Diesel vs Petrol?

Trebor16

Hintza wrote: »

A decent small petrol car, especially if you are keeping it for any length of time.

The perceived wisdom is that 15k miles is roughly the cut off mileage you need to do to make a diesel worthwhile (I suspect in this day and age it is probably a bit more now).

That might be the case when buying new with a typical price differential of about £2000 between equivalent petrol and diesel models, but the differential when buying used won't be as great. On Autotrader they currently have a 1.8 T FSI 3 door listed on a 07 plate at £6000. The mileage is 80000. They also have a 1.9TDI 5 door listed at £6094 on a 57 plate with 77000 miles. Both are SE trim level.

So the argument about having to do 15000 miles per year to make the diesel worthwhile is not going to be the same with secondhand vehicles.

andygb

Foxy-Stoat wrote: »

With that sort of mileage buy what ever car you like!

Drive a car that does 50mpg (1.9 tdi) and the diesel will cost you around £900 a year. £160 road tax.

Drive a car that does 30mpg (1.8t petrol) and the fuel will cost you around £1600 a year around £260 road tax.

My Skoda 1.9 is about £118 per year to tax, it does not have a DPF and it does a regular 56MPG, and I have managed 600 miles to a tank from the old girl on a couple of long runs.

getmore4less

Whats the budget

As above a 1.9 octavia will probably give better value than an Audi
no dpf allthough a 120 milr trip every few weeks should be ok anyway.

alternative is the 1.8 petrol, goes like a trian and people claim 40mpg on runs

jaydeeuk1

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

Mid-range, less than 10yrs old. Wouldn't have thought anything less than 2.0 would be worth having in a car the size of an Audi? I don't want to drive a slug lol



Probably average around 5000-6000 miles annually.

If it was a 1.4TDI I'd agree with you, but petrol engines are (still) far better than diesel when it comes to performance. The 1.6 turbo diesel only develops 103BHP and crawls to 60 in over 10s, yet the 1.4 turbo is 20% more powerful and as LandyAndy points out, has enough performance to chuck the a3's weight around (unless you're coming from s4/m3)

~Chameleon~

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

If it was a 1.4TDI I'd agree with you, but petrol engines are (still) far better than diesel when it comes to performance. The 1.6 turbo diesel only develops 103BHP and crawls to 60 in over 10s, yet the 1.4 turbo is 20% more powerful and as LandyAndy points out, has enough performance to chuck the a3's weight around (unless you're coming from s4/m3)

Unfortunately the newer cars are out of my price range. I'm currently looking at 2006/7 models. Btw, does anyone know when LED daylights were introduced? Probably out of my scope right now, but I do find them very sexy lol

And for those suggesting Skoda or other perhaps more economical makes/models, my heart is set on an A3, sorry

PS Have done a revision of potential annual mileage and it's likely to be around 7000 a year which would cost me approx £800 in diesel or £1250 in petrol so it's really a no brainer, especially when you add in cheaper tax. If I can get a C band then it's only £30 a year tax!

Are servicing costs much different between petrol/diesel models?

getmore4less

Check which version of the 1.9tdi they have for your target age range.

IT's usualy considered one of the best options in VAG group.

try one and if happy with the performance then look at the others.

you might like the petrols better.

Economy is not just MPG and tax its the other bills that get you like insurance.

buying second hand, look at the cuurent state of the consumables tyres, brakes, cambelts, DSG oil etc.

getmore4less

wonder whats wrong with this one

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201302135323031

~Chameleon~

getmore4less wrote: »

wonder whats wrong with this one

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201302135323031

S-Tronic - not sure it's something I could get used to. No worries about insurance, sub-£200pa fully comp

Must admit, it's a bargain at that price! What's wrong with it? lol My budget is 2-3 times that lol

ETA: having looked closer I'd not even contemplate it... sounds dodgy...maybe my loss but I can live with that

getmore4less

We went DSG last year, wish I had changed years ago.

try one.

I think you need to get out and test drive the various engines and specs to narrow down your choice.

~Chameleon~

getmore4less wrote: »

We went DSG last year, wish I had changed years ago.

try one.

I think you need to get out and test drive the various engines and specs to narrow down your choice.

I think you're right in your last statement. The car is going to be an investment for the next 5+ years so I need to be 100% happy with it. Perhaps I should test drive a few first. Is that a feasible option when not buying a brand new car?