Morris Minor Owners Club

Any of you have this car - know if it's any use ?
OR - can any of you suggest (from personal experience) an alternative good 5 door small diesel with super low fuel consumption??

Had a Corsa with that engine about 3 years ago, pulled like a train and very frugal. But the Astra will be heavier so may not go so well. Isn't it a Fiat engine?

Oh - is it ? Have decided we urgently need a 5 door car - with best possible economy. Annoyingly just missed an Astra Estate 1.3 CDTi - and can't find another anywhere. Thanks for coming back Beero - a Corsa would be too small - I don't care much about the performance - but DO care about the economy.

Yes, it's the Fiat engine - I think they started using them in the 2005 Astra.
In the Astra it's not much better economy than the Astra with Isuzu 1.7 DTi - and neither pull like a train. the 2L Astra diesels are not worth the running cost, although they do pull better. The Isuzu engine will do >200k miles if serviced properly (albeit with some common issues like crank sensor, cam sensor, plate heat exchanger, glow plugs - none of which are expensive).
The Astra estate 1.3 CDTi is a rare animal - there are plenty more 1.7 estates available, and they offer loads of room for what they cost to run (and they may not be quick but they tow classic cars very well ;-) )

As the 1.3CDTi is a fairly new combination in the Astra, it's hard to know how good they are when they get to 10 years / 150k miles. If you're going for something with a few miles on the clock and want it to last, the lack of knowledge on the 1.3CDTi would worry me as it's a highly stressed engine in a larger car. The same engine in a Panda would worry me less as it doesn't have to work as hard, but it's still a lot of power from a 1.3 diesel.

If you want a bargain fuel sipper mid sized car, then look for a well serviced moderate mileage 2001/2002 Astra 1.7DTi 5dr as they are easier to find than the estate. Cheapest will be a late Y reg as they are usually <130g/km (£90 tax band). The problem is finding one with less than 120k miles as people who seek them out tend to do high mileage - they can get 55 to 60mpg on long runs.

If you want something 6 years old or less, then there's a fair bit of choice including also Ford, Pug, Citroen, Renault, Fiat, VW etc.. with not a lot to choose between them - most common is the PSA diesels, although VW diesels are often economical but like the Fiat 1.3, they are not simple or cheap engines to repair.

How frugal are you looking? The family car is a 1.9 tri passat, cheap as chips to buy and I get about 67mpg on an average run.

How frugal are you looking? The family car is a 1.9 tri passat, cheap as chips to buy and I get about 67mpg on an average run.

I wish I could get one of those in estate version for under a grand!

We did! Red estate, 178k on the clock £700. Had to replace a drive shaft and a couple of other small jobs. But its been ok.

We did! Red estate, 178k on the clock £700. Had to replace a drive shaft and a couple of other small jobs. But its been ok.

What age is it?
If I'd bought that I'd now be well heading towards 220kmiles now!

I just looked at passat 1.9 similar age as mine (2001-2002) and they are ~17% worse* on fuel (*based on emmissions figures) - that would give me 5mpg less 'on paper' - (i.e. roughly the same as the 2.0L Astra estate)

There is no 100% correllation between real world MPG and the official mpg/CO2 figures, as the CO2 figures are done on a drive cycle with VERY limited accelleration, optimum tyres, headlights off, and heater off etc... I tend to use the figures as an A/B comparison - i.e. only to see if one is better or worse than another .

It's a small world. Wierdly enough i started off looking at the 1.3 CDTi Astra but decided that the on-paper slight fuel economy benefit was probably negligible in real world driving, and I could get an older 1.7 DTi that was cheaper and would still outlast it. The chief engineer where I worked last year had a 2009 Passat Blue-motion and only just managed 65mpg with mainly motorway driving - the depreciation on his car cost more than the difference in fuel cost.

Exactly. You'd have to rev the nuts of a 1.3 diesel to get it to move, and then your mpg would plumet. 67mpgish is what I've worked out myself, the trip computer tells me its 73 so that's close enough. It's a 99 so its gettin on Abit but hey its cheap and useful!

