Diesels for town driving / short journeys
Discussion
I am currently looking for a Daily Driver, however my circumstances may be changing and I may be changing jobs, which will involve around 600 miles of motorway driving per month. Now I know this doesnt sound like alot, and most people would recommend a petrol, I need something that will return 50mpg to make the job change viable, as I will also be required to live at my place of work for 6 days a month, which is going to cost me around £200 (I will be traveling to work, staying there for 3 nights then coming home, and then doing it again 8 days later).
But, I will also be doing town driving when back home, and I may not even get the new job, but I need a car sorting quite soon, and I do not want to buy a petrol car to then find it is going to cost me way too much in petrol over the next 12 months. But I do not want to buy a diesel if it is going to be woeful around town, and if I do not get the job, be stuck with it.
Would a diesel suit both options, or am I still better off in a petrol engined car?
But, I will also be doing town driving when back home, and I may not even get the new job, but I need a car sorting quite soon, and I do not want to buy a petrol car to then find it is going to cost me way too much in petrol over the next 12 months. But I do not want to buy a diesel if it is going to be woeful around town, and if I do not get the job, be stuck with it.
Would a diesel suit both options, or am I still better off in a petrol engined car?
A diesel would probably be OK for the usage described if you get the new job. Where they tend to struggle is if they are only used for short journeys, so they never have a chance to get the exhaust up to the temperature and flow rate required to break down the particulates in the DPF.
My old 2004 petrol 1.8 vectra would do 39mpg on a motorway run, more if you went at 60mph.
What is the price difference between the petrol car you are looking at and the diesel ones? take into account diesel is more expensive and that they can cost more to fix.
This is coming from someone who has had petrol drinking large auto estates with no miles on them for peanuts cos no one wanted to live with the 26mog they returned. Buying a diesel version of the same car would have cost me £1000 more (we are talking sub £2k cars here) and the mileage were all well over 100,000. I bought 50-60,000 milers cheaper and ran them with no problems apart form visiting a petrol station slightly more often.
I now have a Diesel camper van that does 40mpg but on a short run (2 miles to the station and back to drop my wife off) will do around 17mpg.
You sound like a smallish petrol engine will be perfect for you overall (inc motorway).
What is the price difference between the petrol car you are looking at and the diesel ones? take into account diesel is more expensive and that they can cost more to fix.
This is coming from someone who has had petrol drinking large auto estates with no miles on them for peanuts cos no one wanted to live with the 26mog they returned. Buying a diesel version of the same car would have cost me £1000 more (we are talking sub £2k cars here) and the mileage were all well over 100,000. I bought 50-60,000 milers cheaper and ran them with no problems apart form visiting a petrol station slightly more often.
I now have a Diesel camper van that does 40mpg but on a short run (2 miles to the station and back to drop my wife off) will do around 17mpg.
You sound like a smallish petrol engine will be perfect for you overall (inc motorway).
Edited by Tampon on Sunday 18th May 14:40
At that mileage, fuel will probably be significantly less than half your total cost of running the car. Running a car for 25p/mile over such a small mileage is tricky but ought to be possible. I wouldn't be entirely surprised if an small, cheap petrol car works out cheapest, though; the difference between a 40mpg petrol and a 50mpg diesel is only, what, £10 a month? Differences in other running costs such as insurance and tax could easily be greater than that.
Edited by kambites on Sunday 18th May 14:56
kambites said:
At that mileage, fuel will probably be significantly less than half your total cost of running the car. Running a car for 25p/mile over such a small mileage is tricky but ought to be possible. I wouldn't be entirely surprised if an small, cheap petrol car works out cheapest, though; the difference between a 40mpg petrol and a 50mpg diesel is only, what, £10 a month? Differences in other running costs such as insurance and tax could easily be greater than that.
Good point, though I am not keen on small cars, I prefer larger ones for various reasons.Edited by kambites on Sunday 18th May 14:56
If you have a fixed budget and you're buying second hand, the diesel will be more economical. I dont see the argument that you're not doing enough miles to warrant one, if you're spending lets say £2k and there's a petrol and a diesel car both at £1995, it's going to be diesel every time
I've driven diesels for around 10 years for similar journeys and have never had a problem. I suspect 99% of people also have no problems .
Petrols go wrong too!
Diesels Likely to drive better in the motorway miles & if the car does cost more you will get that money back when the time comes to sell it...
Petrols go wrong too!
Diesels Likely to drive better in the motorway miles & if the car does cost more you will get that money back when the time comes to sell it...
BFG TERRANO said:
If you need 50mpg to make the job viable is the job really worth it? 35 mpg vs 50 mpg is pennies when you add on the extra cost of diesel?
Good point, though the job is very much viable, much, much better opportunity career wise. Its not a long term position for me, so perhaps I should worry less about the fuel.andy-xr said:
If you have a fixed budget and you're buying second hand, the diesel will be more economical. I dont see the argument that you're not doing enough miles to warrant one, if you're spending lets say £2k and there's a petrol and a diesel car both at £1995, it's going to be diesel every time
It will be the difference in mileage and spec, as diesel fetch a premium over the petrol equivalent. More miles mean likely hood of more running costs. You get more for your money in a petrol than a diesel. Look up Mondeo's and the difference in mileage between a petrol and a diesel for £2k.
With his mileage he is unlikely to see the saving of the MPG beat the savings of the purchase price or predicted running costs.
600 miles - Diesel vs. Petrol
Diesel averaging 50mpg @ £1.359/Litre = £74.14
Petrol averaging 45mpg @ 1.309/Litre = £79.34
Petrol averaging 40mpg @ 1.309/Litre = £89.26
So, the difference in cost between a diesel and petrol just assuming fuel costs and no maintenance, tax, etc. costs is about £15 maximum for what you are looking for. Seriously, that's like 3 pints of beer in London and to be honest when you factor in the Diesel servicing costs you are going to end up paying more overall. If you want very cheap motoring in terms of total cost buy a naturally aspirated petrol that gets at least 40mpg like a Honda Civic or Honda Accord and reap the additional rewards of their legendary reliability. I had a Civic that I sold with 335,000 miles and it was still running strong and cost peanuts to keep running.
Diesel averaging 50mpg @ £1.359/Litre = £74.14
Petrol averaging 45mpg @ 1.309/Litre = £79.34
Petrol averaging 40mpg @ 1.309/Litre = £89.26
So, the difference in cost between a diesel and petrol just assuming fuel costs and no maintenance, tax, etc. costs is about £15 maximum for what you are looking for. Seriously, that's like 3 pints of beer in London and to be honest when you factor in the Diesel servicing costs you are going to end up paying more overall. If you want very cheap motoring in terms of total cost buy a naturally aspirated petrol that gets at least 40mpg like a Honda Civic or Honda Accord and reap the additional rewards of their legendary reliability. I had a Civic that I sold with 335,000 miles and it was still running strong and cost peanuts to keep running.
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