Anyone got any experience or opinions on SDI's ?

[gibby]

Right then, I'm hoping someone, anyone will be able to put me on or put me off SDI's. I'm looking for an half decent runaround daily driver and I'm looking at diesels, my question is this, does anyone know anything about SDI's ? I know they're not turbo's and they're not quick but that doesn't bother me as I'm not after modding one, I'm not after racing one I just want something to get me about on a daily basis that's cheap to run as I do quite a few miles every week.

I know that a mk4 Golf SDI will not be brilliant, but what about Polo SDI's ? Or is it worth spending that bit more and looking out for a decent TDI ? One of the reasons I'm put off SDI's is because a mate at work bought a Skoda and bear in mind that he'd done the deal on a TDI and was picking it up, the salesman said to him that he didn't rate SDI's too highly and said they were not very good.

Any help or advice greatly appreciated.

[Len]

Generally and I'm not just talking VAG here, a non turbo engine is not much more economical than a turbo one.
Afterall a turbo only pushes in extra air as the fuel shot is measured.

So I would go for a turbo mate unless you want to sit and wait half an hour to get to 30mph.

[gibby]

I know what you mean as the MPG isn't that much different, but obviously the SDI's are cheaper than the TDI's. I'm not that bothered about speed or 0-60 times but I've seen newer Polo SDI's than TDI's which is hardly a surprise so I just wondered if anyone had any first hand experience.

[kniterider]

i dunno on this one.... if its just for driving to work and stuff gibby you get alot newer car with lesser miles for lesser money if its the sdi, yeah the turbos have a bit more go.... so its a hard call get a tdi and youll end up gettin the bugger remapped and stuff lol... get a sdi and youll just plod along and spend money on rallye 

resale values are gonna be a pain though.... yeah its a vw and yeah its this and that but if its not a desirable model (ie: tdi) then you may struggle to sell in the future for the price you want and stuff...

[gibby]

That's the thing though gaz, SDI's are cheap as chips compared to the TDI's so look like they're worth a look but yeah residual values will be less and who wants a Polo SDI, where as TDI's will sell all day long. Hmmmmmm.

pmsl @ remap and stuff. I want to spend some coin on that there Rallye so any temptations away from spending on anything else would be better.

[kniterider]

sdi it is then.... play it safe....

 

more money for ol' red....

 

[mattp1983]

a mate of mine had a polo estate with the SDI in it and it wasn't THAT bad once you wound it up, another fella had a mk3 golf SDI, again probably about as quick as a 1.2 supermini but would actually go up hills.

If you can find one cheap go for it, for complete unburstable daily running you cant beat a mk3 golf tdi though. cheap as chips now as well.
For more modern, get the SDI, run it into the ground as a daily, and get a few quid back, might be worth looking at estates etc as they will be easier to sell and damn useful for picking up ebay buys, carting wheels bumpers around etc. (mk3 estates go on the bay for a grand and under all the time, had a mate who wanted one a while ago) Also caddy vans are dirt cheap these days as well.