Do I need a diesel car?

Oscarwells

Hey,

Im hoping someone can offer me some advice, i'm looking for a car atm (budget of approx 2500) to drive to work.
i will be driving 120km/70 miles a day, and automatically assumed i would need to get a diesel car, is this true or would i get away with something like a 1.4 petrol??
I've really no idea so any advice would be great, thanks in advance.

Bpmull

Your mileage would justify a diesel approx 30k km per year at least. But tbh any diesel car your going to buy for 2.5k will have its issues. So make sure to get the car checked over by a mechanic before buying.

Oscarwells

Thank you, i was gonna get a loan for the car and get a higher year but as i cant see myself in the job for the forseeable (looking for something closer to home) I didnt think there was a point.

Michael D Not Higgins

Oscarwells wrote: »

Thank you, i was gonna get a loan for the car and get a higher year but as i cant see myself in the job for the forseeable (looking for something closer to home) I didnt think there was a point.

If you end up in a job closer to home soon, then the diesel wouldn't be worth it.

CiniO

Oscarwells wrote: »

Hey,

Im hoping someone can offer me some advice, i'm looking for a car atm (budget of approx 2500) to drive to work.
i will be driving 120km/70 miles a day, and automatically assumed i would need to get a diesel car, is this true or would i get away with something like a 1.4 petrol??
I've really no idea so any advice would be great, thanks in advance.

120km a day (assuming it's your work commute) will give 600km a week, and assuming you work 48 weeks a year this gives nearly 29k km a year. Surely you will drive somewhere else than to work as well, so this might come even more. But calculate for work commute only.

So petrol car using on average 7l/100km will use 2030 litres so this will cost approx 3248 euros (assuming 1.60 per litre).

Diesel car using on average 5l/100km will use 1450 litres which will cost around 2175 euros (assuming 1.50 per litre).

So you have a savings just over 1000 euro per year on fuel by choosing diesel.
But assuming for 2500 euro car will be rather older, you will most likely have to pay more on tax for diesel car, so savings will be less than 1000.
Also cost of maintenance on diesel and amount of things that can go wrong are much greater than for smaller petrol, so this will cut savings again.


So in general in my opinion - you will spend less to keep your car going if you buy diesel, and probably get something with bigger power and more comfortable than 1.4 petrol car.

But considering budget is only 2500, it might be hard to find reasoable diesel in good nick, and if you buy some banger, you might end up worse comparing with petrol car when you account for all the repairs and time spend in garage.

I'd probably go for petrol car if I were you. Preferebly with bigger engine and LPG if there is an cheap LPG outlet on your way.

You are well into diesel territory op, I wouldn't dream of doing that sort if mileage in a petrol.

CiniO

Willie Black Bargain wrote: »

You are well into diesel territory op, I wouldn't dream of doing that sort if mileage in a petrol.

Why?
As I showed above, fuel will come cheaper in diesel car, but tax might come more expensive in it, especially if you compare 1.4 petrol to something like 1.9 diesel. Overall savings are not that huge, and when you consider cost of maintaining older diesel car, there might be no savings at all.

R.O.R

I do that mileage on my commute (slightly higher) and changed from petrol to diesel last year. Costing quite a bit less to run a 520d Auto than it was to run an Accord 2.0i - and a lot nicer to drive too.

At that sort of daily mileage, I'd presume a lot of it must be motorway / fast N Road, otherwise you'll go absolutley spare spending that amount of time on the road. At Motorway speeds, you'll see better fuel consumption from a larger petrol engine than a smaller one (tested in a 1.8T vs a 1.2), but petrol won't come close to diesel for consumption.

CiniO

CiniO wrote: »

Why?
As I showed above, fuel will come cheaper in diesel car, but tax might come more expensive in it, especially if you compare 1.4 petrol to something like 1.9 diesel. Overall savings are not that huge, and when you consider cost of maintaining older diesel car, there might be no savings at all.

Older diesels are by and large more reliable than newer diesels and shouldn't be costing much more in maintenance than a 1.4 petrol.

A turbo diesel will be a much nicer place for the commute than an underpowerd 1.4 petrol. I also think there would be a bigger gap in running costs, i.e. you would spend more on petrol than you are reckoning. 1.4 cars are often quite thirsty as they have to work hard.

Even going by your figures you would still be looking at saving around 500 euro year, hardly small change. Putting petrol in a car at that mileage will break your heart compared to diesel as you simply wont be spending as much week in week out.

Personally if I were doing even 30 or 40 miles a day I'd be considering changing to diesel never mind the op's figures.

Tom_Cruise

I bought a diesel recently. A VW Bora 1.9, coming from a 1.4 petrol.

I do roughly the same mileage as you a year, maybe a small bit less. The extra power and comfort are defiantly a plus, and over the course of the year im sure ill save money - not much but some.

All depends on the car i suppose really. My old petrol was starting to age badly and i got a good deal on the Bora - so im hoping it'll serve me well.

Go for it OP.

dgt

I do on average 70 miles a day and have a diesel 406 for the job.

Go for it

CiniO

Willie Black Bargain wrote: »

Older diesels are by and large more reliable than newer diesels

I wouldn't say they are more reliable, but surely they will be cheaper to fix if something breaks down.

and shouldn't be costing much more in maintenance than a 1.4 petrol.

It will.
Even simple oil and filter changes. Clutch. etc.. This will cost more for diesel that small petrol engine.

A turbo diesel will be a much nicer place for the commute than an underpowerd 1.4 petrol.

Probably yes, but considering small car 1.4 might not necesserily be underpowered.

I also think there would be a bigger gap in running costs, i.e. you would spend more on petrol than you are reckoning. 1.4 cars are often quite thirsty as they have to work hard.

I assmumed 7l/100km for 1.4 petrol, and 5l/100km for diesel.
Both value are reasonabe on commute outside the city.

Even going by your figures you would still be looking at saving around 500 euro year, hardly small change. Putting petrol in a car at that mileage will break your heart compared to diesel as you simply wont be spending as much week in week out.

500 a year saving can (and most likely will) be easily neglected by higher maintenance cost of diesel car.

Personally if I were doing even 30 or 40 miles a day I'd be considering changing to diesel never mind the op's figures.

Don't get me wrong.
I drive a diesel myself since recently.
I changed from petrol, because I calculated about 2000 euro per annum savings on fuel and tax.
Even if I had to spend 1000 euro extra to maintain diesel, it's still way worth for me.

But in OP's case, when he is planning to spend 2500 on the car, he will most likely buy a old, high mileage diesel in rather questionable condition. Comparing, he will be much more likely to find a good petrol 1.4 car with low mileage in good condition within that budget.

And future maintenance, fuel and tax cost, doesn't seem to justify going for diesel.