Hi,

i keep my cars a long time. Just getting rid of my Seat Toledo SE petrol which has been a great car for the last 7 years, and i bought it 17 months old at a car supermarket for 6299.

Need better economy, more space and practicality - wife, two teenagers, 1 labrador and now her puppy as well.

So the Roomster seems to be ideal. I've done a fair bit of research. So this is the deal....

I was going to spend about 5k cash on a 07 diesel - fair enough.

Then i spotted a 25% off deal on a brand new Roomster 1.2 TSI SE for 10390. This has thrown the whole plan up in the air. I am now considering this deal which seems pretty good.

The fuel economy from this turbo charged 1.2 is better than the 69bhp model (49 mpg combined) and it's more powerful. Almost up to diesel levels but without noise and dpf worries.

We do 15,000 miles a year, mixed driving including holidays. i'lll keep the car 5 years plus.

Is the engine strong enough for over 100,000 miles?

Is it too much of a big ask compared with a diesel?

Your views on the model, the engine quality, resilience and economy would be much appreciated.

Thanks very much all. :think:

Well, I can only speak for the 1.2TSI. It is one great engine. I came from a 1.9TDI PD engine in an Octavia. The Octavia have served me well for 6 years and about 200.000 km. I do expect the 1.2TSI to last as long.

I to was about to go for the 1.6TDI, but the price difference, makes it more expensive. I drive about 30.000 a year most on motorway and urban roads

can only recommend the 1.2TSI :-)

Well I have the 1.2Tsi 77KW one with 5-gear manual gearbox for the last 20 months and I use it every day. It has ~27.500Km on clock.

After a 500Km journey on highway with speeds from 110Km/h to 120Km/h consumed 30lt of petrol. We were two adults and a full boot.

At a 246Km journey at highway and country roads at speeds varying from 50Km/h (passing through villages) to 130 Km/h (highway) car computer indicated 6.2lt/100Km fuel consumption. We were two adults, 2 babies on their seats and a full boot, plus some stuff at the rear middle seat which was fully folded. A/C was partially engaged.

Travelling at speeds between 80Km/h to 100Km/h consumption varies from 4.9 to 5.7 lt/100Km.

In my everyday city commute (about 4Km to + 4Km from job) with cold engine and stiff uphills and downhills consumption varies from 6.8 to 9.8lt/100Km.

In all cases the petrol is 95 RON. Never used 98 or 100 Ron. By experience now the car makes about 900Km in one tankfull at highway and at 120Km/h. When use it in the city, car can make from 450 to 600Km depending the traffic and weather conditions. The consumption is the same as my previous 1.2Htp 2006 Fabia and better than my previous 1.6mpi 2002 Octavia.

I think it is too early to know if the engine can do 100.000miles (kilometres in my case), but it is a very sparky engine. It has the power of 1.8, it performs like an 1.6 and it consumes like a 1.2 or 1.4 depending your driving style and road conditions.

At an emergency state, driving to hospital at full speed (195Km/h) for 25km distance (engine was cold after 18 hours of parking) consumption was 17.2Lt/100km.

Oh! and it handles great for such type of car.

I fully agree with the previous posters. We previously had a Roomster -07 1.9 TDI, and now a 1.2 TSI 105 (with DSG), and the petrol engine feels almost as much powerful as the diesel. I'm just over 18 000 km in a year (yesterday actually 1 year since delivery!) and I have had no problems at all with the engine. Our driving is mainly commuting (~10KM per direction), with the occasional 30 km cruise to visit relatives, and I mostly get an average consumption of around 6.8 l in these conditions. Even when we load up the car with 2 adults, 2 kids and stuff for over a week out in a cottage the power is enough even on highway cruising, and maintaining a steady 125 KM/H with the cruise control is no problem. Fuel consumption in this case is just over 7 l/100km, so I really have no complaints at all. I'ts really amazing how much engine can be squeezed into 1.2 liters today, so unless you are doing a lot of heavy towing my recommendation would be to go for the petrol!

I went for the 1.6 diesel. it had 20k miles on the clock in less than 2 years so I assumed it had not been used around town. It has served us well for 6 months/5000 miles of mixed motoring. I am just becoming accustomed to keeping the revs up to about 2000, which means 60mph is still only 4th gear. If you intend plenty of motorway driving or towing or heavy loads I recommend the diesel. But for pottering round town go for the petrol.

Personally I would not buy a small petrol expecting high mileages over more than 2-3 years.

All, thanks for all your advice, after which, i am still interested in this engine and deal.

Is the diesel a 1.4 or 1.9? I have a 1.9 TDi with 58k on the clock, i find it returning a comfortable average of 55-60mpg, which is better than the official figure of 53mpg. However definitely if you just have short trips under 5 miles, the average is much worse. In that case a petrol is probably a better option, as the 1.9 seems to warm up after that distance and start returning proper figures. Unlike bryanb's 1.6 engine, mine will comfortably pull at 1100rpm. But that is something i had heard of from the 1.4's, which is why i went for the 1.9 instead.

With 15.000 miles a year, the choice between 1.2 tsi 105hp and a 1.6 TDI 90hp is wide open.

At full price, diesel wins for better consumption and more torque.

But with a 25% discount the TSI becomes very desirable. Add less noise and more smoothness as advantages. And consumption is very good for a petrol engine.

Furthermore, TSI engines are very common nowadays, and here to stay. With the right service, no problems of reliability.

As to me, with less than 10k miles a year, the choice has been simpler: TSI all the way

Edited 3 May, 201214 yr by Lorenzo