Given the current furore about Diesel cars and how polluting they are would you buy one?

My wife is currently looking at two Minis – same colour, same mileage, same age, same model Cooper with Chilli pack etc. One is a 1.5 petrol the other is a diesel.

They are exactly the same price, but the diesel does more MPG and has more extras on it.

Head says petrol, but the diesel appears to be better value & has nicer wheels 😆

For a little runabout, no. We’ve just binned the wife’s diesel for a little petrol. I’m guessing residuals on diesels will be dropping hence the cheaper forecourt price

no, but only because of the expensive problems rather than the polution.

no, but only because of the expensive problems

This. Two years ago we bought a simpler petrol engined car.

yes. just have.

Yes. Because I’d like that the DIS would read 700 miles in the tank (diesel) rather than 450 (petrol) after I’d filled up.

no, but only because of the expensive problems rather than the polution.

+1

No. They’re polluting, cost more and the fuel economy saving is trivial for my low mileage.

Yes, did, would do again- but I basically do no city centre driving so that makes a big difference.

weeksy – Member

no, but only because of the expensive problems rather than the polution.

Way I always see it is I’ve saved more on insurance and tax than I’ve spent on injectors and a turbo. Not sure I’d be so keen to get a newer one but there’s all sorts of reasons for that.

no, but only because of the expensive problems rather than the polution

But what about the fluffy kittens and butterflies?!

Yes.

Nothings really changed about them, VW lies aside, they still produce the same emissions they did 2 years ago, they still produce less Co2 than Petrol’s, Co2 is a greater contributor to greenhouse gasses than Nitrogen.
Taxation has changed slightly, but only in regards to BIK.
There is talk of banning certain diesels from some cities, but this is limited to older Cars, around 10 years old now.
If you’re driving mostly out of town they’ll use less fuel than petrol cars like-for-like, but if it’s a financial consideration you have to factor in the extra cost of the fuel.
They are more complex than a standard fuel injected petrol car, but no more complex than the most recent forced induction petrol cars with many gismos and do-dahs to make them more efficient and less polluting. 5 years from now people will be moaning about big bills on petrol cars.
They still don’t cope well with short-journeys, low-speed stop-start traffic isn’t the diesel killer some would like you to think – London Taxi’s have been diesel powered for decades and regularly clock up mega mileages, but really if you want the big MPG figures and trouble free life, they’re best at a constant speed, ideally over 40mph.

Maybe it’s the tin-hat talking, but most of the official diesel moaning has come from Boris Johnson, Brexit Boris, who presumably knows that the UK over-produces petrol and exports it, whereas we under-produce diesel and import it, perhaps he can’t be trusted.

I’ve saved more on insurance and tax

I have save on purchase cost, insurance cost and so far (22k and 2yrs) maintenance costs. It even does the mpg it says it should. 😯
The only thing higher was tax, by £10 iirc.

No because I hate the way they drive.

The fact that there are other reasons to avoid them is grist to the mill, but mainly its because i don’t like how they drive

Nothings really changed about them, VW lies aside, they still produce the same emissions they did 2 years ago, they still produce less Co2 than Petrol’s, Co2 is a greater contributor to greenhouse gasses than Nitrogen.

The issue regarding NOx has nothing to do with global warming: it is a pollutant which is damaging people’s health.

The ones we are looking at are both pre registered Sept 16 and Oct 16. Wife does about 8000 miles a year to and from work.

I am edging towards the diesel.

depends. for £2k then yes. bangernomics and can be got ride of for little cost. Certainly wouldn’t entertain spending £5k+

I’m also southampton based and the city will be congestion charging/ banning diesels in the next few years. where you live may come into this.

No because I hate the way they drive.

Exactly. I would never buy one, irrespective of any environmental issues.

Nope, I didn’t when I replace my car last year.

A friend is a traffic pollution researcher and lecturer so I had a heads up at how bad it was starting to look with new evidence on NOx emissions.

We got over the loss of 4 Star pretty quick, time to phase out the diesel now, earlier it starts the less painful to the wallet it will be.

A friend is a traffic pollution researcher and lecturer so I had a heads up at how bad it was starting to look with new evidence on NOx emissions.

Ditto – the evidence I’ve been shown is compelling.

Having made a decision last Summer to use our petrol/diesel vehicles less. My wife, kids and I set out to walk and cycle more. When you walk / cycle day after day you realise just how poor the air quality, particularly at peak times.

You’re left wondering how much longer can this go on? A few people driving less isn’t going to make a significant change. We’re all poisoning ourselves and doing sweet FA about it. A frightening and quite depressing situation.

Getting to the point, would I buy a diesel car? No, I’d prefer not to buy any type of car. I’d much prefer to see massive investment in cycle lanes and public transport.

Yes, I’ll get another.

It will have to be the latest Euro compliant whatsit though.

