My other half has decided that a sensible replacement for her Vauxhall Corsa will be... a Discovery! As a proud RRC owner I'm delighted, needless to say, but I'm after some advice. Firstly, I'm used to around 30mpg from ordinary daily use in my 200TDi: what could I expect from a sensibly driven TD5? Secondly, we have no use for seven seats: is it worth hunting out a five seater (which seems to be quite rare) or can the seats be removed and stored easily enough, or do they take up such little space that it's not an issue? Thirdly, I'm thinking our budget will be around six to seven grand: what should I be looking for at that kind of price? I'm kind of hoping for sub 80,000 miles on an eight or nine year old car with history which seems to put me into the middle of TD5 territory: am I being optimistic, and are there any particular issues I should be looking for? I've seen plenty of ads in the "comics" for 300Tdi Japanese imports and similar: are these a sensible alternative? TIA for any advice. Andrew
On mixed driving, country A roads and motorways with the cruise set at just over 60mph, very little in town driving. My previous DII TD5 returned a long term (a shade under 4 years) average of 29.4mpg. With long motorway use over 31mpg and without about 28.
The "new" DII TD5 (just over 6 months) has an average of 29.2mpg with broadly similar figures but with the low end down to 27. The new one has the more complex EGR system and it really takes the edge off. I'm going to disconnect the vacum hose to the EGR valve as permenant measure (apart from the MOT prehaps if it fails emmisions, which I doubt). Having tried various combinations I can't be putting up with the lack of low end grunt, it might improve the mpg a tad as well.
Removal is not easy, there is a powerful spring to counter balance the weight. They do fold up out of the way quite well, but do reduce the width between the suspension turrets maybe a couple of inches. You won't have the storage bins/netted bins as that space is taken by the folded up seats. The 6 & 7th seats are really only kiddie seats or adults for short journeys as there isn't very much height from the squab to the floor.
On or around Sun, 14 Jun 2009 23:32:38 -0700 (PDT), Andrew enlightened us thusly:
I'm getting an average of a gnat's whatsit under 27 but there's a lot of slow low-gear work in that - it goes over 27 with more main road driving in the mix. However, it's not as good as a TDi.
You'll easily find one on your budget.
If I were you I'd hunt a '99 or 2000 year auto, with FSH and low mileage. You ought ot be able to pick up a minter for under 5K, if you look around. pre-2001 reg makes it not in the VED system, which reduces the tax. There's no special advantage in a 2001 or 2002 over a 99 or 2000. After sometime in
2003 the facelift model with the fancy lights came in, which I do think looks nicer. However, you might not meet your mileage requirements so easily in that age bracket. Worth noting that those fancy light units cost an arm and a leg to replace if you damage one though.
Hunt an early minter with low miles, you can then expect a top-end model with leather if you want as well. You'll also be able to afford to get it chipped by someone reputable (3-400 quid unless you want a massive upgrade) which, if you're sensible, makes it more driveable and probably improves the fuel consumption.
Hunt an auto and you avoid the hassle with the dual-mass flywheel. Also, while there's nothing greatly wrong withe the R380 'box, it's not exactly a joy to use, so there's not much point in manual cog-swapping. Also, unless you do chip it, the TD5 is a right royal bastard to get used to in manual form: I'm still stalling mine after 3 months of daily use, if I don't think about it. flip side of the slow throttle response at low revs, which, if you drive it on lumpy stuff off road, suddenly makes perfect sense.
And yes, I know mine's a manual. However, mine was very much at the bottom end of the market and I was under pressure time-wise, or I'd have waited for a nice auto to show up.
Things worth having include aircon (check it's working) and the high-end stereo: worth hunting a top-end model to get these. The stereo is far and away the best I've ever had in a car, or even in the house come to that, and only real downside is that it's 10 years out of date so it's an underseat CD changer job. If you can find a more modern head unit that will drive the system [it has special extra plugs] then that could be got around, no doubt.
Another nice extra (which may be standard on the top models) is the heated front screen, good in winter... Although the TD5 heats up a lot faster than the TDi used to, so it's not as bad for defrosting.
I don't have that problem but then I don't try to do Le Mans starts. B-)
"Climate Control" is good leave it on set to auto and the cabin temp is always what you set it at, heating or cooling as required, with passenger and driver having seperate temp settings. Not sure the rear air con is worth having or if the basic air con controls would be as nice.
I think at the age we are talking about the HFS was part of the optional "Winter Pack" along with the heated mirrors and heated seats. Didn't like the heated seats in my old one, you couldn't leave them on or your bum got too hot and the seat was warm enough by the time the heatinmg was having any effect. If it got seriously cold, like < -10C, they may be worth while.
The HSF is ace, especialy when you have frost on the inside.
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