Citreon Xantia?

[FarmerPug]

Passats have electrics that like going wrong as much as in the 406, the boot release is an electric servo and in my dads passat it broke and cost £150 to fix, then there was the issue of rattles, the dash felt solid but there was always rattles and squeaks coming from it

[Doggy]

Passat drivers have no sense of humour.

They're what accountant's buy now they can't get Morris 1000's.

[Bailes1992]

I think your forgetting the only issues I've had with my 406 have been mechanical. VW's rarley go wrong mechanically

[DaiRees]

VW's rarley go wrong mechanically

[waue1978]

What sort of budget are you looking at? A Xantia could be found under £1000, but Boras & Passats can be up to £3000.

[CountryPug]

I think your forgetting the only issues I've had with my 406 have been mechanical. VW's rarley go wrong mechanically

I'm not wanting to come across as just a Pug fan who dislikes everything without a lion on it, but many of my mates have VW golfs and boras and trust me, they have mechanical issues too. You seem to have been unlucky with your 406 and I'd probably be pretty pissed off with mine if it was giving me bother. Just be aware that WHEN a bora goes wrong it'll be more expensive and trickier to fix than an old french rep mobile whatever you decide, I wish you good luck

[FarmerPug]

country pug is right, an old french banger is easier to keep on the road than an old german banger, take the 306 and the golf the 306 would be the easier car to buy parts for, any car a certain age will give trouble. But my car has only gave electrical problems mostly caused by me adding on things with crap blue connectors and i have had to fix them but as for mechanical things (excluding the brakes they wear out on all cars) the engine, gearbox, clutch and suspension are perfect. If you arent buying a peugeot and looking puerly for reliability the best choice is a toyota carina them things cant be drove out.

[waue1978]

I can vouch for the Mondeo TDDi (Y-02 plate). Well specced, cheap enough & if you can get one where the clutch has been done in the last 20k or 2 yrs should give no bother. Just make sure the door bottoms are rust free on the inside. TDCis are ok, but think they can have a lot of probs with the injectors. My TDDi had plenty of punch & still gave a minimum of 39mpg. Plus there is shedloads you can do with them as & when funds allow from simple interior upgrades to full on ST replicas & there's a plentiful supply of upgrade bits.

Know a lot of people on here hate the Mundane-o, but I've honestly done really well with them over the years.

[Bailes1992]

My Dad had a few MK3's. He had a 2001 1.8 LX, then a 2002 2.5 V6 Ghia, then a 2003 ST220 and a 2004 St220 Love them but insurance is a complete no no for me unless I go for the 130 Auto.

[waue1978]

How can you get cheaper insurance on a 130 auto? Would expect a 130 to cost a fair bit more on insurance than a TDDi.

[Bailes1992]

How can you get cheaper insurance on a 130 auto? Would expect a 130 to cost a fair bit more on insurance than a TDDi.

My GF drives a 1.6 RT Clio Auto. Cost her £800 to insure it for a year. If she got the manual it would be £1200+

[waue1978]

Have you tried checking a few quotes out for yourself? Best thing to do is register on confused.com, do a quote, then all you have to do is keep editing quotes for different cars to see what you can afford to insure & what you can't. Honestly can't see an old TDDi Mondeo worth about £1500 being much more if any to insure than a newer TDCi 130 auto that'd cost about £3k.

[Bailes1992]

Have tried and spent many hours before I passed looking at quotes on everything too

[mjb]

VW's rarley go wrong mechanically

AHAHAHAHAHAHA

My Mk.4 Golf's steering rack exploded the other day. Its boot lock is shafted, the drivers door lock is non-operational. The variable vane turbo's about to need a rebuild or replacement (not a rare problem on TDIs), a whole chunk of suspension needs replacing, the seat locks are dodgy at best, it has a coolant leak somewhere that's not the radiator, there's so many rattles inside... and then there's all the stuff I've fixed...

VWs reputation for reliability is fiction, just like the whole "French electrics" thing is once you remove Renault from the equation...

Should also add cramped and uncomfortable to that list .............aw sh*t i'm getting old

Actually with the leather trim they're quite comfortable and they're even more spacious than the 406 inside They're bloody noisy inside though compared with a Passat or 406

[steve_earwig]

Glofs seem to get through a lot of rear subframes here, they bend...