Would it be a terrible idea to buy a (diesel) banger for low mileage journeys?

Working_in_pyjamas

My current car has died, at present I'm working from home and getting online food shopping. I hadn't driven my old car for 6 weeks and in the last 7 months since it had it's MOT I've done 600 miles. When I did use the car regularly 99% of my journeys were under 5 miles.

I'm looking to buy a banger with MOT that will hopefully last me a year, would it be a terrible idea to buy a diesel? I know diesels don't like short journeys but I'm not buying a 20k new car and doing short journeys, this would be a £1000 car.

Edit: Petrol is my preference, it's just have seen a few diesels that are within my banger budget

Would welcome input from those who know about cars!

Thanks

AdrianC

The important thing is that you want a diesel without a DPF. Age alone is not a clue.

Jenni_D

Will you gain any economy benefits with a diesel doing such short journeys? (DPF or not). Any reason why you're ruling out petrol cars?

Working_in_pyjamas

Jenni_D said:

Will you gain any economy benefits with a diesel doing such short journeys? (DPF or not). Any reason why you're ruling out petrol cars?

Thanks, I'm not ruling out petrol - that would definitely be my preference but a quick local search showed a few possibles that are diesel. Even pre-covid I only did short journeys but now I barely use the car at all. So I'm not looking for economy as such, just a cheap car that will last me a year and not get driven much or very far!

Working_in_pyjamas

AdrianC said:

The important thing is that you want a diesel without a DPF. Age alone is not a clue.

Thanks, so do 'old' diesels (2006+) have a DPF or is it dependant on make/model?

AdrianC

Working_in_pyjamas said:

AdrianC said:

The important thing is that you want a diesel without a DPF. Age alone is not a clue.

Thanks, so do 'old' diesels (2006+) have a DPF or is it dependant on make/model?

Dependent. First DPFs came in around 2000, but by 2010 or so they were pretty much ubiquitous.

theoretica

Would any of your driving be in town centres?  More and more low emission zones being introduced/talked about.

Working_in_pyjamas

theoretica said:

Would any of your driving be in town centres?  More and more low emission zones being introduced/talked about.

No I wouldn't be affected by low emission zones, as it's a banger it won't be a forever car - just some wheels to get me from A-B as and when needed. At the moment I don't leave the house!

misiek404

Working_in_pyjamas said:

My current car has died, at present I'm working from home and getting online food shopping. I hadn't driven my old car for 6 weeks and in the last 7 months since it had it's MOT I've done 600 miles. When I did use the car regularly 99% of my journeys were under 5 miles.

Hmm, might not be the case, but do you need a car at all? Under 5m is a walking/cycling distance so I'd opt for a utilitarian bicycle with a luggage rack to carry stuff (or e-bike) 

NaughtiusMaximus

Working_in_pyjamas said:

AdrianC said:

The important thing is that you want a diesel without a DPF. Age alone is not a clue.

Thanks, so do 'old' diesels (2006+) have a DPF or is it dependant on make/model?

As AdrianC said, it depends.

VW were one of the later companies to adopt DPFs, the 2008 Golf 1.9TDi I used to own definitely didn't have one.

Working_in_pyjamas

misiek404 said:

Working_in_pyjamas said:

My current car has died, at present I'm working from home and getting online food shopping. I hadn't driven my old car for 6 weeks and in the last 7 months since it had it's MOT I've done 600 miles. When I did use the car regularly 99% of my journeys were under 5 miles.

Hmm, might not be the case, but do you need a car at all? Under 5m is a walking/cycling distance so I'd opt for a utilitarian bicycle with a luggage rack to carry stuff (or e-bike) 

Technically I don't need a car... but I'm a lazy toad so want one!