She would love to walk or cycle, but a 17 mile each way commute and a 6.30am start make both out of the question.

We both walk and cycle as much as we can, and try to care about the environment – which is what prompted the question.

No because you need the Cooper S

I did but I had to avoid, I do long drives or virtually nothing and at times the car can sit idle for 3 months so I went petrol last time round.

I’ve hd diesel vans forever and several diesel cars. These extra costs people go on about have never seemed to affect me. Had a mazda 6 for 4 years now so it’s 7 years old and it’s ran as sweet as a nut since day one.

No, never. But I hate the way they drive/produce their power

No, I own two now but expect the residuals to nosedive I can live with with these cars but wouldnt want to have a load of money in one.

If your doing pcp etc it may be different as the vehicle owner takes the risk.

We’ve just bought a diesel S-max. Would rather have had petrol, but was worried that a 1.5 would struggle in a car that size and the 2.0 petrol was only available in the top of the range spec that cost about £6k more than ours.

Yes…. Wouldn’t fancy having a petrol van. I know there was a V6 T5, but I think you’d get bored of ripping away from the lights the second time you go to fill up.

it’s a financial consideration you have to factor in the extra cost of the fuel

The UK is the only place I know where diesel is on a par with petrol.

I did because I need a big 7 seat 4×4, if I could afford to swap I’d go for the equivalent but hybrid. In fact I probably will when the prices come down a bit.

Get the petrol, it will drive so much better.

What is it people hate so much about the way Diesels drive? There are things about my car I’m not too keen on but I love the way the engine delivers power.

They’re polluting

They pollute more in some things and less in others. People seem to really be struggling with this fact. Everyone seems to saying ‘well I thought diesels were greener!’ without understanding this.

Accelerate, chug chug, turbo kicks in, boom red line at 5k, change gear, accelerate-chug, turbo lag.

They also sound totally gash.

But I come from a background of riding motorbikes with screaming, high rev motors.

I just think they hit the limiter too quickly

I think it’s a case of ‘what you’re used to’.

To a petrol driver, diesels don’t rev, they spend all the time right at the top going nowhere fast using loads of fuel and complain they don’t work.

To a Diesel driver petrols are gutless and harsh, you’ve got to rev the knackers off them to get them to work and if you put your foot down in gear nothing happens, you need to change down a gear or two to get back in the rev range.

It’s all done by ear too, because who drives around staring at the clocks, you’ll just crash.

Some of the new turbo patrols are a bit ‘best of both’ they’ve got mid-range and they can still rev.

alpin – Member

The UK is the only place I know where diesel is on a par with petrol.

It should be more expensive, it’s more complex to refine into its current ultra-low-sulphur guise than petrol and thus takes up more refining capacity. It’s also more expensive to transport as it’s more dense, thus some tankers aren’t full when moving.

Fuel, like food, should be sold by weight, not volume.

NJA

Given the current furore about Diesel cars and how polluting they are would you buy one?

My wife is currently looking at two Minis – same colour, same mileage, same age, same model Cooper with Chilli pack etc. One is a 1.5 petrol the other is a diesel.

Drive them back to back. That’s what we did and after driving the petrol, the diesel felt awful (despite being a newer car with similar bhp and loads more torque).

johnners

What is it people hate so much about the way Diesels drive? There are things about my car I’m not too keen on but I love the way the engine delivers power.

All torque no action aren’t they. As someone just before me said it depends what you’re used to. Like for like, a diesel will feel torquey but no upper range, nose heavy and plodding to drive. Or a NA petrol will feel weak low down and require revving to get it to go anywhere.

A lot of people like to compare 1.9 or 2.0 turbo charged diesels with 1.6 or 2.0 non turbo petrols. I don’t often hear people complaing that a 2.0 turbo charged petrol is lacking in torque.

Modern small turbo petrol engines really bridge the gap in terms of torque though. Imo they represent the best of both worlds.

Regarding the way they drive….
I have owned a wide range of cars. Two stand out for this particular comparison, both had very similar power/weight ratios at about 150 hp/tonne.
one petrol 1600 in line 4 with an 8500rpm redline, sounded fantastic between 6500-8500 rpm but wouldn’t pull the skin of a rice pudding below 2000 rpm. Gearing meant it was turning at 4000rpm at motorway speeds
The other a V6 diesel with huge torque between 1400 and 4000rpm , it also sounded great when wound up.
The latter was so much more relaxing for 95% of the time, and frequently surprised so called sports cars with it’s pickup from a rolling start. Especially in the wet ( 4wd)
I prefer the diesel, but will probably get a petrol next as the economics are against them now for the mileage I do and modern turbo petrols are driving more like diesels

Petrol, why ruin a fun car with a hateful inflexible engine.

Bigdugsbaws, try an Audi 3.0 Tdi BiTurbo. I think you might be surprised at its flexibility and refinement.