Running a used diesel car is only cheaper if you drive more than 10,000 miles a year

LIB3RTY

Found this an interesting piece. Thought I'd share it here.

Link

Rolandtheroadie

It doesnt matter what gets written, people have it in their head that the extra fuel economy of a diesel and the cheaper VED is better.

When they're looking, they dont care (or probably even dont know) about the things that can go wrong on modern diesels and the expense to fix them when some things go wrong. Thats even before you consider the difference in fuel cost at the pump.

In saying that, my last 6 car purchases have been diesels.

Obukit

It's a bit of a sweeping statement anyway, there is no "magical" number where suddenly you are better off in a diesel.

My last two cars - ~15 year old VW Golfs - have both been diesel, £345 and £360 respectively, run on vegetable oil and very cheap motoring. There is no way, even if I only did 1,000 miles a year, I would have lower costs with a petrol.

However, especially with new micro petrol cars getting very good MPG, I can see at that end of the market diesels would only really be appealing if you prefer diesel torque to petrol acceleration.

anotherbaldrick

What Dyed in the wool Diesel Nuts often do not realise is the vast improvements made in the economy of petrol engines over the last few years. With smaller lighter lean burn engines common rail injection, variable timing & with turbo's that will pull like a racehorse from 1200 rpm they have closed the gap between petrols and diesels on fuel consumption to the point that dearer fuel, more expensive engines and mechanical complications like DMF's &DPF's make the petrol the better option for the average motorist

interstellaflyer

anotherbaldrick wrote: »

What Dyed in the wool Diesel Nuts often do not realise is the vast improvements made in the economy of petrol engines over the last few years. With smaller lighter lean burn engines common rail injection, variable timing & with turbo's that will pull like a racehorse from 1200 rpm they have closed the gap between petrols and diesels on fuel consumption to the point that dearer fuel, more expensive engines and mechanical complications like DMF's &DPF's make the petrol the better option for the average motorist

Really, We have a new Nissan Micra 1.2 Pure Drive for company deliveries, it averages 45mpg, my 08 reg Vectra 1.9 CDTi averages 55mpg. Also, unless you have a brand new car, diesel DPFs needn't be a problem as it was only a requirement after 2009, another thing, you do know that some petrol cars have DMFs

anotherbaldrick

you do know that some petrol cars have DMFs

Yes, but it is the Diesel's that knock them out. My Golf 1.4 TSi averages 47 thg 54 on a run

nickj_2

i've just been on a 100 mile round trip and my 7 year old 1.9 grand scenic averaged 56mpg -

interstellaflyer

anotherbaldrick wrote: »

Yes, but it is the Diesel's that knock them out. My Golf 1.4 TSi averages 47 thg 54 on a run

Not if you drive with respect, I sold my old 06 plate Astra 1.3 CDTi at 122,000 miles, still on original clutch and I've known plenty of people do similar mileages, the problem is that most diesel cars are rep/fleet cars and mostly hammered from day one, also an awfull lot get remaped for extra power, that comes at a price when it comes to wear and tear.

Biglad_3

I'm sorry interstellarflyer, the DMF's on diesels fail because of the vibration and extra torque of the engine.

It's not the mileage that kills them it's sitting idling and gear changes that wears them out, in petrols fitted with a DMF this is rarely a problem.

Dave_C_2

I find it odd that you are treating the Daily Fail as a credible source.

Googling around shows that it isn't as cut and dried as the Mail thinks it is. However the AA does say:

If you cover a high mileage and the bulk of your driving is on motorways then a new diesel (with a DPF) is still a good option. If your driving is predominantly short journeys on local roads then a normal (not direct injection/lean burn) small petrol will be more suitable.
If you're buying a used diesel car first registered since around 2005 then check the specification carefully as it could be fitted with a DPF.

And Which? does give this advice

Dave

Johnmcl7

interstellaflyer wrote: »

Really, We have a new Nissan Micra 1.2 Pure Drive for company deliveries, it averages 45mpg, my 08 reg Vectra 1.9 CDTi averages 55mpg. Also, unless you have a brand new car, diesel DPFs needn't be a problem as it was only a requirement after 2009, another thing, you do know that some petrol cars have DMFs

Actually it's sort of the other way round, you're right that it's only recently most diesels have needed a DPF (due to Euro V requirements) but Euro IV cars did still need a DPF if they were over a certain particulate count. As an example, the 140bhp version of the VW 2.0 TDI engine didn't need a DPF (when fitted to a standard car) but the 170bhp version did. This means my 56 plate Octavia VRS has a DPF fitted whereas most of the Octavias its age didn't bar I think the four wheel drive Scout version.

The problem with these older DPFs is that they were bolted onto engines which weren't designed for them which tended to mean more problems. The newer commonrail version of the 2.0TDI engine (same power outputs) was designed with the DPF in mind to ensure it is quicker to heat up and work efficiently rather than just bolted onto the engine as with the previous PD engine.

I admit when I first bought the diesel VRS I was wondering if I'd made the wrong decision as everywhere seemed to be full of warnings about DMF failure, DPFs going and not saving any money over a petrol unless doing mega mileages. However I'm less convinced now, many of these estimations seem to be based on paper figures not reality. The petrol VRS can produce surprisingly good mpg figures if driven very gently but when it's not (which face it, you don't buy a car like that to drive gently) the fuel economy drops considerably whereas the diesel engine is more consistent. So at six years old this diesel car has failed miserably to live up to its terrible reputation having saved me money and not fallen to pieces.

John