2008 Scoda Octavia 4x4 TDI (RRP)

[nokivasara]

I agree with you, EV's are probably a good choise for many, I'd rather have a 100% electric vehicle than a hybrid, but I was just looking for a car that's newer than mine, not new!
I like to own my stuff (no loans) so my budget is limited to cars of about 2012-2015. In that era the gas cars should be free of DMF, EGR-coolers and very expensive injectors and HPFP's. If I get a very basic gas SUV (maybe a Subaru?) with no turbo's or advanced adjustable cam timing it should be easy and cheap to work on. Not sure I'd like the lack of power on lower revs though...

 

[3L3M3NT]

Ah, gotcha. That makes sense. I think they're making vehicles nowadays so only certified techs can work on the new stuff today. By doing that it forces people to bring their vehicles to their factory authorized dealer that can charge a pretty penny(in the US at least) or if it makes more sense an arm and a leg to work on the 2020 and newer vehicle, since they're so complex.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about, the top picture is the engine bay of a full size truck we have in the US called a Chevrolet Silverado and it has a 5.3L V8 in it from 2000. The second picture is the same model truck, but from 2020 and has a 2.7 inline 4 that's turbocharged. You can see just about everything you would need to get to in the 2000 model year truck compared to the 2020 model year that you can hardly see the engine itself in, let alone work on without removing a bunch of plastic/other engine components.
The funny part is that I think the new I-4 makes either the same or more power than older 5.3L V8.

2000 engine bay.

2020 engine bay.

If any of your friends have any of the vehicles you're considering, see if they'll let you drive it to see if you'd like it.

Hopefully the right one pops up that you like and can take it home.

Let me know if you want me to remove the pictures I posted.

 

[nokivasara]

I'm OK with the pictures! Today I changed the fuel filter on our mk7 Golf 1.6TDI and was glad to find out that the filter design was much better than in the mk5 (and my Skoda) so some things seem to evolve to my liking.
When I think about the newer cars being too complicated to work on I recall saying the same thing about fuel injected cars when I first got into cars as a hobby, then about the computer controlled VE-pumps and later DPF's. But now they really are getting very complicated!

 

[nokivasara]

Suddenly the right car came along so I bought it. I think I'll sell the Skoda.
I drove a Santa Fe and a Rav4 (both gas) and wasn't happy with either, I scrapped my thought on buying a petrol engined car and my research showed that Japanese cars (and Hyundai and KIA) with diesel engines have poor heat in the winter, they don't have any extra in cabin heater like VAG and Renault and probably other european makes aswell.
Anyway, I think this thread has reached it's end. I'll post some pics of my new car shortly, in a new thread. It is a diesel. It is a VW...

 

[3L3M3NT]

Could you post the link to your new thread in here? It'll make things easier for people that wanna follow along with your new car if they don't check this one very often or read through it at a later date.

 

[nokivasara]

Could you post the link to your new thread in here? It'll make things easier for people that wanna follow along with your new car if they don't check this one very often or read through it at a later date.

2012 Tiguan TDI 170 4-Motion

New to me Tiguan, it's a 170hp CR TDI, 6-speed manual and 4-motion, 160k km. Very nice interiour, previous owner was an older gentleman. It needs some work, brakes front and rear, drop links are noisy and someone has tried to replace the wing mirror indicator and managed to brake all the clips...

forums.tdiclub.com

Also via the clickable Tiguan bit in my signature.