Hybrids or diesel which is most economical?

Thefrugalwhippet

Hi,
I am thinking about getting a new car as my job has relocated and I will be doing a 90 mile round trip. This equates to about £240 a month on petrol with my current 9 year old 1.4 petrol car that does 40 mpg (gulp).
With this £240 figure I was wondering about getting a newer car (first ever personal loan, having mild/moderate feelings of dread) and being able to afford fuel for less than this.
I considered hybrids but does anyone know how much they cost to run per mile? They look bloomin expensive to buy!
Are diesel cars better? Or these Eco cars I keep seeing?
Depending on the mpg I would want something around 1.2-1.4 engine size. The car would need to be happy down dual carriageways. Free or £20 tax would also be a bonus!!
Thanks.

almillar

You're doing the mileage, and the length of runs most importantly, for the diesel engine to get up to temp, run efficiently, and sort its own DPF out when it needs to. I think a diesel will be a cheaper to buy and run, and also faster and with a bigger range, car for you, than a hybrid would. Hybrid would be for people who want to try to get diesel MPG but are stuck with short town runs, because of engine warm up issues as well as range.

ian103

diesel - ohs hybrid is doing early 40s to the gallon, her last audi and bmw did mid 50s to the gallon with no problem, also a when you come to sell a high mileage diesel has less stigma than a high mileage petrol

gilbert_and_sullivan

Many, possibly most, posters here are quite opposed to hybrids, so bear that in mind.

Much depends on your route and what you want and need from a car, if you're in heavy traffic then the hybrid comes into its own, they are usually at least as economical in town work as on the open road.
If its a steady open road cruise in top gear then Diesel as it.

Where things get more complicated is in transmissions and noise, Toyotas Hybrid drive is automatic and silky smooth and quiet unless you open it right up for high speed or fast overtaking when things can get raucous, in traffic the hybrid is almost silent, you'll struggle to tell when the engine has fired up to assist the electric drive.

There's no mistaking when a 4 cyl Diesel is running with its tractor like rattling at low revs, if you want auto most of them are nothing short of horrible in traffic, with questionable durability.

Remember to compare size and type with size and type, a Prius is a large fully automatic and refined car, if you want to compare Fiesta Diesels for running costs, compare with a Yaris Hybrid.

Toyotas hybrids are proving reliable and durable with astonishing trouble free mileages being recorded in taxi work.

Do you want to take a loan out though, you'll struggle to better Citroens little C2 1.4 manual Diesel, a colleague of mine had his round to about 150k miles last time i saw him, and the thing reliable returned around 70mpg driven carefully keeping the speed down, no DPF to worry about either.

Thefrugalwhippet

Thanks for all the replies I really appreciate it!

ian103

Personnally nothing against the hybrid, the german diesel stuff was more economic to run , cheaper to buy but maybe not as well built or equiped as a Lexus.
If I was buying with my cash I would rule out a hybrid on cost as i don't think I would ever see a return on the extra cost.
The CVT is an acquired taste, but its very easy to use and other than the noise under very hard acceleration (which kind of defeats a hybrid) can't really fault it.
One thing we find strange is the moving under battery power so there is no audible noise to alert pedestrians.
This is my post on another thread - OH has a CT200, the car is great, comfortable, quick enough (and more responsive if in sport mode), the first 12 months were faultless unlike the previous german stuff, the ride on standard wheels (yokos) fsport suspension is good (tyres are very soft doubt they will get to 10k miles for all 4), mpg is carp, we are getting early to mid 40s - nothing like the claimed, its noisy (very) on under hard acceleration, possibly the worst dealers we have ever had the misfortune to deal with (that bad we probably won't consider a Lexus again merely down to the dealer - and its a fairly common theme as the CT is considered a down market Lexus). Having said that the local Toyota dealership that serviced the car were very helpful, pleasant so a prius may be considered for the next purcchase
The other problem we have is the nearest dealer is 50 odd miles away so its inconvenient.

Buzby

Neither? An electric vehicle (not a hybrid) can do it - I manage 98 miles on a full charge (less in winter) and most of my recharging is free as is VED. Against this is the initial start up costs, but s/h there are bargains!

almillar

Buzby, do go on about these bargains...

guilbert and sullivan -
Noisy diesels - depends on the specific car (and the age of the engine in it) but 4 cyl diesel engines can be very quiet at idle. When they're warmed up.
I also don't understand your coment on auto diesels being horrible in traffic and lacking durability.

BeenThroughItAll

Buzby wrote: »

Neither? An electric vehicle (not a hybrid) can do it - I manage 98 miles on a full charge (less in winter) and most of my recharging is free as is VED. Against this is the initial start up costs, but s/h there are bargains!

Less than 98 miles in winter is dangerously close to the 90 miles the OP's looking for, though. Throw in a bit of traffic delay, roadworks causing a diversion and they'd have no chance.


I can't see many employers taking 'I'm sorry I can't come to work today, it's cold/wet/there's roadworks/snow/I forgot to plug the car in last night' as an excuse for long.

redux

You might consider getting an older diesel which you can run on vegetable oil with perhaps a little petrol added.

This will need a bit of background reading to convince you, and to choose from the reducing numbers of cars this will be ok with. The latest injection systems won't like it.

IamNotAllowedToUseMyName

Of the choices, petrol, diesel, hybrid and electric:

- there are newer cars coming onto the market which have very effective economical petrol engines but for your mileage you will struggle to beat the economy of a diesel.

- Diesels are generally fine and a decent engine is not too noisy. The travel profile you have will keep you away from the problems that some diesel users see so it should be a reliable, reasonable maintenance costs choice too.

- The problem with hybrids will be the profile of your commute. If you have a free-flowing journey, then a hybrid will probably not give you a benefit. If it is a stop start grind then the hybrid will have something to work with. However, I think that there is a significant cost penalty which counteracts the savings and I don't think the second hand market is a known quantity, so for example, you would need to understand the battery life expectations and manufacturer's considerations about replacing and recycling them. In simple terms, you need to want a hybrid and you hope that the costs of being better for the environment will trade off against running costs.

- Electric is a big risk on a long journey - if you are maxing out the range then you have nothing left for problems, diversions, and the slow degradation of the battery system over time.

I would say you are a classic diesel profile and in the second hand market there are now sufficient diesels around that the premium for a diesel is not as high as it might once have been. In the premium market, petrol Mercs, BMWs and Audis are a rarity on the second hand market and I didn't see a price difference based on that in the standard versions.