Morning all.
Looking to get a new (used) car in the next couple of months and was wondering what peoples thoughts were on petrol vs diesel? I’ve read a few things online that suggest diesel is only good if you’re doing upwards of 15000 (or in some cases, 20000) miles a year?

I’d kind of thought diesel would be the default choice for us (young family, car only really used during 3 days during the week for a short (3 mile) commute by my missus) and then on 1 weekend out of 4 may be sat on motorways going to/from parents and the odd riding trip and long drive on holiday (the South West or France) doing about 9000 miles a year maximum incl. holiday trips…

What are peoples real life experiences of petrol vs diesel? Petrol cars seem to be a fair old chunk cheaper than the diesel alternatives so I’d be saving money / buying a much nicer car for our budget.

Help!?

I like the way diesels drive.

Modern diesels can also often be more expensive to service as well. I much prefer how a petrol delivers its power as well. Petrol engines have got pretty good on the fuel consumption front these days so with diesel costing more per litre as well, make sure you do the sums on the particular models you are looking at.

Googlefight

Thats the thing, we’d be doing a few short journeys during the week but then I miss looking down and seeing 55mpg+ on my old Mondeo (vs 35mpg on my Octy vRS). Hmmm…

I also find if you have a heavy right foot, the gap in efficiency between petrol/diesel grows dramatically.

At worst my a3 does 40ish to the gallon. I could get my old golf to low 20’s quite easily…

Diesels don’t like lots of short trips.

9k miles per year is not massive, so questionable if there would be any savings.

less to go wrong on pertrol engine (V modern diesel) and cheaper to fix when it does.

I would go petrol in your situation.

I love my diesel but I’d buy petrol next. Cheaper at the pumps, cheaper to buy, better for your short runs. No point in the diesel as the through life costs are not worth the slightly better mpg on a long run.

This was my approach

-Diesel will be cheaper to run.
-No reason why a diesel shouldn’t be used for short journeys.
-Less chance of a big bill with a normally aspirated petrol engine.
-Big Petrol is more fun (much more fun)

I have a 1.9tdi and 3.0l petrol. The tdi is mainly a round town runabout.

Depends on budget too. As they get older you might start to have issues with DPF, DMF, EGR, sooted up swirl flaps, high pressure fuel pumps, worn out injectors etc etc.. Not such an issue if buying new/nearly new.

I usually buy cheap cars, cash, 7+ years old, i’m not getting diesel again.

I personally would never go back to a hateful petrol engine, have been diesel now for 15 years and love the way they drive, reliability etc.

I wouldn’t dream of buying a new car, have always bought mid-life to elderly cars and in that category I don’t think there’s a lot of difference in cost. I easily get 50+ mpg, which is great and I figure that is hopefully a lot less CO2. Mind, hardly use a car anyway.

Just my views.

For your mileage & description of journeys, I’d get petrol.

ill only go back to petrol with a big clunky engine (3l + )

driving the girlfriends 1.4 golf atm as the vans in the garage and you have to make the blighter sing for its supper despite having about 20/30 more bhp than my van.

“No reason why a diesel shouldn’t be used for short journeys”

and what makes you say that ?

Petrol for me, and decent sized ones can be bought for peanuts – esp. compared to equivilent aged/mileage diesels.

X-Type 3.0i currently.

br – im thinking the same as you , if my mechanic tells me my gear box is shot im off out to look at a few not very old 2.5 non turbo subaru outback/foresters that can be had for peanuts cos abody wants the turbo

Do the maths, pick your choice of car, then work it out how much 9000 miles is for a diesel & how much for a petrol, then look at the prices of the cars & see whats the best for you. Also make sure you add in the road tax costs.

FWIW I swapped an identical petrol car for its diesel brother the gain was only about 10mpg, 28-30mpg petrol 38-40 mpg diesel, but thats a huge % difference even given diesel prices.

For 9000 miles a year you’ll struggle to see any financial benefit from a diesel. Last time I did the maths I was looking at 20000/year for 3 years before it paid off.
Diesels and short journeys; Big heavy old lump takes longer to warm up. It was 7,5 miles to work for me and I didn’t feel any heat for the first 4 in our diesel. The replacement petrol is pushing warm air out after a mile
Secondly, don’t short journeys clog up the EGR valves?

Servicing costs more. Even a basic oil change is £15 cheaper because I now don’t need fully synthetic oil for the turbo any more. We were lucky and our diesel was a good one and cost us no more in repairs than the petrol car that replaced it, but if something does go wrong the chances are a petrol engine will be cheaper to repair
Then there’s the incidental costs people don’t factor in; Diesels are generally heavier and also a lot torqueier, and that means you get through tyres quicker. I’m getting 6000 miles more from a comparable (same brand) tyre on the front if the petrol than I was on the diesel. Apply the same to suspension and brake parts too….
Also, for an engine with comparable power, the petrol will be smaller capacity, so our insurance went down too, by a fair chunk.

