Right should fingers crossed be buying a 2001 VW Golf on Monday been researching about them and they sound pretty good, the one I'm buying has 1 previous lady owner and done 80k its immaculate and drives lovely.
Reading online the dual flywheels that apparently go and cost £1000 to fix worries me. That's the only common fault I've found online..... Anyone own or owned one? Experiences?
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Should have no probs
Also about 50-55 to the gall as well
Personally, I would recon on needing to spend £1k within about 20,000 miles and I would budget for it when you are buying the car.
In retrospect if we had the choice to do over we would have sold the car at 80,000 miles and bought a new one.
I bet its black?
; )
I've bought quite a few cheap old diesels over the years and just run them until death - it's still a pretty cheap way of motoring. Spending £1000 on a car will mean you're always liable to things going wrong, but if you've got the knowledge and tools to be working on it yourself, then you probably know more than most of us commenting here.
One thing I would thoroughly recommend is using the fully synthetic (and more expensive) engine oil. If you want to keep alive the idea that modern diesels are bullet proof and will do 200,000 miles, then forget about the cheap £50 services you see advertised.
Most diesels have to have a DMF as a matter of principle. When they go wrong yes they cost about a grand.
Since 2009, EU legislation stipulated the installation of the Diesel Particulate Filter(DPF) to all new diesel cars. If the logbook for your diesel car has EURO V in the emissions category then your car has it.
Google what a DPF does please. These are such pigs of devices so its good that you got a car that does not have it.
Now manufacturers are pressured to build what appear to be more economic cars and people will go out of their way to buy a £20k-30k car just because it costs £0-30 to tax and gives 60-90 mpg. In the real world cars rarely give such returns.
in the past diesel cars had a reputation for dependability – they were slow but economical – then they became ever more refined and the engines went on seemingly for ever with basic, regular maintenance. High pressure engine systems, dual mass flywheels and diesel particulate filters have all improved their performance or cleanliness, but the technology has also made them much more expensive to fix when they go wrong. Modern diesels appear to be more problematic if servicing is not carried out exactly as specified, with the correct grade of oil, interval etc … and they don't like a diet of short journeys, which can often be a feature of modern life.
The trouble is that it is almost impossible for a the buyer of a used modern diesel to tell how it was serviced, or driven, prior to the purchase. Even if it comes from a main dealer, there are no guarantees servicing has been done correctly. Once outside the three-year warranty, manufacturers rarely help, leaving drivers to pick up the bill – which can be more than the car's value. Dual mass flywheel clutches at a grand, worn injector repairs at £400 each, failed high pressure pump heads at £500/£2,000, DPFs and Turbochargers @ £1,500+ they simply do not make for a good used car anymore.
I love diesel cars but they are getting so frighteningly complex that my next car will not be one.
Basically it's a flywheel in two concentric parts or two facing flywheels stuck together with flexible compound to damp down transmitted vibration from diesel engines, improve gearchange quality and protect transmissions from torque reaction at around 2,000rpm, particularly the change from first to second. A disaster.
Thank you WTR