Diesel or petrol dilemma

[sheffieldjosh123]

Hello,

New post for me so be kind please.

I’m wanting a reliable relatively nippy diesel hatchback for bobbing to work and back. I’m doing roughly around 1400 miles a month discounting pleasure at the weekends. Does anyone have any suggestions? My budget is around the £5,000 mark.

I’ve posted this question/debate on another forum on the tinterweb and the majority of replies say I should get a petrol for the mileage I’d be doing which confuses me as I thought 1400 a month was too much for a petrol?

Any advice would be great!

Thanks,
Josh

[Saleen836]

Rough calculations you have a 35ish mile commute to work?
Is it stop/start or easy flowing 50-60mph?

[ZX10R NIN]

Well I'm going to go against the grain & say get a diesel you do more than (nearly 17k) enough miles to make having one a viable & sensible option, unless you're going to be driving in central London.

What you may be getting is bias views because your mileage is exactly why people get diesels.

Your budget is decent but make sure you carry out the usual checks, but to get something with sensible miles spec & age you'll have to look away from the normal contenders with the fuel costs over 17k:

508 Allure 165 £1729

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

SR

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Giulietta Veloce 170 £1657

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Seat Exeo Sport 170/140£2045/1834

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Skoda Superb CR 140 £2004

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Insignia Elite (make sure you try one for size as some people don't find them comfortable) 160 £2045

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

SRI 160

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

You can get the usual contenders but they will be a bit older:

2.0d Mondeo Titanium X 140 £2503

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

2.2d 175 £2184

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

2.0d Octavia VRS £2008

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

2.2d Accord Sport/SE 140 £1938

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Edited by ZX10R NIN on Wednesday 23 January 21:36

[Jag_NE]

sheffieldjosh123 said:

Hello,

New post for me so be kind please.

I’m wanting a reliable relatively nippy diesel hatchback for bobbing to work and back. I’m doing roughly around 1400 miles a month discounting pleasure at the weekends. Does anyone have any suggestions? My budget is around the £5,000 mark.

I’ve posted this question/debate on another forum on the tinterweb and the majority of replies say I should get a petrol for the mileage I’d be doing which confuses me as I thought 1400 a month was too much for a petrol?

Any advice would be great!

Thanks,
Josh

140 miles a month works for a diesel if it’s used twice. The whole x miles a year to justify diesel or petrol is ridiculous, it’s the duty cycle that matters.

[sheffieldjosh123]

Saleen836 said:

Rough calculations you have a 35ish mile commute to work?
Is it stop/start or easy flowing 50-60mph?

It’s 90% motorway miles mate. I’ve heard a lot of people say I should stick with a petrol and avoid diesels because at my price range they start to go wrong at the age I’ll be looking at especially with the high mileage they are all on at the price.

[Dr Jekyll]

Jag_NE said:

140 miles a month works for a diesel if it’s used twice. The whole x miles a year to justify diesel or petrol is ridiculous, it’s the duty cycle that matters.

Duty cycle?

[P700DEE]

From your name we guess you are based in Sheffield. So another thing to consider is if you spend any time going into cities that will tax for emmissions? If you were in London then you would need to get a Euro6 diesel to avoid issues with daily taxes! Petrol is Euro4 so less trouble finding compatible cars. You do enough miles that DPF should not be an issue but beware low mileage cars when you buy because it may be an issue for previous owner. Cost wise diesel vs petrol should be similar as the advantages of good fuel consumption on the diesl are countered by the increased cost. Best find a car you like rather than worry about fuel type?

[sheffieldjosh123]

P700DEE said:

From your name we guess you are based in Sheffield. So another thing to consider is if you spend any time going into cities that will tax for emmissions? If you were in London then you would need to get a Euro6 diesel to avoid issues with daily taxes! Petrol is Euro4 so less trouble finding compatible cars. You do enough miles that DPF should not be an issue but beware low mileage cars when you buy because it may be an issue for previous owner. Cost wise diesel vs petrol should be similar as the advantages of good fuel consumption on the diesl are countered by the increased cost. Best find a car you like rather than worry about fuel type?

I don’t go into any other cities other than the odd holiday down to cornwall. I’d rather not drive into London at all.

I was asking for suggestions on any cheap reliable diesel cars up to a £5,000 maximum..

[ZX10R NIN]

sheffieldjosh123 said:

I don’t go into any other cities other than the odd holiday down to cornwall. I’d rather not drive into London at all.

I was asking for suggestions on any cheap reliable diesel cars up to a £5,000 maximum..

So do any of the above suggestions tick your boxes (some are over 5k but you should get close once you haggle) as a reliable option.

[Willy Nilly]

sheffieldjosh123 said:

I was asking for suggestions on any cheap reliable diesel cars up to a £5,000 maximum..

I often think that £5,000 like your budget is sort of a no mans land with used cars. You're not paying enough to get something nearly new and so with almost guaranteed reliability, but yet could still be ready to serve up some expensive bills or at least a big service while not being cheap enough to justify the extra expense over a shed.

Petrol and Japanese would be the safest bet in all likelihood.

[sheffieldjosh123]

Willy Nilly said:

I often think that £5,000 like your budget is sort of a no mans land with used cars. You're not paying enough to get something nearly new and so with almost guaranteed reliability, but yet could still be ready to serve up some expensive bills or at least a big service while not being cheap enough to justify the extra expense over a shed.

Petrol and Japanese would be the safest bet in all likelihood.

Do you have any suggestions for any Japanese petrols? And will the components in a petrol last as long as them in a diesel?

[alpha channel]

I'd say, when it comes to Japanese petrol cars - Swift (small), Civic (bit bigger), Accord (if you want/need something bigger still). All are known for reliability and can be bought for under £5000, much less in some circumstances.

