Why not diesel?

gosling10

Hi

We are thinking of changing our car. We normally buy a family 5 door hatchback 1.4L. We are thinking of changing to a diesel for reduced cost of fuel and tax.

Why are most cars petrol?. What are the disadvantages of buying a diesel version of the family car?. If it is cheaper to run, why doesn't everyone have a diesel car?.

It is no advantage to us tax wise to buy a diesel (i.e. we are not registered for vat).

Any opinions welcome.

K.Flyer

Years ago the perception of Diesel engines was that they were dirty, smelly and lacked top end performance, but were great for pulling heavy loads, albeit slowly. Today they are quite different, they are quiet and have quite good performance figures, but most importantly they are very economical to run.

keithclancy

gosling10 wrote: »

Hi

We are thinking of changing our car. We normally buy a family 5 door hatchback 1.4L. We are thinking of changing to a diesel for reduced cost of fuel and tax.

Why are most cars petrol?. What are the disadvantages of buying a diesel version of the family car?. If it is cheaper to run, why doesn't everyone have a diesel car?.

It is no advantage to us tax wise to buy a diesel (i.e. we are not registered for vat).

Any opinions welcome.

If you drive over 20,000km / year you can save a bit of money on the fuel, but you need to keep it at least 3-4 years to recoup the cost of the extra money for buying it over the petrol model.

IMO in most cases your better off getting a petrol model unless you do big mileage.

High mileage diesel will retain its value better than a high mileage petrol.

Most new family cars sold now would be diesel, disadvantages of the modern diesel are expensive repairs if the likes of common rail injection, dual mass flywheel etc give trouble. Also diesel particulate filters are not cheap. Advantages are oodles of torque, more diesel for the euro and minimum 30% better mpg in most cases.

jock101

Unless your doing as another poster said, 20k+ in mileage or are planning to invest in a car with an engine size larger then 1.6 Litres. Then a Diesel is the best option. But a diesel engine car will cost more to service and will lack the performance of a petrol car.

jock101

jock101 wrote: »

But a diesel engine car will cost more to service and will lack the performance of a petrol car.

Really ?
1.6 Focus diesel v Focus petrol
1.6 HDi C5 v 1.8 petrol C5
1.8 diesel mondeo v petrol

don't think the petrols would outperform the diesels.

keithclancy

RoverJames wrote: »

Really ?
1.6 Focus diesel v Focus petrol
1.6 HDi C5 v 1.8 petrol C5
1.8 diesel mondeo v petrol

don't think the petrols would outperform the diesels.

I dont think you can compare the two, some people like petrols, some people like diesels. You have to drive both for a while to see.

IMO theres an intial 'this sucks' factor when you swap from one to the other, either way as your not immediately used to the gearing.

jock101

All those figures look great on paper, but live with them for a few weeks.
Petrol will always be smoother and far better driving experience. Diesels are purely work horses.

jock101

jock101 wrote: »

Diesels are purely work horses.

**snorts loudly**
Things have moved on a tad from the Jetta of the late 80s

Guy:Incognito

keithclancy wrote: »

If you drive over 20,000km / year you can save a bit of money on the fuel, but you need to keep it at least 3-4 years to recoup the cost of the extra money for buying it over the petrol model..

With the VRT reductions from 08 theres no premium to recoup for buying diesel.

ie my mother bought a new megane a couple of months ago. She bought the top spec Tom Tom which has no petrol equivelent here. The base model Diesel is listed as €14,800 on the scrappage whereas the petrol (which only comes as a base model) is €14890. These types of figures are replicated across other marques.

jock101

Stekelly wrote: »

With the VRT reductions from 08 theres no premium to recoup for buying diesel.

ie my mother bought a new megane a couple of months ago. She bought the top spec Tom Tom which has no petrol equivelent here. The base model Diesel is listed as €14,800 on the scrappage whereas the petrol (which only comes as a base model) is €14890. These types of figures are replicated across other marques.

A lot of car makers like Renault and Ford, are moving to only selling diesel cars here, due to VRT and other Taxation problems we suffer here.

Atlantic Dawn

Over 2 out of every 3 new cars sold in Ireland is now a diesel, if you are buying new I would consider this if you would like a decent resale value as people want cheaper cars to run and tax.

Del2005

gosling10 wrote: »

Why are most cars petrol?. If it is cheaper to run, why doesn't everyone have a diesel car?.

Diesels only became cheap in July 2008 and very few cars have been sold since then compared preceding years. The maintenance costs of diesel are generally higher then petrol so unless you do a lot of driving you may not save that much. And then some people like cars that have to be worked to get the most out of them

gosling10 wrote: »

What are the disadvantages of buying a diesel version of the family car?.

Most diesels still emit much more pollution then petrol cars, but they are getting better with the new Euro regulations coming in.

Diesels only emit less CO2 then petrol, but emit much more CO, NOx, SO2, HC(hydro carbons) and DPM(soot), which directly affect many more people then CO2.

unkel

Google DMF and shiver...

Neighbour just had a €2,500 bill today from the main dealer of his 3 year old Korean diesel car. Just outside of warranty of course...

If you really must buy diesel, get an automatic...

mullingar

unkel wrote: »

If you really must buy diesel, get an automatic...

+1

Also IMO Autoboxes are more suited to the higher torque you get from diesel engine