Do Londoners and city centre drivers buy diesels?

smjxm09

It is well documented that modern diesel cars that now have diesel particulate filters fitted don't like short journeys and traffic jams. So have Londoners gone back to petrol cars? What are people here driving, not only Londoners but people who spend most of their time driving in congested towns and cities? Has your diesel particulate filter survived mainly on a diet of congested streets and short journeys?

forgotmyname

No idea, I would not buy one, Its a silly idea. How is it saving the planet and lowering emissions when it uses more fuel and the emissions increase drastically when its regenerating.

Then you get the issue of is it taking diesel particles from a size that can be fitered out to an ultra fine dust that passes through a filter and possibly killing us?

giraffe69

The advice tends to be that diesel is only right if you have some long runs and an annual mileage of 12K+. In addition some London councils are introducing an additional payment for diesels to be included in their charge for a parking permit. Whether that is all diesels or only older ones I am not sure.
It will be enough to drive some back to petrol.

forgotmyname

When they say you need to be doing over 12k miles + they are working that out on a diesel being more to buy than a petrol car, or having a dpf etc.

I am now back to doing a low mileage yet have just bought another diesel. Yes Another £2000 Mondeo diesel What else is there.

Instead of doing 20 - 25mpg in a petrol car i get 35mpg in the diesel, Yet on a run i can get closer to 60mpg.

And it didnt cost more to buy than the comparable petrol model.

It will get an oil change every 6 months or so and a service yearly exactly the same as i would with petrol or diesel, So no costs difference there.

Strider590

neilwoods2 wrote: »

me and my partner live in London and we have a diesel. it has lower tax and better mpg than petrol's so as no brainer

Not when you have to buy a new DPF and/or the DMF fails.

"No brainer" is the operative word, the wise man looks at long term costs, the big picture, long term the VED means nothing, higher purchase price more than wastes any savings on consumption and when it goes wrong it's going to cost a small fortune.
Not to mention insurance, these days diesels tend to cost more to insure than their petrol counterparts, so how does that factor in against the VED saving?

Alexd52

neilwoods2 wrote: »

I'm not so well informed when it comes to motors but all I know is that me and my partner have a brand new diesel on finance so not bothered about all that as the warranty will cover

12k+ mileage is based on brand new, diesels are more expensive for equivalent models and the fuel is more expensive than petrol. For it to work out cheaper to run a diesel, you need to be doing roughly, at least, 12k miles/annum. That is without the higher servicing and repair costs for diesel cars
.

Johnmcl7

I don't think on the whole that many people are aware of the potential downsides to diesels in terms of DPF, DMF and EGR issues although as the technology has become standard on Euro 5 diesels I can see there being a bit of a turnaround with diesels particularly with there being suggestions in time that diesels should lose their lower VED.

I have my first petrol car as I had enough of DPF and EGR issues, having to hire a car due to the DPF system failing quickly wiped out any diesel savings and I find in reality the difference in mpg isn't that great.

John

Marktheshark

Looking that most major EU states are planning to follow Paris and ban Diesel cars I would be cautious, if they order it to be done here we can not stop them banning diesel cars from London.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/11280067/London-will-follow-Paris-and-ban-diesel-cars-campaigners-warn.html

Indout96

Alexd52 wrote: »

12k+ mileage is based on brand new, diesels are more expensive for equivalent models
.

Just changed from a 14 reg Focus ST petrol which averaged 24mpg to a 64 reg Focus ST Diesel which averages 44mpg on exactly the same runs
The Petrol and Diesel versions are exactly the same price. Yes the diesel is slower 0-60 but about the same in the real world.

BeenThroughItAll

Alexd52 wrote: »

12k+ mileage is based on brand new, diesels are more expensive for equivalent models and the fuel is more expensive than petrol. For it to work out cheaper to run a diesel, you need to be doing roughly, at least, 12k miles/annum. That is without the higher servicing and repair costs for diesel cars
.

You may find it doesn't cover you, actually. A DPF clogging will be 'wear and tear' due to driving style, and if the DMF fails, that'll likely come under the same banner.

Londoner_1

Petrol all the way if you do less than 10k and lots of short journeys, decent old diesels are reliable but hard to find, then if you do you will need to worry about dmf, turbos, injectors, egr valves, on top of the usual problems suffered by both petrol/diesel cars.

I miss the power surge of the diesel on mine but after 6 years of diesels (EURO 3/4) and their problems i've gone back to a petrol.