Diesel or petrol?
Discussion
Currently drive a Megane 225, as much as I love the car I'm considering switching to something more sensible and friendly to my bank balance. Just wondering whether to stick to petrol or if I do enough miles to consider a diesel?
- Do 4 mile round trip to work 4 days a week
- Usually do at least 50+ miles at a weekend
- Done just over 6k miles in the past 5 month
- Generally hit 11k miles in a year
Is any the above enough to warrant a diesel?
- Do 4 mile round trip to work 4 days a week
- Usually do at least 50+ miles at a weekend
- Done just over 6k miles in the past 5 month
- Generally hit 11k miles in a year
Is any the above enough to warrant a diesel?
Rbf92 said:
Currently drive a Megane 225, as much as I love the car I'm considering switching to something more sensible and friendly to my bank balance. Just wondering whether to stick to petrol or if I do enough miles to consider a diesel?
- Do 4 mile round trip to work 4 days a week
- Usually do at least 50+ miles at a weekend
- Done just over 6k miles in the past 5 month
- Generally hit 11k miles in a year
Is any the above enough to warrant a diesel?
No it doesn't warrant a diesel, unless your 50 mile trip involves towing a caravan. You won't save any money, in fact it will end up costing you money if you factor in depreciation.- Do 4 mile round trip to work 4 days a week
- Usually do at least 50+ miles at a weekend
- Done just over 6k miles in the past 5 month
- Generally hit 11k miles in a year
Is any the above enough to warrant a diesel?
Easy answer: work out the differing fuel costs for the petrol and diesel cars that you are considering
At 11000miles pa a diesel car doing 50mpg might cost you around £110 per month on fuel
A petrol equivalent doing 35mpg might cost you around £140 per month.
Is there any difference in road tax between the 2 cars?
Any difference in servicing regime?
Add those costs in and see what your attitude is to the difference in running costs.
If you still can't decide then pick the engine that you most prefer the driving characteristics of.
At 11000miles pa a diesel car doing 50mpg might cost you around £110 per month on fuel
A petrol equivalent doing 35mpg might cost you around £140 per month.
Is there any difference in road tax between the 2 cars?
Any difference in servicing regime?
Add those costs in and see what your attitude is to the difference in running costs.
If you still can't decide then pick the engine that you most prefer the driving characteristics of.
11k per year in a 50mpg diesel is going to save you about £1200/year compared to a 25mpg petrol. But then again if you're doing regular 2 mile journeys I'd have thought 50mpg is unlikely. At 40mpg you're only saying £950/year. Changing your car is going to cost a lot more than that.
Plus those 2 mile journeys might cause you DPF issues, although the 30 mile at the weekend is probably enough to sort it out, and unless it's a new Euro6 you're probably going to see it being banned from city centre in the near future, there's already some places I can't take my Euro4.
Personally I'd keep your current car and cycle or walk to work.
ETA, or for that kind of mileage an EV would be ideal if you have somewhere to charge it.
Plus those 2 mile journeys might cause you DPF issues, although the 30 mile at the weekend is probably enough to sort it out, and unless it's a new Euro6 you're probably going to see it being banned from city centre in the near future, there's already some places I can't take my Euro4.
Personally I'd keep your current car and cycle or walk to work.
ETA, or for that kind of mileage an EV would be ideal if you have somewhere to charge it.
Edited by RizzoTheRat on Tuesday 11th February 13:29
Plus diesel is on a cliff edge because of air quality. City centre bans and the like may well happen over the next two to three years at which point you'll get stung at sale time.
I do close to 20k a year with very few short journeys and I live in the middle of nowhere so diesel is still worth the risk for me.
ETA if I lived 2 miles from work I'd be walking unless it was torrential rain or snow.
I do close to 20k a year with very few short journeys and I live in the middle of nowhere so diesel is still worth the risk for me.
ETA if I lived 2 miles from work I'd be walking unless it was torrential rain or snow.
I often do short 3/4/5 mile trips in my 535D, and also in my previous A4 2.0 TDI.
Believe me, you won't be getting any more than 25mpg on such a trip. The trip computer may estimate that you're doing high 20's/low 30's when you're 3 miles into your 4 mile journey, but it'll be quite some way out. Especially in winter.
Stick to a petrol.
Believe me, you won't be getting any more than 25mpg on such a trip. The trip computer may estimate that you're doing high 20's/low 30's when you're 3 miles into your 4 mile journey, but it'll be quite some way out. Especially in winter.
Stick to a petrol.
Hitch said:
Plus diesel is on a cliff edge because of air quality. City centre bans and the like may well happen over the next two to three years at which point you'll get stung at sale time.
I do close to 20k a year with very few short journeys and I live in the middle of nowhere so diesel is still worth the risk for me.
ETA if I lived 2 miles from work I'd be walking unless it was torrential rain or snow.
Bristol is already banning diesel vehicles from 2021: https://news.sky.com/story/bristol-bans-diesel-car...I do close to 20k a year with very few short journeys and I live in the middle of nowhere so diesel is still worth the risk for me.
ETA if I lived 2 miles from work I'd be walking unless it was torrential rain or snow.
stevemcs said:
No it doesn't warrant a diesel, unless your 50 mile trip involves towing a caravan. You won't save any money, in fact it will end up costing you money if you factor in depreciation.
Wrong.Euro 6 and post Euro 6 diesel residuals are increasing strongly ££ due to reduced new diesel registrations.
Hitch said:
Plus diesel is on a cliff edge because of air quality. City centre bans and the like may well happen over the next two to three years at which point you'll get stung at sale time.
I do close to 20k a year with very few short journeys and I live in the middle of nowhere so diesel is still worth the risk for me.
ETA if I lived 2 miles from work I'd be walking unless it was torrential rain or snow.
Agree, 2 miles is not even cycling territory.I do close to 20k a year with very few short journeys and I live in the middle of nowhere so diesel is still worth the risk for me.
ETA if I lived 2 miles from work I'd be walking unless it was torrential rain or snow.
av185 said:
stevemcs said:
No it doesn't warrant a diesel, unless your 50 mile trip involves towing a caravan. You won't save any money, in fact it will end up costing you money if you factor in depreciation.
Wrong.Euro 6 and post Euro 6 diesel residuals are increasing strongly ££ due to reduced new diesel registrations.
I recently (spent a smidge over 20k) bought a diesel because it suited my needs no one on here can say ones better than another even full EV's have a serious environmental impact.
People should buy the right car for their usage if it's a diesel it's a diesel, petrol it's a petrol EV etc, I've seen people on here tell people it's only x amount of pounds more to run a petrol but that X amount could make a big difference to some people.
If people are doing the right journeys then a diesel is fine.
People should buy the right car for their usage if it's a diesel it's a diesel, petrol it's a petrol EV etc, I've seen people on here tell people it's only x amount of pounds more to run a petrol but that X amount could make a big difference to some people.
If people are doing the right journeys then a diesel is fine.
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