Sturggling with petrol vs. diesel decision

forgotmyname

I do a low mileage and have a diesel. It didn't cost more than an equivalent petrol car. It was around £2000 which is my usual budget these days. It seems to be a good price point for getting something reliable, well it works for me.

I do change the oil every 6 months though as well as the yearly service.

20aday

I've just switched to Diesel from Unleaded and I've gone from putting in £30 a week to £40 a fortnight.

However given that you'd probably be doing a lot of stop/start journeys I'd concede with the others who've also recommended Unleaded over Diesel.

The people who I house share with do a lot of short city journeys and had to have a new DPF the other month because they didn't listen to me about giving their motor a good run out (at least) once a week.

daveyjp

I've had two DPF diesels. The Audi was just about OK, but during regens was truly terrible to drive and they always happened as you were driving around town.

The Jag was a disaster, regen was every 500 miles resulting in 6,000 mile oil changes.

I now do about 10,000 a year in a Subaru. MPG is more than acceptable for a large 4x4. Mid 30s around town, on a run high 40s which is no worse than the diesels I have had.

force_ten

www.theaa.com/motoring_advice/fuels-and-environment/diesel-particulate-filters

well worth a read as it gives good advice

I have a diesel gar with a DPF and EGR and dont do many miles per year i am in the 8-10k per year and i have not had problems with the car at all, I do not do short trips in the car and it is not used for daily commute, car bought secondhand cost no more than the petrol equivalent would

the fact that 70% of the cars on the dealers forecourt were diesels they were a very favorable price compared to the petrols, so for me buying at three years old the premium for new diesels did not really affect me

i get better miles per gallon now from a 2010 2.0L diesel and pay less tax, 54 MPG combined and my vehicle tax is £120.00 a year cheaper than it was

my previous car was a 2007 2.0L petrol and gave 32 MPG combined and cost £240 a year to tax

so for me i am happy to drive a diesel as servicing costs no more running costs are less and insurance costs less

loskie

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/toyota/avensis-2009/
petrol avensis meant to be good

gord115

jjj1980 wrote: »

I have a 1.4 diesel car and drive 15 miles to work, so 30 mile a day total commute. My previous car was a 1.4 petrol, both cars Peugeots and similar size but I was spending £80-£90 per week in fuel and £175 a year tax on the petrol and am now spending £20-£25 per week on fuel and £30 per year tax on the diesel.

So your petrol 1.4 was doing only 12mpg, that can't be right!

bigjl

Diesel economy is overrated.

The complexity and need to adapt the way you drive means they are a bad choice for many.

But they can work for some low mileage drivers.

My sister has a Galaxy diesel for family use so is mainly used for long journeys a few times a year or when carrying ability is needed.

She also has a petrol Fiesta for going to work and local use.

My brother in law has an Audi diesel, his first diesel car as up till then he has had petrols.

He does a longer commute and it hasn't caused major problems that I am aware of.

The thing with a modern diesel is they can be great even with low round town mileages

But when they start to give problems then they are an expensive liability due to their complexity.

forgotmyname

£80 - £90 per week down to £20 - £25 a week?

So your old car did 30mpg and your new one does 120mpg?

bigjl

dannyrst wrote: »

Interesting. Can you tell us why a diesel would not work?

Unfortunately with modern diesels the EGR system WILL clog up and the DPF WILL give problems.

When these two issues affect your particular car is not set in stone

If you own the car under manufacturers warranty they won't replace a DPF. Though to be honest you can clean a DPF out with a forced regen if you have access to diagnostics and the time to drive the car on a long run. But it does mean lots of expensive potential issues are covered.

I got the soot loading down to under 1g when using a mates SnapOn kit, from memory the initial reading was over 60g

I have owned loads of diesels.

I did get my hand burnt with the Jaguar. Lovely car when it was running ok, fast, reasonably economical round town and good on a long journey.

But the bills involved are four figures.

I would probably have kept it if I had been able to extend the manufacturers warranty and Jaguar Assist cover.

But out of warranty modern diesels are a nightmare.

I always advise those wanting to buy diesel to consider the possible issues they might have.

As one big repair bill could easily wipe out any fuel of RFL savings.

cmitch79

Thanks everyone. We're going to buy the Ford - decision made!