petrol vs diesel running costs - dont understand!

[BorkFactor]

kambites said:

I think they started to appear around 2000 and have been fitted to pretty much everything since about 2005.

There is a lot of variation in which models have them and when they got them - turns out my Dad's 2008 A4 3.0 TDI doesn't have one!

[Devil2575]

Pablo68 said:

BMW 335D approx 43mpg @70mph on a motorway. Diesel @£1.36 per litre = 14.24 pence per mile
BMW 335i approx 40mpg @70mph on a motorway. Petrol @£1.26 per litre = 14.19 pence per mile

Are you sure about those numbers?

My mate has an e46 330d and I had a 330i. While the diesel wasn't great on fuel it would still comfortably beat the petrol.

[McWigglebum4th]

TommoAE86 said:

Agree on the type of mileage being done. I do 12k p/a but my commute to work is A/B roads and in the winter I can only just get it warmed up for the final 5-7mins of the journey and I'm currently sitting at 30.5mpg (on the computer so going to be wrong).

If I was doing my old journey which was 70 miles each way on the m/way I was getting 47mpg (again on the computer and only in the summer)...

Will have to wait and see on the mechanicals of it seeing as I have 2x Turbo's, EGR's, and a DPF...

There is a new kid appearing on the block

12K a year commute is 50 miles a day based on 5 days a week and 48 weeks a year

An EV has a real world range of 60 to 80 miles so if you have somewhere to charge then it is doable.

Running costs are still very much up in the air at the moment

I know for my commute a 2 year old leaf (£10K purchase no battery rental) pretty much beats anything in the same price range on running costs.

What it will be worth when 5 years old is anyones guess

But very very very few people in the UK have that short a commute

[Agent Orange]

sparks_E39 said:

Bar fuel my freinds TDCI 1.8 mk1 Focus costs more to run than my E39 530i (3 litre petrol) It's always going wrong.

But his is the better car.

According to him.

It isn't.

Is it an auto or manual? What's it's current mileage?

[Devil2575]

sparks_E39 said:

Bar fuel my freinds TDCI 1.8 mk1 Focus costs more to run than my E39 530i (3 litre petrol) It's always going wrong.

But his is the better car.

According to him.

It isn't.

I own a 1.8 TDCi Focus and it has been far cheaper to run than the E39 530i I owned a few years back.

It's not half a nice to drive, rather horrible in fact, but it is cheap to run. The only real expense was when the DMF failed which cost me about £600 to replace.

Insurance is less, tax is less, mpg is 42 vs 27, consumables are less and it's easy to do routine maintenance yourself.

[Fastdruid]

McWigglebum4th said:

What it will be worth when 5 years old is anyones guess

Given other EV's, about 20p.

[mygoldfishbowl]

BorkFactor said:

kambites said:

I think they started to appear around 2000 and have been fitted to pretty much everything since about 2005.

There is a lot of variation in which models have them and when they got them - turns out my Dad's 2008 A4 3.0 TDI doesn't have one!

My 2009 POS Astra 1.9 cdti estate wasn't built with one either.

[98elise]

Toaster Pilot said:

I'd be interested to see how this situation changes in say, 10 years time when there are hardly any petrol cars for sale in certain categories - try finding a nearly new petrol Passat for example and you'll find many orders of magnitude more have a diesel engine.

Plenty of ~2003 petrol cars around, how many 2013s will there be in 2023?

Same goes for the mondeo, petrol is in the minority by a large margin.

[Robb F]

have you tried a spreadsheet to actually calculate which is cheaper?

You can download one here

But there's a few out there

[sparks_E39]

Agent Orange said:

Is it an auto or manual? What's it's current mileage?

Auto, 95k. I assume you're talking about my car?

It's a nice car but he's had the turbo, injectors, electrical problems, it cuts out (no cure yet) Not that economical to run!

[Agent Orange]

sparks_E39 said:

Auto, 95k. I assume you're talking about my car?

It's a nice car but he's had the turbo, injectors, electrical problems, it cuts out (no cure yet) Not that economical to run!

Yes I am and as someone who's run an E39 530i auto Touring from 30K miles to 190K miles there are a few big bills in you car around the corner. You may already be aware and I'm not scare mongering but just thought I'd pass on the info.

About 120K they can go through a fairly expensive phase.