Petrol engined cars will last just as long as diesels if looked after, just like diesels. Petrol engines have possibly less to go wrong such as EGR valves (I cleaned the EGR valve body out every six months or so to maintain throttle response, made a noticeable difference), DPF's, DMF's and, in my experience, glow plugs (my 159Ti with the 1.9jTDm engine, good car as it was, was my last diesel though, petrol only for me and I do roughly 295 miles a week).

[ninjag]

Dr Jekyll said:

Duty cycle?

I'm assuming he means the length of each individual journey.

I agree, it's not so much the total annual mileage which matters but each journey. I do about 10-12k per year and if it were mainly trips up and down the country then a diesel would be the best choice. But most of my driving is about 1-2 miles with some 5-10 mile trips and I'll do a long journey a few times a year. So I went petrol.

But I guess in most cases it will be assumed that a high annual mileage will be due to long commutes/trips.

[Pica-Pica]

sheffieldjosh123 said:

Do you have any suggestions for any Japanese petrols? And will the components in a petrol last as long as them in a diesel?

Honda. Or anything from here. Skoda Fabia is pretty good in my experience (it has the ‘dull interior’ that journalists pan, the sort of ‘dull interior’ that is rattle-free after 6 years, and can take all manner of scuffs)

https://www.jdpower.com/business/press-releases/20...

[ZX10R NIN]

Willy Nilly said:

I often think that £5,000 like your budget is sort of a no mans land with used cars. You're not paying enough to get something nearly new and so with almost guaranteed reliability, but yet could still be ready to serve up some expensive bills or at least a big service while not being cheap enough to justify the extra expense over a shed.

Petrol and Japanese would be the safest bet in all likelihood.

I disagree you can & I do find very good reliable diesels at this price point (look at what I listed above) I agree at this price point you can land an unreliable car be it Petrol or Diesel, the main thing is to do the right checks.

It's not a guarantee you won't have problems but you reduce the risk.

[curlie467]

sheffieldjosh123 said:

Do you have any suggestions for any Japanese petrols? And will the components in a petrol last as long as them in a diesel?

Mazda 3 or 6, Toyota Corolla/Auris/Avensis, Honda Civic or Accord and yes the components will last.

[HustleRussell]

You have a wide spread of options which you haven't narrowed down yet so I will make my advice nice and general.

When you have short listed your cars, find out which engine you'd be going with and google that engine followed by the word 'problems'

Whatever engine you google will throw up a multitude of problems people have experienced, even the best engines, so don't necessarily be put off. What you are trying to find out is does this engine have known problems which will cause it to go catastrophically wrong. For example some PSA group diesels are awful and need to be avoided. These same engines were fitted to Fords for a while. There were certain VW engines where the bottom ends would fail for no reason. BMWs and their swirl flap issues.

You can find a reliable car in budget but it is all about picking the right make, model and engine and then finding one which has had a reasonable happy life so far.

Personally I like Ford if you avoid the aforementioned PSA engines. Mondeos are great value. I always used to recommend the Peugeot 406 with the HDI engine in these threads but they are getting very old now. The Seat Exeo and VW Jetta are a good shout as people tend to forget they exist and used values reflect this.

[sheffieldjosh123]

HustleRussell said:

You have a wide spread of options which you haven't narrowed down yet so I will make my advice nice and general.

When you have short listed your cars, find out which engine you'd be going with and google that engine followed by the word 'problems'

Whatever engine you google will throw up a multitude of problems people have experienced, even the best engines, so don't necessarily be put off. What you are trying to find out is does this engine have known problems which will cause it to go catastrophically wrong. For example some PSA group diesels are awful and need to be avoided. These same engines were fitted to Fords for a while. There were certain VW engines where the bottom ends would fail for no reason. BMWs and their swirl flap issues.

You can find a reliable car in budget but it is all about picking the right make, model and engine and then finding one which has had a reasonable happy life so far.

Personally I like Ford if you avoid the aforementioned PSA engines. Mondeos are great value. I always used to recommend the Peugeot 406 with the HDI engine in these threads but they are getting very old now. The Seat Exeo and VW Jetta are a good shout as people tend to forget they exist and used values reflect this.

Thanks for the advice mate!

My question to you is would you go with the above advice with the Japanese petrol or stick with a diesel? I’m confused..

[HustleRussell]

I recommend Japanese and petrol to pretty much everyone but if you’re doing 17,000 miles a year excluding weekends you are squarely in Diesel territory in my opinion. This forum is heavily biased against diesel.

Edited by HustleRussell on Wednesday 23 January 20:56

[ZX10R NIN]

Not all PSA diesels are bad to 2.0d that the Mondeo uses even to this day is a very reliable, the thing is if you're talking petrols most will be 2.0 N/A engines at which point Ford Vauxhall Mazda Honda are just as reliable as one another, given the choice & your annual mileage if I could find a good diesel then that's where I'd go, failing that then I'd get a petrol but it wouldn't be my first choice.

You seemed to have worked out your usage so then need to workout what size of vehicle you want family saloon/hatchback etc:

Petrol options with fuel costs over 17K:

2.0 N/A Mondeo Titanium X £2564

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

2.3 N/A Titanium X £3019

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

2.5T Titanium X Fuel £3019

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

Honda Accord 2.4i £3049

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

2.0 N/A Accord £2732

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

2.0 N/A Mazda6 Takuya £2244

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

2.0 N/A Tamura £2244

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

2.0T Insignia SRI/Elite £2732

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201...

With the difference of £500 to over 1k on just fuel between the (before you look at road tax) two fuel types, which will go a long way towards maintenance costs.

Edited by ZX10R NIN on Thursday 24th January 02:22