Mazda6 or Passat to replace my Vectra?

I am looking closely at buying a 2008 Mazda6, but I am not sure whether to go for diesel or petrol. The petrol is 1.8 and I am wondering how thirsty it would be. I do approx 12,000 miles per year on mainly good roads. Was looking at putting about €10,000 with my own car. I have a 2006 Opel Vectra with 38,000 miles on it. It is a 1.6-litre petrol.

Was also looking at a 2007 Volkswagen Passat 1.9 TDI, but heard a lot of mixed reports. Looking for something comfortable and reliable mainly.

Michael Mulvey (Ashbourne)

May 2010 Filed under: choosing used car

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Expert answer

Hi Michael,

We found an identical car to yours with the same mileage for sale for €8,950. You probably won't get offered that much as a trade in, but you could have an overall budget of about €17,000.

In terms of the Mazda6, that is a really good car and there weren't too many of the diesel models sold initially. The petrol models sold in higher numbers initially because they were cheaper than the diesel ones at the time.

You would pay about €16,950 for a 1.8-litre petrol model like the one we found here at a SIMI dealer.

Here is another excellent one in Cork, for €16,900.

Diesel models cost quite a bit more, with a 2008 model at a SIMI dealer costing closer to €20,000.

For the mileage you do, you could get away with a petrol model without totally breaking the bank and you certainly won't save in fuel costs by spending the extra on the diesel model. Granted, road tax will be higher on the petrol.

You could probably get into a 2008 Passat BlueMotion with your budget and that too would be a good car. Yes, I've heard of some occasional issues with the latest Passat, such as a problem with the power steering and with the electric parking brake, but they have been pretty well dealt with by Volkswagen.

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