Thanks Ray - will consider the 1.7 then since although plenty of the 1.3 Estates and Saloons down south - rare beasts up here. Considering also the Focus - and the Renault Clio diesel. Thanks also phurn - but the Passats seem v expensive........although your mpg figure sounds promising. I'm hoping for something that will give me cheap VED and ~ 65/70 mpg with gentle driving.
As a 'retired' person it's my duty to sit in the middle lane at 55 mph..........

I'm hoping for something that will give me cheap VED and ~ 65/70 mpg

aren't we all??
The only comment I'd make on Focus diesels is that the one's I've looked at have all been a bit more ££s than an Astra. They are probably more comfy and don't have the same blind spots but I've yet to see a Ford that gets to 15 years old without needing welding... My Astra has just passed its 10th birthday and not looking crusty underneath yet.

Seduced by a Ford Fusion 1.4 diesel - fully loaded and only 3k on the clock....... Yes it will be slow - but hopefully good ~60 mpg and the £30 VED. BIG attraction - heated screen - my dear wife has hankered for that for years - so really nothing else mattered when the salesman told her about the screen...... Some reviews say it's a terrible car - others love it! I guess it's like Marmite - which fortunately - I love ! But - will it run ok on Poundland cooking oil ????

bmcecosse wrote:Seduced by a Ford Fusion 1.4 diesel - fully loaded and only 3k on the clock....... Yes it will be slow - but hopefully good ~60 mpg and the £30 VED. BIG attraction - heated screen - my dear wife has hankered for that for years - so really nothing else mattered when the salesman told her about the screen...... Some reviews say it's a terrible car - others love it! I guess it's like Marmite - which fortunately - I love ! But - will it run ok on Poundland cooking oil ????

To anyone over on this side of the pond "Ford Fusion 1.4 diesel" sounds very strange Here a Fusion is a medium size car built on a Mazda 6 platform and powered either by a 2.3 litre-2.5 litre 4 or a 3.0 litre V6. Twenty to thirty mpg is typical, forty in perfect highway conditions. The Mazda 2 on which the UK Fusion was based has just been introduced here to deal with higher fuel prices and Ford have introduced a Mazda 2 based Fiesta for the same reason.

I'd love to see pictures of your Diesel Fusion Roy, PM me for a better address as this is sort of off-topic.

Darrell McDonald

Roy go for a peugeot 207 diesel fantastic car the econimique does 70mpg and has nice interior

Seduced by a Ford Fusion 1.4 diesel - fully loaded and only 3k on the clock....... Yes it will be slow - but hopefully good ~60 mpg and the £30 VED.

It's got the Pug 1.4 diesel engine (same as 207 etc..) - very good mpg, and with long journeys you should be able to see 65mpg or more. I've driven a lot of these as I ran the project on the automated manual transmission (3dr, 5dr Fester, Fusion and Mazda 2). The car is not 'fast' but with that engine it is really enjoyable to drive. plenty of torque and no problems keeping up with traffic.

The Fusion was only a body style job based on the (previous) European Fiesta - they were priced for a good profit compared to the base Fiesta's. The replacement (current) Fiesta is based on Mazda 2 - the previous version wasn't, but did share a lot of parts.
I'd bet your Fusion was made in Cologne, as they didn't do them in Valencia (I wouldn't want a Valencia B car compared to a Cologne one). They ran Fiesta, Ka, Mazda 2 and Focus on the same line at Valencia and didn't have the same modern process tooling as the German plant.

I don't think any common rail diesel will run on straight Veg oil.

Thanks all - the 207 was certainly in the running and very attractively priced at Motorpoint with v low miles too. However - serious headroom problem in the front....... and seemed quite small really. And - it didn't have the Quikclear screen which is THE most important thing after all........ I guess I would be mad to try the £1/litre veg oil while it's still under warranty.......

I can vouch for the frugality of the 1.9TDi VW engine. I never saw less than 55mpg out of my Passat. Given the size of it, translating that mpg to something little like a Corsa should give you a minimum of around 80mpg.
Is that possible? I wonder.

Roy serious headroom problems my son is 6ft 5in and loves his and more room than in his 08 corsa

Maybe the seat was in 'high' position......I couldn't see a way to get it down, and frankly had taken a dislike to the ugly snout of the car anyway........