petrol V's desiel

ixwood

Diesel all day long.

Much cheaper to run all round. I've recently got a 1.9 TDI and it does over 500 miles per tank. My previous 1.8 petrol wouldn;t have done much over 300.

And my car tax is only £115 as it's relatively low emissions (due to the economy). previous petrol car was £200.

You also have the biodesiel option. Fuel of the future (When they suss how to make it from algae or something on a large scale. Not corn)

tomstickland

Personally I prefer petrol. Because I like revving them.

epz_2

generaly it depends on the type of driving you do, engine size and personal preference.

diesel produces more torque so can he handy for roll on power but isnt as responceive compaired to petrol, it is allso hellishly noisy. i drive a works diesel and was turning over my old 190e merc recently, i though there was a prob with the engine cause i couldnt here it running lol.

personaly i prefer petrol but then i plan on getting a 4-5 liter V8 in my next car.

student100

Modern diesels are a lot better on the noise front. With my car, certainly when driving on the motorway you can't notice a difference. I had a petrol courtesy car from a garage recently that made more noise than my diesel...

It's true that diesel isn't quite as responsive, so it's not quite as nippy off the lights as petrol would be, but that's certainly not a problem if you do most of your driving on motorways etc.

vansboy

OK - here's a few things that have been mentioned & I'll expand on.

The recognised 'break even' point, in the majority of cases, is if you cover more than 15000/year. Based on average running costs. What Car mag did a comparitive analysis on Focus petrol & diesel fueled cars & ended up not much different, in real terms!!

The driving experience & characteristics are different & people will prefer one to the other, as personal choice.


Pump prices do vary.

Service costs - yes new models boast extended service intervals, again for both. This is fine if you're a fleet manager, running for just 3 years & not worried about future owners. ESPECIALLY if the service garage didn't quite use the correct engine oil each time. Warranty claims are now being turned down (ask VW) due to this poor workmanship.

While high life expectancy mileage wise, is true of diesels, of older generations, many components which are fitted to improve performance & operation ARE failing & ARE expensive. These are things that simply weren't there, only 4 or 5 years back!

The majority of vans I've sold over the years are diesel & for the driver making a first time switch, it SEEMS like the van is actually covering the cost of a loan/lease, compared with petrol, if the vehicle is like for like. Not many commercial drivers switch back.

However car drivers, might actually find petrol is the Moneysavers choice, for average use!!

& with future eU plans, diesel will be a declining choice of the motor industry. Unless another planned directive alters the current course!!

VB

servalan

Thanks everyone .

Give me things to think about . I know years ago it was cheaper to have desiel but obviously thats when it was considerable cheaper than petrol. Thanks for all the advice

Angie

apk1

vansboy wrote: »

The recognised 'break even' point, in the majority of cases, is if you cover more than 15000/year. Based on average running costs. What Car mag did a comparitive analysis on Focus petrol & diesel fueled cars & ended up not much different, in real terms!!


VB

These comparisons never seem to take into account higher resale costs, diesels particulary in larger cars will normally be worth far more than petrol, and will normally retain the initial extra cost for a number of years.

Diesel everytime for me!

ixwood

If you buy a diesel 2nd hand, the price difference will be a lot less.

I probably do under 10k a year and I've no doubt I've saved money switching to diesel. I have to fill up a lot less often. Not to mention, the cheaper tax and insurance.