Petrol vs Diesel

cyclonebri1

pgilc1 wrote: »

So you'd be buying the petrol variant pretty much every time then?

As a diesel version will almost always cost significantly more than the equivalent petrol variant.

Yes, and if you can't understand why, then you don't realise the benefits of a modern diesel variant ;), without offence.:money:

motorguy

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Yes, and if you can't understand why, then you don't realise the benefits of a modern diesel variant ;), without offence.:money:

is it because everyone believes a diesel car will save them money even though its not necessarily true?

I am a massive advocate of diesel cars, BUT from my experience (and sadly its been extensive) old diesels are far more likely to need repair and those repairs are likely to cost significantly more than their petrol counterpart.

The O/P doesnt need a diesel doing that miles, therefore why not buy a younger, lower mileage petrol car for the same money?

geordie_ben

Talk about opening a can of worms

I've been looking over at X reg VW golf TDI (90), it has 153k on the clock costs £1700 and has been serviced every 6 months due to the car being used for business use and clocking up a lot of motorway miles. It seems in very good condition minus wear and tear stone chips etc. 8 months tax and MOT too.

At the moment £20 gets me approx 140 miles, some days I do 30 miles, other days I can do well near 100 depending what I'm upto at the night time, or at weekends.

As I'm almost debt free I'm planning on driving round the UK too to visit friends in far off places, Glasgow to Bristol is gonna be a fun drive

I've read the whole thread, ignoring the veg option for now, I'm still swaying towards a diesel..... hmmmmm

getmore4less

I think some of the comparisons seem to be based on Diesel being much more expensive than petrol.

It seems to have been around a 3p difference for ages now on £1.15p thats only 2.6% so at say 40pmg(8.81mpl) petrol and 50mpg(11.01mpl) diesel

Thats about £0.13pm against £0.107pm on 10k thats £230 and typicaly lower road tax, so there is a fair bit for the extra servicing.

cyclonebri1

pgilc1 wrote: »

is it because everyone believes a diesel car will save them money even though its not necessarily true?

I am a massive advocate of diesel cars, BUT from my experience (and sadly its been extensive) old diesels are far more likely to need repair and those repairs are likely to cost significantly more than their petrol counterpart.

The O/P doesnt need a diesel doing that miles, therefore why not buy a younger, lower mileage petrol car for the same money?

Ok understood, but if you buy a slightly higher mileage young diesel, the differential is gone, yeah??

Try this, how many folks one here say;

"Bought a modern diesel for the 1st time, totally dissapointed"

Answer;
None.

They work even for low mileage. And again, where does anyone get the idea that diesels need more expensive servicing?????

Q1;

What items cost more for a general diesel V petrol service??

Q2;

Are service intervals less or greater??

benham3160

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Ok understood, but if you buy a slightly higher mileage young diesel, the differential is gone, yeah??

Try this, how many folks one here say;

"Bought a modern diesel for the 1st time, totally dissapointed"

Answer;
None.

They work even for low mileage. And again, where does anyone get the idea that diesels need more expensive servicing?????

Q1;

What items cost more for a general diesel V petrol service??

Q2;

Are service intervals less or greater??

I owned a "modern" diesel.

It sounded like a tractor, drove like one, alright it did 50mpg and wasn't slow, but hell it was vile to actually drive.

Regards,
Andy

flyingscotno1

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Ok understood, but if you buy a slightly higher mileage young diesel, the differential is gone, yeah??

Try this, how many folks one here say;

"Bought a modern diesel for the 1st time, totally dissapointed"

Answer;
None.

They work even for low mileage. And again, where does anyone get the idea that diesels need more expensive servicing?????

Q1;

What items cost more for a general diesel V petrol service??

Q2;

Are service intervals less or greater??

The answer to everything is 'it depends'.

My car has 2 year, 35000km/21000m service intervals.

In my experience cost is no different, but some times you get bigger bills- belt changes in the Skoda weren't cheap.

I filled up with diesel for 112.9p (and had a newspaper coupon for £2 off that- 105.4p was cheapest I've filled up in ages!) and it will last me 500 miles.

Personally I've driven many ordinary makes of diesel and petrol cars and I can't find much difference at that level. I'd go as far to say in Golfs a nice turbodiesel is preferable to some of the gutless petrols they put in.

motorguy

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Ok understood, but if you buy a slightly higher mileage young diesel, the differential is gone, yeah??

Try this, how many folks one here say;

"Bought a modern diesel for the 1st time, totally dissapointed"

Answer;
None.

They work even for low mileage. And again, where does anyone get the idea that diesels need more expensive servicing?????

Q1;

What items cost more for a general diesel V petrol service??

Q2;

Are service intervals less or greater??

Are you really trying to say that, given the mileage the O/P is doing, you would advocate him buying that 147,000 mile TD golf, over probably a 1.6 petrol variant with half the miles? Can you imagine the wear on the suspension, driveshafts, brakes, gearbox, ancilliaries that car has suffered?

All to save maybe £4 per week?

Really, why bother when you can get a much fresher petrol one for the same money?

Quinny_2

If the Golf has been serviced as the op says, then I wouldn't have thought that the problems you describe would be an issue, as business cars tend to have dealer servicing, and anything needing replaced usually gets it.

If it was a lease car, then some leasing companies are very finnicky about servicing, and want it done right so they can maximise any future sale.

However, I still think if the op wants to go down the diesel route, then there are better deals out there.

tomstickland

I've got a 1997 TDi Golf.
I get around 45mpg driving it with near zero consideration for fuel economy.
I've done nothing to the engine apart from oil changes. It was on 140K when I bought it, 175K now.
I replaced the clutch and sorted the suspension and brakes. Pot luck on a car that cost me £450.

I save around £100 per month in fuel costs.