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Replacing Mk2.5 1.6 TDCI Titanium


TomsFocus
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...with a Mk3 1.6 TDCi Titanium.

Would that be daft?  The current Focus needs to go for a few reasons - some are 'emissions based' :ph34r: but also the remap is hard/expensive to insure for me and there are a few things on the way out now, it's noticeably getting tired compared to when I bought it despite spending several hundred on it a few months back and need to keep breakdown risk as low as possible with my own problems.  It's still depreciating quite badly so want to sell it while it still has some value left, MOT is booked for January so hopefully it will pass then I'll be actively looking to change it around Feb.  I've owned it nearly 3.5 years which is past the original plan anyway.

I was hoping to go petrol this time, but EcoBoosts and TSis are still way of budget and I can't afford to run anything Focus sized with an 'old' petrol, due to the high tax and fuel costs.  Needs to have a smooth ride as my 'internal' problems have got worse which rules out small cars - unless you can advise of any small cars with a smooth ride?  The Mk7 Fiesta Titanium ride is awful unfortunately.  I also don't want to lose certain spec, cruise control is a necessity, and heated screen, auto lights & wipers are all high on the list to keep after having them for years.

So I keep coming back to diesels...  And there are a few Mk3 1.6 TDCi Titaniums in my budget...I feel it'd be daft to swap one DV6 for another...but on the other hand I think the coated DPF should work better than the Eolys rubbish (I do a few short town runs and a few longer dual carriage/country runs each week), they don't have the turbo and injector issues that I'm constantly worried about now I've passed 75k and have most of the spec that I currently have, plus climate lol!

So what do you reckon?  Is there something of equivalent price/running costs/ride/spec that I'm forgetting?  Are there any common issues to the mk3 I should try to avoid?

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Keep it until it explodes.  The £££'s spent each month on the repayments for a new car would pay for a massive amount of repairs on the existing machine.  In addition, unless you can buy something 3 years old or less you're liable to end up in much the same situation but with a different care.

Squeeze every last drop of life out of it, then buy something with a petrol engine when it finally drops off its perch.

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Are the Mk3 1.0 Ecoboost's in your price range? They're pretty cheap...

EDIT: But to echo the poster above, I'd keep your current car IMO, unless you're having serious issues with it.

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It may not make the most sense financially as others have posted, but I have to say I LOVE my Mk3 1.6d Ti.  Pretty smooth ride on 16's (some have reported harsher rides on 17"+ wheels) and plenty of goodies on board.

 

Sorry.

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Better the devil you know, than the one you don't. 

Bought mine in September 2015 with 82000 on the clock, it has so far been really reliable (touch wood) only major replacement parts were a new clutch kit in November last year. I paid cash for the car so don't pay any finance or loans, I plan on keeping it for 10 years/ 100,000 miles if I'm lucky. So hopefully it will be 15 years old and on around 182000 when it finally goes to the big recycling yard in the sky.

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19 hours ago, iantt said:

what sort of price range are you aiming for?

Looking at around £6500, maybe £7000 depending how much I can sell mine for.  

19 hours ago, Jethro_Tull said:

Keep it until it explodes.  The £££'s spent each month on the repayments for a new car would pay for a massive amount of repairs on the existing machine.  In addition, unless you can buy something 3 years old or less you're liable to end up in much the same situation but with a different care.

Squeeze every last drop of life out of it, then buy something with a petrol engine when it finally drops off its perch.

Say its worth £3k or so currently...when the carbon finally kills the turbo or the DMF fails it'll be worth £500 and I won't be able to afford anything similar then.  I never understand how people run cars into the ground as they need constant maintenance to do that, I've had to spend over £500 on it in the last 6 months alone and that's only the start of things to come.  There is also the 'emissions' issue I mentioned earlier, so this has to go, it's more the replacement car choice I'm after opinions on, not whether or not to keep my current one.

I'm not looking at a brand new car or any repayments, just what I can afford to buy right now with cash and the sale of my current car.   

13 hours ago, Incontro said:

Are the Mk3 1.0 Ecoboost's in your price range? They're pretty cheap...

EDIT: But to echo the poster above, I'd keep your current car IMO, unless you're having serious issues with it.

Depends what you call cheap I guess lol.  There's only one Mk3 1.0 EcoBoost in budget locally, it's a rough high mile, 99ps, Zetec.  I'd feel like that's a major downgrade for the money I'd have to spend.  Can get a mk3 Titanium X estate with a 1.6TDCi for the same price. 