Yes, for some reasons diesel makes lots of sense. Big miles and towing, certainly. But you gotta do the sums based on your own situation

the yearly mileage thing with diesels vs petrol is a not the best way to look at it. I mean you could only be doing 9000 a year, but if you keep the car for 10 years thats 90k, which should be well past the break even point for petrol vs diesel

Look at the total mileage over the life you will keep the car rather than just the per year figure.

Can’t be arsed googling it just now but I did find an online calculator that worked out what whether petrol or diesel worked out cheaper based on listed prices of the cars, current fuel prices and your mileage. I guess it’s just an estimate, but it will give you a far better one than doing the maths yourself. Probably.

The parkers website has a great little calculator where you can pick 3 cars, thier age on purchase, your annual mileage and then how long you’ll own them and gives you a great breakdown on what you likely costs will be (fuel, servicing, tax, etc.).

I was originally looking at a diesel focus estate, now happily driving a subaru legacy!

for short journeys then petrol must be the logical choice, can’t see why you think diesel.

plus diesel is now officially a carcinogen, and diesels chuck out more under acceleration, so I also wouldn’t think that was a good environmental choice.

I like petrol engines though, much more lively than a diesel. Feels more like the car has a heart to it…

After having a diesel for 4 years I went to a petrol, I hated it. I just prefer the way diesels drive. I have had some issues with well known faults such as DMF etc on one car but the other two have been fine. My diesel isn’t that economical (45-48mpg) but it’s nippy and I just like the way it drives. Just my opinion

All depends what you’re looking at buying. Thought I was going to be getting a petrol this time, due to all the reasons mentioned above and because my annual mileage has now dropped below 10k (and unlikely to go much above 12k again in the near future), compared to ~20k when I last bought. However I’m doing a search without specifying engine type and all I’m coming up with for what I want (Mondeo estate ~4yo) is diesels – with the very occasional big thirsty automatic petrol for just as much money.

I like the lazy, slow punching feel of a big diesel… And a small diesel for that matter. Then again, I like vtwins for motorbikes so I guess that’s the same appeal. It’s like the difference between being fired from a trebuchet vs shot from a cannon.

The economy arguments are pretty thin these days I reckon, though mine is cheaper to tax than equivalent petrol cars, it’s not a huge difference.

For 9000 miles a year you’ll struggle to see any financial benefit from a diesel. Last time I did the maths I was looking at 20000/year for 3 years before it paid off.

This would entirely depend on the price difference of the 2 engine variants of the car. On some cars that difference may be very small, & paid for in only a few miles/months.

There IS a reason not to use diesel for mainly short trips. The insides get all coked up and they break, unless you give them a proper run more than occasionally.

As for ‘slightly’ more economical – my Passat 2.0 TDI auto gets over 60mpg on a motorway run at 70mph in the summertime – up to 65mpg if it’s up the M5/M6. That’s easily 30-40% more than the petrol equivalent I reckon.

The purchase cost need not be an issue – just by one or two years older. That needn’t be an issue these days, the car’s individual history is much more important than its age in terms of reliability and condition.

The only thing I worry about is the risk of expensive fuel system issues. DPFs and turbos shouldn’t be an issue if you keep the oil up and don’t neglect the long trips.

I’m getting 6000 miles more from a comparable (same brand) tyre on the front if the petrol than I was on the diesel

This is about how you drive though. My tyres were on 10 or 20% worn after at least 10k miles, and that was with some caravan towing involved too. Brakes – had the pads changed after I think about 55k miles.

If I look at the rest of the VW range there are 2.0 petrols which are pretty uneconomical, then there are 1.4 petrols which are seriously gutless. The TFSI engines look great but the are turboed too which reduces the gap in potential failure cost.

Here we are Chaps……..all you ever wanted to know!

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/diesel-vs-petrol/

Here we are Chaps……..all you ever wanted to know!

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/diesel-vs-petrol/

Glowplug failures up to £1,000 if they come out. Up to £3,000 if they snap and the head has to be removed to extract them.

Well John might want to know that there’s hardly a modern diesel that uses glowplugs.

Diesels and short journeys; Big heavy old lump takes longer to warm up. It was 7,5 miles to work for me and I didn’t feel any heat for the first 4 in our diesel. The replacement petrol is pushing warm air out after a mile

A mile? My Diesel yesterday was pushing warm air out the vents after about 10 seconds thanks to climate control that makes so little difference to a diesel I can use it without concern.

£3000 for glowplugs? You wot?

Glowplugs are a few quid, now I know there could be access issues, but do me a favour.

The tone of that ‘article’ is very anti-diesel, I’d take it with a pinch of salt.

Exactly Molgrips I know he’s talking about them snapping when taking them out but same could be said for those spark plug things engines once used but they went around the same time as glow plugs.

i have a 2.0 tdci mondeo, it does 50mpg, the WORST ive had out of it is 42mpg. (round town, all short journeys, aircon on full blast)
my mate has a 2.2sri vectra, admittedly, it is a little quicker away from the lights, but it does 27mpg average, the BEST hes had out of it is 45mpg, temporarily, cruising at 50mph on the motorway.
i will also say, on a motorway my mondeo is a lot quicker to get going after a hold up (more torque).
i like the way diesels drive, more relaxed.
BUT, for my next car i will do my sums before deciding whether to go petrol or diesel, if the petrol car is 2k cheaper to buy but only does 10mpg less, it will take a fair while to recoup the extra cost of a diesel.
my car has 150,000 miles on it, with routine servicing/normal wear and tear items replaced only. (ie, its never broken down)

The only difference between glow plugs and spark plugs is that engine designers know spark plugs are going to be changed at some point, so they make them accessible. Glow plugs are also a service item though so they SHOULD be accessible. On my old engine two were a piece of cake, one was awkward and the last one cost me the price of a long 8mm ratchet spanner, a lot of skin from my knuckles and a lot of time since I could only move the spanner enough to do one click at a time!

