Well I've had to kiss goodbye to my fun 2.0L petrol Weekend after a very happy year (see the classifieds), and I've found a TD100 saloon, 72000 miles, recent cambelt, alternator, sounds well looked after mechanically, MOT till next year, £975. I just need something to last me till the summer when I head overseas, doing 300 miles a week between Loughborough and Coventry, and other than being a saloon this looks just the ticket. Should save me a packet on fuel over what I was spending in the Weekend!

I'd prefer an estate for practicality but they seem to be harder to find - and when you do they seem to be not as well looked after. I'd also prefer a JTD but they seem to command about a £1000 premium - not worth it for six months, a nice simple well looked after diesel lump seems a better option.

Is there anything I should look out for? Searching the forums it seems to be cambelt and power steering pump that pops up all the time, does anything else commonly go wrong on them?

BTW the owner reckons she was getting 48MPG around town from it - is this realistic? She does sound like she has a lighter right foot than me, I suspect the turbo hasn't seem much use

Short sightedness! If a JTD commands a £1000 premium, you'll get most of your money back when you sell it in 6 months. A TD100 might be harder to sell.

Usual things to look for, keys, any knocks from suspension, leaking sunroof, replaced panels, all electrics work.

You just want me to buy Valleen's JTD Brava, don't you? I've emailed him to see if it's still available.

I suspect I might be able to get the Marea TD100 for a lot less than the £975 she's asking - she sounds pretty keen to sell, and no-one's buying cars at the moment. (But that also means there aren't many for sale.)

I just have the perception that a JTD - being more advanced and undoubtedly better - is more complicated and has more to go wrong, and the TD engine is less of a risk.

I've not had anything go wrong with the 'J' bit

worst that's happened to me was an axuilary tensioner failed, oh and I've ran out of fuel!

I didn't think about Valeen's Brava - yes its JTD but its not a Marea.

That's reassuring that the J bit isn't especially troublesome. Trying to get a "feel" for problems by scanning the forum actually throws up more TD issues, but that could be a result of them being more common and having a harder life I guess, and the one I'm looking at seems well looked after.

I would feel bad deserting Mareas but finding even a 1.9 JTD Weekend in reasonable nick seems pretty hard. A Brava would be more practical than a saloon Marea (I have to lug mountain bikes around).

Might be best to suffer with the girlfriend's Fiesta till the New Year and keep my eyes peeled till a JTD Weekend appears. The lack of grunt and wobbly handling won't kill me, but the rubbish seats might just do for my back ...

Either way Fiat diesels are superbly reliable. The JTD is an impressive unit, giving better MPG at the same time as more power/torque.

What sort of prices have you been seeing for a JTD Weekend? I sold my 1.9 for £1500 and bought my 2.4 for £1800. Both were in good condition with around 100k on the clock.

As for the Brava boot - yes it's much easier to get awkward shaped items in than the Marea boot. I'm not sure I could go back to anything with less space than the Marea Weekend. The mountain bike goes in in one piece, without even needing the wheels removing.

I don't think it would fit in a Bravo even if I took it apart to its components