Justifying changing from Turbo-Diesel
Discussion
In my youth I drove petrol cars, what with being a car nut and having no other commitments.
Nowadays I work 18 miles down the road - and like many I have been driving a Diesel for the last 3 years. I hate it.
Diesel has become the norm, I know, but I just don't enjoy it. With the miles I'm doing I thought I could never justify ever getting a petrol again (13-15,000 miles a year) but my current trusty old diesel is getting a bit old and creaky, the speakers are cutting out and things are generally in need of some TLC, which I don't have time for with a young family to look after.
I was looking at the Civic 2.2d for the next family car; safe, economical, gadget-laden and modern. These start north of £4k for what I would class as a 'good' one. I've test driven one and I liked it and my mind was pretty much made up.
With the recent advent of cheaper fuel I thought it would be worth seeing what the potential savings would be on the outright purchase cost of a car. The 1.8i Civic has a poor rating, but it's the direct equivalent to compare to - a saving of between £500-£1000 on the diesel (which would typically have higher mileage).
Thing is, can I justify / afford going back to an interesting n/a petrol? Do they still exist on the market?
Has anyone recently moved away from diesel, picked up a higher monthly running cost in favour of a cheaper car in the first place?
Playing silly b*ggers for a minute, I could pick up a Corrolla T190 for £2,000 and it would cost me around £500 more a year to run. I'd need to keep the diesel Civic over 2 years before I even saw a saving on that, because it's more expensive in the first place (like I said, silly comparison, but definitely food for thought).
I miss N/A petrol simplicity. I miss a heater which doesn't take 5 miles to warm up. I miss that quiet, smooth humming noise and the occasional rev-limiter thrashing.
Just keen to hear from people who have done it.
Nowadays I work 18 miles down the road - and like many I have been driving a Diesel for the last 3 years. I hate it.
Diesel has become the norm, I know, but I just don't enjoy it. With the miles I'm doing I thought I could never justify ever getting a petrol again (13-15,000 miles a year) but my current trusty old diesel is getting a bit old and creaky, the speakers are cutting out and things are generally in need of some TLC, which I don't have time for with a young family to look after.
I was looking at the Civic 2.2d for the next family car; safe, economical, gadget-laden and modern. These start north of £4k for what I would class as a 'good' one. I've test driven one and I liked it and my mind was pretty much made up.
With the recent advent of cheaper fuel I thought it would be worth seeing what the potential savings would be on the outright purchase cost of a car. The 1.8i Civic has a poor rating, but it's the direct equivalent to compare to - a saving of between £500-£1000 on the diesel (which would typically have higher mileage).
Thing is, can I justify / afford going back to an interesting n/a petrol? Do they still exist on the market?
Has anyone recently moved away from diesel, picked up a higher monthly running cost in favour of a cheaper car in the first place?
Playing silly b*ggers for a minute, I could pick up a Corrolla T190 for £2,000 and it would cost me around £500 more a year to run. I'd need to keep the diesel Civic over 2 years before I even saw a saving on that, because it's more expensive in the first place (like I said, silly comparison, but definitely food for thought).
I miss N/A petrol simplicity. I miss a heater which doesn't take 5 miles to warm up. I miss that quiet, smooth humming noise and the occasional rev-limiter thrashing.
Just keen to hear from people who have done it.
C.A.R. said:
I hate it.
That is reason enough....I'll never own a Diesel car again My commuting duties are split between a 3 litre BiTurbo petrol, a 2.7 litre BiTurbo Petrol and a 1litre sportsbike.
As a result I smile EVERY time I drive/ride to work.
Life's to short to drive a diesel (or a w
ky little joyless petrol car) for that matter.Edit to add: I'm buying another petrol V8 to add to the fleet after Christmas...f
k it! Diesels are bought to achieve high fuel economy and save money on fuel. That's it. They're not 'enjoyable'. There are absolutely loads of decent, efficient petrol engines on the market, it just depends what type of car you want. 
Also, IMHO, the 1.8 in the Civic is an excellent engine. I'll take that over the diesel equivalent any day.
Also, IMHO, the 1.8 in the Civic is an excellent engine. I'll take that over the diesel equivalent any day.
Petrol everytime for me. Diesels are just ticking timebombs.
