Hello,

All other things being equal, which car (engine, I suppose really) has
the best chance of lasting longer - 2006 Mk2 Octavia 2.0 TDI PD with
55,000 miles; or a 2005 525d with 106,000 miles? Car will be used on a
50 mile/day motorway commute.

Would these mileages be considered quite run-of-the-mill now for a
modern engine, with plenty of life left, or would they be approaching
their last stretch of life?

Thanks in advance,

David Paste.

On Wed, 18 Jan 2012 05:14:48 -0800, David Paste wrote:

Hello,

All other things being equal, which car (engine, I suppose really) has
the best chance of lasting longer - 2006 Mk2 Octavia 2.0 TDI PD with
55,000 miles; or a 2005 525d with 106,000 miles? Car will be used on a
50 mile/day motorway commute.

Would these mileages be considered quite run-of-the-mill now for a
modern engine, with plenty of life left, or would they be approaching
their last stretch of life?

Thanks in advance,

David Paste.

Provided maintenance has not been neglected, they both should have plenty
of life left.

50*7*48 for your working mileage gives 16,800 a year, so you might be
doing perhaps 20,000 a year. In five years time, the BMW will still only
have 206,000 miles on it, and will have a fair chance of reaching that
without disaster. The Skoda will only have 155,000 miles on it; again,
perfectly reasonable, especially as much of it will be motorway.

Three years ago, a family member bought an '03 VW T4 van with 200,000
miles on it. It had a full VW service history, and a documented gearbox
repair, but no engine work. It hasn't had quite that level of TLC on it
since purchase, but now has 250,000 miles on it. It starts first time,
uses very little oil, and I would happily drive it anywhere.

Chris

--
Remove prejudice to reply.

In article
,
David Paste wrote:
Hello,

All other things being equal, which car (engine, I suppose really) has
the best chance of lasting longer - 2006 Mk2 Octavia 2.0 TDI PD with
55,000 miles; or a 2005 525d with 106,000 miles? Car will be used on a
50 mile/day motorway commute.

Would these mileages be considered quite run-of-the-mill now for a
modern engine, with plenty of life left, or would they be approaching
their last stretch of life?

BMW engines as such tend to last for ever. It's all the other bits going
wrong which are the problem.

--
*Ambition is a poor excuse for not having enough sense to be lazy *

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Jan 18, 2:11*pm, "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

BMW engines as such tend to last for ever. It's all the other bits going
wrong which are the problem.

What, like electrical stuff? Bodywork?

The thing is, my dad (that's who it's for) has an Octavia now, and the
bloody thing is a bit of a lemon electrical & engine-wise (it's the 2
litre AQY engine, apparently they are legendary for being ****) but
the bodywork is fine, no rust.

On Jan 18, 2:03*pm, Chris Whelan
wrote:

Provided maintenance has not been neglected, they both should have plenty
of life left.

50*7*48 for your working mileage gives 16,800 a year, so you might be
doing perhaps 20,000 a year. In five years time, the BMW will still only
have 206,000 miles on it, and will have a fair chance of reaching that
without disaster. The Skoda will only have 155,000 miles on it; again,
perfectly reasonable, especially as much of it will be motorway.

Cheers. Any other recommendations for other makes?

On Wed, 18 Jan 2012 07:05:48 -0800, David Paste wrote:

On Jan 18, 2:03Â*pm, Chris Whelan
wrote:

Provided maintenance has not been neglected, they both should have
plenty of life left.

50*7*48 for your working mileage gives 16,800 a year, so you might be
doing perhaps 20,000 a year. In five years time, the BMW will still
only have 206,000 miles on it, and will have a fair chance of reaching
that without disaster. The Skoda will only have 155,000 miles on it;
again, perfectly reasonable, especially as much of it will be motorway.

Cheers. Any other recommendations for other makes?

You will open up a whole can of worms with that request!

Everyone has their own preferences, and makes they hate. I'm a Ford man;
they've been great cars for me over the last thirty-odd years, but others
will have had a bad experience.

TBH, any of the mainstream makes will be fine for your commute. If you
have a preference for one of the two cars you have mentioned, buy it!

Otherwise, the common wisdom that Japanese cars are reliable, but dull,
is still widely regarded in the trade as a valid viewpoint.

Chris


--
Remove prejudice to reply.

In article
,
David Paste wrote:
BMW engines as such tend to last for ever. It's all the other bits
going wrong which are the problem.

What, like electrical stuff? Bodywork?

My 5 Series E39 has been not too bad, but my brothers E46 3 Series lots of
problems. Broken springs. Seized calipers. Radiator failure. Various
suspension components back and front. Tailgate lock and rear wiper. Some
things more than once.

The thing is, my dad (that's who it's for) has an Octavia now, and the
bloody thing is a bit of a lemon electrical & engine-wise (it's the 2
litre AQY engine, apparently they are legendary for being ****) but
the bodywork is fine, no rust.

Only electrical problem on my 5 Series has been the heater blower speed
controller - several times. My brother's one not bad too - although I have
the PDC unit here for fixing.

--
*Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Wed, 18 Jan 2012 18:04:46 +0000, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article
,
David Paste wrote:
BMW engines as such tend to last for ever. It's all the other bits
going wrong which are the problem.

What, like electrical stuff? Bodywork?

My 5 Series E39 has been not too bad, but my brothers E46 3 Series lots
of problems. Broken springs. Seized calipers. Radiator failure. Various
suspension components back and front. Tailgate lock and rear wiper. Some
things more than once.

Yeah gods! I've not had that many problems with *all* my cars, going back
to the early eighties; some of them have been 10 or more years old.

Chris

--
Remove prejudice to reply.

On Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:14:48 -0000, David Paste
wrote:

Hello,

All other things being equal, which car (engine, I suppose really) has
the best chance of lasting longer - 2006 Mk2 Octavia 2.0 TDI PD with
55,000 miles; or a 2005 525d with 106,000 miles? Car will be used on a
50 mile/day motorway commute.

Would these mileages be considered quite run-of-the-mill now for a
modern engine, with plenty of life left, or would they be approaching
their last stretch of life?

Thanks in advance,

David Paste.

They're both run of the mill for the engine, it's the state of the rest of
it that'll cost you the money. If they're the same price I'd buy the
bemmer, but I'd bea bit suspicious of it was that cheap.

On Jan 19, 6:26*pm, (SteveH) wrote:

That's the unloved version of the E60 5-series.

Only marginally more power than a 520d, but 50% thirstier.

Be *very* careful - there were a batch of those with strange specs.
being off-loaded by one of the big car supermarkets - although I have a
feeling they were 57 plates - still worth checking, though.

As usual with modern BMW diesels, they suffer with dodgy turbos and
swirl flap problems. I'd want to see evidence that the swirl flaps have
been removed and also would be faactoring in the cost of a replacement
turbo.

E60s are odd things - unless you get a really decent spec. with iDrive
(which is problematic in itself), they feel really cheap and spartan.

The other thing to consider is that 50 miles / day commuting doesn't
really justify a diesel... given the purchase cost and extra cost of a
gallon of diesel. As a rule of thumb, diesels only really work for 20k+
miles / year.
--
SteveH

OK, thanks for the info. Not sure the iDrive stuff would worry me much
(my dad less so) - so long as there is a stereo, that would be A-OK.
Eyes have been drawn towards a Mondeo estate now. Would seem to be a
nice big car with less chance of being pinched (hopefully).

Also: What is a swirl flap?!

Cheers.