How do people afford to run petrol cars? (or how nasty are courtesy cars lol)

Luis

Hello,

I am currently driving a courtesy car. Before I start, I would like to point out that I am grateful to be mobile, and grateful to have been sorted out for a courtesy car so quickly. However - how my eyes have been opened!

I normally drive a 2l Peugeot 206HDi, which is a very powerful, fast car, with a lot of extras - all the whistles and bells etc. I do a lot of mileage - about 100 miles per day, on some of the worst motorways in the UK - hence buying the car. I wanted something reliable and powerful enough to get me from a to b efficiently and cheaply.

I am now driving a 1l Ka. Oh dear. Bottom of the range, cassette player only, no central locking, manual windows etc. It has all the acceleration of a brick.

Anyway, I thought it would be a good opportunity to see the cost ratio of petrol to diesel. My normal journey to work costs about £7. In the ka yesterday, I worked out it cost about £10. Over a normal year, that would mean paying about £690 more!!!!!!

I should also imagine that the saving would be even more, if the diesel car was a smaller engine and not a turbo.

I was amazed - you can see the petrol gauge dropping before your very eyes!

So, I have now rethought my future plans. I had always promised myself that when I can afford to I would buy a sporty car, and had toyed with the idea of
getting a Mazda MX5. I don't think I will now.

So can anyone advise me of a sporty, powerful diesel car alternative?

ArsenalFC

If you want a sports car without the petrol running cost then you can still have one, have LPG install. If £10 of petrol gets 100 miles, then £10 of LPG gets 160 miles. They cost around £1800. Diesels are great in economics, but I have yet to see a good 2door sports coupe with diesel engine (audi a3 are not sports coupe ok).

I have a bmw 1.8 auto coupe, £10 of petrol gets me 55 miles town driving . And I want an M3 next, thats 3.2i! Once I get that car I'll have LPG install. I guess its quite a difficult choice from running a diesel then changing to a petrol, but do you never want to own a sports car? LPG is the option.

Luis

But do you get power and performance with LPG?

Dunkyboy_2

Have a look at a Skoda Fabia Vrs, this is a very quick little car, it will return 50plus easily and handles very nicely, even Jeremy Clarkson liked it :j .
The only downside is the powerband is quite narrow, and the seats have a light colour pattern which will look grubby in no time, but apart from that they are great.They are/were a well kept secret...........untill now......

also cheap to insure..... :T

There is a web-site, something like https://www.Briskoda.co.uk, goggle will find it, that has loads of info about these cars, hope this helps.. :j

italiastar

I have a Alhambra with the 1.9 TDI engine and it is excellent! Last year I hired a petrol Punto in Italy - I watched the petrol gauge drop on every journey - I was filling the thing up every day and it had no performance to speak of.

A word of warning - Keep away from Fabia VRSs and the Briskoda site - Never ever test drive one! Here's my story.........Just over a year ago we had a VW polo as a courtesy car whilst our 10 year old golf was in for repair - my fault, not the repair, but the Polo. They offered me a Corsa, but I said that I wouldn't have a Vauxhall on my drive (I fell out with their Customer Services years ago about a Network Q car, but that's another story). We loved the Polo so much that we put two months worth of Mileage on it in two weeks! I then searched the internet and found that the Fabia was basically the same car, but better. We went to test drive a 1.2, 1.4 and then the VRS - I had no intention of buying the latter - I even told the salesperson, but just thought I'd give it a go. The test drive was in traffic and a road full of speed cameras (40MPH) but I still got an idea of what this car was about. I didn’t buy that day and the search went on.

To cut the story short, we've not had the VRS for 10 months, it is absolutely fantastic!!! and on a run 50mpg

Please take heed – Briskoda is where I started.

Luis

Thank you for the pointers to the fabia. I have had a look on the Briskoda and skoda websites - have to say - it's not very sexy is it?

I am being difficult lol, I want performance AND looks! I have looked at Mercs, but they are a bit big for a sporty car.

Maybe I will have to move closer to work lol, and bite the bullet and get a petrol car. I note that Peugeot are doing the 206cc in a 1.6 HDi, so hopefully they will bring a 2l HDi out soon, and all my searching will be over.

italiastar

it's not very sexy is it?

That's the good thing about it - it looks like your grandma's car................Red in my view is the best closely followed by black. once you've feel the turbo kick you in the back, you'll never look back - except to see the Merc or BM you've just passed!

I've not noticed / driven the 206, but as a diesel convert (I used to hate them till I drove a passat) that very sounds good too.

ArsenalFC

I have not look into LPG with great details, I guess it must affect performance in some way, (although the LPG garages tells me it dont) but if you have a high engine sports cars then you will not notice too much as it still have plenty of power. Thats the compromise of getting a sports car and low fuel consumption cost.

Pug 206cc? Cute car for girls. No offence intended. These cars are really just suitable for girls m8. One of my neighbour recently bought one of them, he is in his 30's; It amuses me that a bloke in his 30's want a girly car like that, should have got a real sports car with prestige. But it's each to their own. Your money, your choice.

206cc or bmw coupe ci, I know what I would choose. Bmw may have cross your mind but the expenses puts u off. Well here your chance to be bold, test drive them both and then weigh up your options. Once you own a bmw you'll never look back, believe me. I've had my bmw for just 2months and absolutely loved the drive, handling and looks of the car, just wish i got it sooner.

mr_accountant

Those who post my diesel gives me 45.678598mpg really p**s me off, this shows they know nothing what so ever about cars. Yes you will save about £500 in petrol over a year if you do around 15000 miles per year, however only a few people do such mileage.

