DannyP Posted May 21, 2013 Share Posted May 21, 2013 Unfortunetly after 18 months of ownership I think it's finally time to get rid of the Zed , it is quickly bankrupting me!! Especially when I know insurance and tax is coming up in Feb and I have no way of paying it, and it is in the middle of the boarding season (my other major love) The problem is what to go for next, budget is approx 7 to 9k. I'm after a quickish diesel (around 7 secs), not too big though. Ideas so far: BMW 330d M Sport (Missus described it as a drug dealer car though!) Seat Leon FR Volvo C30 D5 R-Design Any other cars I should be looking at? Help is gratefully received. Thanks Dan ps Mods, if this is in wrong section, then please move. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted May 21, 2013 Share Posted May 21, 2013 I have a Leon FR diesel, tax is still over £200 and economy is not great for a diesel, also pretty poor interior.... But... It's a fantastic machine, rapid, bundles of torque when you are on boost and very well equiped indeed. It's no Zed but I can honestly say I don't drive it and wish I was in the Zed all the time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DannyP Posted May 21, 2013 Author Share Posted May 21, 2013 Yeah, I've think I've resigned to the fact that it won't be anywhere near as fun as the Zed . Just trying to find a car that I will still enjoy but cost me less. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aidan Posted May 21, 2013 Share Posted May 21, 2013 Your 330d is probably your best bet.....although consider A6tdi (3ltr one). They a surprisingly quick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spursmaddave Posted May 21, 2013 Share Posted May 21, 2013 Yeah, I've think I've resigned to the fact that it won't be anywhere near as fun as the Zed . Just trying to find a car that I will still enjoy but cost me less. Sometimes you have to be sensible, no point keeping the Zed and having to compromise on stuff or worse still not drive it You could get a nice TDI FR for bottom end of your budget then bypass the DPF with a new exhaust & remap. Then you get about 240bhp and enough torque to pull a house : That would be fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drginger Posted May 21, 2013 Share Posted May 21, 2013 I came from a 330d before the zed and after 2 years of owning both i would probably say they cost about the same to run! Obviously the zed its more juicy but makes up for it by being a decent reliable bit of japanese engineering and not spending time in a garage! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrumbMC Posted May 21, 2013 Share Posted May 21, 2013 If you want the best driver's diesel i would say a BMW. Anything from VAG will probably be well made (although interior quality depending on whether you go skoda, vw, audi etc) but a bit dull to drive. Mazda 6 are meant to be a good drive but i don't know what they're like to live with. You could also look at a turbo petrol engine. the economy isn't bad on the ones from the last 10 years or so and they're usually cheaper to buy than the equivalent DERV. depends how many miles you do though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S1 HNK Posted May 21, 2013 Share Posted May 21, 2013 I had a 120d m sport before my Zed. Remapped at 210bhp and it was surprisingly fast. In some situations it could easily stick with the Zed. RWD means its still has that element of fun about it. I could not get below 42mpg no matter how hard I drove it. Just make sure you go for a 2007 onwards as they are much more efficient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gsexr Posted May 21, 2013 Share Posted May 21, 2013 Unless your selling and buying something that costs less you are going to end up spending more money so why not just stay with the zed. You know it make sense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny the mod Posted May 21, 2013 Share Posted May 21, 2013 Ive just sold my BMW for the zed (best thing ive ever done). No difference in running costs, but watch out if you get the BMW and anything goes wrong. MEGA MEGA expensive !!! Good luck anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bems Posted May 21, 2013 Share Posted May 21, 2013 (edited) Comes down to the badge but I used to have a fabia vrs which has the same engine as the leon fr but different turbo and air intake pipe. It was a fun, reliable and fuel efficient car. If you can stomach the badge I'd go for one of these every time over the Leon. Get a good low mileage 2006 plate for 6k and spend a couple on hybrid and coils etc and you have a reliable 200hp which'll still return 40mpg, cheap tax and insurance! Edited May 21, 2013 by Bems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrt Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 Hi Just sold my black 59 plate Passat cc.diesel. 70k miles... immaculate... still handled and looked new. 9k part ex for a 2 year old diesel jag xf.23k Passat looks great, 56 to the gallon.