Car for high mile munching?

[Rav]

Looking to buy a new car at the moment.

Got a price limiti of around £7000 max. Car needs to be suitable for munching plenty of motorway miles in all weathers. I currently have a '99 Audi A4 (90bhp)SE Tdi.

Choices are:

B6 shape Audi A4 1.9 TDI - probably an SE or sport on a 2001/2002
or
VW Golf GT Tdi - around the Y, 2001 or 2002 plate

Any thoughts on either of these cars?

[Dr G]

A4 1.9 tdi SE for mile munching, very comfy and long legged thing - don't handle for toffee though!

[GreatGranny]

Probably get slated but you can't go wrong with a Mondy, my dad has just bought an 04 TDCi 130 Zetec for £6k. Great mile muncher and a better drive than either a Golf or Passat and he tried both when looking.
How about a Volvo S60 D5, the most comfortable seats of any car I have tried. You should be able to pick up an 03/53 with sensible miles for your budget.
If you want a VAG car then any of the TDi models are great for mway, I would go for, in order, A6, A4. Passat, Golf, Superb, Octavia.

[ATM]

Get yorself something older with the tdi 110 engine in it. Then you can run it on veg oil for around 45p per litre.

[Niffty951]

Get the Golf Tdi 150 its a very solidly built car make sure its done more than 80,000miles because there was a fault with 1 batch of the 150bhp models which all exploded at about 70,000miles because the cam shafts fail! ..but mine was excellent and because its a completely different engine to the 130bhp model it can be re-mapped to produce approx 215hp 350+ft/lb of torque, it will still do 60mpg over a journey driven slowly and it IS seriously fast! We are talking throw you back into the seat quick! Superb all rounder if you can put up with a 4cyl diesel? 5 or 6cylinder diesels do feel so much smoother but I think you'd be hard pushed to find one as tunable or as quick. The 150 has an unusual spare capacity for tuning. Produces more power than a re-mapped 330d (3.0 6cylinder) Bmw of the same age. Amazing engine!

Regards,

Ben

p.s. RE-map is just under £300 not bad for a night and day difference in performance.

[phumy]

Niffty951 said:

Get the Golf Tdi 150 its a very solidly built car make sure its done more than 80,000miles because there was a fault with 1 batch of the 150bhp models which all exploded at about 70,000miles because the cam shafts fail! ..but mine was excellent and because its a completely different engine to the 130bhp model it can be re-mapped to produce approx 215hp 350+ft/lb of torque, it will still do 60mpg over a journey driven slowly and it IS seriously fast! We are talking throw you back into the seat quick! Superb all rounder if you can put up with a 4cyl diesel? 5 or 6cylinder diesels do feel so much smoother but I think you'd be hard pushed to find one as tunable or as quick. The 150 has an unusual spare capacity for tuning. Produces more power than a re-mapped 330d (3.0 6cylinder) Bmw of the same age. Amazing engine!

Regards,

Ben

p.s. RE-map is just under £300 not bad for a night and day difference in performance.

I have a GTi TDi PD150 and the engines do not explode, they just misfire when the cam lobs wear, this happened to mine at around 75k miles, got it changed by stealer for a sixth of the cost as a good will gesture, after negociation. All fine now and just to re-affirm is an excellent driving car, loads of torque and very economical

Edited by phumy on Thursday 31st January 02:14

[5yearstobuyatvr]

Im selling my wifes tdi Passatt,grey in showroom condition 39000 miles, 03 plate, fsh.taxed,mot end june.£6750. [up to 52 mpg}

[leeross]

av got a 130 gt tdi, great car for m/ways. 50 plus mpg! mates got a passat tho and would say it is more comfy

[ATM]

The passat is much smoother on the motorway than the golf. Especially if you get the highline type 15 inch wheels with monster HIGH profile tyres to cushion you along the way.

Dont rule out the Bora. Hatchbacks are very popular here in the UK but the Bora is more economical because a saloon is better than a hatchback design in terms of aerodynmics.

[Thirsty33]

I'd plump for the A4 of your choices, but you can get a much newer car with very similar spec if you go for:-

B4 Passat Highline 130 TDi - leather, cruise, six disc. Handling is moot point - they are not sporty of course, but they hold the road as well as you need and "swoosh" big A road bends just fine - just don't bother with the B-roads. I test drove the Golf GT Tdi at the same time and chose the Passat - Golf just did not "munch the miles" as well. My Passat test drive was 700 miles in two days - I was nearly as fresh at the end as I was when I started. Search around and you can get an 04 for about that money.

Mondeos may be well designed, but they get to feel 2nd hand very quickly - I had one - good car in many ways but after 3 years fairly low miles it just felt "used".

My other suggestion is the Skoda Superb V6 TDi. Not had one, but they are like the B4 Passat only a bit bigger and better for mile munching - build quality very high.

[Colonial]

Bora's are quite good mile munchers I've found. No diesels in Oz but my company used to run a 2.8 4motion and a 1.8t for various duties and they both handled it very well. Comfortable, reliable and handled well on the motorway/country roads