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Buying advice for a 2.2 CDTI 2004-2006 model, £2000

I bought one for 2k over 2 years ago so it was really cheap at the time. It was sold as spares or repairs because the clutch was slipping and the chain was a bit noisy.

I took it on holiday to the south of France and it didn't let me down. The clutch fixed itself, the chain got noisier, the manifold cracked and I eventually replaced it with a good used one off eBay. Turbo went suddenly one morning but again replaced by a good used one off eBay. Car was written off when a front ball joint failed.

I then paid more than 3 times as much on a petrol Audi which broke a lot more and cost a lot more to fix. I'm now back in another diesel Accord estate, facelift this time. Much better than the Audi and still half the price.

The main thing I would look out for would be a noisy chain. Other than that buy one and enjoy it.
 
Jon_G said:
I can think of no reason why diesel would increase in price disproportionally compared to petrol. Did you ask for an explanation?
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From what I remember, they were talking about ships moving away from heavy oil power to diesel type fuel. This will cause a shortage as other forms of transport start to need this fuel. So we should then expect the price to go up, especially as most diesel is imported anyway. Must ask a bit more about it next time I am at the BP research centre.
 
jamie000 said:
And as I say, the diesel has so much more torque (251 lb-ft) compared to the 2.4's 164 lb-ft.... much more relaxing and in the real world, faster. :)
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And that torque delivered much lower down the rev range too. I absolutely don't want to malign the petrol versions, which I couldn't because I've never driven one, but the diesel totally suits my driving style, particularly since Fahad's Stage 2 remap. It's not just the 325 lb-ft, it now picks up strongly from barely above tickover, and this makes the car completely effortless as well as giving an extra few mpg. The remap will pay for itself in about a year. Having driven quite a few pretty lairy petrol cars in my time, I can honestly say the CDTi doesn't feel shamed in their company.

Returning to your choices, when I was looking for the Accord, albeit with a £4500 budget, my shortlist consisted of Mazda6, Mondeo 2.2 TDCi or Honda Accord. I went to speak to the people who service my cars, to get their opinion. They went round all the mechanics in turn, with the three options, and all of them immediately said "Not the Mazda." Every one of half a dozen mechanics. Apparently the petrol Mazdas are good, the diesels are terrible, to the extent that they are now reluctant to work on them, because they know the car is going to keep coming back. Mondeos have quite a lot of faults. Along with the Honda, they recommended the Audi TDi you have on your list, or a Mercedes C-class. I've got a bit of a thing against Audis these days, so that was off the list, and I wanted a decent manual car, which really rules out the Mercedes.

I've only had the Honda for about five months, but I haven't regretted it so far, in fact I'm delighted. (Having said that, right at this moment it's down the road having a sticky caliper sorted.) I would buy another one any day of the week. Buy carefully, see several so you can get a feel for them, get the best you can afford. Same rules as ever.

Good luck!
 
Thanks all.
Mondeo is out, as it looks ancient and dated now plus a friend had one and it was not reliable.
I really don' want to get sucked into a diesel petrol war....... but!!! I was very anti diesel, until I was forced into one. I promise you that once you have a taste for mid range overtaking punch (plus a fatter wallet) you would not go back to weedy wallet mugging petrol, unless your mileage was really low or u did very short trips.

As for noise, once u are driving along its barely noticeable - why would anyone open the bonnet and listen to it ffs?

I have a diesel Merc c class, and it is luveerrrrly - fast (2.7 litre turbo, yum) and smooth (auto) and so lovely (did i mention i was lovely?) But, it has a drink problem and hasn't been particularly reliable AND it is f*&%$^&g rusting like an old Alfa (disgraceful merc quality)

Anyway, i need to save money but am spoilt for gadgets and comfort so I am tying to find a compromise and i think i've found it. Will report back when I buy.

Cheers
 
I can echo to teacake's quote, because I was in the same situation to choose between Honda, Mazda and Audi.

Mazda petrol engine is good but not diesel, one of my colleague had 2 different gens of them, and they both got fire while driving under the normal speed condition.

Audi has a lot of electrical problems. The 1.9 is good and reliable, but not the 2.0

After owning my ex car, the MK5 Astra 1.9, very powerful after remapped (200+bhp) but noisy Fiat engine, I told myself that perhaps I should go back to the petrol and forget the diesel....... but there are 8 staffs who are Accord owners (1 with gen 8 and the rest are gen 7), they said test drive from one of them before I change my mind. Guess what? I love it straight away; So refine, comfortable and quiet, the only negative is not enough power and torque.

