Chip Chip Chip

[super__dan]

Originally Posted by Stu

all them derailments?

??? Assuming you're talking to me Stu, asside from the one at Grayrigg I'm not sure what other ones you're refering to? Rail continues to be the safest form of UK transport

We might have to take this conversation offline if you're interested?

[RogerM]

Originally Posted by super__dan

Rog,

There is a chance I might end up losing my company car in a couple of months and therefore will be looking at buying an old, cheap (1k ish) VW motored diesel. However there are so many differnet versions, do you know which are ones to go for and which to avoid (if any)?

Dan,

For a grand your not going to get much but you should, if you look hard enough, find a Passat or Golf with the AFN engine (110bhp in stock form). The AFN is the best "overall", all things considered, VW diesel engine. Yes the later PD lumps are hotter in stock form, yes the very recent common rail engines are as smooth as silk. None of those have the bang-per-buck that the AFN can give. The AFN was fitted from 97 to 2000 in Golf, Bora, Passat and Leon.

I know several people with 200K+ old AFN lumps running as sweet as the day they left the factory.
The other thing to consider is that running anything other than regular pump diesel in the PD engines is a bit risky and down right stupid in the common rail units.
Obviously you still have to pay the duty on veg oil if you do decide to run it. The rotary pump on the AFN will run 100% "biofuel" with no grief but the resulting performance and visual emissions will put you off ..... it's like sharing a tent with Doom .... a gradual wind up with an unpleasant exhaust odour! I have personally known people run 80% bio 20% diesel with no issues.

The 90bhp rotary pump engine is just about ok in the Golf but in the Passat it's just not man enough.


If you can find a later PD (Eelectronic Unit Injector based engine) then just make sure it's not the early 105bhp unit ..... its a dog in stock form as it was only really done to make a tax break in Germany! It was very quickly replaced in the UK by the 100bhp unit which was much more flexible and had far more mid-range torque.

The 115bhp units are good but you'll struggle to get one for £1K and they aren't as good on fuel as the older rotary pump based engines.


If you decide not to go VW based be careful and a lot of companies shared their diesels. If I had to make a choice of a non VW it would be either the Vaux' 1.7 TD (Iveco lump) or the Toyota (if you can stay awake long enough to complete the test drive .... all the chassis were crap).

Stay clear of the Nissans, Renaults and Volvos. The Pugs engine was no bad (talking about the HDi unit) but the normal warnings about French cars apply (but you had a 306 S16 IIRC so maybe you won't be so bothered).


Biggest things to look for are smoke on start up and smoke on lift off. A little bit on hard acceleration is common so don't worry about that.
With diesels I'd rather have a high milage car that has spent all it's time on motorways than a lower milage car that's been a town based shopping trolley. It is really important to let the turbo cool after a run, I normally either try to do the last mile off boost or let her idle for 30secs to a minute before switching off.

It's a said thing to say but now I've lived with a VW diesel estate for so long there is no way I could consider anything else for my daily driver!!!

[Chrislong]

Daneth,
Don't get me wrong, I detest anything that is French with passion, including the cars. But for 1k you could get a 1995-1996 Pug 306 Tdi or Citroen Xsara. Don't get me wrong, I know little about the engines, but I do hear Scott Davis drone on about how good they are.

The other suggestion is a last of the Mk's Escort Tdi.

As you know, my dad has plenty of contacts in the trade. Do you want me to get the word out to find a car for you?

[phil c]

Originally Posted by RogerM

Dan,

For a grand your not going to get much but you should, if you look hard enough, find a Passat or Golf with the AFN engine (110bhp in stock form). The AFN is the best "overall", all things considered, VW diesel engine. Yes the later PD lumps are hotter in stock form, yes the very recent common rail engines are as smooth as silk. None of those have the bang-per-buck that the AFN can give. The AFN was fitted from 97 to 2000 in Golf, Bora, Passat and Leon.

