Hybrid vs Diesel

snowscreamer

Hi all,

Over the next year or so, my OH will be in the market for a new car. As with the majority of purchases we make, our top consideration is total running costs.

As he does (at the moment, but could change!) around 15000 miles per year (incorporating his commute - 45 miles/day) we suspect a high MPG will trump depreciation and most other considerations to lead to lower overall running costs. Looked up a few cars and although we initially looked at a Prius, after some calculations it looked like a Seat Leon Ecomotive / Skoda Octavia GreenLine / VW Golf Bluemotion would better fit the bill, with lower purchase price and lower fuel consumption (according to official figures anyway ).

However, since the VW diesel saga and the ensuing fallout, I'm starting to reconsider... plus the creeping demonisation of diesel vehicles by the press / government eg. plans to ban them from city centres - making me uneasy.

What are the pros / cons of diesel and hybrid and does anyone have any suggestions of cars I haven't considered that might be worth a look?

snowscreamer

WellKnownSid

No Euro-VI diesel will be banned from a UK city centre any time soon. It will be a slow, phased approach.

gzoom

A Toyota hybrid will give you pretty much the same mpg as any diesel but without all the rattling and concerns about NO emissions.

We replaced our Civic diesel with a Lexus Hybrid. Absolutely no regrets, should have done it sooner.

It's also worth baring in mind the Prius is one of the most reliable cars on the road, hence more and more taxi companies are using them.

snowscreamer

Hi gzoom,

Our first thought was a Prius as we drove one recently whilst on holiday in the US and absolutely loved it. However we moved onto looking at efficient diesel models due to the lower purchase price, and similar reliability / fuel consumption to the Prius, making them appear more cost effective.

I did some calculations based on purchase price, and and vaguely-educated projections for resale price, repair costs and fuel costs over 5 years, based on buying a 3-year-old car with less than 20000 miles on the clock. Sean Leon came out at a total cost of £12500 and Prius at £15400. So that's my dilemma. If they had been coming out at similar costs I don't think I'd think twice about going for a Prius.

I guess the other question is, what does it take to achieve (or get near to) the claimed combined MPG? OH has a diesel car at the moment and isn't far off achieving its claimed MPG. And some rough calculations when we had the Prius showed that we bettered the claimed MPG. I don't know. I'm very unsure at the moment! I get nowhere near the claimed MPG in my petrol car although my commute is nearly always stop-start traffic so that probably kills it.

The other question is - does reliability on a diesel depend on the sort of driving you're doing - ie. if your driving is mainly urban rather than motorway is your car going to spend more time (and money) at the garage? Come to think of it this one could help explain a previous diesel car's untimely demise...

Conflicted!

Mr_Mink

snowscreamer wrote: »

my commute is nearly always stop-start traffic so that probably kills it.

Sounds like the sort of driving a hybrid excels at.

WellKnownSid

The Toyota system is actually quite impressive technology, several friends have the Prius, and they should outlast a SEAT no problem. The hybrid system has proven to be robust - helped by being over-engineered (e.g. Battery SOC never outside 60-80%).

snowscreamer

Mr_Mink wrote: »

Sounds like the sort of driving a hybrid excels at.

Sorry - should have clarified - I'm not looking to replace my own car. I've had it from new, it's very reliable and I drive relatively few miles (around 6000/year)

Looking to replace OH's car. Currently have an older diesel. He does 15000 miles a year so fuel economy is more of an issue here. At the moment his commute is 15 miles of single carriageways with multiple junctions, and two 5-mile stints of motorway. Not sure if this will stay the same as his company are looking to relocate over the next few years (probably nearer to us).

bigjl

Another vote for a Hybrid.

The Prius currently holds its value very well due to the demand from PH drivers, especially in London.

The current Auris looks a lot nicer than the outgoing model.

The Toyota hybrid system is very well proven to huge mileages. I rather like the new Yaris and Aygo aswell.

After owning a DPF equipped diesel for 2 years I would just stay clear.

MAP sensors getting clogged up, MAF sensors getting clogged up, FPF sensors going on the fritz, EGR valves gumming up and causing DPF issues.

And that is before we get onto Euro6 with Urea.

Until that is proven to make DPF diesels more reliable then I would avoid.

Got stuck in traffic today in the petrol Berlingo I bought at short notice without a care in the world, no concern about a DPF warning light coming on.

I suspect the next diesel I buy will be an old one, maybe an XUD engined vehicle or an old Merc with one of the old school diesels. Maybe even run it on veg.

I have a strange hankering for a 200E or similar from the late 80's, they where built like a brick outhouse.

snowscreamer

Sounds like I'm right to veer towards Hybrid...

Last diesel was very reliable and efficient for 6 years whilst OH was doing a lot of motorway miles. It started going wrong quite frequently after that and we had several garage trips which I put down to age / high mileage but now I think about it I wonder if it was related to his change in driving habits from long motorway journeys to rush hour commuting.

The Auris would be very attractive as the price differential compared to Leon is much smaller than the Prius (still more expensive though), but it only has 225 litres of boot space. For me that would be fine but I'm uneasy about having such limited boot space in our main car.

bigjl

Don't forget the Auris comes in an estate, which is a nice looking family car.

They are trying to get PH drivers and Taxi drivers to buy them (Taxis that can use normal vehicles rather than the purpose built vehicles such as in London)

thescouselander

To be honest I wouldn't go for either - both solutions are needlessly complicated. Just get something with a decent petrol engine; some of the latest ones are very good. Having just changed from a petrol car to a diesel I haven't found it to be any more efficient but the new diesel car definately has more to go wrong with it.