Petrol vs diesel

first78

I'm looking for a new second hand car. I mostly drive locally so not long distances or a lot of motorway driving. The garage I've been too recently have found me a vehicle I like the look of but it is a diesel car. I have always been under the impression the Diesel engines are not great for local journeys...just looking for any advice regarding this.

Thanks.

DUTR

Simply look for another you like the look of that more suits your driving patterns and pocket. The garage isn't finding you a vehicle for the fun of it, there are a few quid in it for them.

first78

DUTR wrote: »

Simply look for another you like the look of that more suits your driving patterns and pocket. The garage isn't finding you a vehicle for the fun of it, there are a few quid in it for them.

What I'm asking though is are there issues with Diesel engines if I'm it for local driving?

Arklight

I know several people who have had problems with using their diesel vehicles for short school run type journeys. Repeated clogged DPFs. WIth the ULEZ zone in London and who knows where next, diesel is on the way out anyway.

DUTR

first78 wrote: »

What I'm asking though is are there issues with Diesel engines if I'm it for local driving?

There maybe there maybe not, higher chance of maybe than maybe not, is the alleged extra mpg going to outweigh the extra fuel price?
There are lots of things for you consider, however your describe driving patterns suggest to look for a non derv.

Brilley

I changed to petrol 4 years ago after 2 decades of diesel as I don't do the mileage anymore, (now about 6k per year).

I have a couple of friends that had post 2010 diesels and ended up spending £1.5k+ on DPF problems.

It's a bit ironical that diesel engines are inherently simpler and more efficient than petrol, but due to emissions they have to fit things that make them potentially more costly to maintain.
Both my last petrol cars (Skoda) have a 1.4 ltr turbo engine that so far have been great. They perform pretty much as well as my old 2.0ltr diesels and return similar economy (45mpg), so happy so far.
I would not buy another diesel car now, and would also consider going to one of the new 1.0ltr petrol engines as after driving one I was very impressed with the performance, (and economy).
If it were me I would go with a petrol option, but make sure you google the particular model to check for any problems as most modern cars seem to be getting less reliable due to all the added "technology".

Frozen_up_north

When buying a new car, the dealerships used to ask about daily driving distances if you were uncertain over diesel vs petrol. From memory the daily commute to work needed to be more than around 20 miles each way before the balance swung in favour of diesel.

I changed to a petrol a couple years ago after many years of diesel, I’ve not regretted ditching diesels.

autople

first78 wrote: »

I'm looking for a new second hand car. I mostly drive locally so not long distances or a lot of motorway driving. The garage I've been too recently have found me a vehicle I like the look of but it is a diesel car. I have always been under the impression the Diesel engines are not great for local journeys...just looking for any advice regarding this.

Thanks.

first78 wrote: »

What I'm asking though is are there issues with Diesel engines if I'm it for local driving?

Pop down your local taxi rank, and see if you can spot any cabbie with anything other than a diesel

Cabbies are generally very talkative, so as long as your are not preventing them taking a fare, have a chat.

I think you will find that whilst the general impression you have already gleaned is correct, you may not really understand the reasoning why.

Diesel engined vehicles are generally more expensive than petrol engined equivilents. However, it's not uncommon for diesel engines to easily get to 250k-300k miles or more, whilst a petrol engine may only get to about half that.

So why spend the money on a car that will possibly do 300k miles when you are only planning on driving possibly 1k miles per year?

Having said that, due to all the contradictory messages from the governement about diesels, widely published in the press, the bottom has fallen out of the diesel engine market. No one will touch them, which is presumably why the salesperson is hoping you will take it off their hands.
If you want one, don't overpay, especially as depreciation will be like falling off a cliff.

There is an issue with many diesel engines that require them to run at about 2.5k revs for a few minutes as required to clear the PDF, but that can be achieved say along a local by-pass, or along a country road where you can hold it in a low gear to achieve the engine revs. What is important is that the engine is allowed to run continuously at the high revs to clear the PDF, so always driving in town stopping at junctions etc is an issue.
But a motorway is certainly not necessary.

So for all the above reasons, I suggest you go for a cheaper petrol engined car, unless you (a) are planning to use the car that will allow the PDF to clear, (b) are getting the car at a real low price and (c) don't hope to re-sell it anytime.

In fact, if you are only doing short distances around town, then consider an electric car

neilmcl

autople wrote: »

Pop down your local taxi rank, and see if you can spot any cabbie with anything other than a diesel

Most taxi drivers around mine are driving hybrids, very few have diesels unless they're fairly old.

daveyjp

Very low chance of finding a new diesel taxi around us.

The local Toyota dealer can't keep up with demand for hybrids. I was in an Auris hybrid a few weeks ago with 160,000 on the clock.

Low mileage equals petrol.

[Deleted User]

I've a 3 cylinder 1.0 litre 208 and it is plenty powerful and big enough for my family of 5. Free tax and mpg ranges between 43 to 60 depending on journey type.
So far maintenance costs have been good approaching 60000 miles.
Time will tell how many miles these small engines can do. Hopefully over 100000.