Hi all,

Contemplating buying a 1.6tdci to commute 50miles a day.

Are they a reliable option, anything to look out for when buying?

are the manufacturers claims of 67moh combined accurate?

thanks in advance !

The manufacturers MPG claims are always inflated no matter what car it is. 

On a mostly motorway journey you can expect 50mpg ish.

Hi @Iceman29 , I remember you from the 306 forums!  

The Mk3 1.6 TDCi is pretty good on fuel, 60mpg on a motorway commute should be easily doable...as long as that's 70mph, they don't have the torque to maintain higher speeds as efficiently as a 2.0 can so MPG drops off above 70.  I was averaging 55mpg in mine with mixed driving.

As for reliability...well...   Mk3's are known for water leaks, faulty AC and dodgy electrics.  8v 1.6 TDCi is generally pretty reliable though, weak point is the piezo injectors which don't last long.  Clutch and gearbox are a known weak point as well.  Early ones were also mapped badly, giving a jumpy/jerky slow speed drive, which was the main reason I got rid of mine in the end.  Also worth noting the cambelt will be due by now even on lower mileage (10 year interval) and the DPF might be getting full of ash depending on how it's been driven before.

Hi Tom! Isn’t this a blast from the past! Funnily enough, you were the first person I thought of when I joined this forum as I remember you bought a focus. I currently have a mk8 civic 1.8 and was contemplating a more fuel efficient car. 
this is what I was looking at, colour is deffo a marmite thing! ..

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101198120899

13 hours ago, Iceman29 said:

Hi Tom! Isn’t this a blast from the past! Funnily enough, you were the first person I thought of when I joined this forum as I remember you bought a focus. I currently have a mk8 civic 1.8 and was contemplating a more fuel efficient car. 
this is what I was looking at, colour is deffo a marmite thing! ..

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202101198120899

Haha, yes, owned my Mk2.5 Focus Titanium X for 3.5 years, best car I've owned I think, just a shame I had constant DPF issues as it had the older type DPF.  Then bought a 1.6 TDCi Mk3 Titanium in early 2018 which only lasted a few months due to numerous issues (only 42k miles!), ironically the only thing that worked on that was the DPF lol.  Tried a Mk3 1.0 EcoBoost which only lasted a couple weeks as I hated it, felt really fragile and severely lacked torque.  So have had a Mk6 Golf 2.0 TDI for the last 2.5 years! 

That's certainly a striking colour!   It should be much cheaper to fuel and tax than the Civic, just don't expect Jap build quality.  If you do go to look at it, check the boot carpet and spare wheel well for water ingress, check the AC works and is ice cold on both sides (it's dual zone climate), check the cambelt has been done and check the audio, horn, cruise control etc buttons all work.