Petrol vs Diesel - advice please!

goldspanners

Stephen_Leak wrote: »

I am having to make the same choice, with my new (well, new to me) car. I currently have a 11-year-old Mondeo, which is beginning to finally show signs of its age. I need to downsize to a smaller one, an am increasingly being drawn towards one with a small turbo-diesel.

Fortunately, where I live in Bristol, the price differential between diesel and petrol is currently just a few pence per litre.

My old car still returns, on average 40mpg, actually more than the Parkers' mpg figure of 35mpg. I therefore have to no reason to doubt the Parkers' mpg figure for any new car. A small turbo-diesel should return 64mpg.

The killer is the car tax. My Mondeo costs me £190 this year and will cost me £205 from April next year. A sub-120g/Km of CO2 Band C diesel is £35 this year, £30 next.

Obviously, insurance on a newer smaller car should be less than my current Group 9.

I understand that a diesel engine may cost more to fix, if it goes wrong. The operative word is "if".

Even though I may not do over 15K miles per year, I still see a diesel as the overall more economical option.

My trip to work is only 8.9 miles, but it can take me up to an hour, nose to tail around the A4175 Ring Road car park.

The probablity is that, in the expectation of lower fuel costs per mile, I will more readily undertake longer journeys and end up spending the same or even more. I'm doing the same with my new cheaper mobile phone tariff.

sitting in traffic at low speed/revs isnt any good for a modern diesel. google DPF.

garethprice

I run a mini cooper diesel and on average I get 15 - 20 mpg more than the equivalent petrol model around town, and I get around 35 mpg more on the motorway. I do around 22k/year but your 15k should also return a saving now that petrol and diesel are so closely priced.

As for the "if it goes wrong" the word is "IF". As one of the leading mass producers of cars Ford have been serving up some prety reliable engines over the last 10 years or so. Yes there are horror stories but when you produce as many cars as Ford do each year the's bound to be a few that go wrong and some customers who are not happy. However Ford parts are readily available and any reputable mechanic can do the job.

Personally I'd go for the Turbo diesel. All the power is at the bottom end of the rev range around 2000 revs. Ideal for overtaking as it means usually you don't have to change down from your cruising gear to get any power. In a Petrol all the power is at the top end, 3500 revs +. This means that to get any overtaking power you have to shift from your cruising gear to a lower one if you need to overtake something.

G :j

goldspanners

garethprice wrote: »

I run a mini cooper diesel and on average I get 15 - 20 mpg more than the equivalent petrol model around town, and I get around 35 mpg more on the motorway. I do around 22k/year but your 15k should also return a saving now that petrol and diesel are so closely priced.

As for the "if it goes wrong" the word is "IF". As one of the leading mass producers of cars Ford have been serving up some prety reliable engines over the last 10 years or so. Yes there are horror stories but when you produce as many cars as Ford do each year the's bound to be a few that go wrong and some customers who are not happy. However Ford parts are readily available and any reputable mechanic can do the job.

your right, the word is "if" but on an older one its more likely to be "when" 1 diesel fuel injector could easily wipe out any fuel savings you think you might make,so buying 4 and a recon pump would totally see an end to your fuel savings. oh and dmf on a mondeo would be a nice £600 to replace that due to the labour time involved.

harveybobbles

400 quid all in Goldie!

rca779

harveybobbles wrote: »

400 quid all in Goldie!

Is that to replace a Mondeo DMF?
That's a lot better than the normal £1k that is often quoted

blued

I dont think amount of miles the OP covers per year needs to be taken into account in this case if both cars cost the same to start with? The only difference seems to be that the diesel has 32k extra miles (not much as far as diesels are concerned). The amount of miles you do per year is normally taken into consideration because the diesel car costs more to buy and you have to work out how long it is before you save enough on fuel to cover the initial outlay.

So in this case you'd be better off with the diesel because the fuel consumption will be less from the start and you have no difference in price to offset. Servicing costs are lower for a diesel car as well.

I only do about 7000 miles per year and drive a diesel Golf. It does 40mpg round the town and 55mpg+ on a run. A petrol Golf with similar performance would probably return less 30mpg round the town.

goldspanners

blued wrote: »

Servicing costs are lower for a diesel car as well.

thats a bit of a generalisation is it not?

goldspanners

harveybobbles wrote: »

400 quid all in Goldie!

thats a fair price,but im guessing not everywhere is that cheap. how much is it to do the clutch on a petrol one?

vikingaero

harveybobbles wrote: »

400 quid all in Goldie!

Is that trade parts and trade rates harvey?

Us retail customers have to pay full whack and if you're replacing the DMF on a 55k or 83k car then best practice would be to plonk a new clutch in at the same time.

bennybroadbean

angeltreats wrote: »

Also have you ever actually driven a diesel car before? I personally don't really like them as I find them a bit sluggish and don't think I'd want to own one (although I passed my test in a diesel and reckon it's easier to learn in one) but it's really matter of personal taste. My best friend refuses to even consider buying a petrol car.

If you're doing 15k miles a year, you'd want to make sure you actually like driving the car

A diesel being sluggish?? What car did you drive? Some diesels are quicker etc than there petrol equivalent!!