Petrol V Diesel

tomstickland

320d is a diesel, what's this tank of petrol?

leejac

I am a taxi driver running a 2002 VW Sharan TDI 115bhp. Nobody has mentioned that diesels will survive longer than petrols. If you service on time every time and keep the oil fresh using good synthetic oil and not cheap multigrade, you can expect a minimum of 300k miles. I know of no one reporting more than 200k from a petrol engine. (Here's where you all prove me wrong!).

I'd say 95% of taxi drivers run a diesel for this reason. It has little to do with fuel economy or performance to us cabbies - it's all about making the thing last as long as possible. So the answer for us is simple - find a good car, look after it, drive as carefully as you can and run it into the ground. If you can make the car last 10 years, then you'd buy the same car again over the 10 years with what you saved on fuel.

I cover about 30,000 miles a year with a mix of town & motorways, and I calculate a rough saving of £20 a week on a spend of around £100 per week on fuel. So the 20% rule seems to apply to me too.

SO171NOT

I had no idea that such a basic money-related question would stimulate such discussion. As a NEWBIE, and a Petrol-Head, thanks to everyone for their comments. For the record, I have a Petrol VW Passat Estate 1.8SE 20V. I need such a large car for my wheelchair in the back, not to mention all the luggage or paperwork with my job. Initially, fuel economy with it was crap (25MPG round town) (R Reg bought it in October 2005) but things seem to have got better as you get used to it. Living in rural Sussex, I needed a comfortable work-horse and was thinking of a diesel. Following your comments, I've come to the conclusion that for 14500 miles a year, the savings with a diesel would not be that great as it needs to be serviced twice as often (every 10000) instead of once a year / 20000 miles with a petrol. :wave:

tomstickland

I know of no one reporting more than 200k from a petrol engine. (Here's where you all prove me wrong!).

I know a taxi driver who managed over 250K from a petrol engine. In a taxi actually. The old Cavaliers were renowned for this. Most engine wear is due to cold starts, after that it's high rpm running that does the wear. Since taxis are in constant use and don't get much high rpm use then the engines last.

I don't agree that a Diesel engine will last longer than petrol. If the oil is changed regularly then petrol engines will do over 200K. They might smoke a bit from valve stem or ring leakage, but they will still make the power. My Astra GTE 8v had a 196K engine when I rolling road tested it with healthy results.

Diesels run higher compression ratios than petrol and with most of them being turboed now then I wouldn't expect them to outlast equivalent petrol engines. Well, they might be a bit better, but not chalk and cheese.

balsingh

Old Vauxhall engines were rugged - I know a mechanic who has a 300k 1.6 Cavalier on a J plate. As long as they are looked after, sky's the limit. Gone are the days when an engine could barely do 100k (older Ford odometers old had 5 digits - they could only show 99999 miles)

balsingh

SO171NOT wrote:

I had no idea that such a basic money-related question would stimulate such discussion.

Thats the thing with this place ... sometimes the most unlikely threads will go on forever!!

Cardew

leejac wrote:

I am a taxi driver running a 2002 VW Sharan TDI 115bhp. Nobody has mentioned that diesels will survive longer than petrols. If you service on time every time and keep the oil fresh using good synthetic oil and not cheap multigrade, you can expect a minimum of 300k miles. I know of no one reporting more than 200k from a petrol engine. (Here's where you all prove me wrong!).

I'd say 95% of taxi drivers run a diesel for this reason. It has little to do with fuel economy or performance to us cabbies - it's all about making the thing last as long as possible. So the answer for us is simple - find a good car, look after it, drive as carefully as you can and run it into the ground. If you can make the car last 10 years, then you'd buy the same car again over the 10 years with what you saved on fuel.

I cover about 30,000 miles a year with a mix of town & motorways, and I calculate a rough saving of £20 a week on a spend of around £100 per week on fuel. So the 20% rule seems to apply to me too.

I agree with the points you make although I think many taxis cover quite a bit more mileage.

A close relative owns a taxi firm and without exception the 60 odd drivers all run diesels. However many of the taxis are driven by 2 drivers(in shifts) and 80,000 miles per year is not uncommon.

I also agree with you about of diesels of your vintage(2002) lasting 'forever'. However as mentioned in the quote below the latest diesels are far more highly stressed, to give ever higher output, and the motoring press have expressed reservations about their longevity.

Diesel engines have traditionally been very reliable and long-lived.

However, recent designs have at times been anything but. There have been a spate of expensive turbo failures across a number of manufacturers, and some mechanics are recommending that owners get rid of common-rail diesel cars once they're out of warranty.

jjames_3

> I know a taxi driver who managed over 250K from a petrol engine. In a taxi actually. The old Cavaliers were renowned for this. Most engine wear is due to cold starts, after that it's high rpm running that does the wear. Since taxis are in constant use and don't get much high rpm use then the engines last.

Indeed, the old Nissan Bluebird was another. 300K absolutely routine.

MrSmartprice

At one time I had a Volvo 740 2.0 petrol for a while. When it was sold it had over 200,000 on the clock and was still in excellent mechanical condition. Several years later I still see it occasionally and often wonder what mileage it has covered by now.

Having said that, there is no doubt about the longevity of diesels. My first one was in a 1984 Ford Escort. It was then a 1.6, and I sold it to a friend with 110,000 on the clock. She eventually sold it years later with 170,000 on, and in all that time it had never had anything done to it other than routine maintenance. This was one reason why I later bought the Escort 1.8TD, which was a big mistake. The 1.8 was never as good as the 1.6. And I also remember the 2.3 Ford mentioned by an earlier poster. I knew someone with a Sierra with that engine - what a disaster! Slow, thirsty, noisy, smelly, dirty! Like an old truck.

vansboy

The comments from Mr Smartprice, is pretty clear why Ford have now involved themselves with the French, for current/future engine development!!

VB