New car advice

[cfarrell]

Hi
Looking advice for a car, I currently have two kids with the prospect of another on the horizon. I've an 08 Audi a4 and with that in mind looking something a little bigger. I've had a look at an a6 avant bmw 535d saloon and and an LR discovery. Budget is up to 14k. Anyone Amy thoughts, instincts tells disc is best for space but worst for running costs! Tried fitting booster child seat and rear facing in bmw and just about fits, though tight for space. Any suggestions and is rather avoid mpvs if possible
Thanks

[x12yhp]

I quite like the 530d - feels like a good compromise in terms of performance and economy. There are also a lot more of them than the 535d.

[cjj799]

I was in the same boat and ended up buying a 530d E60. Apart from MPV's there is nothing much wider apart from the Toyota Avensis apparently. Most 4x4's aren't any wider except for the Rangie.

[stevieturbo]

And is it a car, SUV, 4x4, people carrier, saloon, estate etc that you want ?

Petrol, diesel ? How many miles per year.

Modern diesels are great...when they work. When something goes wrong though, they can be a nightmare.

[cfarrell]

Thanks guys, yeah found a BMW 535d on a private ad 85,000 miles for about 14,000 really nice car and very spacious, also have tested a Lr discovery 95,000 for 12,700nd a merc ml 320 06 84,000 for 11,500Cdi this week. Apparently the Lr has a major service at 105,000 and has reliability issues. The ml is rally nice to drive but app harder on diesel!
The jeeps are cheaper to buy but more xpensive to run, the 535 dearer but easier to run.
Selling my own car hopefully the week so I would need to havecanothvone read to go which Orr of rules out going to England. I do about 200 a week nd thankfully live close to the border whvh means diesel about 1.16
Any advice guys?
Thanks

[stevieturbo]

What border are you crossing to get legit white diesel at that price ?

[cfarrell]

Well was getting it up in dundalk there for about 1.16 sometimes go to omeath, need to check prices this week! Still it helps if I need to run a jeep,1.45 in NEWRY at the mo

[stevieturbo]

I'm down south several times a week.
On average petrol is 1.60 euro per litre, and diesel 1.50-1.55 per litre.
That's anywhere Ive been, and over the last week Ive been to Limerick, Waterford and various places in between

So somewhere selling fuel massively below those prices....well I know I wouldnt be putting it in my vehicle. There is no way it can be legit.

A couple of years ago I did buy fuel from a filling station On the Newry Road, Dundalk, and it seemed cheap. I went to Cork and back and got a refill on the way back.
I still had just under 1/4 tank

They managed to get more litres into my tank than it is physically able to hold even if it was completely empty.
In short, the reason their price per litre was cheap, is because they had bloody small litres ! And still no idea if the fuel they were selling was legit or not.

Although it is getting off topic as to the car. There really are so many options, but have to say, that big expensive modern diesels scare me. They're superb when they work, but they can cost a clean fortune when they stop working !

[cfarrell]

Yeah have used that place myself and theres a few on local radio advertising diesel still at 1.16 sterling, I've used it but think you're right about their def of a litre! I've an a4 2.0 tdi and it's good car but need something a bit bigger. Looked into the 535d and apparently they are quite reliable, merc ml good space but harder on the juice. Any other suggestions? Tried a le mans a6 3.0 tdi nice drive but would like a change from Audi! It'll be private sale though I'd say franchised dealers way out of my budget!

[stevieturbo]

What about a big Volvo ? They make good reliable cars.

Maybe something like this ?

http://www.usedcarsni.com/69939787

[cfarrell]

Looked at an XC 90 but they are pretty high mileage. Not the biggest fan of estate cars, though as you say they are reliable. I always bought fairly fresh motors but as you say with the high powered diesels the worry is about a turbo blowing. Still think I'm going to go for this 535d. You only live once! Lol

[stevieturbo]

cfarrell said:

Looked at an XC 90 but they are pretty high mileage. Not the biggest fan of estate cars, though as you say they are reliable. I always bought fairly fresh motors but as you say with the high powered diesels the worry is about a turbo blowing. Still think I'm going to go for this 535d. You only live once! Lol

It's not so much the turbo. Although BMW's arent renowned for reliable turbos lol
It's pump problems, injector problems that are most common with the common rail diesels, and that's across most marques.
Then DPF's etc
Basically most of the problems are all emissions related crap ! Blame the Eurocrats for it !

Or automatic gearboxes on the BMW's can have issues. Oil for these and the Merc gearboxes is a clean fortune.

Although on a good fresh car that doesnt have huge miles, you should be fine for a good while
When they work though, the BMW engines do make loads of grunt and go really well, and arent rattly things like some diesels

[cfarrell]

Shiite that has scared the crap out of me lol. Was actually a petrol fan for a long time golf gti Audi 2.0 t lovely engines but in the current climate couldn't really justify the petrol cost. Have a good mechanic lined up to give the car the once over, though you're right if it goes wrong on a bid diesel its to remortgage the house!

[stevieturbo]

For knocking about in, modern diesels and their torquey engines are great. And the big BMW engines really do have lots of go. In general they are pretty reliable though.

Petrols are great...but in many respects, they just arent as nice as a diesel these days.
But petrol is cheaper, and when things go wrong they are usually cheaper to repair and maintain.

It is a tough call. You need to weigh up mileage and overall running costs.

A big Audi S8 would be nice too lol or maybe one of their 3.0 diesels.