This Honda diesel engine is the one I would love to have in many years :)
 
AndyHK said:
Mazda petrol engine is good but not diesel, one of my colleague had 2 different gens of them, and they both got fire while driving under the normal speed condition.
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Where's that shocked smiley gone? Oh wait, there it is... :eek: :eek: :eek:
 
Andy, there is nothing wrong with the power and torque once they have been remapped ;)
 
Indeed..I'm off tomorrow so the man can work his magic again!
 
Obviously we'd all like a more powerful car, but there's not a great deal wrong with the torque delivery on the standard map... very relaxed cruising around with really great pick-up. Like most modern diesels, the engine's full potential is available low down the rev range so - under relaxed/cruising driving conditions - it's very like driving a large V8 petrol engine, but without the heavy fuel costs... even more so after a decent remap!

The worst thing about all diesels is that the power tends to build too gently as you cane them, and then you abruptly hit the rev limit. This is where petrol engines win, you can let them spin up to a much higher rev limit and so really bash out lots of lovely BHP.

I have no experience with Mazda diesels, but I have to agree with the posts bashing the Mondeo... I would describe their diesel engines are awful. The Audi TDi diesel (1.9) does actually seem pretty excellent, and the cars are nice to drive, but the electrics can be a nightmare... my friend knows that he is in for indicator, electric window and a whole load of other problems if his 2003 A6 1.9 TDi gets rained on!
 
Of course, if you're considering an Audi TDi, you've also got the Passat as a potentially cheaper option. Though I have to say that I was a passenger in my boss's 2006 Passat TDi a couple of weeks ago and, compared to my Accord (which was probably worth about the same) it was bogging. It seemed quite lively, though, until I glanced across at the rev counter and found that sixth was about the same as fifth in the 6-speed Accord.
 
jamie000 said:
Thanks all.
Mondeo is out, as it looks ancient and dated now plus a friend had one and it was not reliable.
I really don' want to get sucked into a diesel petrol war....... but!!! I was very anti diesel, until I was forced into one. I promise you that once you have a taste for mid range overtaking punch (plus a fatter wallet) you would not go back to weedy wallet mugging petrol, unless your mileage was really low or u did very short trips.

As for noise, once u are driving along its barely noticeable - why would anyone open the bonnet and listen to it ffs?

I have a diesel Merc c class, and it is luveerrrrly - fast (2.7 litre turbo, yum) and smooth (auto) and so lovely (did i mention i was lovely?) But, it has a drink problem and hasn't been particularly reliable AND it is f*&%$^&g rusting like an old Alfa (disgraceful merc quality)

Anyway, i need to save money but am spoilt for gadgets and comfort so I am tying to find a compromise and i think i've found it. Will report back when I buy.

Cheers
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not arguing that diesels got loads of low end torque, but common you don't need to have the hearing of a dog to see that they are, well a lot more tractorish than a petrol car. and you don't need the bonnet open for that.

my 2.4 is certainly not weedy (and contrary to popular opinion i have gone well above 15mph :p :), But amongst the diesels mentioned i would give the nod to the hondas over the other variants.

remapping a diesel car for 2 grand or so is not the cleverest thing , it will already most likely have high miles, and putting the extra stress on the car might not be the wisest thing to do.

its the same as putting springs on a car with a lot of miles, the existing dampers are probably not able to cope with them and will just pack in eventually.
 
what about skoda superbs? are they good in diesel guise? i have heard the superbs are well, superb.

I was checking them out too before i got this accord but couldn't see any decent petrols.
 
I suggest that two grand isn't especially cheap for a car of this age. And you don't get a better car simply because you choose to throw money at the seller, although there is an odd tendency for buyers to do this, believing that they get some sort of 'peace of mind' by buying overly-expensive cars from dealers.

I don't think it would be possible to predict the ability of a car to 'withstand' a remap based upon the buying price, a more reasonable ***essment could be made by evidence that the clutch is in good order, ideally replaced since 2010 (when a better design - the 325 version - became available). The very significant additional torque of a decent remap can finish off a worn clutch.
 
toffee_pie said:
what about skoda superbs? are they good in diesel guise? i have heard the superbs are well, superb.