Having said that we've got a diesel CRV for family duties. It was cheap enough to (almost) walk away from if it grenades itself.
And i wouldn't move from one to the other just because petrol is temporarily cheap. The government are bound to bring in the fuel duty escalator again soon, so once oil production drops again prices will be higher than before!
Having said that we've got a diesel CRV for family duties. It was cheap enough to (almost) walk away from if it grenades itself.
And i wouldn't move from one to the other just because petrol is temporarily cheap. The government are bound to bring in the fuel duty escalator again soon, so once oil production drops again prices will be higher than before!
, I've run spreadsheet after spreadsheet and I reckon my current Peugeot D-Turbo is costing me less than £200 a month to run (fuel, tax & insurance). I own it outright however (it is, afterall, only worth peanuts).
I want to get a new car as we are expecting our second child in June and the old Peugeot just feels a bit ratty. There's plenty of Focus ST170 5-doors out there which would be a laugh, but they don't use the fuel as efficiently as the 190 engine in the slightly mundane Corolla. I don't particularly want a petrol turbo, as these seem just as complicated as a modern diesel which it seems are always more expensive to service and problems cost more to repair. There are plenty of 1.8T VAG cars out there for not a lot of money too.
I think part of it is optimism given the latest fuel cost drop. I think I just wish I still had my Eunos Roadster so I could fill up and go for a drive
I want to get a new car as we are expecting our second child in June and the old Peugeot just feels a bit ratty. There's plenty of Focus ST170 5-doors out there which would be a laugh, but they don't use the fuel as efficiently as the 190 engine in the slightly mundane Corolla. I don't particularly want a petrol turbo, as these seem just as complicated as a modern diesel which it seems are always more expensive to service and problems cost more to repair. There are plenty of 1.8T VAG cars out there for not a lot of money too.
I think part of it is optimism given the latest fuel cost drop. I think I just wish I still had my Eunos Roadster so I could fill up and go for a drive
I went from a Turbo Diesel focus which had from new, and got myself an impreza.
Doubled my fuel costs and then some. I justified it because the diesel was no fun to drive and sounded like a tractor. I enjoyed the good MPG but I do not miss it. The interior of the impreza feels like its from the 90's, but its fun to drive, and thats all I wanted.
Doubled my fuel costs and then some. I justified it because the diesel was no fun to drive and sounded like a tractor. I enjoyed the good MPG but I do not miss it. The interior of the impreza feels like its from the 90's, but its fun to drive, and thats all I wanted.
About 18 months ago I went from a Skoda Octavia 2.0TDi DSG with 100k on it that was about to start costing a lot to fix some upcoming problems to a Hyundai Coupe 2.0 SIII so from a turbo/diesel/automatic to a NA/petrol/manual.
Now, I don't feel like I am getting into a minicab every morning, it looks much nicer obviously, it sounds so much nicer and I can do the majority of the servicing work myself.
Ok, I only average about 30mpg (40 on a run but I do a lot of short trips during the week) rather than 45-50mpg but petrol is cheaper than diesel and, as I only doing around 9000 miles a year these days, the overall cost isn't that much different and I'm sure the saving in servicing costs makes up the rest plus I'm happier as I don't have to listen to that morning startup rattle
Now, I don't feel like I am getting into a minicab every morning, it looks much nicer obviously, it sounds so much nicer and I can do the majority of the servicing work myself.
Ok, I only average about 30mpg (40 on a run but I do a lot of short trips during the week) rather than 45-50mpg but petrol is cheaper than diesel and, as I only doing around 9000 miles a year these days, the overall cost isn't that much different and I'm sure the saving in servicing costs makes up the rest plus I'm happier as I don't have to listen to that morning startup rattle
I just don't think modern diesels are really that much better on fuel than petrols, certainly not enough to justify the extra purchase cost and risk. My Golf manages 40mpg on decent runs, the diesel might squeeze 50 at a push but that saving really isn't much. Unless you do a bazillion miles per year or are on the breadline I would go petrol.
dapearson said:
And i wouldn't move from one to the other just because petrol is temporarily cheap. The government are bound to bring in the fuel duty escalator again soon, so once oil production drops again prices will be higher than before!
