My personal diesel/petrol dilema is really doing my tree in.
Discussion
To cut a long story short:
Owned an St220. Got fed up of driving around at 25mpg and it was starting to hurt the pocket, despite only running about 12,000 a year.
Bought an E46 320d Sport (manual). 42mpg is brilliant, mileage will be creeping up a little soon to about 14,000 a year.
The 320d is too boring. It's pointless giving it the beans because it doesn't move. I find myself driving by the MPG needle more and more each day. Changing gear every 16 seconds in the damn thing in slow traffic is annoying as hell. In the ST i hardly changed gear on most journeys.
Decided the obvious solution to this is to buy a 330d. E91 M sport was what I wanted, with a high spec (iDrive, Xenons, autobox, panoramic roof if possible etc).
Cant find one anywhere within a decent price range.
Got a bit bored of seeing the same thing over and over, changed the search parameters on autotrader, bang. Out comes a 335i in the correct spec for a reasonable price.
Now i'm torn. I know the 335i will probably be more fun to drive, will be cheaper to buy, possibly more reliable, but will cost me (much) more in tax and fuel.
Maybe i'm being impatient in waiting for the right 330d to come up, but the cheapness of the big petrols is too tempting.
Let's not get into a diesel v petrol argument per-se, fact of the matter is, since buying the 320 and selling the 220, i'm at the petrol station every 600 miles instead of every 350. Man maths say just go out and buy a petrol, and the money saved in the cost price will balance out the expensive tax and fuel, but sensible maths says it wont work like this, i'll be selling the thing in 6 months, citing fuel costs as the reason, and be back looking for a 330d.
Anyone else had this issue before, and how did you solve it?
Owned an St220. Got fed up of driving around at 25mpg and it was starting to hurt the pocket, despite only running about 12,000 a year.
Bought an E46 320d Sport (manual). 42mpg is brilliant, mileage will be creeping up a little soon to about 14,000 a year.
The 320d is too boring. It's pointless giving it the beans because it doesn't move. I find myself driving by the MPG needle more and more each day. Changing gear every 16 seconds in the damn thing in slow traffic is annoying as hell. In the ST i hardly changed gear on most journeys.
Decided the obvious solution to this is to buy a 330d. E91 M sport was what I wanted, with a high spec (iDrive, Xenons, autobox, panoramic roof if possible etc).
Cant find one anywhere within a decent price range.
Got a bit bored of seeing the same thing over and over, changed the search parameters on autotrader, bang. Out comes a 335i in the correct spec for a reasonable price.
Now i'm torn. I know the 335i will probably be more fun to drive, will be cheaper to buy, possibly more reliable, but will cost me (much) more in tax and fuel.
Maybe i'm being impatient in waiting for the right 330d to come up, but the cheapness of the big petrols is too tempting.
Let's not get into a diesel v petrol argument per-se, fact of the matter is, since buying the 320 and selling the 220, i'm at the petrol station every 600 miles instead of every 350. Man maths say just go out and buy a petrol, and the money saved in the cost price will balance out the expensive tax and fuel, but sensible maths says it wont work like this, i'll be selling the thing in 6 months, citing fuel costs as the reason, and be back looking for a 330d.
Anyone else had this issue before, and how did you solve it?
Edited by fjord on Thursday 24th October 02:58
Broaden the search to consider other diesels? I'm assuming the Mondeo ST220 was a MK3? I've driven a TDCi Mondeo in ST spec. and liked it, don't they have sufficient torque to rarely require a gearchange? If part of the problem is changing gear then perhaps you should be considering an Automatic?
Google fuel calculator, pop in the figures and work it out. Then of course you factor in price of car etc. I try to use this method for a while before I give up and just search for what I like. Alternative is just buy a cheaper more fun petrol and use the savings to counter balance the fuel
Lets assume you save a certain amount over your use of the car. What would you do with that money that you would otherwise enjoy? I worked out going diesel would save me the price of a decent holiday each year, but of course the saving ended up just getting swallowed up buying bread, shirts, beer, etc. If you enjoy the process of driving and the feeling of interacting with your car, even if it's only for a commuting crawl then what price can you put on a twice daily dose of pleasure? (ooer)
You're missing the fact that diesels can be fun too, but in a more point and squirt way.