I was checking them out too before i got this accord but couldn't see any decent petrols.
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Same range of V.A.G. diesels, though not always the latest. Generally well-regarded, I think, and popular as taxis, which tells you something about reliability. The original Superb was not available in an estate version, which excludes it as a choice for the OP.

Edit: I originally wrote V.A.G. without the full stops between, and it got swear-bleeped out... :blink:
 
Having owned a 2.0 tdci mondeo, 2.2 tdci mondeo, 2.2 accord, 2.7 tdi a6 (love that car), 2.5 tdi a6 and 1.9 tdi a4 and a diesel2.0 diesel auris I certainly call myself a diesel fan. But we are a bit tight on cash and I was fed up with worrying about potential bills so we now have 2 petrols.

Im not sure where you get your figures from but I would say the petrol will cost £40 a month more to run a month (based on 15k a year) and I get a lower mileage car thats less likely to have wear and tear problems and its not too sluggish either.
 
Forgot to say that at 15k a year and with diesel being 5p ish more per litre you will be paying roughly £150 a year more for diesel than petrol. Aren't diesel servicing costs higher too?

Sorry to harp on but I know what its like to want a nice car on a low budget and don't want you to potentially make an expensive mistake without knowing all of your options.
 
Christ my head will explode if i hear anymore diesel and petrol stuff., but you are absolutely right.
 
Im not anti diesel by the way, given the choice I would probably pick a diesel if I was buying lower mileage or had some money in the bank.

High mileage diesels can be a false economy. Another bad buy of mine was a 2.5 tdi a6 with a tiptronic box and 180bhp from a v6. £1800 with 143k on the clock with a new mot but turned out it needed front lower arms £350, new thermostat and cam belt £500, turbo started whining £350 for a recon one, knocking noise developed at the rear, central locking was temperamentol and the air con lights had a tendancy to flicker. Kept that 4 weeks before I sold it to a mechanic for a £300 loss.
 
ChrisG said:
Having owned a 2.0 tdci mondeo, 2.2 tdci mondeo, 2.2 accord, 2.7 tdi a6 (love that car), 2.5 tdi a6 and 1.9 tdi a4 and a diesel2.0 diesel auris I certainly call myself a diesel fan. But we are a bit tight on cash and I was fed up with worrying about potential bills so we now have 2 petrols.
Im not sure where you get your figures from but I would say the petrol will cost £40 a month more to run a month (based on 15k a year) and I get a lower mileage car thats less likely to have wear and tear problems and its not too sluggish either.
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15,000÷48mpg×4.55×1.4
=1,990

15,000÷34mpg×4.55×1.35
=2,709

For the 2.0 its an extra 700 quid in fuel plus 100 extra for tax = 800 over a year = 67 pound a month more.

800 over 2 years is enough for an entire car!
 
I would be surprised if those were the actual mpg's you would get, the Honda diesel isn't the most economical. Realistically I would say there is a 20% difference between the 2, I have owned both cars albeit in facelift spec.

You sound like you know what you want to do so do it and hope for the best. Just make sure you have a few quid in the bank because you can't expect a car with 140k ish on the clock to be 100% reliable.

If you can find one that has already had some of the common issues replaced then even better.
 
I suppose once you get to a certain mileage on any car the 'Trigger's Broom' ****ogy comes into play. If it's been looked after well enough anything that will normally go wrong has already gone wrong and been replaced. Which is why a good service history is essential for your purchase.
 
Osiris said:
Which is why a good service history is essential for your purchase.
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One reason I usually prefer to buy cars privately. You not only tend to get access to all the receipts they have, rather than just the stamps in the service book, but also get a feel for what sort of person they are and how they would have looked after the car. This is probably why - when I've sold cars - people have tended to buy pretty quickly. They take one look at the pile of receipts, see me opening up the spreadsheet with all the mileage calculations, and they do a deal just to get away from me.
 
As Teacake says, who's selling and what it says about the car is vital.

My 2.2 CTDI was bought privately two years ago for £2600 with 146k miles on the clock. Most on the forum would have cautioned me if I'd asked about it here! However, the car was a company car from a director who was retiring and being allowed to sell it off. Hence it was near enough flawless with a full service history at the local Honda dealership; new clutch at 130k, belts & breaks at 140k etc.... Nothing like a good company policy to keep a car in good condition.

Even now I cant believe my luck at that purchase.
 
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