13 hours ago, Phil21185 said:

It may not make the most sense financially as others have posted, but I have to say I LOVE my Mk3 1.6d Ti.  Pretty smooth ride on 16's (some have reported harsher rides on 17"+ wheels) and plenty of goodies on board.

 

Sorry.

Yeah I'd be looking for 16s, maybe 17s.  But definitely not the spindly 18s with rubber band tyres lol, not sure if they're part of the X pack or just an option but either way will avoid those! 

13 hours ago, wilto said:

Better the devil you know, than the one you don't. 

Bought mine in September 2015 with 82000 on the clock, it has so far been really reliable (touch wood) only major replacement parts were a new clutch kit in November last year. I paid cash for the car so don't pay any finance or loans, I plan on keeping it for 10 years/ 100,000 miles if I'm lucky. So hopefully it will be 15 years old and on around 182000 when it finally goes to the big recycling yard in the sky.

Cars aren't designed to last 15 years these days, I find 10 years/100k is where everything starts breaking, which ever comes soonest.  The Focus is the first car I've owned for any length of time because it was fairly new and low mileage when I bought it...  But now it's got to the point where it keeps needing money spent and I just don't trust it any more tbh.  I've had 30+ cars so far and never regretted getting rid of any, I wouldn't want any of them back either.

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My daily is 12, and is utterly faultless, and im expecting a few more years out of it yet before it costs me anything.  Its all down to how they're maintained and driven.  

You'd have to spend an absolutely fearsome amount of money repairing it each month for a new car to save you money.  More convenient, I can see that, less stressful, perhaps, but spending many thousands to avoid bills of a few hundred or more a time won't save you a penny.

You want rid, I can completely understand your feelings.  However, you're kidding yourself if you think spending a lot of money will save you any money.

Either drive it into the dirt and extract every last drop of mileage from it, or replace it for a newish petrol powered vehicle.  The first option makes financial sense, the second option makes for a (probable) easy life for a few years.  Buying anything older than 3 years or 30k miles or so is the worst option, saddling you with both big repayments as well as someone else's sloppy seconds.

Whichever way it goes, I wish you the best of luck.

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1 hour ago, Jethro_Tull said:

My daily is 12, and is utterly faultless, and im expecting a few more years out of it yet before it costs me anything.  Its all down to how they're maintained and driven.  

You'd have to spend an absolutely fearsome amount of money repairing it each month for a new car to save you money.  More convenient, I can see that, less stressful, perhaps, but spending many thousands to avoid bills of a few hundred or more a time won't save you a penny.

You want rid, I can completely understand your feelings.  However, you're kidding yourself if you think spending a lot of money will save you any money.

Either drive it into the dirt and extract every last drop of mileage from it, or replace it for a newish petrol powered vehicle.  The first option makes financial sense, the second option makes for a (probable) easy life for a few years.  Buying anything older than 3 years or 30k miles or so is the worst option, saddling you with both big repayments as well as someone else's sloppy seconds.

Whichever way it goes, I wish you the best of luck.

Total agree with Jethro as i maintain my car throughout my ownership,  I am having the benefit of it and not someone else, cars do last more than 100,000 miles, you've only got to look inside a taxi to confirm this, agreed they are maintained more often.

My last car was a 1999 Mondeo Zetec, when I scrapped it it was 15 years old with 160,000 on the clock, owned it for nine and a half years. In nine years I fitted a recon gearbox and new clutch, starter motor, alternator, two rear wheel bearings, new battery, catalytic converter and just normal consumables such as tyres, exhaust, suspension link's etc. Spread over nine years the cost is quite minimal as the car wasn't costing nothing every month in finance or loans payments, just as my current car is.

So when I do have to fork out £200-£300 on a  repair it's not going to bother me.

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2 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Yeah I'd be looking for 16s, maybe 17s.  But definitely not the spindly 18s with rubber band tyres lol, not sure if they're part of the X pack or just an option but either way will avoid those! 

Don't blame you, I've got 18's on mine and when you hit even a small pothole you'd swear the front suspension leg would smash through the bonnet or at least buckle the rim, I cringe and wince every time I'm unfortunate to hit one. If ever you found yourself behind me on the duel caridgeway into Swansea, you'd think I was drinking and driving, trying to avoid the potholes.

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5 hours ago, Jethro_Tull said:

My daily is 12, and is utterly faultless, and im expecting a few more years out of it yet before it costs me anything.  Its all down to how they're maintained and driven.  

