Dont write off the older Citroens specially the 1.6 diesel, before i could afford a new car I had one of these & used it to travel 30 miles each way to work, the engine sounded like an old ford tractor on startup, but warm up was really quick and the engine quietened down. I got it serviced at a specialist who used genuine parts & was reasonably priced & it never missed a beat. It was a BX so was brillinantly comfortable & for this journey gave me a decent return of around 40mpg ( which is better that some of the modern diesel engines).

 

My advise would be find a car that looks good for its price, you find comfortable to sit in & drive & forget what brand it is, specially with the budget you have, any car you buy will there will be a risk of breakage regardless of whether it looks like a complete shed of not.

A diesel 75 would actually be a decent option, could I stomach the exterior and interior styling!

Passat 1.9 AWX bought.....bit leaky as it turns out, so hoping that's just the pollen filter.

Intoxicating power delivery...man, I've missed that shove!

330d of a vintage have issues with swirl flaps as mentioned (not a huge expense to remove). They also go through front wishbones at a rate that makes them basically a consumable item.

I drove one with a view to changing about 3yr ago and I was fairly underwhelmed.

 

[Edit] Just noticed you've bought. Was going to suggest Saab. They supposedly have very good seats although I don't have personal experience.

Best seat design is between Saab and Volvo in my book

 

Glad you've got something sorted though Gwilo - enjoy

Best seat design is between Saab and Volvo in my book

 

Glad you've got something sorted though Gwilo - enjoy

Now to plug the leaks, fix up some paint work, replace wing mirror indicator LED and a rear parking sensor that's packed up.....

Then maybe a W8 light mod if I can sneak it.......

Nice purchase.

 

Check the suspension bolts are not rusted to nothing and that the wishbone bushes are in good nick too.

If they are not rusted, grease them up before winter, because if they do rust, it's a pain to get them out.

Oh you're just a ray of sunshine aren't you?

Hahaha!

I 'll try and find some diagrams on net for these.

Castrol lm grease?

Oh you're just a ray of sunshine aren't you?

Hahaha!

I 'll try and find some diagrams on net for these.

Castrol lm grease?

 

Anything that stops water pentration really.

 

There's nothing wrong with an older passat, as you said, it's the same issues as the MK I superb and they're well known and generally solvable