I know several people with 200K+ old AFN lumps running as sweet as the day they left the factory.
The other thing to consider is that running anything other than regular pump diesel in the PD engines is a bit risky and down right stupid in the common rail units.
Obviously you still have to pay the duty on veg oil if you do decide to run it. The rotary pump on the AFN will run 100% "biofuel" with no grief but the resulting performance and visual emissions will put you off ..... it's like sharing a tent with Doom .... a gradual wind up with an unpleasant exhaust odour! I have personally known people run 80% bio 20% diesel with no issues.

The 90bhp rotary pump engine is just about ok in the Golf but in the Passat it's just not man enough.


If you can find a later PD (Eelectronic Unit Injector based engine) then just make sure it's not the early 105bhp unit ..... its a dog in stock form as it was only really done to make a tax break in Germany! It was very quickly replaced in the UK by the 100bhp unit which was much more flexible and had far more mid-range torque.

The 115bhp units are good but you'll struggle to get one for £1K and they aren't as good on fuel as the older rotary pump based engines.


If you decide not to go VW based be careful and a lot of companies shared their diesels. If I had to make a choice of a non VW it would be either the Vaux' 1.7 TD (Iveco lump) or the Toyota (if you can stay awake long enough to complete the test drive .... all the chassis were crap).

Stay clear of the Nissans, Renaults and Volvos. The Pugs engine was no bad (talking about the HDi unit) but the normal warnings about French cars apply (but you had a 306 S16 IIRC so maybe you won't be so bothered).


Biggest things to look for are smoke on start up and smoke on lift off. A little bit on hard acceleration is common so don't worry about that.
With diesels I'd rather have a high milage car that has spent all it's time on motorways than a lower milage car that's been a town based shopping trolley. It is really important to let the turbo cool after a run, I normally either try to do the last mile off boost or let her idle for 30secs to a minute before switching off.

It's a said thing to say but now I've lived with a VW diesel estate for so long there is no way I could consider anything else for my daily driver!!!

what about the skoda fabia tdi or octavia tdi , all the same running gear as above but cheaper to buy than vw , audi ,ect

[RogerM]

Phil .... true enough but too new to really get for Dan's £1k budget with a PD in and they never had the AFN lumps in them from the factory.

Obviously I am basing prices on those down in the South West ..... as they vary so much depending on what you want and which region your looking in it's worth shopping round.

Occassionally I still buy and sell Mk2 Golf GTIs ........ go for about a fiver in London as the insurance makes them a non viable option for many ....... drive them 100 miles up the M40 and you have a £1.5k car potentially!!!!

[Colinevan]

My daily runner is a 95 306 dturbo. (92 bhp std )not the hdi version.

Its now on 164k and i think its had the fuel pump tweaked (its mechanical) and the boost upped slightly (again mechanical).

coming from a 321 bhp M3, the dturbo felt dead, but coupled with very short range gear changes vs relatively low top end gearing meant that the 306 has a top speed of no more than 120 mph with revs at 5k. In gear acceleration in 5th at 70 and 80 puts many newer cars to shame.
Its quite a nippy car.

Iv been experimenting with bio diesel and veg oil, as in my eyes its only a cheap car and at the worst, a replacement engines only going to cost £300 or so. How wrong was i too doubt it...

i reckon with veg oil or bio running upto 80 percent mix, the car runs sweeter, less boost but sounds quiter, poss due to the oil cleaning out the fuel lines, tank etc etc. Iv yet to report anything bad about it. only pro being demand is very high in manchester.

My reccomendation for a sub 1k car is a mint 306 dturbo not hdi for around £700. Iv ran mine for 50k and i think its only cost me £350 to keep healthy.

Col.

[Stu]

Originally Posted by Chrislong

The other suggestion is a last of the Mk's Escort Tdi.

Body-shells made from washing machine monkey metal unfortunately, mines on it's way out. My ZX was a much better car, essentially the same as the 306.

[super__dan]

Rog, thanks for the ace advice, if worst happens and I lose my car I'll defo be looking at that.

I used to have a GTi-6 and it was a bloody great car so I'll equally be cosindering those, can't be the motor Vermins dad had though as that was slow to an extent I didn't think possible.

Chris, may very well take you up on that but fingers corssed come July 26th I'll be OK