Short mileages and Diesels - is it really an issue?
Discussion
I'm changing jobs in a month and my commute will drop to only 4 miles each way and it got me thinking - do diesels still have issues with short mileages? The car is thankfully pre-dpf as I know they have issues, but what about those without them? And what about petrol cars? How are they for shortish mileages?
The car will still be used everyday but it won't be doing much in the way of mileage, maybe 4k per year.
Obvious solution is a silly hybrid / EV but I think I could only do that for something very quirky - mk1 Insight in green please!
The car will still be used everyday but it won't be doing much in the way of mileage, maybe 4k per year.
Obvious solution is a silly hybrid / EV but I think I could only do that for something very quirky - mk1 Insight in green please!
Diesels take longer to warm up than their petrol counterparts. Over a 4-mile commute, I'd say the majority of that would be spent with the engine operating fairly inefficiently and, thus, the difference in MPG between it and an equivalent petrol will probably be much smaller than you'd think.
Added to the fact that, IMHO, most 4-cyl diesels are pretty horrible and inflexible in town-driving conditions, I'd be changing for a petrol if it were me.
Added to the fact that, IMHO, most 4-cyl diesels are pretty horrible and inflexible in town-driving conditions, I'd be changing for a petrol if it were me.
As long as its properly serviced (as in serviced by time not just mileage) it should be fine, or at least no worse than a petrol with a similar usage cycle.
I used to work with someone who used a 2.2 Civic for a 4 mile commute for many years and it was faultless. Not particularly economical, but faultless nonetheless.
I used to work with someone who used a 2.2 Civic for a 4 mile commute for many years and it was faultless. Not particularly economical, but faultless nonetheless.
rsox87 said:
4 miles each way!? The answer is invest in some pedal power and save the £££ to put in a V8!
Other than being suicide on the country lanes I'd be travelling down (very narrow, lots of very rushed exec cars and crazy old dawdlers!) and having to collect the little darling from nursery every day I'd completely agree! kambites said:
As long as its properly serviced (as in serviced by time not just mileage) it should be fine, or at least no worse than a petrol with a similar usage cycle.
I used to work with someone who used a 2.2 Civic for a 4 mile commute for many years and it was faultless. Not particularly economical, but faultless nonetheless.
I used to have a 2.2 civic, a very good car! And I've now got the 2.2 CRV. TBH the bit that concerns me was heresay of turbos variable geometry gubbins clogging. I can put up with a slightly crappy mpg as long as I'm not storing up a catastrophic failure for further down the line.I used to work with someone who used a 2.2 Civic for a 4 mile commute for many years and it was faultless. Not particularly economical, but faultless nonetheless.
renrut said:
I used to have a 2.2 civic, a very good car! And I've now got the 2.2 CRV. TBH the bit that concerns me was heresay of turbos variable geometry gubbins clogging. I can put up with a slightly crappy mpg as long as I'm not storing up a catastrophic failure for further down the line.
I think taking the car for a bit of a run at the weekends to blow out the cobwebs so to speak will do it good in the long run. Howard- said:
I think taking the car for a bit of a run at the weekends to blow out the cobwebs so to speak will do it good in the long run.
I think you're right. Not sure how often that will be. Does anyone know of anything else worth looking out for? I can't think of anything else that won't like doing short runs regularly, fuel pump maybe? Coolant / oil never getting warmed up?My wife has a 2.0 Golf TDi which does lots of very short runs. Main problem has been the EGR clogging up, but that only became apparent at 70,000 miles (and 10 years!). We would probably look for a petrol next time, but if a suitable TDI came up I wouldn't dismiss it out of hand. I'm sure she would like something which heats up quicker in the winter though!
I'm in exactly the same situation, except I've been in my new job for a month now. Car is a 2014 Octavia vRS Diesel DSG, it's done just short of 40k miles in the last two years (about 1,500 miles a month), but roughly 200 miles in the last month. I'm kind of waiting to see what happens. I'll be doing a big drive at the weekend so hopefully I can keep everything clear, and keep the car.
Although the petrolhead side of me says to get rid and get an E46 M3
Although the petrolhead side of me says to get rid and get an E46 M3
So it sounds like if I give it a good run on weekends then the only thing might be me suffering in the cold and flat batteries come winter. Not a big list of issues. It's 8 years old already so as long as it serves for another 2 I'll be happy.
I've got a K series midget in the garage being resurrected so maybe if I get my a$$ in gear and finish that off it'll be easier to use that in the winter...
I've got a K series midget in the garage being resurrected so maybe if I get my a$$ in gear and finish that off it'll be easier to use that in the winter...
My commute is less than 3 miles each way. Certainly there are times I notice the Start/Stop 'isn't currently available', but a decent run every now and then restores order.
Is it killing the car? No. The same as it didn't kill it's Diesel and DPF'd predecessor. Worst case scenario, the dash will light up a warning, telling you to take action.
Is it killing the car? No. The same as it didn't kill it's Diesel and DPF'd predecessor. Worst case scenario, the dash will light up a warning, telling you to take action.
I can't see any issue with a pre-DPF Diesel suffering for those short journeys.
However it might be an idea to give the engine a half an hour run or longer every week or two to give the battery time to charge and saturate and give the brakes a bit of hard use to avoid rust forming on them.
Would you consider a powerful petrol as an alternative? A petrol will warm up quicker and a large engined one will be fun. The poor economy on the short trip won't cost much overall, maybe a couple of pounds a week extra over the Diesel.
However it might be an idea to give the engine a half an hour run or longer every week or two to give the battery time to charge and saturate and give the brakes a bit of hard use to avoid rust forming on them.
Would you consider a powerful petrol as an alternative? A petrol will warm up quicker and a large engined one will be fun. The poor economy on the short trip won't cost much overall, maybe a couple of pounds a week extra over the Diesel.
I have a 2007 Bmw 318d 122 bhp pre dpf and a 2008 2.0 T petrol scirrocco 200bhp. I do 7 miles each way plus personal out of work miles. Which ever car I'm using costs about £20 per week. The Bmw is just as happy doing minimum miles as is the scirocco, so personally I don't think it really matter which ever fuel your using. Obviously I notice the mpg saving when going on a long journey in the Bmw, but for day to day driving, don't see any benefits or disadvantages personally
Turkey said:
Would you consider a powerful petrol as an alternative? A petrol will warm up quicker and a large engined one will be fun. The poor economy on the short trip won't cost much overall, maybe a couple of pounds a week extra over the Diesel.
I wasn't actually angling for a replacement, only interested in making sure I wasn't storing up problems for 6 months down the line - prevention is better than a cure and all that; But many have suggested a large petrol engine is the 'sensible' PH option. Perhaps for the next car, we tend to keep cars a good 6 years so this one would be around due for replacement sept 2018 (unless I get bored). Not sure what would be best by then, I've always fancied an XJR or similar big barge, maybe that'll be the opportunity.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff