Diesel vs Petrol??

Candy53

Hi,

We're having to buy a fresh car, second hand, and I keep hearing people saying they don't know now if buying diesel is going to cost them less in terms of mileage than petrol, as the prices have gone up so much.

Any thoughts on this please? We feel we should stick to a petrol car, but don't know 'if' diesel would be cheaper?

We were looking around dealers and I would say most of the cars were diesel, so it looks like people are getting rid of them.

We will be getting a 1400 to 1600.



Thanks,
Candy.

gilbert_and_sullivan

It used to be such a simple choice, Diesels used to be painfully slow, then with the simple addition of a turbo those simple Diesels gained decent performance without too much loss of economy...and most importantly were still as simple as can be...therefore sensibly once you afforded the extra outlay over the equivalent petrol model you were in profit from then on.

Its not anywhere near so simple now, mainly cos Diesels are no longer simple.

They gain in much cheaper VED and are usually better on MPG, if you compare same size engines then obviously a turbo intercooled Diesel is going to have more power than a NA (non turbo) petrol of the same CC.

Fuel slightly more expensive for Diesel, but the real stinger is felt when something goes wrong, there are a few time bombs ticking away...DPF's and DMF's the two obvious ones, either of these requiring replacement will knock off 10k's worth of comparable fuel savings overnight.

Whatever you fancy buying, spend hours researching your choices from as many sources as you can, that time is well spent.

oldhand

Lots of people make the mistake of assuming diesel car is cheaper to run as its thought they always do more MPG but thats not always the case.A diesel car will cost more to buy at the outset and unless you do large mileage each year you wont recoup the initial outlay,plus diesel is on average 3/5 pence a litre more expensive and a diesel needs servicing more often.
So look at your mileage each year first and unless very high indeed then a 1.4 petrol would suffice.

Buellguy

I think someone has done the maths and, unless your milage is circa 15,000 PA then it's not worth getting a diesel

Candy53

Thanks for all of your replies.


Well, it looks like another petrol one then. If a diesel can cost more in maintenance, and doesn't pay if we don't travel long distances, which we don't, no point in a diesel.


Candy

PollyOnAMission

You could try playing around with this to find out some costs

http://parkers.car-costs.co.uk/

Once you have the results up you can click on the numbers to enter your own puchase prices etc, so you could base it on actual cars you are interested in.

Candy53

Thanks for the link Polly. It looks like a useful site.


Candy

fatbelly

You can get an idea of real-life mpg here:

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/

DUTR

Candy53 wrote: »

Thanks for all of your replies.


Well, it looks like another petrol one then. If a diesel can cost more in maintenance, and doesn't pay if we don't travel long distances, which we don't, no point in a diesel.


Candy

Remember too fuel economy has advanced on petrol cars , my 2 litre turbo petrol Golf was 10mpg less than an Audi A3 1.4 diesel for the same driving pattern, only thing is the A3 couldn't over take a parked bus shockingly sluggish. Half the power in return for an extra nearly 10mpg ? no thank you

neilmcl

Try using this calculator - http://www.which.co.uk/cars/driving/driver-tools/petrol-vs-diesel/petrol-and-diesel-fuel-costs/

forgotmyname

Modern diesels can be a money pit. Everyone wanted the economy of a diesel but performance of a petrol.

So they and to add a ton of sensors and electric bits to get the most from the engine.

replace solid flywheel that rarely needed replacing. for one held together with springs and a bit of luck sometimes. Upto £1200 to replace one of those with a clutch.

Mechanical injectors for electrical ones controlled by an ECU and a ton of sensors. £2000 for a brand new set Recon for £600.

£600 for a pump, Fuel pressure sensor about £80.

Electronic turbo £600+

Modern petrol cars are simple in comparison.