Diesel cars in Bristol

LiamTLOU

I'm looking to get a BMW 435d GC next year and I live near to Bristol.

There is a new diesel ban that has been approved for 2021 for the Bristol centre and I know other places are doing/ planning on doing it too. Personally I very rarely go into Bristol itself so couldn't care less about the ban in terms of where I can drive.

While nobody can accurately predict what will happen with diesel car prices, I'm starting to wonder if I'm buying this car at a precarious time.
I'm just wondering what people think might happen, I mean I can only imagine the value will go down if the practicality of where you can drive them comes more limited.

It's annoying and I don't quite get it because a lot of diesel cars are Euro6 at this point... but I'm no expert in any of this by all means. But if someone wants to educate me on why Diesel cars are still being demonised feel free.

Fanks

AdrianC

ALL new cars are Euro6, and have been since 2014. But the Bristol ban will also exclude Euro6 diesels.

Diesels have historically given better fuel consumption, but worse toxic exhaust gases - originally particulates (soot). When that was sorted out, the changes increased Nitrogen oxides (NOx). Euro 6 brought the maximum NOx values for diesels in line with where they were for petrols at Euro4, hence where the London ULEZ draws the lines.

City centres are only going to bring in more and more traffic restrictions. Will many be as harsh as Bristol? Probably not. But it's not a big area, and one that's easy to work around.

Any new car is going to depreciate sharply. If you want to future-proof your purchase as much as possible, go plugin - either hybrid or ev. But tech chances there may render the current stock less desirable...

Supersonos

LiamTLOU wrote: »

There is a new diesel ban that has been approved for 2021 for the Bristol centre

It's been approved by the council, but needs to be passed by parliament before it can actually come into force.

I very much doubt parliament will allow it. It's a ridiculous idea. But it'll allow Bristol's Labour council to cry about how they tried to do it.

If I worked in/around Bristol, I'd be passing the charge onto my customers. It's not my fault that I drive a diesel, it's the customer's fault for living in Bristol. It's the price you pay for city living. It's what I do here in London - the CC and ULEZ charge is added to my invoice and paid by my customer.

reeac

Supersonos wrote: »

It's been approved by the council, but needs to be passed by parliament before it can actually come into force.



If I worked in/around Bristol, I'd be passing the charge onto my customers. It's not my fault that I drive a diesel, it's the customer's fault for living in Bristol. It's the price you pay for city living. It's what I do here in London - the CC and ULEZ charge is added to my invoice and paid by my customer.

Bravo! Classic Basil Fawlty approach to customer service.

facade

reeac wrote: »

Bravo! Classic Basil Fawlty approach to customer service.

No, he's right. the customer is going to be paying these, whether he invoices it separately, or includes it in his quote for the job.


The only way he can be undercut is by someone with a compliant vehicle, and the customer has to pay for that anyway.....;)


[Round here we get a lot of flytipping, and it is because the "traders" who flytip can undercut the ones who don't because they don't pass the cost of disposing of the waste onto the customer]

Supersonos

reeac wrote: »

Bravo! Classic Basil Fawlty approach to customer service.

I hear the argument all the time when they talk about the ULEZ charge on the radio. Various trades moaning that they can't do their job without their van (which, by the way, you can't get in anything other than diesel) so they have no choice to drive around London and pay the charge.

But the only reason they're driving around London and causing the congestion/poor air quality is the millions of people who live/work in London and require tradespeople (as well as food, clothes, goods etc.) so it makes sense to me that it is them who should ultimately pay the charge.

I've not lost any work as a result of charging it, so it hasn't affected me at all. It also means those that don't live within the zone get a slightly cheaper quote from me.

AdrianC

Supersonos wrote: »

I hear the argument all the time when they talk about the ULEZ charge on the radio. Various trades moaning that they can't do their job without their van (which, by the way, you can't get in anything other than diesel) so they have no choice to drive around London.

If their CC-Zone business is even remotely viable, they can get a van that's <5yo fairly easily. Or cover the penalty charge if it's occasional.

They've been dealing with the cost of the congestion charge for the last 16 years, after all, and the all-London LEZ for the last 11.

Supersonos

AdrianC wrote: »

If their CC-Zone business is even remotely viable, they can get a van that's <5yo fairly easily. Or cover the penalty charge if it's occasional.

They've been dealing with the cost of the congestion charge for the last 16 years, after all, and the all-London LEZ for the last 11.

If by "they" you're including me, all I know is it's only in the last couple of years I've had to pay the extra £11.50 because my 2013 van is suddenly considered old and polluting. Thankfully I rarely go into Central London where the charge applies (and when I do I just pass the charge to my customer).

But in a couple of years (2021?) the charge will apply to all of London and I'll be paying it daily.

AdrianC

Supersonos wrote: »

If by "they" you're including me, all I know is it's only in the last couple of years I've had to pay the extra £11.50 because my 2013 van is suddenly considered old and polluting.

Yes, the ULEZ only started this April, bringing pre-Euro6 diesels in, including your 6yo van - the dates were announced two years ago. But .5t vans have been within the London LEZ (which goes all the way out to the edge of the outer boroughs) since 2008 - albeit only at Euro3, still. But at the time they were 7yo vehicles.

Thankfully I rarely go into Central London where the charge applies.

Then it's only an issue on those few occasions, and the £11.50 can be priced into those jobs. Same as the congestion charge is.

But in a couple of years (2021?) the charge will apply to all of London and I'll be paying it daily.

It won't apply to "all of London". Just inside the circulars. And by then you might feel your 8yo van is due for a change, if that works out cheaper than paying the penalty daily. I presume your business within the circulars is profitable enough to withstand replacing business-critical equipment with five years notice?

Supersonos

AdrianC wrote: »

And by then you might feel your 8yo van is due for a change, if that works out cheaper than paying the penalty daily. I presume your business within the circulars is profitable enough to withstand replacing business-critical equipment with five years notice?

I expect my van to last a lot longer than 8yrs. And the ULEZ charge won't cost me a penny as I pass-on the charge to my customers. And a new van will cost me at least £30k.

I wouldn't drive into the ULEZ zone if people who live/work within it didn't call me and ask me to drive to them.

There's nothing environmentally friendly about prematurely having a new van constructed and shipped over from Germany.

oscarward

AdrianC wrote: »

ALL new cars are Euro6, and have been since 2014.

Not quite true, my car was built 06/15 and is euro 5. The manufacturer didn’t bring in euro 6 until 09/15.