The cost of runing a Diesel.
Discussion
http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2012/mar/02/turbo-...
Following on from comments in another thread.
I'm starting to wonder if it's worth risking a diesel unless it's under warranty ?
Unless you drive high mileages – 18,000-plus annually – you will probably be better off buying a petrol vehicle, is the general view – unless you know its history. One of the problems is that diesel cars are now so sophisticated that many dealer mechanics don't know what they are doing.
So I guess my next car will be a petrol then!
Following on from comments in another thread.
I'm starting to wonder if it's worth risking a diesel unless it's under warranty ?
Unless you drive high mileages – 18,000-plus annually – you will probably be better off buying a petrol vehicle, is the general view – unless you know its history. One of the problems is that diesel cars are now so sophisticated that many dealer mechanics don't know what they are doing.
So I guess my next car will be a petrol then!
Edited by Devil2575 on Sunday 4th March 17:47
Reads more to me that the garage ought to pay really rather than pass the book.
They had the engine do a classic TDI runaway whilst the car was in their care.
The idiot who attempted to turn the vehicle off obviously had no clue what was going otherwise he would have dumped the box into the highest gear going and let the clutch go to attempt to stall the engine.
When a tdi engine is running away it's the only thing you can do.
Tdi runaways are unfortunate and not really common,neither is a tdi engine runaway just a modern engine flaw.
Early tdi engines can suffer from this.
Going as back as to the early to mid 90's.
I've only seen one tdi runaway happening to a tradesman outside someones house. I was too far away to shout over for him to attempt to stall it.By the time traffic moved and I got closer it was too late,it had already munched itself and stinking burnt oil smoke filled the air around it.
I do run a diesel and it is over 3 yrs old,however I do run it with a warranty.
That said I would not run any modern car with a warranty,only a fool or a mechanic wouldn't.
This is my second diesel,my first was a 300tdi 90 so this diesel still saves me a lot of money compared to running the 90.Tax and insurance is cheaper too.
It'll probably be my last one mind.This DPF malarky puts me off,mine doesn't have one fitted.
ETA: Lad at work had one of those Galaxy people carriers.Had no end of trouble with it,including a blown turbo.However the mechanic at the dealers he had it fixed at said to him.When it's fixed get rid of it,these are terrible cars..He did.
They had the engine do a classic TDI runaway whilst the car was in their care.
The idiot who attempted to turn the vehicle off obviously had no clue what was going otherwise he would have dumped the box into the highest gear going and let the clutch go to attempt to stall the engine.
When a tdi engine is running away it's the only thing you can do.
Tdi runaways are unfortunate and not really common,neither is a tdi engine runaway just a modern engine flaw.
Early tdi engines can suffer from this.
Going as back as to the early to mid 90's.
I've only seen one tdi runaway happening to a tradesman outside someones house. I was too far away to shout over for him to attempt to stall it.By the time traffic moved and I got closer it was too late,it had already munched itself and stinking burnt oil smoke filled the air around it.
I do run a diesel and it is over 3 yrs old,however I do run it with a warranty.
That said I would not run any modern car with a warranty,only a fool or a mechanic wouldn't.
This is my second diesel,my first was a 300tdi 90 so this diesel still saves me a lot of money compared to running the 90.Tax and insurance is cheaper too.
It'll probably be my last one mind.This DPF malarky puts me off,mine doesn't have one fitted.
ETA: Lad at work had one of those Galaxy people carriers.Had no end of trouble with it,including a blown turbo.However the mechanic at the dealers he had it fixed at said to him.When it's fixed get rid of it,these are terrible cars..He did.
Edited by Panda76 on Sunday 4th March 18:25
Panda76 said:
It'll probably be my last one mind.This DPF malarky puts me off,mine doesn't have one fitted.
My 'Common-Rail' Diesel MG appears to be fairly fortunate with DPF's and DMF's so I'm fairly confident with this one. However, I agree with you. When it comes to buying a newer one, I'd struggle with the potential issues that I could be walking into.Seems there's less and less of a choice in the matter. I've had both diesels and petrols and for the sort of car I need next (practical estate car) petrol variants of certain models are very hard to find - ie the Mondeo, something like 80 in a 60mile radius, 73 are diesel.
I think a lot of scare-mongering goes on though and it perpetuates through PH like a chinese whisper, not helped by the anti-diesel bores regurgitating it. That Guardian story is more down to the dealerships balls ups than anything else.