£ 150 tax. Great accelaration, brakes still excellent after 70k miles. no repairs needed ( at all ) Lots of admiring comments from other motorists and general public. Only sold it for more comfort and cruise control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stutopia Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 I had a Passat as a rental a few months ago, absolutely loved it, felt nice and refined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted May 22, 2013 Share Posted May 22, 2013 What must it have/do? The three you mention are wildly different, so if you can narrow it down to must haves and mustn't haves, it can often make life a lot easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DannyP Posted May 23, 2013 Author Share Posted May 23, 2013 (edited) What must it have/do? The three you mention are wildly different, so if you can narrow it down to must haves and mustn't haves, it can often make life a lot easier. Well, in importance: - It must have some poke about it. 8 secs ish 0-60. I don't want something that will feel stupidly slow compared to the Zed - I don't want / need a big car so A4 / passat etc are out (also why the BMW is last on that list) - Service price doesn't matter as much as my best mate is a mechanic, plus as he's a mechanic I can't have anything french or italian as he will refuse to work on it. I had a Leon before so am leaning towards that at the moment. Plus this DPF workaround and re-map sounds a lot of fun. Thanks for all the help so far guys. I really am going to miss the RWD V6 pull though Edited May 23, 2013 by DannyP Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docwra Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 I had a D5 Volvo S40 as a hire car just before Christmas and was pleasantly surprised by it, I imagine the Focus equivalent is equally good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabbitstew Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 I went from my zed to a 123d Coupe. 0-60 in a whisker over 6 seconds as standard which is staggering for a stock 2 litre diesel car. One of the car magazines road tested the 123d against the E30 M3 and said there was absolutely nothing in it performance or handling wise. On the road, I find it actually handles better than my zed, and im getting over 50mpg on my daily commute. Can easily be remapped up from its stock 204bhp to 270bhp and mega amounts of torque for just a few hundred quid which makes the performance even more incredible. Its slightly out of your price range, as your looking at £20k upwards, but you can probably get the earlier 123d hatch versions for a lot less. A more in your price range option is the 120d which also is a great car. 170bhp (if i remember rightly) as stock, and can easily remap to over 200bhp without causing any problems. In fact bmw even did a "performance pack" as an option on them where they fitted a bigger intercooler & remapped it themselves to about 200bhp at the dealership if you wanted. 120d`s are load more common than 123d`s and so much more to choose from and cheaper prices. Not to mention road tax costs virtually nothing on them. Outside of that the Golf GTD is also worth considering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vlad Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 A friend of mine used to have either 313 or 330 d (cant remember, dont really know BMWs that well) msport and it was really nice! He said fuel economy was great, ride was great and good car in general and they don't really cost a fortune either! Was a good car...until one cold, icy, morning lamp post decided to jump out right in front of him lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 As Rabbitstew says, get a 1 series diseasal. Pick an engine & spec that fits in budget and away you go. We looked at a current 118D last month to replace the Impreza, and it was far better than it had any right to be. Acceptable amount of pull, nippy and handled well, we both really liked it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete87 Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 I've got a remapped A3 I've had it for fours years now and only had two problems with it totalling £500 which isn't bad for 50,000 miles the car is now on 140,000 miles and she is still going strong. Best build quality interior wise is Audi, vw then soda and seat if I just drive normally round town I get 40mpg out of it but have had 60mpg on long runs its as quick as civic type-R's and handling is good. I wouldn't go without having a vw group diesel now as my daily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete87 Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 Take a look at this see what you think s-line is the top spec apart from the S3, i bought mine on 88,000 miles so this one will go on forever. http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201305216882904/sort/default/usedcars/fuel-type/diesel/price-from/8000/price-to/10000/model/a3/make/audi/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/page/3/keywords/s-line/postcode/po95tq/radius/1501?logcode=p Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ekona Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 Fail wheel drive though, at least with the Beemo he can stick with RWD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrumbMC Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 I've got a remapped A3... handling is good. Please don't become a motoring journalist now mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete87 Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 What? I find the handling good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rtbiscuit Posted May 23, 2013 Share Posted May 23, 2013 i'm currently exploring the diesel route at the moment, i think i've settled on the Audi B6 A4 manual quattro. either the 1.9 or the 2.5 TDI the 1.9 is only 130 bhp, but for about £100 it can be mapped up to 180 bhp and still do 50 mpg, if you're going audi avoid the multitronic gearboxes, lots of issues. also watch the bmw 330d apparently they have a habit of eating their intake manifolds and feeding it to the engine, and the BMW auto is about 25% down on mpg compared to the manual. quattro is good as it allows you to stick the diesel torque down properly and really fly out of corners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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