My choice of fuel is petrol hybrid, having driven two different styles. No round town problems and good economy on the motorway too. Only reason I have one diesel car is the requirement to tow.

I have driven a couple of modern small engined petrol cars and got no better than 45mpg, which is a bit crap considering they were tiny and the eco variants too.

The last diesel I had with glowplugs I replaced them myself, was a doddle. Mind you that was about 12 years ago now as not had any since with glowplugs.

Here is my 5p’s worth, wife had a bmw 118d which we kept till she had done 100,000, never missed a beat but with her 26,000 miles per year we never managed to get more than 43mpg combined( I used brim to brim method) and struggled to get over 46 on a long run, so I bought her a vx tigra 1.3 cdti/fiat engine diesel and she now easily gets 60mpg, which worked out to be about £600-700 a year fuel saving.
I kept the bmw but I only drive about 3000 miles and mostly town driving when taking my daughter out and was struggling to get over 36mpg and I drive very efficiently and being a worry wart knowing about dpf’s etc + short journeys and combined with swirl flaps etc I knew my driving would be doing the engine any favours so I chopped it in for a low powered 1.4 petrol 207sw, best decision ever, I get 40-42mpg round town and have just had 56mpg over my trip to Wales last week so its actually cheaper on fuel,granted I drive gently and don’t speed so our choice is petrol for me, diesel for her, not sure that waffling of mine helps you decide but its how its been for us 🙂

If I were buying used under £4k I’d buy petrol on the basis it will be better condition/lower mileage. Generally diesels hold their value despite high mileage. Higher mileage means other bills for maintenance like wheel bearings, suspension, Dual Mass Flywheels etc..

I recently swapped from an old skool diesel vectra (45-55mpg, PeterPoddys old car) to a petrol vectra 2.2 (35-37mpg). The cost per mile in fuel is only 2-3p more in the new car. However it was less than half the price of buying the same model/age/mileage with a diesel engine. For me £1.6k got a 85k mile 04 plate car, it was £4k to get a diesel!

If I were buying new I’d get diesel, mainly due to them holding their value better.

This is about how you drive though. My tyres were on 10 or 20% worn after at least 10k miles, and that was with some caravan towing involved too. Brakes – had the pads changed after I think about 55k miles.

Well, that’s me driving the 2 cars on 90% motorway, so the driving is the same. So yeah, it can be, you’re right, but this is as good a comparison as you’ll ever get.
Brakes – ours is still on the original pads at 66,000 miles, if you want to get into one-upmanship! 🙂
Don’t get me wrong, I’d have a diesel if it would save me money, and if I’d have known I was going to be travelling for 18months again, I’d have bought another as they make good motorway cars IMO, but I didn’t know that at the time we changed. I did the maths then, based on the info available at the time (use, fuel prices, milage etc) and I couldn’t split the two by more than £100 or so a year. An as I prefer petrol engines that’s what we got.
There’s a good chance out next car will be a diesel to be fair, for various reasons, but we keep our cars a looooong time, generally 5-6 years, so that won’t be for a year or two yet.

martymac – your mate must be thrashing that 2.2SRI. As mine gets 10mpg more than him on average. Worst (cental London driving) 33mpg.

In my experiance it is generally that a diesel can be thrashed and get good mpg. A petrol requires some more care to get a reasonable mpg, but that doesn’t always mean driving slowly to achive it.

I recently swapped from an old skool diesel vectra (45-55mpg, PeterPoddys old car

Hi mate, did our old Vectra work out OK for you then? Was a good old barge on the motorway was that car. You must have kept it, what, 3 years or more?

Yeah, it worked out really well thanks. Put 50k on it, took it to the alps and south of france too! Best value for money car I’ve owned so thanks for letting me have it for such a good ‘mates’ rate.

Ended up selling it on after a decent insurance pay out due to someone crashing into it (very minor scratch), kept it for a bit more while looking for a new car and chopped it in. It’s still being driven around today!

Yeah, it worked out really well thanks. Put 50k on it, took it to the alps and south of france too! Best value for money car I’ve owned so thanks for letting me have it for such a good ‘mates’ rate.
Ended up selling it on after a decent insurance pay out due to someone crashing into it (very minor scratch), kept it for a bit more while looking for a new car and chopped it in. It’s still being driven around today!

Glad to hear it! 🙂
That price was simply £100 more than the trade in value we were offered (as i think i said at the time) Those 2.0dti engines are as solid as a rock apparently. One of the more reliable diesels around. 🙂