Petrol or Diesel

xbrenx

Hi
The time has come to buy a new car (used, just new to me :-)) and I'm wondering which is best, petrol or diesel. At the moment I have a diesel people carrier which was bought when diesel was cheaper than petrol.

We generally use the car for town use - to work, shopping etc and will occasionally do a longer trip for holidays. Short journeys are the norm.

Can anyone shed any light on which would be the best fuel for us?

Thanks

motorguy

Unless you do more than say, 15K miles a year then probably the petrol.

If you do go down that route though, make sure you are buying your petrol people carrier VERY CHEAP as they are very unpopular come resale time.

attila_

If u want something that accelerates well whilst not uaing much fuel and is cheap on insurance then diesel. If u dont mind sluggish acceleration/or heavy fuel bills with high insurance then choose petrol.

Modern diesels are not just about mpg...

motorguy

attila_ wrote: »

If u want something that accelerates well whilst not uaing much fuel and is cheap on insurance then diesel. If u dont mind sluggish acceleration/or heavy fuel bills with high insurance then choose petrol.

Modern diesels are not just about mpg...

+1

I would have a strong preference for a diesel engine in most cars.

poppasmurf_bewdley

My present car is a Mondeo 2 litre diesel.

It's my first diesel in more than 40 years of driving but I don't think I'd go back to petrol now, even though I only do about 8k miles a year.

The driving characteristics of the diesel turbo are so much better than any petrol engine.

pendulum

My first car was petrol.
My second car was diesel.
My third car is petrol.
My fourth car may be diesel. Who knows!

I find it hard to pick which fuel type is "better". They're both good, but for different reasons, and I enjoy driving both.

What you should always do, once you've picked a model of car that you like, is read the reviews. Some cars come fitted with rubbish petrol engines but excellent diesel engines, and vice-versa. Basically, I'd choose my fuel type after deciding what car I wanted, not before.

ridethelightning

Diesels dont like short journeys, they are very inefficient until the engine warms up so the fuel saving over petrol is lost. Since most of your journeys are short Id go with a petrol.

If you do go for diesel make sure it doesnt have a dpf (diesel particle filter). Lots of short journeys will cause huge problems with dpf very quickly and is very expensive to fix, around £1000, which probably wont be covered under warranty as the manual states that it should not be driven lots of short journeys.

seafarer85

Quick observation i've made, I work for a large oil company and 99% of the cars in the car park of a day are diesel

Dont know of any reason this could be but surely if the people getting the oil out of the north sea are useing them they must know something :beer:

sunshinetours

ridethelightning wrote: »

Diesels dont like short journeys, they are very inefficient until the engine warms up so the fuel saving over petrol is lost. Since most of your journeys are short Id go with a petrol.

If you do go for diesel make sure it doesnt have a dpf (diesel particle filter). Lots of short journeys will cause huge problems with dpf very quickly and is very expensive to fix, around £1000, which probably wont be covered under warranty as the manual states that it should not be driven lots of short journeys.

Your first paragraph is not correct. Petrol engines use a rich mixture of fuel when cold (equivalent of when you used to pull the choke out) and hence use a lot more petrol until warmed up.
Diesel engines use timing technology rather than fuel adjustment when cold but they do take longer to warm up to full temperature

Your second paragraph certainly is valid

Bottom line is lots of short journeys and never really warming up a car never does it any good whatever fuel is used

As this is MSE I would say to OP do you definitely need a people carrier? Would a good size estate or hatchback provide what you need with a roof box for holidays for example?

Fuel , insurance and road tax costs are only going to go one way in the long term so certainly worth choosing wisely

Hammyman

ridethelightning wrote: »

Diesels dont like short journeys, they are very inefficient until the engine warms up so the fuel saving over petrol is lost.

COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY WRONG. You've got it completely the wrong way around. Diesels give maximum economy from the start. IT IS PETROL ENGINES THAT DO NOT as they run a rich mixture until the engine is up to temperature.

cyclonebri1

Hammyman wrote: »

COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY WRONG. You've got it completely the wrong way around. Diesels give maximum economy from the start. IT IS PETROL ENGINES THAT DO NOT as they run a rich mixture until the engine is up to temperature.

And that is utterly and completly crap.

Diesels are exactly the same as petrol engines, off boil, ie cold, they lose all their efficiency

Cold they have just the same losses as any other engine.



Answering the original question, you just have to ask yourself why 4% excess duty would put you off saving at least 30 and probably 40% fuel economy.

Don't but new, buy clever and the saving are there from the 1st mile.

Falacy;

Diesels cost more to service than petrol engines, (my )


;)