General From Panda to Qubo?

[Mickit]

Hi guys

Little background story;
We had our 2010 Panda 169 for little over a year now, happy with the car, cheap, reliable and fulfills our needs at the moment.
However, since the family is growing rather soon, and we will be 2 adults, child 2 years + a baby, the Panda is going to be a bit cramped in the future.

So we are looking for a larger replacement. We are still going for cheap, practical, easy and reliable.
We live in the middle of Copenhagen, so a smallish car, is to prefer. Day to day we rarely use our car. So mostly on weekend trips, to see family ~700km roundtrips.

I have been looking at the Qubo, since it seems to tick all the boxes. But here in Denmark, they only sold them until 2014 i think, so all are a bit older.

My options pretty much are these 2009-2014 model (at the moment, 14 total for sale in DK):
- 1.4 Gasoline Dynamic (rare, and expensive)
- 1.3 Diesel with manual (semi rare, cheaper, driven many kilometers)
- 1.3 Diesel with dualogic (most common, prices vary, driven from 80.000-230.000 km)

For environmental reasons, i would prefer the gasoline, and living in the city where parking spaces etc. can be more expensive on the diesel.
But for our main use, i think the diesel would be nicer to drive, specially on motorway, having cruise control + better fuel economy.

There is an okay deal on a diesel dualogic with 139.000 km on the clock. But i'm worried about reliability and repair cost of the gearbox, form reading other threads here.

Can you guys give any insight into reliability and what model you think would make the best sense?

I have thought of Berlingo etc. as well, but we dont need that much space, they are more expensive and use more fuel. So Qubo seems a better choice.

Best Micki

 

[Mickit]

Just realized that the 2010 Dualogic with 139 km, doesn't have DPF - so its a no go, not allowed inside the city.

Then i'm pretty much down to these: (ranked most to least expensive)
- 2014 Diesel Dualogic 88 km (10.000 eur)
- 2011 Diesel Dualogic 126 km (7.400 eur)
- 2013 Gasoline 88 km (6.700 eur)
- 2011 Diesel 195 km (4.400 eur)

 

[Mickit]

Was out to see a gasoline Qubo today, it was okay, missing a bit of power. Size wise, the car is perfect, we can easily carry 2 strollers in the back.

After looking more into parking tax, i also found the gasoline to be 4 times more expensive, due to worse fuel economy.

So narrowed it down to the diesel versions now.

Questions now is to go with or without Dualogic.

 

[varesecrazy]

If you drive a manual now..

Go for the manual diesel version

I like the semi.auto .. but they are expensive to fix.. so on a 8 year old vehicle.. buy a manual

 

[toromod]

Was out to see a gasoline Qubo today, it was okay, missing a bit of power. Size wise, the car is perfect, we can easily carry 2 strollers in the back.

After looking more into parking tax, i also found the gasoline to be 4 times more expensive, due to worse fuel economy.

So narrowed it down to the diesel versions now.

Questions now is to go with or without Dualogic.

I had looked at a Qubo a number of years ago as it "seemed to tick a lot of boxes" and bought a diesel 1.3 with 100k, regularly serviced - though the mileage was high it had been used for daily long journeys (+100 miles) so I assumed all would be well.
How wrong can you be, a few months down the line a loss of power meant a replacement turbo (there are 2 different types fitted) and a month or so after getting back on the road I noticed an unusual vibration at speeds over 50 mph ( which is a daily speed for anyone living in rural areas) - back to the garage and the diagnosis of a worn bearing on the dual mass flywheel, the sensors and pickups don't line up perfectly at higher speeds hence the vibrational "misfire". The garage told me that the 1.3 diesel was common to the Qubo, Citroen Nemo etc etc, all of which developed the fault. A replacement dual mass flywheel cost in the region of £800 plus labour, I had already spent half that amount replacing the turbo on a car worth approx £1500 - the Qubo was traded in asap.
I know there are versions available with a different engine but that was my Qubo experience, which was a shame because the rest of the package, apart from the underslung spare wheel was good.

 

[Mickit]

Manual today and dont mind it at all.
Was thinking same as you regarding repair cost.

Manual diesel it is!

Any recommendations on max mileage to look at? There are a lot at around 200.000 km. But I honestly think thats too much. I know the lower the better, but they are hard to find. I guess under 150 should be decent?

 

[Mickit]

Thats exactly my worry with the diesel..
Big repair bills when it brakes.

But it really doesnt make sense to have the petrol here, because it is taxed much harder, due to the lower fuel economy.

I would be paying around 1.000 EUR more a year, just in tax etc. for the petrol.

 

[Mickit]

Finally found a decent Qubo, and bought it

2011 1,3 Diesel Manual with 116.000 km.
Regularly serviced, owned by an older disabled man.

It had a special passenger seat, that could turn all the way out of the car, and a crane in the back.
I removed the crane, and found a matching passenger seat, from a wrecked car, for cheap.

The car looks almost like new, has been in a garage, when not driving.

My only "problems" is now the airbag light is on, after i fitted the new seat - probably need a tester to turn it off.
And the Start & Stop function is unavailable, dont know why.

But happy so far! And so are the kids.

Thanks for suggestions and tips