Alternator
Auto gearbox rebuild
Rear air suspension leaks
Cooling system
Power steering leaks
Rocker cover gasket leaks
Electrical gremlins - BM54 failure for the radio and static for example
Caliper rebuild/replacements

At about 130K I threw £3K at my E39 in the space of a month.

Anyway keeping it on topic I threw roughly 60% of my yearly fuel costs in one months maintenance. Granted this is exceptional but fuel isn't the be all and end all of car ownership costs.

[McWigglebum4th]

Fastdruid said:

McWigglebum4th said:

What it will be worth when 5 years old is anyones guess

Given other EV's, about 20p.

And long may that thinking continue as after 3 years an EV will be worthless

[Wise]

These are a bit out of date but will give you an idea of the savings you would make...

Petrol @ £1.34 per L



Diesel @ £1.42 per L



Unless you are doing 15,000 - 20,000 miles to make it worth while really

[GTRmad]

You have also to figure in a new DMF for a diesel every ~80k or so.




[/quote]
.
Bull Sh$t all this scaremongering I have 130k on mine never a Dmf Turbo Dpf etc.
a 1.6 petrol will not have the torque to pull the skin off a rice pudding..

Edited by GTRmad on Wednesday 8th January 17:50

Edited by GTRmad on Wednesday 8th January 17:51

[Wise]

These are a bit out of date but will give you an idea of the savings you would make...

Petrol @ £1.34 per L



Diesel @ £1.42 per L



Unless you are doing 15,000 - 20,000 miles to make it worth while really

[sparks_E39]

Agent Orange said:

Yes I am and as someone who's run an E39 530i auto Touring from 30K miles to 190K miles there are a few big bills in you car around the corner. You may already be aware and I'm not scare mongering but just thought I'd pass on the info.

About 120K they can go through a fairly expensive phase.

Alternator
Auto gearbox rebuild
Rear air suspension leaks
Cooling system
Power steering leaks
Rocker cover gasket leaks
Electrical gremlins - BM54 failure for the radio and static for example
Caliper rebuild/replacements

At about 130K I threw £3K at my E39 in the space of a month.

Anyway keeping it on topic I threw roughly 60% of my yearly fuel costs in one months maintenance. Granted this is exceptional but fuel isn't the be all and end all of car ownership costs.

Yeah I had a 528i before this for 5 years. So far his has cost more.

[Vladimir]

Rules of a happy diesel life;
Get auto, get five cylinders or more, don't bother revving too hard, do enjoy the wafty, torque rich driving style. It's not just about being a miser, the style of delivery suits many more than a petrol.

However our remaining diesel is four pot (no choice on that one) and it's via a manual box (better than the DSG one IMO; even I don't stick to my own rules.

[Mr2Mike]

GTRmad said:

.
Bull Sh$t all this scaremongering I have 130k on mine never a Dmf Turbo Dpf etc.
a 1.6 petrol will not have the torque to pull the skin off a rice pudding.

You have to be able to use a gear lever and explore the upper regions of the tacho to make decent progress in a smaller engined petrol car. Unfortunately this is an impossible concept for some diesel drivers to grasp.

[rambo19]

My two peneth worth.
You have to compare like for with mpg figures.

My commute is 23 miles each way along fast d/c.
I used to have a 1996 1.8 petrol mondeo, approx 1000000miles on the clock and used to get 38 mpg, week in, week out. The best I ever got was 46mpg from essex to hampshire.

Sadly it got smashed up(by a girl on her poxy phone!)

For the last year I have had;

A 1998 1.8 diesel mondeo, 113000 miles on the clock.
I get 46mpg, week in week out, and the best ive has is 54mpg, same run as the petrol, essex to hampshire.

I'm sure someone who is better at maths than me can work out if i'm better off?

The main problems with diesel cars is;

A, the fuel is more to buy,
B, when they go wrong, normally it cost a fortune to fix.

[Foppo]

Shaoxter said:

If you're looking at high mileage diesels (getting to 100k) then be very careful of the DPF and turbo, which both cost over £1k each to replace.

Unless you're doing significant motorway miles a petrol is a better option, another plus being that they don't sound like tractors.

Depends which diesel regarding sound.1.6 H.D.I.Engine in the Citroen very quiet,and plenty of pulling power.