Help me persuade a low mileage driver not to go diesel...

eamon

He won't get a Prius for <£7k though. For such modest annual mileage I doubt if he would see any of the financial benefits of running a diesel and they are usually more expensive than the petrol equivalent. There should be numerous online calculators that will do the sums for you. Remind your Mum & Dad that it is now Winter and diesel cars can take many miles to warm up and issue hot air. Not a problem in all the petrol cars that I have driven.

Mobeer

eamon wrote: »

He won't get a Prius for <£7k though....

Fair point - Autotrader.co.uk are only listing 4 Prius under £7000 within 20 miles of Milton Keynes. The selection is much better for London, probably because the congestion charge makes those cars more popular down here.

frothey

eamon wrote: »

He won't get a Prius for <£7k though..

Theres a 50k 54 plate T-Spirit on a dealers forecourt near me. It won't use anywhere near the fuel of the mondeo - most people that spout drivel about prius's rely on the internet or clarkson for their information, neither of which are particularly reliable lol!

Why worry about battery's, they had an 8yr/100k warranty on them anyway, and iirc Toyota GB haven't had to replace one yet in 14 years....... more chance of an engine going than the Hybrid side of things.

with 2nd hand cars, the diesel equation can swing back towards diesel as they often aren't that much more expensive, plus the 2nd hand used cars (apart from super mini's) wont be much less than £120 to tax in petrol. saying that, I'd still have a petrol over a diesel.

The other thing to consider is that un-economical cars are much cheaper than economical ones - you could buy a 52 plate Jag cheaper than a 52 plate Honda Jazz - and ok, the tax and fuel will cost more, but you save a lot of money up front......

Mark_Hewitt

I think the main consideration is the purchase cost. There's no point in paying £1,000 extra for the diesel model if there is a petrol equivalent, the tax saved isn't going to be enough to cover that.

Certainly is nice that I only pay £20 in tax a year, it's something I don't even have to factor into the cars running costs any more, a tank of fuel is twice that!

MX5huggy

As we are talking money saving, he should keep the current car. The depreciation on any new car will be far more than any saving on tax or fuel.

5000 miles at 35 mpg (guess at what the current car does) = 142 gallons = 644 litres = £754 (£1.17 per litre)

5000 Miles at 50 mpg (new diesel may struggle to achieve this on short trips) = 100 gallons = 454 liters = £554 (£1.20per litre)

So there is £400 a year saving on tax and fuel by changing.

Strider590

Simple one this.......

I'll use a fictional example:

Value of current car = £2000
New car cost = £8000
Difference = £6000

Old car tax = £220
Old car MPG = 30 (around 18p per mile)

New car tax = £0
New car MPG = 50 (around 11p per mile)

Now work out for yourself how many miles he has to do in the new car and how many years it has to last in order to recover the £6000 difference.

Then if you like..... Factor in the maintenance costs of diesel engine's, for example a new DMF (dual mass flywheel) or DPF (diesel particulate filter) could cost £2000 each.

The argument for buying a new car based on economy and savings is utter rubbish. If you simply want a new car.... JUST ADMIT IT!!

Stephen_Leak

indiegirl wrote: »

No, not at all; it's helpful to have the viewpoint of someone in a similar situation! Unfortunately he needs to squeeze a greyhound in too and I'm not sure he would fit comfortably!

Well, with the wheelchair folded, upright and held against the back of the rear seat with a couple of luggage cords, there is a remarkable amount of room left. And I have seem larger dogs in smaller cars.

Keeping with "British" Fords (mine is made in that well known British city, Cologne) maybe go up a model to the Focus or even the Fusion?

Rose_Crow

I've just bought an MG ZS TD, it costs £125 a year to tax and does 50 MPG - and it's British, yeah really (where did the Fords being British idea come from?) From what I've heard they're super reliable and cheap to fix if needs be. It's also a good size, and if you get a hatch there's loads of space for dogs and wheelchairs in the back