diesel or petrol focus

vb77

I wondered if anybody could give me advice on whether a petrol or diesel focus would be better for me?
I do about 13000 miles a year split fairly evenly between city driving and open road driving.
I'm looking at cars under 5K so the diesels are pretty high mileage (90k+) but there are some decent lowish mileage petrols. I'm looking at the 1.6 petrol and the 1.8tdci diesel. I need an estate, but won't be carrying huge loads or towing.
I'm also considering the Octavia 1.9 diesel and the Vectra (not sure about engine size or fuel type) and am willing to consider other cars too if anybody has any other ideas for estates with big boots - Need room for my 2 big dogs!
Thanks!!

goldspanners

there is a thread about the citroen berlingo multispace going on,these seem to have a good reputation compared to other citroen cars,and prices arent to bad for the diesel version giving 50 mpg at least.

wallbash

I have had a diesal focus estate and now have a petrol hatchback

Thats my quailifications
12000/13000 about the norm , if you drove less , go for the petrol, if more than 13000 than its the diesal. Not a lot of help to you.:rolleyes:
No one can predict the state of the fuel crises.
I think we will all have to start thinking of driving less :eek:
so on balance.... its the petrol.




I think!

vb77

Cheers!
I know the berlingo types are probably good cars, and certainly good for boot space and fuel ecomomy, but I feel a little young to be driving one yet... I have considered them and discounted them as I'm not quite ready to go for practicality above all else!!

goldspanners

ive got a focus 3 door hatchback,i get up to 45 mpg on a good run, and 30 odds around town,mine is the 1.6 petrol. theres no great difference between the 1.8 and the 1.6 unless you intend carrying a load around all the time,both are equally as fast and accelerate the same when empty.

rsvtoddy

Had a tddi focus until last year (written off in crash) did 160k miles without any problems. Loved it and would have it back in preference to the Corolla d4d I've got now.

HTH

skim

If going for a Ford I'd go for the petrol as the diesel isn't that great. I've got a Mondeo Diesel & wish I'd still got my old VW which was much better.

BillScarab

At that mileage it's a really dificult thing to call. It may be worth testing both and seeing whether you prefer the driving characteristics of one or the other. If fuel prices keep going up it may well be worth going for the petrol, especially as they will be lower mileage than the diesel ones.

I've got a 1.9 tdi Octavia estate at the moment and it is very good. The handling isn't as sharp as a Focus but it's well made, economical and has a much larger boot than a Focus estate. I get 47-48 mpg as an average but can get anywhere betwen 50-54 mpg on a run depending on how I drive.

AdrianHi

I did some sums in a spreadsheet for someone recently asking the petrol diesel question in relation to a new Mondeo, they were doing 12,000 miles a year. This turned out to be the break even point for their circumstances, no difference in cost. As they were buying new the opinion was that the diesel might hold value better so was the safer bet.
Diesel is rising in cost faster than petrol and we are 1 month on from that assessment.
Faced with the choice of expensive or high mileage diesel vs. cheaper or lower mileage petrol I would definitely go petrol, partly because I think there is a high chance it will become the cheaper car to fuel in the next 6 to 12 months the way the prices are going.

itsnever2lateisit?

I'd go for an Octavia diesel simply because VW Group are the only manufacturer that honours the warranty if you use bio-diesel

BillScarab

Except that in my Octavia's manual it specifically states you shouldn't use Biodiesel. I'm not sure why that is though.