheaper to maintain.

Hadley

NO. Do a Google search for BMW E90 320i engine issues.

 

[$m@Rt@$$]

A 9 year old car over 5 years is not going to be accepted by the bank, so that sorts that one out.

Wesbank will, as long as the car is paid up by the time it is 20 years old. Since they finance cars up to 20 years old.

 

[justadude]

Thanks for the comments all.
Finance on any of these above are confirmed so no sweat there.

Time to go and test drive a few today.

 

[Rouxenator]

BMW is no more expensive than VAG, in fact in some cases you pay less to keep a Beemer or Merc running than a Volksie.

 

[justadude]

Question: Are all 2006/7 Audi A3 2.0 NA FSI engines. Or do you get non FSI engines?
i Ask because you get a 2006 Jetta 2.0 and an Audi A3/4 2.0 but all the A3 2.0 says FSI

 

[Kix]

Question: Are all 2006/7 Audi A3 2.0 NA FSI engines. Or do you get non FSI engines?
i Ask because you get a 2006 Jetta 2.0 and an Audi A3/4 2.0 but all the A3 2.0 says FSI

I know the A4 was available with a non-FSI 2.0 making 96kW or some such.

 

[PostmanPot]

This. Stay away from the FSI engines.

The 2.0 in the Jetta is archaic, but has nice low down torque and will last forever.

The Jetta 5 is FSI... You're thinking of TFSI / TSI (same thing). FSI is a type of direct injection which improves performance (and consumption IIRC?).

*edit*

There could be some non-FSIs on the road, I only recall seeing 2.0 FSIs. Why stay away from FSI?

 

[PostmanPot]

IMO Jetta 5 2l N/A

Jetta 5 would be out of budget I'd imagine, north of R100k usually.

 

[PostmanPot]

I know the A4 was available with a non-FSI 2.0 making 96kW or some such.

Absolutely, the A4 B7 2.0 is non-FSI, brilliant car and had one myself. I'd take it in a heartbeat in this situation. Services and parts on par with Polos, Golfs and Jettas (many parts are shared). Except you get much more car.

@OP I would suggest reading the first few pages of this thread - http://www.mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php/550775-The-Audi-Thread.