This.Looking at the polls it's looks very possible that Mr Miliband could well be in Number 10 next year in a broad coalition propped up by the SNP, Greens and Plaid Cymru. Expect to get wallet-raped to 'save the planet'.
C.A.R. said:
I've run spreadsheet after spreadsheet and I reckon my current Peugeot D-Turbo is costing me less than £200 a month to run (fuel, tax & insurance). I own it outright however (it is, afterall, only worth peanuts).
I want to get a new car as we are expecting our second child in June and the old Peugeot just feels a bit ratty. There's plenty of Focus ST170 5-doors out there which would be a laugh, but they don't use the fuel as efficiently as the 190 engine in the slightly mundane Corolla. I don't particularly want a petrol turbo, as these seem just as complicated as a modern diesel which it seems are always more expensive to service and problems cost more to repair. There are plenty of 1.8T VAG cars out there for not a lot of money too.
I think part of it is optimism given the latest fuel cost drop. I think I just wish I still had my Eunos Roadster so I could fill up and go for a drive
Considering the amount of cash you'll be spending on raising the new child (approx £10k per year for 21 years), compared to the saving of a diesel over a petrol, you might as just say bI want to get a new car as we are expecting our second child in June and the old Peugeot just feels a bit ratty. There's plenty of Focus ST170 5-doors out there which would be a laugh, but they don't use the fuel as efficiently as the 190 engine in the slightly mundane Corolla. I don't particularly want a petrol turbo, as these seem just as complicated as a modern diesel which it seems are always more expensive to service and problems cost more to repair. There are plenty of 1.8T VAG cars out there for not a lot of money too.
I think part of it is optimism given the latest fuel cost drop. I think I just wish I still had my Eunos Roadster so I could fill up and go for a drive
ks and buy what you like.VladD said:
C.A.R. said:
I've run spreadsheet after spreadsheet and I reckon my current Peugeot D-Turbo is costing me less than £200 a month to run (fuel, tax & insurance). I own it outright however (it is, afterall, only worth peanuts).
I want to get a new car as we are expecting our second child in June and the old Peugeot just feels a bit ratty. There's plenty of Focus ST170 5-doors out there which would be a laugh, but they don't use the fuel as efficiently as the 190 engine in the slightly mundane Corolla. I don't particularly want a petrol turbo, as these seem just as complicated as a modern diesel which it seems are always more expensive to service and problems cost more to repair. There are plenty of 1.8T VAG cars out there for not a lot of money too.
I think part of it is optimism given the latest fuel cost drop. I think I just wish I still had my Eunos Roadster so I could fill up and go for a drive
Considering the amount of cash you'll be spending on raising the new child (approx £10k per year for 21 years), compared to the saving of a diesel over a petrol, you might as just say bI want to get a new car as we are expecting our second child in June and the old Peugeot just feels a bit ratty. There's plenty of Focus ST170 5-doors out there which would be a laugh, but they don't use the fuel as efficiently as the 190 engine in the slightly mundane Corolla. I don't particularly want a petrol turbo, as these seem just as complicated as a modern diesel which it seems are always more expensive to service and problems cost more to repair. There are plenty of 1.8T VAG cars out there for not a lot of money too.
I think part of it is optimism given the latest fuel cost drop. I think I just wish I still had my Eunos Roadster so I could fill up and go for a drive
ks and buy what you like.Howard- said:
Diesels are bought to achieve high fuel economy and save money on fuel. That's it. They're not 'enjoyable'. There are absolutely loads of decent, efficient petrol engines on the market, it just depends what type of car you want.
Also, IMHO, the 1.8 in the Civic is an excellent engine. I'll take that over the diesel equivalent any day.
+1. I've owned the 1.8 Petrol and driven the 2.2D. Assuming the 2.2D is not remapped and you actually drive the petrol, its the quicker car. Plus the petrol car is more fun and handles better. It also return very good MPG for a petrol 1.8 too, not as good as the Diesel on a run but not a massive extra cost in fuel for 15,000 miles per year I'd say. A fault DMF on the 2.2D or injector fault would wipe out any savings and then some.Also, IMHO, the 1.8 in the Civic is an excellent engine. I'll take that over the diesel equivalent any day.
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