Got a 1.8T Elegance Estate, 29k, 53. Great condition. However, cant get the wife on the insurance so Ive seen the following:

1.9TDi L&K 04 with 110k on the clock, 1 owner, motorway miles, FSH etc. Similar value to mine. Pros and cons please.

less power, more torque, more toys, basically!

the TDI, will be cheaper insurance, much much better on fuel, and more torque, but less BHP (if your that worried). The TDI's also go on for much longer, ive seen the older TDI engine with 180k on the clock.

Watch out for sticking vanes on turbo tho

As has been said it is down 20 bhp (if it's the PD130) or 40 bhp (if it's the 110 TDI), but will feel faster because it is noisier and torquier (sp?), as well as being more economical. It should also have a lot more toys than the Elegance.

Mileage is high and while the engine should be fine (assuming it's been well looked after and serviced) other things will be reaching the end of their life and may require a bit of money spent on it, eg suspension, bushes, sensors, etc so may be something to bear in mind.

What are the reasons why your wife can't get insured on your current Octavia? Might be cheaper to find a different insurance company than trade in a car you're currently happy with and know?

Chris

thanks so far, do you think lots of other things will be coming to the end of their life at 110k then?

I think it all depends how it's been treated. The big weakpoint of diesels seems to be the clutch and dual mass flywheel (DMF). If the previous owner has been a gentle driver then the car should be fine (assuming the variable vanes are not sticking), whereas if he's abused the car and been booting it from low revs the clutch may be slipping and the DMF may be on its way out. Also bear in mind that it will be due a cambelt service at 120k.

Impossible to say without looking and driving the car, but something to bear in mind when you do

Chris

Forget the diesel - too high mielage and will certainly cost you a lot of money; the owner will be selling as the car has almost finished it's life and is ready for some work doing, trust me.

Get on confused.com and try admiral and elephant and I garuntee you will be a happy chappy.

Thanks. I tried confused.com and it has come up with a couple of policies that are more like it. So now I can throw out the idea of taking on a high mileage diesel.

Forget the diesel - too high mielage and will certainly cost you a lot of money; the owner will be selling as the car has almost finished it's life and is ready for some work doing, trust me.

Get on confused.com and try admiral and elephant and I garuntee you will be a happy chappy.

110K almost finished its life ?

110k = just about run in :-)

What I meant was it has finished it's life for the current owner - not that the engine won't go another 100k.

But to do so will require money spending on it, which one would suspect this point has been reached now, hence the car is for sale.