Should I sell my diesel car to avoid any potential fall in value?

termhero

Agreed, of all the reasons to change your vehicle, value retention scores low (especially considering you were 'given' the car?).

Is it reliable, cheap to run (include everything - insurance, VED, servicing as well as fuel), practical? All of these questions rank higher in my opinion.

Best case scenario, you swap cars and your new petrol car is worth more in 3 years time than if you hadn't swapped.

Worst case scenario, you swap cars and have endless issues with your new car and end up spending more than you saved on potential depreciation.

forgotmyname

I have a diesel car and dont cover 4000 miles a year. A terrible choice one would think?

But when i get 30 - 40mpg an equivalent petrol car would be sub 20mpg. When it is used on a run i get close to 60mpg.
Petrol wont come close.

Saves me over £300 a year on fuel. It has not cost me more than that in repairs compared to a petrol car.

parking_question_chap

Its a Golf.

As long as you do reasonable distance journeys and service it you could just run it into the ground, no reason you cant get ten years out of it.

Why take the financial hit trading it in for something which will end up being either older, or not as good?

Depreciation is massively overrated as a reason for selling a car.

agrinnall

forgotmyname wrote: »

But when i get 30 - 40mpg an equivalent petrol car would be sub 20mpg.

We don't know what car you have but I doubt if that is true, most modern petrol cars won't drop below 20mpg in anything except the most extreme circumstances, and certainly not on a regular basis (excepting perhaps super- and hypercars, but then it's unlikely your diesel is the equivalent of one of them).

forgotmyname

Mondeo Diesel compare to a Mondeo Petrol.

Hospital runs for the inlaws 23mpg in the petrol, visiting times always in rush hour.
Swapped to a diesel and it was 42mpg doing the same runs.

The short runs (almost daily) to the doctors during the winter got 30mpg in the diesel. The petrol would have been pushing single figures.

That was an extreme though. -14 temps starting the car and sitting until I had defrosted the windows. Then a slow sub 5 mile journey and even shorter journeys to the doctors and back. Then a short run to the local shops.

Diesel certainly paid for itself. Same when towing. 26mpg on a long clear motorway run where the diesel managed 39mpg.

sevenhills

HazWatson wrote: »

My dad generously bought me a Volkswagen Golf TDI (2014), but I am considering selling it and buying a petrol car of around the same age.

It's a fantastic car, but I don't regularly drive long distances (ruling out that advantage of a diesel car), and I'm concerned that, if I don't sell it soonish, the value will plummet on account of it being a diesel... It does fall within the Euro 6 category in terms of emissions, but I don't want to regret not selling it and buying something that would retain its value more.

Surely any Euro 6 car will hold its value as all the 'clean air zones' believe a Euro 6 to be really clean, so are free, plus they are good when it comes to MPG

forgotmyname

How much junk is chucked out of the exhaust when a regen of the DPF is in progress?

Fairly new car on the motorway the other day spewing out lots of soot. They were doing about 50mph in the inside lane.

How much pollution will that chuck out before its MOT?

James2k

forgotmyname wrote: »

How much junk is chucked out of the exhaust when a regen of the DPF is in progress?

Fairly new car on the motorway the other day spewing out lots of soot. They were doing about 50mph in the inside lane.

How much pollution will that chuck out before its MOT?

You think that when dpfs regen they chuck it out the back?? i feel like someone would have noticed the fallacy in that..

forgotmyname

Have you been around a car doing a forced regen whilst parked? It stinks.

Where are the figures for whats coming out of the exhaust when its doing a regen? Not easy to find.

Cetshwayo

forgotmyname wrote: »

Have you been around a car doing a forced regen whilst parked? It stinks.

Three years in row mine has done it during the MOT :rotfl:. First time round I thought the car was on fire the amount of smoke!!