I think a lot of scare-mongering goes on though and it perpetuates through PH like a chinese whisper, not helped by the anti-diesel bores regurgitating it. That Guardian story is more down to the dealerships balls ups than anything else.
Only issue I've had with Turbo Diesel is when I drove through far too deep fiord.
Result Hydrolic Lock and engine failure - car write off.
That was my error physically driving through the water as some tool had removed the sign and thrown it in the field showing road closed due to flooding!!! get £500 excess plus increased insurance premiums.
Apart from that I've had EGR failure after just buying the Mondeo which they replaced. Apart from that not a single thing gone wrong (touch wood).
Result Hydrolic Lock and engine failure - car write off.
That was my error physically driving through the water as some tool had removed the sign and thrown it in the field showing road closed due to flooding!!! get £500 excess plus increased insurance premiums.
Apart from that I've had EGR failure after just buying the Mondeo which they replaced. Apart from that not a single thing gone wrong (touch wood).
There you go................FORD...........FORD agent mechanics.........wouldn't go anywhere near them.
The old fella bought a new Mondeo, it blew up after 13miles. Loose bolt! Drive shaft sheared, straight through gearbox. Pop said, let em fix it. I said no way, new car, do you really want the local dealer stripping and putting this back together. He loves his Fords, no fool like an old fo........
I'll never buy another Ford as long as I live
The old fella bought a new Mondeo, it blew up after 13miles. Loose bolt! Drive shaft sheared, straight through gearbox. Pop said, let em fix it. I said no way, new car, do you really want the local dealer stripping and putting this back together. He loves his Fords, no fool like an old fo........
I'll never buy another Ford as long as I live
I can't help but think the same opinions existed with the onset of fuel injection or electronic ignition. The aftermarket and home mechanics will cope, who'd have thought about having OBDII code readers at home 10 years ago for example.
More challenging will be the cost/availabilty of fuel itself, certainly within my lifetime.
More challenging will be the cost/availabilty of fuel itself, certainly within my lifetime.
Wow, one dealer horror story, that could just as easily be told a thousand times in respect of a petrol car too. ALL modern cars are too complicated for your average 'mechanic'.
For the record, I do very LOW mileage, and after 6 years, I have slashed my car running costs in all respects, MPG+fuel, Tax, Maintenance, Insurance, etc. compared to the similar petrol car I replaced, and lost no speed or overtaking ability. It's been 100% reliable in those 6 years.
And you know, I have never arrived late smelling of diesel or gone deaf with the clattering of tractors or run out of revs!
For the record, I do very LOW mileage, and after 6 years, I have slashed my car running costs in all respects, MPG+fuel, Tax, Maintenance, Insurance, etc. compared to the similar petrol car I replaced, and lost no speed or overtaking ability. It's been 100% reliable in those 6 years.
And you know, I have never arrived late smelling of diesel or gone deaf with the clattering of tractors or run out of revs!
guardian said:
At this point the engine began to over rev, the technician immediately turned the ignition off, but the engine continued to run and would not cut out. This would have been due to the amount of oil sitting on top of the pistons and therefore the engine was continuing to run on oil rather than diesel. Once the engine had stopped running, it would not restart," Sky Ford said.
Total and utter horse stthe amount of oil sat on top of the pistons is somewhere between fk-all and nill
What really happened is they didn't bother their arse to clean out the inter cooler which was full of oil
Still wouldn't touch a modern diesel with a bargepole
For those saying they wouldn't touch a diesel with a bathrooms does the same view hold for the 282bhp 330i with direct injection. There are mass injector failures hugely costly and for those with them they refuse to run them without warranty.
So bathrooms or not you will either be driving round in an old car where this technology doesn't exist or public transport.
How about hybrids and EV's? These will become the future any bathrooms against them??
So bathrooms or not you will either be driving round in an old car where this technology doesn't exist or public transport.
How about hybrids and EV's? These will become the future any bathrooms against them??
Devil2575 said:
Panda, I guess you'd consider me a fool then. I'm not a mechanic and I don't as a rule buy warranties. Mind you I can do general servicing myself and have been known to troubleshoot a problem or 10 with the aid of the internet.
Depends on the age tbh. I ran my 300 tdi 90 and did all my own servicing and repairs except clutch and timing belt.Clutch at the indy due to lack of room.My take on "modern" is dependant on the vehicle.
I,m not bothered about taking my BMW to bits.Its been cheap to have serviced anyway with CBS.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff