Which 130+bhp diesel?

R

rjt

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Hi folks. Need a diesel, want a 130 bhp, 6 speed.Driveability and reliability primary, looks/year secondary. Have €13k-€15k. Intend to head to UK in month or so to buy. Based on Honestjohn, Which, Reliablilityindex etc. have come up with following shortlist (with some pros/cons):
Golf GT TDi 130 ('02/'03)
Pros: A great drive (honestjohn). Great reviews all round.Not bad VRT.
Cons: Not cheap for class. Some reliability issues.
BMW 320d ('02)
Pros: Looks, handling, resale.
Cons: Turbo failure, high VRT
Skoda Octavia 130 six speed ('03/'04)
Pros: Reliability, price, VRT reasonable
Cons: Sixspeeds can be hard to come by, resale value
Audi A4 130 ('02)
Pros: Reliability (?), Resale
Cons: Expensive, very (too?) firm ride.
Anyone any experience/opinions on above or alternatives worth considering.
Cheers
 
Personally the BMW. A lot of people will argue the Skoda for value for money. Golf is older model and avg reliability. Audi is a bit meh for my liking.
 
pre-facelift rover 75 cdti connoisseur auto. - (up to mar 04).
131 bhp version of the bmw engine in a way classier body and almost every toy you can imagine. if you search the net and youll find it very hard to find a negative review.
 
pre-facelift rover 75 cdti connoisseur auto. - (up to mar 04).
131 bhp version of the bmw engine in a way classier body and almost every toy you can imagine. if you search the net and youll find it very hard to find a negative review.

this one is a manual and has black seats which arent as nice as beige or light grey but its got a good desc and some good pix. ignore the price 8500-9000 is more like it.

[broken link removed]
 
Driven the BMW, very nice,but bought a Skoda Superb. Wonderful engine and amazing space in the back. Based on the A6 (as far as I know) and great toys for your buck. Oddly enough I wouldn't consider an Octavia. Always likes the Rover 75 CDTI too, especially the MG version - must be getting old....!
 
Throw this in the mix a SEAT Leon Cupra 1.9TDi 150bhp. Plenty in the UK as they dont suffer the brand snobbery like here, but thats changing, and will be fairly easy to shift later on, also comes in 130bhp without the cupra extras.
 
how. rear wheel drive is over-rated, unless you've over 250bhp to play with, what’s the point. I've driven both a standard 320D and a cupra Tdi, very little between them but the price is huge. cupra is a better all rounder, plus more spec and there isnt 1000s of them over here, and servicing is fairly cheap compared to BMW.
 
On the used market the Resale Value of the BMW should outperform the Cupra despite how good the car may be.
 
5Times said:
how. rear wheel drive is over-rated, unless you've over 250bhp to play with, what’s the point. I've driven both a standard 320D and a cupra Tdi, very little between them but the price is huge. cupra is a better all rounder, plus more spec and there isnt 1000s of them over here, and servicing is fairly cheap compared to BMW.
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Rear wheel drive handles better. You don't get that understeer you do in bends on front wheel cars. That's my experience anyway.

Meh = nasal noise you make about something that just doesn't float your boat when you just couldn't be arsed saying anything else :)
 
5Times said:
That only applies if you are going around a corner at high speed.
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No...it applies to all situations. Not just corners...I'm talking about bends on b roads. And it's not limited to high speed only. I've driven plenty of front wheel drive cars where you can really feel the understeer on windy roads at comfortable speeds...which makes you break a lot. It's just not an issue at the same speeds with rwd.
 
That depends on what speed "your" comfortable with, and no thats not RWD thats BMW marketing for you. LOL the ultimate driving machine!
 
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