If you were going to be boringly sensible

Accompanied by the sound of a chisel on slate Elder, managed to produce the following words of wisdom

W124 300D C-class 250D (but try and get a TD)

960 diesel 525 TDS 156 JTD A4 (if it's the V6 TDi) Bora (but suicide could well be the less painful option)

Great handling, engine sounds fantastic for a diesel, but thirsty.

Rust, rust and more rust.

Plastic fantastic interior, but cheap.

Olde-worlde and not very economical, which defeats the point of buying a diesel.

You're having a laugh.

Get one with a 130/150bhp engine and you'll have something that goes well, handles well, and will do close on 50mpg. Ride quality could be improved, though.

A less practical Golf. Which isn't a bad thing, 'cos they're lots cheaper. Not bad, but hardly inspiring.

I'm undecided on the Alfa - the 156 is a great car, but you buy a diesel for the economy - which isn't a strength of the 2.4. They go like f*ck, though.

Out of the above, probably the A4.

Alternatively, the B5 Passat.

What sort of economy though? For decent performance and comfort, high=20

30's would be acceptable.

It was the 2.5 I was thinking of.=20

Quick glance on the trader site, in a 40 mile range there was1 Passat=20 that came up in the sub =A33k range I could see.

--=20 Carl Robson Audio stream:

The Alfa or the A4. Do they run on chip fat?

High 30s would be optimistic.

Forget it - over complex, not hugely powerful and not as economical as the 1.9s.

Odd, 'cos there are thousands out there.

That I don't know, but the BMWs, and most of the Mercs do happily. I would imagine the Alfa might be a bit new for anything short of proper=20 dino or bio.

But it would still be better than the great grey whale on fuel.

--=20 Carl Robson Audio stream:

10000 times nicer to drive though. The 2.5 TDi lump is almost bearable, and would be ok after driving the Toybota, the 1.9 would have Carl slashing his wrists and listening to "My Chemical Romance" within a week.

I averaged around 35 mpg from the A6.

Whereas a 1.9 would turn in around 50mpg.

The point of a diesel is that it's economical - no point in buying one that'll only do 35mpg. Unless it's producing serious power.

The drive is a lot nicer now I'm doing M6,M56 instead of M62,M602,A57M.

Even though the M56 isn't flawless, it is a damned site nicer than the=20 carpark that is the M62.

It would make a manual diesel with decent long legged gears a reasonable=20 option, instead of needing a huge engined diesel auto.

Having said that, was there a diesel version of the V90?

--=20 Carl Robson Audio stream:

Before I have read anyone else's reply to this:

Of that crop, I'd have the beemer. I take it you're in E34 territory? I liked many of the aspects of my mate's E34 520i. Doubt a 525 is spectacularly economical, but it will be satisfyingly torquey.

I know nothing about the Mercedes. They may or may not be a better option. I think I know what Pete M-cScouse will say. (c:

Does your A4 have to be Quattro? Are they really more 'drivers car' than the normal ones? I doubt I could tell unless I was being silly.

Some of that is disturbingly close to my thinking. At least one of us should probably be very afraid...

cheers, clive

Probably the C class out of that lot, but I'd want a different engine.

Oh hang on you don't mean a current C class, the older ones are a bit pants.

Errm pass, none of them, they're all vile.

I'm not talking drivers car as in ultimate cross country weapon, but a car that isn't designed to carry a small dog and handbag to the shops and back. Something big/comfy enough for the commute/large shop, but with a bit of go.

Which would you go for, and why, don't bother with which you wouldn't. Price range £1-3k hence the age difference.

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out of that list the A4 with the 2.5 TDI

I'm not talking drivers car as in ultimate cross country weapon, but a car that isn't designed to carry a small dog and handbag to the shops and back. Something big/comfy enough for the commute/large shop, but with a bit of go.

Which would you go for, and why, don't bother with which you wouldn't. Price range £1-3k hence the age difference.

Great engine & goes so so well with an auto box, but they are terrifically small inside.

I'd probably have an estate one of these. But I'm really not arsed about having the ultimate driver's car, I'm more interested in comfort, ease of driving & the stereo.

I'm sure I suggested that when you first started that job ;-)

How is the job anyway?

I'm not talking drivers car as in ultimate cross country weapon, but a car that isn't designed to carry a small dog and handbag to the shops and back. Something big/comfy enough for the commute/large shop, but with a bit of go.

Which would you go for, and why, don't bother with which you wouldn't. Price range £1-3k hence the age difference.

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I'd probably look for a 406 2.2 HDi - preferably in Coupe guise - and chip it to 180bhp.

They've never made one with an auto gearbox.

That'll have a very small bit of go, though.

Supposedly a bit of a well-kept secret, especially the turbo diesel.