Ok the gf seems to have wrecked our beloved stilo jtd to a point where she wants a replacement(no the cars fault but she bounces of kerbs and smashed into a bus).

I dont really want to spend the cash on the car anymore so we maybe looking at a replacement.She really only goes to work and back but must be a diesel. Cars im looking at are mk4 golf sdi,polo sdi and fabia's.
Fabias are coming across more favorable costing and generally looked after.

Any reviews on the 1.9 sdi's? I presume as there's no extra bits these will run forever and a day.Porberbly max 10k a year with a few long runs aswell.

Any reviews tips etc please let me know.

They are the flat diesels without turbos, very roubust lumps but sluggish, good mpg too.

They are fitted to basic spec VAGs.


Chrissy

Hi I ran a couple of Fabias a few years ago a 1.4 16v comfort and a 1.9 tdi elegance and would have had the Vrs but the salesman was a bit slow and I bought another car TDI averaged 52 mpg the petrol 46 mpg. I thought they where great only problem I had was the dash rattled on the early X reg, they didn't trim the moulding off correctly. The sdi was a bit too slow for me. They also do a 1.2 petrol htp which is I think as a diesel. Servicing very expensive imo on the diesel.

I drove a rented Polo diesel in Spain a couple of years ago and wasn't very impressed with it.
It seemed to be like an earlier generation diesel, harsh and sluggish. I have no idea which engine it was.

Very different from the small Fiat/Vauxhall turbo diesel in my daily drive.

The SDI is biblically slow... 0-60 takes nearly 20 seconds! Supposedly it is very reliable though and you'll get 60mpg without any fuss. I have a Fabia TDI and in my opinion it is much better. It still averages 55mpg and is quite nippy. It's also well built and has plenty of toys like heated seats, refrigerated glove box etc (mine is the Elegance trim). The wishbone bushes are a weak point - but you can upgrade the rear console bush with solid ones from a Seat Leon Cupra which makes a big difference.

SDI = Breathless