tdi buying advice

[the rob]

Right where too start... planning on getting a new car in about 9 months !
the last car i had was an mg zr 1.4 which felt soo nice to drive and before that i had a seat leon 1.4 which was my first car,

im torn between getting an ibiza tdi sport mk4 or an mg zr 120,
I love the way the mg looks and handles but i have heard so much hype about how good the vag tdi engines are and how easy they are to tune,

I have never drove a diesel before so not sure what there like to drive lol.

What ever car i get i am gonna be tunning and modding, are they alot of available tunning parts for the tdi like FMIC's and stuff ?

has any ones owned an mg zr 120 or know what would be better ?

Im sure i will come up with more questions lol

many thanks, rob.

 

[sssstew]

Rob, yes loads of tuning options for the VAG TDIs, have a look back in this section, the TDI Tuning and the Readers Rides section to see what everyone else has done.

 

[Husbandofstinky]

You can't go far wrong with a VAG tdi tbh, but as always things can go wrong. Like most deals get the best you can afford as quite often it pays (FSH will help).

Problems - not too much you need to worry about and at least you don't have the potential time bomb of a new head gasket on the K series every 50,000 miles. I've had Rovers in the past and they were good cars in their day (2 K's and 2 D16's).

Personally I would go for a ZS180 over any ZR's.

For the record, I've had the Leon PD150 for 6 years now (from new) and nothing has gone wrong with it in all those years. Maintenance is always the key hence the FSH. And then there's the X factor......

 

[zach225]

never had an mg but a few other makes of cars,

i have an ibiza tdi 130, and i love it, was originally after the golf version but when this one came up at such a good price i snapped it up, and glad i did.

interior isnt massively pleasing but its easy to drive, good on fuel and has nice power,

have a look in the link in my sig for some pics

 

[the rob]

Well think im getting an ibiza tdi, have heard some great things about it on here !! i know the 160 intake is a direct fit on the 130 but what about the 160 turbo and FMIC ? im guessing there the only things that make the 160 different too the 130, oh and different map of course, ?

 

[Mr Cellotape]

Check out the MK4 Ibiza section.... you should get lots of information in there.

The FR TDI is probably the better 130bhp model to go for, unless you can spring the pennies for the Cupra TDI 160BHP. The Cupra TDI has better brakes, front mount, ESP, Cupra intake, Cupra Exhaust, Cupra bushes and interior/exterior styling over the FR.

If you can spring for the Cupra you will never remove the smile from your face...the mid range punch still makes me smile when I get in ours from my K1.

 

[Red Panda]

The key issue for me was a full service history as I believe the correct oil and change intervals are crucial for PD engines. I got my friendly mechanic to come with me when I went to the dealers.

It's a good thing I took my mechanic as there were loads of things he checked out I couldn't even remember once viewing it. I kind of got all 'wow' and forgot everything I was supposed to check

 

[Husbandofstinky]

Main dealer monkey's really know what they are doing

I wouldn't trust either two local ones with a matchbox car.

Caveat emptor - no matter the history.

 

[Red Panda]

I had the misfortune to visit a main dealer l the other week to try to get some parts for a W8 loom(and failing so went to a much better VW dealer). Whilst waiting I could hear a receptionist bullying a gentle old fella into having some work done on his car - threatened him that he'd lose his warranty if he didn't have it done. Proper made me angry it did. He was saying he could live with the prob and she hit him repeatedly with the rendered dud warranty 'card' - he buckled and booked it in.

Anyway, the reason I mention the above is that I wouldn't trust main dealers as far as I could throw them, which isn't very far.

PS name of dealer supplied by PM if requested.

 

[coolypops]

Main dealer monkey's really know what they are doing

I wouldn't trust either two local ones with a matchbox car.

Caveat emptor - no matter the history.

Not always true, as a lot of mechanics, (not all), in main dealerships spend most of their time just doing services,
whereas (good)local mechanics tend to have a very varied experience and tend to be very good at diagnosing problems, etc.

I'm very aware of this as my brother works in a main VW dealership and the stories he tells me about what some of the other mechanics do are ridiculous.
And my uncle and cousin are local mechanics whom i've never heard a bad word about... (well not to do with their mechanical ability anyway)

 

[Husbandofstinky]

Main dealer monkey's really know what they are doing

I wouldn't trust either two local ones with a matchbox car.

Caveat emptor - no matter the history.

Was being very sarcastic

I wouldn't trust either two main dealers with anything more than changing the oil and pads.


However, before the Seat I had Pugs (and plenty of them) the small main dealer I used to go to was top notch. There were people on the spanners who knew what they were doing and the service manager was helpful and knew what he was talking about (rather than the BS you get at most).

 

[coolypops]

Oh yeah, I know some of them are excellent, that's why I said most of them, not all of them.
That's why it's always good to get to know your mechanic...

 

[the rob]

Check out the MK4 Ibiza section.... you should get lots of information in there.

The FR TDI is probably the better 130bhp model to go for, unless you can spring the pennies for the Cupra TDI 160BHP. The Cupra TDI has better brakes, front mount, ESP, Cupra intake, Cupra Exhaust, Cupra bushes and interior/exterior styling over the FR.

If you can spring for the Cupra you will never remove the smile from your face...the mid range punch still makes me smile when I get in ours from my K1.

Yeh the fr or even the cupra would deffo be the best ones but the reason im going for the 130 sport is because i only really wanna spent 3k or 3.5k ! but then id want to upgrade all the brakes and other stuff and map of course so yeh wanting to buy a sport and make it just as good or if not better than the fr lol.

 

[the rob]

Not looking around the dealers for one, ebay, autotrader and pistonheads me thinks lol