Personally all this 'work out the figures' doesn't really appeal - to me it's day to day running costs that matter more. I tend to go through phases of hooning around for a few months then economy driving for a few months. I chose my car based on maximum torque for price.
Personally all this 'work out the figures' doesn't really appeal - to me it's day to day running costs that matter more. I tend to go through phases of hooning around for a few months then economy driving for a few months. I chose my car based on maximum torque for price.
fjord said:
Let's not get into a diesel v petrol argument per-se, fact of the matter is, since buying the 320 and selling the 220, i'm at the petrol station every 600 miles instead of every 350. Man maths say just go out and buy a petrol, and the money saved in the cost price will balance out the expensive tax and fuel, but sensible maths says it wont work like this, i'll be selling the thing in 6 months, citing fuel costs as the reason, and be back looking for a 330d.
Anyone else had this issue before, and how did you solve it?
Split your budget and buy two cars? A diesel hack for commuting, something lairy for the weekend (and commuting when you feel like it)?Anyone else had this issue before, and how did you solve it?
A few yeas ago I couldn't afford to run my petrol (well not really couldn't but it was very expensive to) so I sold it and purchased the diesel version.
Luckily I was able to get a manual version which increased the enjoyment of me owning a diesel and oh let's not forget the torque!
Now I can afford it again I will be changing to petrol.
As long as your pocket permits buy what you think you will most likely to enjoy.
Being sensible and miserable doesn't make sense to me?
Luckily I was able to get a manual version which increased the enjoyment of me owning a diesel and oh let's not forget the torque!
Now I can afford it again I will be changing to petrol.
As long as your pocket permits buy what you think you will most likely to enjoy.
Being sensible and miserable doesn't make sense to me?
I had a 2 litre jag, it was boring as hell and I hat driving diesels, when I sold it I got a petrol, it costs me £20 more a month to run, but was 3k cheaper to buy than the equivalent diesel,
I have lots of fun driving it, I love the sound of the 3.0litre petrol stright 6!
I'm buying a 3rd car now too... A 4.7 litre v8 petrol, I hate diesels, I've tried owing various kinds of diesels and none have I liked
I have lots of fun driving it, I love the sound of the 3.0litre petrol stright 6!
I'm buying a 3rd car now too... A 4.7 litre v8 petrol, I hate diesels, I've tried owing various kinds of diesels and none have I liked
Just buy what makes you happy. Diesel torque is as much of an indicator as petrol BHP is. Both are pub-talk figures. There are high BHP petrols which are naff to drive day to day due to inflexible torque curves and there are diesels with impressive peak torque figures but are still naff to drive due to huge rotational inertias fighting any change in RPM and vanishingly narrow bands of RPM where boost is available and the fuel still burns fast enough and the heavy pistons and conrods can't clatter up and down the cylinders any faster.
Assuming the 25mpg/35mpg from above is correct, 14,000 miles per year and current petrol prices.
560 gallons (2545 liters) of petrol = £3257
400 gallons (1818 liters) of diesel = £2472
The 335 would cost you about £65 per month more to fuel. Is it worth that? Only you can really answer that question.
560 gallons (2545 liters) of petrol = £3257
400 gallons (1818 liters) of diesel = £2472
The 335 would cost you about £65 per month more to fuel. Is it worth that? Only you can really answer that question.
If practicality allows, I'd add lightness.
Lightness = more frugal and more fun so everone's a winner
Whether you want to go petrol or diesel is personal preference at the end of the day, there are certainly merits for both. Personally I'd rather have a diesel than a small petrol engine which is nearly always going to be the case in a small, light car. So I recently bought an Ibiza FR diesel and have to say I'm loving it. Ok so my 328i petrol would win out if it could equal the mpg, but I get a lot of enjoyment knowing I can drive almost twice as far in the Ibiza for the same cost. At the end of the day, I love driving and the Ibiza lets me do more of it.
Lightness = more frugal and more fun so everone's a winner
Whether you want to go petrol or diesel is personal preference at the end of the day, there are certainly merits for both. Personally I'd rather have a diesel than a small petrol engine which is nearly always going to be the case in a small, light car. So I recently bought an Ibiza FR diesel and have to say I'm loving it. Ok so my 328i petrol would win out if it could equal the mpg, but I get a lot of enjoyment knowing I can drive almost twice as far in the Ibiza for the same cost. At the end of the day, I love driving and the Ibiza lets me do more of it.
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