You'd have to spend an absolutely fearsome amount of money repairing it each month for a new car to save you money.  More convenient, I can see that, less stressful, perhaps, but spending many thousands to avoid bills of a few hundred or more a time won't save you a penny.

You want rid, I can completely understand your feelings.  However, you're kidding yourself if you think spending a lot of money will save you any money.

Either drive it into the dirt and extract every last drop of mileage from it, or replace it for a newish petrol powered vehicle.  The first option makes financial sense, the second option makes for a (probable) easy life for a few years.  Buying anything older than 3 years or 30k miles or so is the worst option, saddling you with both big repayments as well as someone else's sloppy seconds.

Whichever way it goes, I wish you the best of luck.

My 05 plate 1.8 TDCi Ghia saloon is still going strong at 142K miles, I plan to keep looking after it whilst also looking to extract every last bit of life out of it.

Still drives well, will refurb the front calipers similar to rears I did earlier in the year, keeping serving it every year and hopefully get a few more years out of it.  I did the sums and it it'll take a LOT of BIG repair bills to equal "cheaper to buy a new car", although we all like "shiny" new things! :tongue:

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9 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Looking at around £6500, maybe £7000 depending how much I can sell mine for.  

Say its worth £3k or so currently...when the carbon finally kills the turbo or the DMF fails it'll be worth £500 and I won't be able to afford anything similar then.  I never understand how people run cars into the ground as they need constant maintenance to do that, I've had to spend over £500 on it in the last 6 months alone and that's only the start of things to come.  There is also the 'emissions' issue I mentioned earlier, so this has to go, it's more the replacement car choice I'm after opinions on, not whether or not to keep my current one.

I'm not looking at a brand new car or any repayments, just what I can afford to buy right now with cash and the sale of my current car.   

Depends what you call cheap I guess lol.  There's only one Mk3 1.0 EcoBoost in budget locally, it's a rough high mile, 99ps, Zetec.  I'd feel like that's a major downgrade for the money I'd have to spend.  Can get a mk3 Titanium X estate with a 1.6TDCi for the same price. 

Yeah I'd be looking for 16s, maybe 17s.  But definitely not the spindly 18s with rubber band tyres lol, not sure if they're part of the X pack or just an option but either way will avoid those! 

Cars aren't designed to last 15 years these days, I find 10 years/100k is where everything starts breaking, which ever comes soonest.  The Focus is the first car I've owned for any length of time because it was fairly new and low mileage when I bought it...  But now it's got to the point where it keeps needing money spent and I just don't trust it any more tbh.  I've had 30+ cars so far and never regretted getting rid of any, I wouldn't want any of them back either.

Just don't see the point of replacing a 1.6TDCi DPF car with another marginally newer/better 1.6TDCi DPF car, sorry. 

Chances are the new car will throw up expensive problems too. Better to go with the devil you know. At least if you can squeeze your budget a little extra, you can end up with an EcoBoost that's far more reliable than the TDCi, and will cost less to service and maintain. Also, if you intend to keep your next car a long time like your current one, then it makes sense to buy a petrol, with the way things are going, and the government's/public's increasing dislike of diesels.

So my friendly advice would be to:

1) Keep your current car as long as it hasn't got serious issues

OR

2) Stretch budget a tiny bit more to upgrade to a well looked after EcoBoost example.

If you're desperate for a shiny new car, and want to abandon your old diesel, then you can always still get a old Duratec/Ti-VCT Mk3 petrol lol. Will cost a bit more to run, but it will be trouble free motoring if you can find a good example :) 

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I would get the I L Ecoboost or another petrol car that's turbocharged or keep the car you have.  I am definitely getting rid of my diesel car in the next few months, I am currently starting to have problems with my cars DPF.  Both the engine management light and engine malfunction message came up on my car dash over the Christmas.  

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Out of interest, are you seeing the prices of diesel cars dropping following all the recent negative publicity?  Just wondering if that is why petrol ecoboost is coming in more expensive than diesel for the same year and mileage, or were they more expensive when new?  I think £3k for your 09 TDCi is a bit optimistic tbh, especially if it has "issues", and you would be offered even less on part-ex.

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I thought you fixed your emissions problems Tom?

To be honest, this engine is a good engine but its just mental to replace anything on it, you name it, if its needing replaced its going to cost more than practically any other engine of a similar spec!

the only exception to that is the oil filter but even that you need to remove half the car :) my net car wont be a 1.6 tdci, but the mk3 its self, the 3.5 has the edge on it for looks but its a nice car overall, id short list it for sure, just not sure about that engine choice

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