Secondly if you buy a diesel you would pay a significant premium over a petrol model, in fact many thousands of pounds, which you would not recover on sale due to disproportionate unlinear depreciation

Thirdly a diesel driver is always considered a tight git (or worse!) with that D sign on the back of a car

Fourthly they cost more to service and require more frequent servicing.

Fifth, reliability on modern diesel is an issue, as car manufacturers aim to meet the customer requirements (i.e. more diesel cars) they have foregone reliability in order to make a quick profit. Remember if you buy a modern diesel you are an unpaid test driver. If something goes wrong outside warranty get a mortgage.

Sixth, yes diesels have more torque at low speed than petrol but they are more noisy and less refined, even the latest tdci's. If anyone says they cant tell the difference between petrol and diesel they have obviously never driven a petrol car! Petrol’s are also more pleasant to drive

Seventh, re original posters diesel have the bells and whistles well so do many petrol cars, to compare a high range 206 against a bottom of the range ka is hardly a true and fair view

Diesel also pollute a lot more in terms of gas and noise pollution

Whilst my petrol only gives 30 mpg it will hammer and hdi in a 0-60 race even though its a heavier car, and yes it has a cd, electric windows, remote locking and alarm, climate control, metallic paint, 16v, multi point injection etc

I may one day buy a diesel but for the mo its not economically beneficial nor required to buy a diesel, so ill stick with unleaded thanks, much better

stanmoresaver

Mr A

Have you done the top of the range petrol/diesel comparison. BMW 330 or similar? If you have, ok, if not try it because i think you will be suprised. The refinement of the engine even after 40000 miles is supurb!!

My 20000 miles per anum in a Volvo S60 D5 SE averaging 40mpg compared to 21mpg in an Omega 2.5 CDX is better value motoring anyway you look at it. ( my latest car change two years ago)

Unless I can be proven wrong?

Luis

mr_accountant wrote:

Yes you will save about £500 in petrol over a year if you do around 15000 miles per year, however only a few people do such mileage.

I do about 500 miles a week minimum = approx 24,000 per annum.

if you buy a diesel you would pay a significant premium over a petrol model, in fact many thousands of pounds, which you would not recover on sale due to disproportionate unlinear depreciation

Bought mine second hand! Got a 14 month old car, top of the range for about £5k less than new.

a diesel driver is always considered a tight git (or worse!) with that D sign on the back of a car

a) GOOD, b) if they can see that when I am hurtling off over the horizon, fair play to them.

they cost more to service and require more frequent servicing.

My 206 'benefits from extended service intervals', only needs doing every 20,000 miles or 2yrs whichever is soonest.

reliability on modern diesel is an issue, as car manufacturers aim to meet the customer requirements (i.e. more diesel cars) they have foregone reliability in order to make a quick profit. Remember if you buy a modern diesel you are an unpaid test driver. If something goes wrong outside warranty get a mortgage.

I have had 2 diesels, my OH, mum and brother drive diesel - so far no mortgages required. The petrol mini I had was always breaking down (bless it).

yes diesels have more torque at low speed than petrol but they are more noisy and less refined, even the latest tdci's. If anyone says they cant tell the difference between petrol and diesel they have obviously never driven a petrol car! Petrol’s are also more pleasant to drive

Diesel cars are heavier, I have had petrol cars and diesel, and would be reluctant to go back to a petrol, s it always feels like it is going to 'fall off the road' lol. My 206 is significantly quieter than the Ka. I agree that petrol cars are more 'performance' cars, but TOTR Diesels in the TDi HDi bracket are no slouches either.

re original posters diesel have the bells and whistles well so do many petrol cars, to compare a high range 206 against a bottom of the range ka is hardly a true and fair view

Oh dear. I think you missed the bits where I said that a direct comparison between a smaller diesel and the Ka would illustrate greater savings, as the higher end 206 will use more diesel. I think you may have also missed the point - I stated I was grateful to be mobile, and indeed have had my eyes opened about how spoilt I am with my car.

Diesel also pollute a lot more in terms of gas and noise pollution

Always sails through it's emission tests, and is quieter than the Ka.

Whilst my petrol only gives 30 mpg it will hammer and hdi in a 0-60 race even though its a heavier car, and yes it has a cd, electric windows, remote locking and alarm, climate control, metallic paint, 16v, multi point injection etc

Bring it on!

Seriously, Mr A, thank you for your post. You raise some points there that I feel a lot of people who have never driven both would agree with. However, due to the large amount of (mostly motorway) mileage I do, I require proven economy - which I get - along with reliabilty and performance - which I get.

I merely wish to point out that I have been stunned by the petrol useage on my journey to work, and am now looking for alternatives to the petrol sprots car of my dreams lol.

Arsenal FC - I am a girl! I must agree with you, that some cars are deliberately aimed at women (thinks Ka, Corsa), and I suppose the 206 is one of those too . I have looked at the BMW, but I know so many men who drive BMWs, it seems like a bit of a testosterone-mobile lol. Apparently, getting parts for them is horrendously expensive too.

I am considering a Merc - the new Mercedes Vision SL 400 CDI looks very good to me. Still pining after my petrol sports car though - may have to bite the bullet! I have always had a soft spot for the MX5, particularly the 1.8 S-VT Sport, in gunmetal grey!

Any more suggestions out there peeps!